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    Gryla Casey

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    Grýla is an ogress and giantess figure from Icelandic folklore who is said to live in the mountains and kidnap and eat naughty children on Christmas. She has a horrible temperament due to her constant hunger. Grýla has a family that includes 13 mischievous sons known as the Yule Lads and a large black cat. While no longer believed, Grýla remains an important part of Icelandic culture and her story was used to encourage good behavior in children during Christmas.

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    Gryla Casey

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    167 views12 pages
    Grýla is an ogress and giantess figure from Icelandic folklore who is said to live in the mountains and kidnap and eat naughty children on Christmas. She has a horrible temperament due to her constant hunger. Grýla has a family that includes 13 mischievous sons known as the Yule Lads and a large black cat. While no longer believed, Grýla remains an important part of Icelandic culture and her story was used to encourage good behavior in children during Christmas.

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    Grýla is an ogress and giantess figure from Icelandic folklore who is said to live in the mountains and kidnap and eat naughty children on Christmas. She has a horrible temperament due to her constant hunger. Grýla has a family that includes 13 mischievous sons known as the Yule Lads and a large black cat. While no longer believed, Grýla remains an important part of Icelandic culture and her story was used to encourage good behavior in children during Christmas.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    167 views12 pages

    Gryla Casey

    Uploaded by

    api-237672153
    Grýla is an ogress and giantess figure from Icelandic folklore who is said to live in the mountains and kidnap and eat naughty children on Christmas. She has a horrible temperament due to her constant hunger. Grýla has a family that includes 13 mischievous sons known as the Yule Lads and a large black cat. While no longer believed, Grýla remains an important part of Icelandic culture and her story was used to encourage good behavior in children during Christmas.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pptx, pdf, or txt
    of 12

    Grla

    Icelandic Christmas Monster


    Michelle Casey

    What is Grla?

    Ogress/Giantess/Troll

    Lives in the mountains in the Dimmuborgir lava fields

    Every Christmas she finds the bad children of Iceland, kidnaps them, and
    eats them

    Horrible temperament because she is constantly hungry

    Actually has a family- more on that later!

    History of Grla

    Said to be the oldest creature of Icelandic folklore


    13th century, possibly earlier
    Came about as a way of coercing children to be good all year round
    15th century: 15 tails, 100 bags per tail, 20 children per bag- thats 30,000
    kids!
    1746: Icelandic government bans the use of Grla as a threat to children in
    the home

    Physical Appearance

    Varies throughout the centuries


    Long, wart-covered nose
    13 tails
    Hooves for feet- part animal?
    Scarf over head
    Very big!
    Sack in hand

    Background Story and Family

    Used to beg to support her first 2 husbands, Boli and Gustur


    Decided eating children is a better option
    Puts children in sack to take home and boil; must release them if they
    repent
    On her 3rd husband, Leppalui (also lazy and bad-tempered)
    72 children???
    Most well known: the Yule/Christmas Lads
    Yule/Christmas Cat

    Yule Lads

    Bringers of mischief/strange desires


    The 13 Yule Lads:

    Sheep Cote Clog (Stekkjastaur)

    Gully Gawk (Giljagaur)

    Stubby (Stfer)

    Spoon Licker (vrusleikir)

    Pot Scraper (Potasleiki)

    Bowl Licker (Askasleikir)

    Door Slammer (Huraskellir)

    Skyr Gobbler (Skyrgmur)

    Sausage Swiper (Bjgnakrkir)

    Window Peeper (Gluggaggir)

    Yule Lads cont.

    Mostly pester farmers


    Modern interpretations have turned them into bringers of gifts for children
    who put their shoes on windowsills

    Yule Cat

    Called Jlaktturinn in Icelandic


    Large and black
    Eats everyone on Christmas night- unless they received new clothes for
    Christmas
    Meant to encourage people to work hard before Christmas so they can give
    each other good gifts- ultimate survivors guilt!
    Very young creature of folklore- earliest writings date back to 19 th century

    Grla as a Folkloric Motif

    C20: Calling on an ogre or destructive animal


    R0-R50: Captivity, Abduction, Places of Captivity, Conditions of Captivity
    G100: Giant Ogre
    G120: Physical Characteristics of Giant Ogres
    G360: Ogres with Monstrous Features

    Grla in the future

    Definitely will be around for a while- common household name in Iceland


    Still seen around Iceland

    Clearly no one believes in Grla anymore, but she is an


    important part of Icelandic culture
    Lost her believability when her name was banned

    Grla-additional odd facts

    2010: The Onion wrote an article blaming Grla for the eruptions of
    Eyjafjallajkull
    Children were told to carry sharp objects with them to cut themselves out of
    Grlas sack if they were caught- doesnt seem very safe
    Stories say she ate her first two husbands because they bored her- talk
    about being bored to death!
    There are some stories and songs of Grla which result in her dying at the
    end

    References

    "Gryla." Christmas Characters. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Feb. 2016.


    "Gryla the Child Eater: Troll Mother of the Yule Lads."The Icelandic Yule
    Lads. N.p., n.d. Web. 5 Feb. 2016.
    "Gryla- Responsible for the Year's Biggest Volcanic Eruption."The Onion.
    N.p., 13 Dec. 2010. Web. 5 Feb. 2016.
    Proctor, Lucy. "Bogeyman: Five Scary Visitors in the Night."BBC News. N.p.,
    24 Dec. 2012. Web. 5 Feb. 2016.
    Weber, Stephanie. "In Iceland, You Feed the Christmas Yule Cat or It Will
    Feed on You."Modern Notion. N.p., 18 Dec. 2014. Web. 5 Feb. 2016.

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