Before Santa Claus evolved into Icelandic versions of Santa Claus, they terrorized children into following the rules

In Icelandic folklore, 13 cheerful but mischievous brothers are known as the Yule guys take turns visiting children on the 13 nights leading up to Christmas Day. Young people place on each of these evenings their shoes on a windowsill in the hope of finding something tasty the next morning. Good boys and girls wake up with candy, while misbehaving children get a reward rotting potato.

Today they are the Yule Lads often depicted as benign, Santa Claus-like figures dressed in red and white clothing. But the brothers – also called jolasveinar in Icelandic – used to be much more sinister creatures. The Yule Lads were first mentioned in the 17th century and were initially depicted as ‘gigantic, lumbering trolls’. writes Tanya Gulevich in the Encyclopedia of Christmas and New Year Celebrations.

The mother of the siblings, Grýlawas an ogre who reportedly descended from her mountain home at Christmas in search of badly behaved children to bag – and perhaps even eat. The family pet, a huge cat named Jólakötturinnroamed the country on Christmas Eve, eating children who did not wear at least one new piece of clothing.

The Yule Lads – Mischief Makers and Children Takers – European – Additional Mythology

“Grýla is the archetypal villain, and the fact that she is a matriarch somehow makes her more terrifying,” Brian Pilkingtonan illustrator who drew some of the final images of Grýla and the Yule Lads narrated Smithsonian magazine in 2017. “When I draw Grýla, two or three terrified children have to leave the room because it is too strong for them. This is living folklore.”

At first, adults called on the Yule Lads to scare the young into following their rules. The warnings worked a little too well, so in 1746 the Icelandic government issued a public decree forbidding parents from using the brothers and similar scary stories to scare their children into submission.

By the 19th century, the Yule Lads had evolved into “silly” thieves who “stole sausages, candles, and the family’s best grain,” Gulevich writes. “You may leave a room neat and clean, but it may be crooked when you return.” In the 20th century, the brothers lost even more of their bite and fell under the influence of sympathetic characters such as Santa Claus and Danish Christmas gnomes. They developed “an unprecedented kindness toward children,” the paper said National Museum of Iceland.

Each of the 13 Yule Lads has their own personality. However, the brothers’ names remained a matter of much interpretation and debate until 1932 popular poem by Jóhannes úr Kötlum reinforced a specific version of their personas in the Icelandic imagination.

According to the National Museum, the first Yule Lad, Sheep-Cote Clod, tries in vain to suckle farmers’ sheep, while the second, Gully Gawk, slurps foam from the tops of buckets of cow’s milk. A little Yule Lad named Stubby steals food from frying pans; Skyr Gobbler gorges himself Icelandic yogurt.

Most of the other brothers’ favorite activities are referenced directly in their names: for example, Spoon Licker, Pot Scraper (or Pot Licker), Bowl Licker, Door Slammer, Sausage Swiper, Window Peeper, and Door Sniffer. But a few require additional explanation. Meat Hook, the 12th Christmas boy, lowers a stick or hook into the chimneys of houses to pick up smoked lamb, a traditional Icelandic Christmas treat, as it hangs from the rafters. Finally, Candle Beggar, the 13th Yule Lad, desires candles for the bright light they emit. As the 1932 poem says, “He followed the little ones / who, like happy spirits, / with / their fine tallow lights ran about the farm.”