We’ve all heard of Santa Claus, but have you heard of the Yule Cat? Weird enough, the Yule Cat eats children if they misbehave, which is similar to the belief that Santa gives naughty children coal.
The Yule Cat is to ensure that children have good behavior and is to inspire generosity among the children.
The Yule Cat (also referred to as the Christmas Cat and the Jólakötturinn) is a popular belief in Iceland. Families in Iceland make sure everyone has warm clothing during Christmastime and also make an offering of warm clothing to the Cat. The Christmas Cat is known to stalk all through the night and devour anyone who is not dressed for the cold, wintery weather. The offering would grant the families protection from the monstrous feline.
The Cat is said to peer through the windows of children to see what they’ve gotten for presents. If the child has gotten new clothes, the Yule Cat will move along. But if the child has not gotten new clothes, the Cat will eat the child’s dinner along with the child as an appetizer.
There’s even a poem just for the Christmas Cat:
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.
