Old-time Icelandic Christmas – dodging trolls, and a kid eating cat
Icelanders love to celebrate Christmas. In a country where people must deal with a long, cold winter, feasting, gift-giving, and merrymaking are welcome distractions. So modern Icelanders go all in for Christmas, or Yule, as we call the festival here. But even if Christmas was...
The Icelandic Christmas book flood is upon us. Take cover!
Icelanders have many odd Christmas traditions. We have 13 Yule trolls that used to terrorize children before Christmas but now give children small gifts. Their parents used to devour children who behaved outside of accepted societal norms, and of course, a giant Christmas cat would...
Icelandic Christmas cookie recipe – taste Yule like you are in Thule*
Christmas is a big deal here in Iceland. It is mainly the time for families and friends to get together. It is not unusual to be busy meeting people most days in December. Want to have a little taste of Icelandic Christmas wherever you are...
Learn about the legends of Icelandic Christmas at the Caves of Hella
Yule draws near and there are so many festive things going on in Iceland right now. Before each Christmas, there is just a plethora of concerts and other events devoted to the festival of light. But there is one event that I would like to...
The Icelandic Christmas Cat
The horrible Icelandic Yule lads were a gruesome bunch of trolls that terrorized children and stole food from hungry peasants around Christmas. Their parents were the horrible ogre Grýla who ate naughty children and her bedridden lazy no-good husband Leppaludi. And there was their pet,...
Icelandic Yule Lads were bad santas that ruined Christmas
Icelandic Christmas has its unique version of Santa Claus. We all love the jolly ‘big-boned’ fellow that zooms across the continents on his sleigh to give us presents. He is a welcome guest to most. But Icelanders have a lot darker Christmas tradition. The Icelandic...
How to Celebrate Icelandic Christmas
Icelanders go big on Christmas. Not only do we like to give big gifts but Icelandic Christmas goes on 13 days. Yes you read that correctly, Icelandic Christmas goes on for 13 days. Like elsewhere in the western world Christmas celebrations and preparations start obnoxiously...
From LA to Reykjavik: how Paula Gould found her roots in Iceland
Iceland only has about 400 thousand people, equivalent to the population of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Cardiff in the United Kingdom. However, Icelanders aspire to punch far above their weight. This means it is common for Icelanders to wear many hats in their careers and jobs....
