The 13 Trolls of Christmas… aka ” The Yule Lads”!

 

Every Christmas I bring out and update my favourite Christmas posts… The naughty boys and their scary mother are one of them…What fun…We all love to regale our children and grandchildren with tales from Christmas past…most real, some imagined and we all…Come On…Admit it!

We have all stooped to bribery, corruption or just plain tall tales to make the kiddie winks BEHAVE!

Forget boring advent calendars…

Icelandic parents enthral their children (and scare) them into being good with tales of the Ogress living in the Icelandic mountains.

She is one scary Mumma, described as half-troll/animal and the mother of 13 naughty boys known as the  “Yule Lads”. Grýla lives in the mountains with her husband, her thirteen children and a black cat.

And that cat is pretty scary too…

Old Icelandic folklore states that every Icelander must receive a new piece of clothing for Christmas or they will find themselves in mortal danger. An enormous black cat prowls Iceland on Christmas Eve and eats anyone who doesn’t follow this simple rule. This obnoxious feline is known as the Christmas Cat.

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The legend goes that every Christmas, Grýla and her sons come down from the mountains: Grýla in search of naughty children to boil in her cauldron and the boys in search of mischief. She can only capture children who misbehave but those who say sorry must be released.

Wow….that story will get the kiddies hiding under the bed covers.

The husband is not as wicked as her…  but a  bone-idle,  lazy slob.

The boys aka “The Yule” lads are naughty and mischievous and have wonderful names…Oh, what stories you could weave….and what fun you could inject into your stories.

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And what funny names they have.. Spoon- Licker is tall and thin. He steals unwashed spoons, which he licks clean.  and Door- Slammer well as the name implies…    Slams doors that are kept ajar at night, keeping people awake.

Icelandic children place a shoe in their bedroom window each evening in the 13 days before Christmas. Every night one Yuletide lad visits, leaving sweets and small gifts or rotting potatoes(Yuk), depending on how a  child has behaved on that day.

I think It’s much better than a boring advent calendar, just think of the tales you can weave and what fun you and the kids could have and such a cool way to keep the little darlings in check.

How about  Sausage -swiper he hides in the rafters to snatch sausages which are hung up for smoking.

Nothing is safe from these wicked boys…

What tales do you tell your children?

I was really lucky…because my youngest believed in Santa Claus until she was about 13 years old…she was much ridiculed by her peers but stood her ground and insisted that she had seen Santa.

Well, she had….She was 3 yrs old and one of my son’s friends asked if he could ( while dressed) up as Santa take a little present upstairs and put it in Laurens stocking.

He was told by me in no uncertain terms ” Do NOT wake her up”

Well, she did wake up..but the clever boy put his fingers to his lips and told her to shhhhhh and go back to sleep or I can’t leave your presents.

Which she did, from that Christmas onwards for many years she was insistent to all and sundry when they laughed and told her Santa didn’t exist…..That she knew he did because she had seen him…so thank you, Adam.for keeping a little girls dreams alive!

I wish I had known about the 13 trolls though…x

Thank you for joining me today as always I look forward to your comments x

44 thoughts on “The 13 Trolls of Christmas… aka ” The Yule Lads”!”

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  15. D. Wallace Peach

    I loved this post, Carol. What wonderfully fun traditions that brought back great memories. In my home, we celebrated the Dutch Christmas Sinterklaas, and small gifts, cookies, and funny poems were left in our wooden shoes for a series of nights. One year, Sinterklaas actually came to visit! Long after I no longer believed in Santa Claus, I still believed in Sinterklaas. What a wonderful time of year for magic. Thanks for starting my day with a smile.

    Liked by 2 people

    1. CarolCooks2 Post author

      You are very welcome, Diana.. I love some of these traditions from around the world I find them so much fun and joyful… Sinterklass sounds like a wonderful, fun tradition kids need magic in their lives 💞xx

      Liked by 1 person

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  20. paulandruss

    Great entertaining post- warm and funny. I really like the picture too of the black cat. Great illustration and a great choice!

    Liked by 4 people

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    1. blondieaka Post author

      Ha ha it’s British endearment for kiddies 🙂 I hope you have a wonderful Christmas 🙂 Sorry for the late reply I fished you out of my spam folder 😦

      Liked by 3 people

      2. blondieaka Post author

        Just a little quirk sometimes when updates are made to a system it throws a spanner in the works …who knows???
        I must remember to check my spam folder more often 🙂

        Liked by 2 people

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