Lögberg-Heimskringla - 11.12.1992, Page 4

4 • Lögberg-Heimskringia • Föstudagur 11. desember 1992
Christmas Traditions of
The Icelandic winters are a time
for get-togethers, and a time for
story telling when the imagina-
tion is set free. Many believe that this
was one of the conditions that led to
the creation and preservation of the
Icelandic Sagas of the 13th century.
Today these are recognized as classics
of an unique medieval literary
achievement.
Because the days are particularly
short during Christmas, the Yuletide
festivities are prolonged. A special
Christmas atmosphere persists for the
entire period between Christmas and
also between New Year and Epiphany
orTwelfth Night.
In Iceland Christmas preparations
begin during Advent. It is interesting to
recall the Christmas traditions of old in
Iceland. Everything was washed, pol-
ished and cleaned. Groups of farmers
would go on horseback to the nearest
stores or fishing villages, and here they
would trade wool for necessities such
as extra raisins or prunes and special
sugar for the children. Also, they would
slaughter a lamb to have new fresh
meat for the occasion. Usually they
consumed salted or cured meat during
the winter.
Pagan customs were mixed in with
Christian traditions. This midwinter
feast was by no means a Christian
invention. The church merely
Christianized the old festival.
Originally the festivities were to forget
the darkness. The sagas and other
poems and folktales reveal how the
activities of the season were a sort of
protection against all evil powers
because ghosts, monsters, fairies and
other supematural beings were most
active in the darkness at Yuletide.
Also, it was believed that everyone
had to get new clothes and new shoes,
or the Christmas cat would get them.
There was no quarreling or swearing
allowed or the devil might come and
destroy them. Then they would light
candles all over, so there were no
shadows in the rooms.
Christmas Eve is more meaningful
than Christmas Day for Icelanders. As
a prelude to Christmas they attend
Þorláksmessa, the Mass of St.
Þorlákur, on the 23rd of December.
Formerly it was customary to cook the
lamb used as one of the main
Christmas Day dishes on this day.
Christmas is considered the most
significant of all the holy celebrations.
At 6 o’clock on Christmas Eve all the
work of cleaning and preparing for
this celebration must be done. Then a
family would have a reading of the
Christmas story from the Bible, sing
Christmas carols, and have prayers.
After that, they would have súkulaði
(hot chocolate) and pönnukökur, flat-
brauð and jólaköku.
Unique to Ice-
land is their alter-
native to Santa
Claus. They have
13 Jólasveinar
(Christmas Men).
The first one arrives
13 days before
Christmas, with the
last one coming on
Christmas Eve.
Then beginning on
Christmas Day,
they disappear in the same order —
and Twelfth Night, the last day of the
holiday season, coincides with the
departure of the last one.
Originally the role of the Christmas
Men was the opposite to that of St.
Nicholas. A mid-17th century poem
tells of the hag Grýla and her hus-
band Leppaluði — a monster couple
forever wanting to eat naughty chil-
dren at Christmas time. Their children
were the Jólasveinar, who were of
gigantic size and were the enemy of
children, not their friends or bringers
of gifts. By the middle of the 19th cen-
tury, there was a softening on the
story of these folklore creatures. It
was no longer lawful to frighten chil-
dren with the “Christmas Men” story.
Instead the holiday visitors were seen
as pranksters bent on stealing food
and other things, especially from chil-
dren. About 50 years ago the Ice-
landic Christmas Men became friend-
ly to children and the bringers of holi-
day gifts. Even though the Christmas
Men eventually took on the role and
the appearance of Santa Claus, their
number stayed at thirteen.
Traditionally, Iceland’s 13
Christmas men descend from
the mountains in time for the
festivities. Their names are the
ancient ones. The first one was the
“Stiff-Legged Sheep Chaser” who
came and made trouble on the farm.
Second came the “Gorge Oáf” who
would wait in the byre (cow house)
until the milk-maid’s attention was
elsewhere and then steal the creamy
froth. “Shorty” came third, and he
delighted in “borrowing” kitchen
pans and “cleaning” them for his ever
empty tummy. The fourth in line was
“Spoon Licker” who was very lean
and. tall. He always hoped for a
deserted kitchen. “Pot Scraper” came
fifth and competed with the children
in finishing the left-overs. “Pot
Licker”, the sixth, hid under beds and
he would even stoop so low as to
steal from pets. Seventh came “Door
Slammer” who loved disturbing any
body’s sleep. Dairy products were
never safe from the eighth one who
used every opportunity to stuff him-
self. Ninth came “Sausage Stealer”, an
unwelcome guest who tried to finish
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all the smoked food
which had been
saved for Christmas.
“The Peeper” came
tenth and frightened
the children in his
never ceasing search
for loot. “The Sniff-
er” who was number
eleven, could smell
food even from the
mountains and was
quick to arrive.
Twelfth came “Meat Hooker” who
lumbered onto roofs to slip down the
kitchen chimneys. Finally it was the
turn of “Candle Beggar” who arrived
on Christmas Eve. His weakness was
the children’s candles buming in the
night.
Since 1930, the State Broadcasting
Service in Iceland has presented spe-
cial radio programs for children at
Christmas. Because no one knows
which particular Christmas Man will
be acting the role of one of the thir-
teen traditional Yule tide figures, the
children have an incentive to recall all
of the names in anticipation. Now
there are songs about the Christmas
Men, with fun music.,
ow, in Reykjavík, Iceland, the
beginning of the festive season
starts with a ceremonial illu-
mination of a large Christmas tree in
the city centre, the annual Yuletide gift
of the people of Oslo to the people of
Reykjavík. Just before dusk on a
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lceland
Sunday in mid-December, parents and
children gather from all over the city
to crowd around the tree as a brass
band plays Christmas carols. As dark-
ness falls, a Norwegian ambassador
throws a switch and a web of fairy
lights illuminates the Christmas tree.
Then, on a flat roof on the opposite
side of the square, the Yuletide Lads
make their appearance (see page 24).
Children believe in putting their
shoes out each nigtit on the days
before Christmas and, if they are very
good, they can expect to find gifts and
goodies in the shoes the next morning.
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