Icelandic Christmas Cat Song
Jólakötturinn The Christmas Cat is a beast that according to Icelandic folklore eats children who dont receive new clothes in time for Christmas.
Icelandic christmas cat song. Im not convinced that shes entirely human. Icelandic Christmas celebrations traditionally begin on December 23rd and involve a mix of religious practices and intriguing Icelandic mythology. That is a great poem and it was made into a spooky song by Ingibjörg Þórbergs.
Unfortunately if there are no colourful new clothes among these gifts the innocent little ones instead of feasting on the Christmas banquet next day will become feasted on by the Yule Cat. The folklore includes both mischievous pranksters who leave gifts during the night and monsters who eat disobedient children. Behave or a troll will terrorize you or a cat will eat you.
Grýla and Leppalúði have 13 children all of whom are male that are the Icelandic Santa Clauses. Björk also recorded a popular version of the song in the late 1980s. Icelands favourite daughter sings her version of the carol Jólakötturinn or the Christmas cat by composer Ingibjörg Þorbergs.
Apparently farmers threatened their employees with being preyed upon by the Yule Cat in order to encourage them to complete the processing of the autumn wool before Christmas. 12282019 at 1107 AM. 273 translations 44 transliterations 193 thanks received 140 translation requests fulfilled for 84 members 3 transcription requests fulfilled added 18 idioms explained 20 idioms left 54 comments added 5 annotations.
Björk also recorded a popular version of the song in the late 1980s listen here. Superstition was rife in Iceland in the past. And so did the jazz singer Ragnheiður Gröndal in 2004.
So imagine the terror of poor children who didnt get a new piece of clothing for Christmas. Here you can listen to Icelands most famous singer Björk singing about the Icelandic Christmas Cat - and read the translation of the text from Icelandic to English. The stories are directed at children and are used to scare them into good behaviour.