Jólakötturinn, or The Yule Cat, An Icelandic Monster That Eats Children
Don’t let the name Yule Cat fool you — this Icelandic creature of folklore is nothing like a kitten you would welcome to your home. For starters, it wouldn’t even fit.
According to Smithsonian Magazine, the legend of the Yule Cat, or Jólakötturinn, is a creature that towers over forests and homes, prowling about Iceland on Christmas night in search of bad children to devour.
Hugleikur Dagsson/FacebookThe Yule Cat is a giant cat that belongs to another Icelandic legend, Gryla, a giantess who also enjoys eating children.
How does it know which children are bad, though? Unlike the omniscience attributed to Santa, the Yule Cat’s judgment comes down to a single, simple test: If a child has received new clothing for Christmas, they have been good. If they haven’t, they are bad – and fair game to be eaten.
It may seem like a strange test, but in Icelandic tradition, children who completed their chores before Christmas were often rewarded with new clothing. Following that logic, it stands to reason that children who didn’t receive new clothes didn’t complete their chores, meaning they were disobedient and deserved punishment.
And if the threat of the Yule Cat weren’t enough, it’s not the only hungry, child-eating monster that lurks in the Icelandic wilderness around Christmastime.
The Yule Cat’s owner, the monstrous giantess Gryla, has an equally twisted appetite — and her 13 ghoulish sons, the Yule Lads, are always close at hand.
