The Yule Cat

The Yule Cat ( aka The Christmas Cat)

An old Icelandic folklore states that everyone has to get at least one new piece of clothing at Christmas. Anyone who did not was in danger of being eaten by a gigantic malicious beast called the Yule Cat. The Yule Cat is alleged to be  Grýla’s cat (see also the legend of the Yule Lads) and every effort was made to ensure that no-one would “go into the Christmas Cat” (ie: be eaten). Thus, everyone worked hard to make a new piece of clothing for each member of the household.

The above mentioned Grýla is a troll of legend that supposedly kidnapped naughty children, stuck them into an haversack, went home to her cave and ate them there.

Jólakötturinn as he is called in Icelandic, found his story to be elevated when captured in the poetic lines of Jóhannes úr Kötlum in his poem that bears the same name as the tyrannical kitty and it seemed to have given resurgence to an older myth.

No-one really knows how long  the Yule Cat has been around, the first surviving written stories about him arose in the 19th century  (these were probably aimed at lazy children) altough there are similar tales from Scandinavia and some still older legends that indicate a monster of this sort has been around since the dark ages. These tales seem to have been used as threats to encourage people into finishing up the processing of wool from the fall season before Christmas.  

It seem´s to have worked, as to this day everyone gets a new piece of clothing either before or on Christmas.

How this relates in today’s world is another matter. With many people out of work and homelessness still a huge issue, perhaps Jólakötturinn’s message can be translated into encouraging selfless acts.  How nice it would be if those who do have would take both a moment and a dollar to provide for those who have not by supporting shelters and like-minded organizations.  For animals also. Who was actually productive and what productivity itself means may be subjective in the eyes of the Yule Cat, but wouldn’t it be nice to stave off his hunger this year with everyone, worldwide, having a new piece of clothing to call their own.

That´s enough for today.

Happy New Year ; 

Chick