Information

Jolakotturinn has a minion!

Gryla the Gift Gremlin

Jolakotturinn

The

Glacier Archan
Owner:

ChatLunatique

Age: 1 year, 5 months, 3 days

Born: December 1st, 2022

Adopted: 1 year, 5 months, 3 days ago

Adopted: December 1st, 2022

Statistics

Level: 41
Strength: 102
Defense: 74
Speed: 78
Health: 78
HP: 71/78
Intelligence: 126
Books Read: 120
Food Eaten: 0
Job: Mail Carrier

CREDITS

profile template (c)

helix (get it)
Art by WynnAllie

Beware the Yule cat!

For most kids who celebrate Christmas, new clothes probably sit just above lumps of coal on the good present scale. But according to an Icelandic tradition, getting new socks before Christmas might just save your life. That’s because the Jólakötturinn, or Yule Cat, eats anyone who hasn’t received new clothes by the time Christmas rolls around.

For starters, the Jólakötturinn is no mere kitten—it towers above the tallest houses. As it prowls about Iceland on Christmas night, the Yule Cat peers in through the windows to see what kids have gotten for presents. If new clothes are among their new possessions, the big cat will move along. But if a child was too lazy to earn their new socks, the Jólakötturinn will eat their dinner, before moving on to the main course: the child himself!

Presumably the threat of being eaten by the Jólakötturinn is also meant to inspire generosity in children who don’t have to fret about the Yule Cat, as giving clothes to the less-fortunate would grant them protection from the monstrous feline. But the giant beast isn’t even the only human-eating Christmas monster that Icelanders have the misfortune of having to face every year. There’s also the Jólakötturinn’s owners: the trolls Grýla, Leppalúði and their 13 children, who are collectively known as the “Yule Lads,”

So if you ever find yourself celebrating Christmas in Iceland, make sure to get some new clothes under the tree—those socks will come in handy when the Yule Cat peers in your window