All Things Iceland

Tonight Bjúgnakrækir, the 9th Yule Lad comes to town This is a 15-day Icelandic Christmas series. To hear about the  other Yule Lads that have already arrived and an overview of this Icelandic Christmas series, check out Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7, Day 8, and Day 9.

Below is the Icelandic and English version of the poem about Bjúgnakrækir by Jóhannes úr Kötlum.

Níundi var Bjúgnakrækir, 

Á eldhúsbita sat hann 

The ninth was Sausage Swiper, a shifty pilferer.

Sitting on a crossbeam

Menorah looking electric candle decorations. I was so confused when I saw these in the window of many Icelanders when I visited for the first time in December 2013 because I didn´t know so many Jewish people lived here. However, when I looked closer and inquired about it, these candles are not a menorah but closely resemble them. 

According to the website Stuck in Iceland, these lights were apparently brought to Iceland by an illustrious businessman from Sweden in the sixties. The story goes that he bought a few handmade lights for his aunts but pretty soon everybody had to have one. Needless to say, he made a fortune on this rather lucky break. If something catches on in homogenous Iceland, well it takes off big time! Confusingly, Icelanders also prepare wreaths with four candles. The candles are lit on every Sunday on the advent.

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Tonight Skyrjarmur,, the 8th Yule Lad comes to town This is a 15-day Icelandic Christmas series. To hear about the  other Yule Lads that have already arrived and an overview of this Icelandic Christmas series, check out Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7 and Day 8.

Below is the Icelandic and English version of the poem about Skyrjarmur by Jóhannes úr Kötlum.

Skyrjarmur, sá áttundi, 

Svo hámaði hann í sig 

Skyr Gobbler, the eighth,

Then he stood there gobbling

Lighting of the Oslo tree in Austurvöllur square in downtown Reykjavík is not as grand as the Rockefeller Christmas tree lighting but it is still fun. Songs are sung and it is an all around good time. This normally happens in early December and that is when you know that the Christmas season is going into hyperdrive here.

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Tonight Hurðaskellir, the 7th Yule Lad comes to town This is a 15-day Icelandic Christmas series. To hear about the  other Yule Lads that have already arrived and an overview of this Icelandic Christmas series, check out Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6 and Day 7.

Below is the Icelandic and English version of the poem about Hurðaskellir by Jóhannes úr Kötlum.

Sjöundi var Hurðaskellir, 

Hann var ekki sérlega 

The seventh was Door Slammer,

When people in the twilight

slamming doors and hearing

Christmas Markets. I talked about this in the episode about Icelandic themed Christmas Gifts but I am briefly bringing it up again because it is such a staple here regarding this holiday.

Here is a link to check out the Christmas markets for 2021 in or near Reykjavík.

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Tonight Askasleikir, the 6th Yule Lad comes to town This is a 15-day Icelandic Christmas series. To hear about the  other Yule Lads that have already arrived and an overview of this Icelandic Christmas series, check out Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5 and Day 6.

Below is the Icelandic and English version of the poem about Askasleikir by Jóhannes úr Kötlum.

Sá sjötti Askasleikir, 

Þegar fólkið setti askana 

Bowl Licker, the sixth one,

And when the bowls were left

Laufabrauð – leaf bread

Laufabrauð is a traditional Icelandic bread that is eaten in the Christmas season. Even though it is said to have originated in the north of Iceland, it is now eaten all around the country.

The look of it is a very thin flat cake with a diameter of about 15 to 20 cm (6 to 8 inches), and is decorated with leaf-like, geometric patterns. It is fried to a crispy texture in hot fat or oil.

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Tonight Pottaskefill, the 5th Yule Lad comes to town This is a 15-day Icelandic Christmas series. To hear about the  other Yule Lads that have already arrived and an overview of this Icelandic Christmas series, check out Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4 and Day 5.

Below is the Icelandic and English version of the poem about Pottaskefill by Jóhannes úr Kötlum.

Sá fimmti Pottaskefill,

Þau ruku’upp, til að gá að

Pot Scraper, the fifth one,

And they would rush to see

Special Christmas beers from breweries in the country. You are only allowed to buy them starting in November and the sale stops when the holiday season is over or if the batch sells out. This year there is a beer being made with the taste of red pickled cabbage and green peas, two staple dishes for Icelandic Christmas dinner.

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Tonight Þvörusleikir, the 4th Yule Lad comes to town. This is a 15-day Icelandic Christmas series. To hear about the  other Yule Lads that have already arrived and an overview of this Icelandic Christmas series, check out Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 and Day 4. 

Just a reminder that on December 16th, 2021 at 8:00 PM in Iceland, I am giving a live talk about traveling around Iceland throughout the seasons on The Wisdom App. It’s a totally free app that you download on your phone. You can ask me questions about traveling in Iceland and interact with me live. I look forward to interacting with you on December 16th.

Below is the Icelandic and English version of the poem about Þvörusleikir by Jóhannes úr Kötlum.

Sá fjórði, Þvörusleikir, 

Þá þaut hann eins og elding 

The fourth was Spoon Licker;

Then stepping up, he grappled

Malt og appelsín – Holiday drink in Iceland that is very popular. It is incredibly sugary and many people love the combination. However, I am not one of them. I like to stick to drinking malt. Regardless, I do recommend trying it, if you haven’t already.

