Christmas Traditions
Do you have a cat? Do you worry about said cat deciding to eat you? That was a strange question. Today we are looking at a Christmas tradition and tale (or is that tail?) from Iceland. It's about Jólakötturinn, or the Yule Cat.
Receiving coal instead of gift for Christmas is not most kids' wishes, but that still might be better than say being eaten. The rules for this seem very simple, you are supposed to have some new clothing by Christmas Day. (not sure why a cat would care about you having new clothes or old clothes, why is this cat so fashion conscious) If you don't , the cat will eat the kids.
I don't think it even matters if the kids are good or bad (unless they taste bad?) just have new clothes or die! There is a mixture it might not just eat kids; it might also eat adults, you know, just for full measure.
There's a poem because of course there is, and this should be made into a song that becomes a hit!
You all know the Yule Cat
And that Cat was huge indeed.
People didn't know where he came from
Or where he went.
He opened his glaring eyes wide,
The two of them glowing bright.
It took a really brave man
To look straight into them.
His whiskers, sharp as bristles,
His back arched up high.
And the claws of his hairy paws
Were a terrible sight.
He gave a wave of his strong tail,
He jumped and he clawed and he hissed.
Sometimes up in the valley,
Sometimes down by the shore.
He roamed at large, hungry and evil
In the freezing Yule snow.
In every home
People shuddered at his name.
If one heard a pitiful "meow"
Something evil would happen soon.
Everybody knew he hunted men
But didn't care for mice.
He picked on the very poor
That no new garments got
For Yule - who toiled
And lived in dire need.
From them he took in one fell swoop
Their whole Yule dinner
Always eating it himself
If he possibly could.
Hence it was that the women
At their spinning wheels sat
Spinning a colorful thread
For a frock or a little sock.
Because you mustn't let the Cat
Get hold of the little children.
They had to get something new to wear
From the grownups each year.
And when the lights came on, on Yule Eve
And the Cat peered in,
The little children stood rosy and proud
All dressed up in their new clothes.
Some had gotten an apron
And some had gotten shoes
Or something that was needed
- That was all it took.
For all who got something new to wear
Stayed out of that pussy-cat's grasp
He then gave an awful hiss
But went on his way.
Whether he still exists I do not know.
But his visit would be in vain
If next time everybody
Got something new to wear.
Now you might be thinking of helping
Where help is needed most.
Perhaps you'll find some children
That have nothing at all.
Perhaps searching for those
That live in a lightless world
Will give you a happy day
And a Merry, Merry Yule.
The traditional story is very old, but most written sources are from the 19th Century, which kind of makes sense as Christmas was getting more embracement then. There are also versions of the story where the cat just kind of comes around and steals your Christmas food instead. (I'd rather just be eaten than STARVE to death) Or some cases, the cat is said to eat the children and the food, which seems more rude somehow.
This cat isn't normal sized, I mean, it would be hard to eat people at standard cat size. It's said to be bigger than the tallest houses. (What's the tallest house in Iceland? Also, do high rises count?) On Christmas night, it peers through the windows( so what if you had blinds?) to see what kids have gotten for Christmas. (Meow, Xbox, Meow, Red Rider B.B. Gun, Meow, no new clothing, die!) You don't have to go all out and buy new wardrobes, new socks count. I'm not sure how the cat can tell if they are new or just really well taken care of. (Hmm?)
The legends that were passed down, again oral history being key, is that he's a pet of family of trolls of the Yule Lads, which is like an Icelandic tradition of Santa like gift giving. They weren't always Santa like, but they also a famous mother for tradition. We aren't fully sure when it was officially started. Iceland's middle ages economy was based on wool, and it was important for people to produce it. They needed most of society to make wool to make sure people worked hard enough to work on wool production. Meaning not being lazy was important.
The idea is to say hey finish your chores, you get new clothes as a reward, if you finished before Christmas, anyone who didn't was lazy and deserves to be eaten. So the lazy kids don't get clothes, the cat eats their dinner first, then the kid. What about the families who don't have the means to get new clothing or didn't have the means to make new clothing? Uhhh.
Maybe, if you have the means, would also inspire the idea of helping those who don't uh not get eaten.
So if you get your kids new socks as one of their Christmas gifts, tell them that you just saved their lives Meow! This is not the only Icelandic child eating Christmas story, so I'm kind of concerned.
Thanks for reading, we'll be back next time, after we confuse the giant cat with a giant laser pointer.
Based on a previous blog post I did over at mychillerChristmas
my sources:
https://web.archive.org/web/20050108092720/http://www.simnet.is/gardarj/yule11.htm