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Tonight Stúfur, the 3rd Yule Lad comes to town. This is a 15-day Icelandic Christmas series. To hear about the  other Yule Lads that have already arrived and an overview of this Icelandic Christmas series, check out Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3. Below is the Icelandic and English version of the poem about Stúfur by Jóhannes úr Kötlum.

Stúfur hét sá þriðji, 

Hann hljóp með hana í burtu 

Stubby was the third called,

And scurrying away with it,

Buying and eating clementines during the Christms season. Not very long ago, it was considered fairly rare to have a decent variety of fruits available in Iceland. I have friends who are in their mid 40s and up, who say they grew up looking forward to Christmas because that was the only  time in the year when they go clementines.

Even though Icelanders can probably get them shipped in anytime now, they pretty much pop up in abundance during this season.

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Tonight Giljagaur, the 2nd Yule Lad, comes to town. This is a 15-day Icelandic Christmas series. To hear about the first Yule Lad and an overview of this Icelandic Christmas series, check out Day 1 and Day 2. Below is the Icelandic and English version of the poem about Giljagaur by Jóhannes úr Kötlum.

Below is the Icelandic and English version of the poem by Jóhannes úr Kötlum.

Giljagaur var annar, 

Hann faldi sig í básunum 

The second was Gully Gawk,

Hiding in the stalls,

Jólabókaflóðið – Icelandic book flood

This is according to jolabokafloð.org

“This tradition began during World War II once Iceland had gained its independence for Denmark in 1944. Paper was one of the few commodities not rationed during the war, so Icelanders shared their love of books even more as other types of gifts were short supply. This increase in giving books as presents reinforced Iceland’s culture as a nation of bookaholics – a study conducted by Bifröst University in 2013 found that half the country’s population read at least eight books a year.

Every year since 1944, the Icelandic book trade has published a catalogue – called Bókatíðindi (‘Book Bulletin’, in English) – that is sent to every household in the country in mid-November during the Reykjavik Book Fair. People use the catalogue to order books to give friends and family for Christmas.

During the festive season, gifts are opened on 24 December and, by tradition, everyone reads the books they have been given straight away, often while drinking hot chocolate or alcohol-free Christmas ale called jólabland.”

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The kick off to this series was yesterday, so check out that if you want a primer on who the Yules Lads are and a bit about their family. One thing to keep in mind is that the Yule Lads travel in the evening/early morning, so they can get into town before children wake up. Tonight, the first Yule Lad, Stekkjastaur, is making his way to town. Below is the Icelandic and English version of the poem by Jóhannes úr Kötlum.

Stekkjastaur kom fyrstur, 

Hann vildi sjúga ærnar, 

The first of them was Sheep-Cote Clod.

He wished to suck the ewes,

Kids put a shoe in the window in Iceland. Back in the day, Icelandic Yule Lads were not bearers of gifts but the image of them has softened over time. This has resulted in them being associated with bringing either a gift that they left in your shoe if you were good or a potato, if you were bad.

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While I have talked about the Icelandic Yule Lads on the podcast in the past, I decided to change it up a bit this year by kicking off a 15-day Icelandic Christmas series.This series will include me reading a poem in Icelandic and English about the Yule Lads.

This poem was originally written in Icelandic by Jóhannes úr Kötlum and is called “Jólasveinarnir” in Icelandic. The poem was translatedCopyright © into English by Hallberg Hallmundsson.

Today, I am explaining where the Yule Lads come from, sharing some information about their mother Grýla, their father Leppaluði and their vicious Black Cat. Starting tomorrow evening, the Yule Lads come to town one by one each day until the 24th. In accordance with that, I will read the poem about them for that corresponding day.

In addition to reading the poem in Icelandic and English, I will also share an Icelandic Christmas tradition to end off the episode.  I feel like this is a fun way to mix up my content and I hope you enjoy it. If you do, it would be greatly appreciated if you left a review of the podcast wherever you listen to podcasts and share this series with anyone that you think would enjoy it.

I want to thank the Wisdom App for sponsoring this episode of the podcast. The Wisdom App is often thought of as “Clubhouse meets Masterclass”. You can connect with experts in their respective fields to hear them speak live about topics they are well versed in.

I’ll be giving a Wisdom App live talk on December 16th, 2021 at 8:00 PM GMT (time in Iceland) about traveling around Iceland during the different seasons. If you tune in live, you can ask me questions and interact with me. Make sure to mark your calendars, so you don’t miss out on this talk about Iceland.

Segja vil ég sögu 

Þeir uppi á fjöllum sáust, 

Grýla var þeirra móðir 

Þeir jólasveinar nefndust, 

Þeir voru þrettán 

Að dyrunum þeir læddust 

Lævísir á svipinn 

Og eins, þó einhver sæi, 

Let me tell the story

Thirteen altogether,

They came from the mountains,

Creeping up, all stealth,

They hid where they could, with a cunning look or sneer,

They were called the Yuletide lads

And even when they were seen,

Advent calendars are very popular in Iceland. This year, advent started on Sunday November 28th and will end on December 24th. Most kids get an advent calendar with a chocolate or some sort of candy for each day of advent.

Some companies have gotten creative here regarding these calendars. One has created a beer advent calendar, I saw another for perfume, and nail polish. So, this tradition is definitely evolving to cater to people of all ages.

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