{{Short description|Huge cat in Icelandic folklore}} {{Hatnote|This article contains Icelandic names wherein last names are patronymic, not family names; persons are referred to by their given names.}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2023}} {{Infobox mythical creature |name = Yule cat |image = Yule Cat illustration.jpg |image_size = <!-- Image size in pixels; do not use with image_upright --> |caption = Artwork depicting the Yule cat |Grouping = Monster |Sub_Grouping = Icelandic Christmas folklore |First_Attested = {{Lang|is|Íslenzkar þjóðsögur og æfintýri}} in 1862 |AKA = {{unbulleted list |{{lang|is|Jólakötturinn}} |{{lang|is|Jólaköttur}} |Christmas cat }} |Country = Iceland }} The '''Yule cat''' ({{langx|is|Jólakötturinn}}, {{IPA|is|ˈjouːlaˌkʰœhtʏrɪn|IPA}}, also called '''''{{lang|is|Jólaköttur|italic=no}}''''' and the '''Christmas cat'''<ref>{{Cite journal |jstor=48611938 |title=''Jólaköttur, Yuillis Yald'' and similar expressions |last1=Ross |first1=Alan S. C. |journal=Saga-Book |date=1937 |volume=12 |pages=1–18}}</ref>) is a mythical cat in Icelandic Christmas folklore. It is said to be huge, vicious, to lurk in the snowy countryside during the Christmas season, and to eat people who do not receive new clothing before Christmas Eve. In other versions of the story, the cat only eats the food of the people who had not received new clothing. {{lang|is|Jólakötturinn|italic=no}} is closely associated with other figures from Icelandic folklore, considered the pet of the ogress {{lang|is|Grýla|italic=no}} and her sons, the Yule Lads.
==History== ===Origins=== The first definitive mention of the Yule cat is from an 1862 collection of folklore by Jón Árnason, {{Lang|is|{{ill|Íslenzkar þjóðsögur og æfintýri|is}}}}. It was described as an evil beast that would either eat those who did not get new clothes for Christmas, or eat their "Christmas bit" (an extra portion of food given to residents of a farm). Jón gave no source for either story.<ref>{{Cite wikisource |title=Íslenzkar þjóðsögur og æfintýri |language=is |trans-title=Icelandic folk- and fairy tales |last=Árnason |first=Jón |date=1862 |wslanguage=is |wslink=Íslenzkar þjóðsögur og æfintýri/Kreddur/Jólanóttin}}</ref><ref name="folklore">{{Cite web |url= https://icelandicfolklore.is/the-yule-cat/ |title=The Yule Cat |work=Icelandic Folklore |date=17 December 2020 |author=Áki Guðni Karlsson |access-date=29 November 2023 |archive-date=25 March 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230325175517/https://icelandicfolklore.is/the-yule-cat/ |url-status=live}}</ref>
Two theories have since been proposed for the origin of the story.<ref name="folklore"/> In one theory, folklorist Árni Björnsson points to a footnote by Jón which uses the figure of speech "to dress the cat".<ref>{{cite wikisource |wslink=Íslenzkar þjóðsögur og æfintýri/Viðbætir/Jólaköttur |title=Íslenzkar þjóðsögur og æfintýri |language=is |trans-title=Icelandic folk- and fairy tales |last=Árnason |first=Jón |date=1862 |wslanguage=is}}</ref> From this footnote and the lack of any written sources about the Yule cat prior to Jón's writings, Árni concluded that the phrase was the source from which Jón created the monster.<ref name="folklore" /><ref>{{Cite book |title=Í jólaskapi |language=is |trans-title=In a Christmas Spirit |last=Björnsson |first=Árni |date=1983}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |title=Saga daganna |language=is |trans-title=The History of Days |last=Björnsson |first=Árni |date=2000}}</ref> In another theory, archaeologist Guðmundur Ólafsson connects the Yule cat to various entities that, in other European traditions, accompanied Saint Nicholas. Guðmundur noted that sources for any kind of folklore in history were typically scarce, so the lack of written sources on the Yule cat did not carry much significance.<ref name="folklore"/><ref>{{Cite journal |title=Jólakötturinn Og Uppruni Hans |language=is |trans-title=The Origin of the Christmas cat |journal=Árbók Hins íslenzka fornleifafélags |url= https://timarit.is/page/2056924#page/n106/mode/2up |pages=111–120 |access-date=29 November 2023 |archive-date=1 September 2020 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20200901220727/https://timarit.is/page/2056924#page/n106/mode/2up |url-status=live}}</ref>
The Yule cat was traditionally used as a threat and incentive for farm workers to finish processing the wool collected in the autumn before Christmas. Those who took part in the work were rewarded with new clothes, but those who did not would get nothing and thus would be prey for the Yule cat.<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.simnet.is/gardarj/yule11.htm |title=The Yule Cat (Christmas in Iceland 2000) |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20050108092720/http://www.simnet.is/gardarj/yule11.htm |archive-date=8 January 2005}}</ref>
=== ''Christmas is Coming'' === The establishment of the Yule cat as part of classic Icelandic Christmas folklore came in 1932, when Jóhannes úr Kötlum published his poetry collection {{lang|is|{{ill|Jólin koma|is}}}} ({{lit}} {{'}}''Christmas is Coming''{{'}}). One of the poems, {{lang|is|Jólakötturinn}}, centered on the eponymous man-eating monster which subsequently became a common part of Christmas festivities and decorations in Iceland.<ref name="folklore" />
While the poem did not associate {{lang|is|Jólakötturinn|italic=no}} with {{lang|is|Grýla|italic=no}}, {{lang|is|Leppalúði|italic=no}}, or the Yule Lads, the characters were also featured in the collection. This commonality led to connections in later stories. By the middle of the 20th century, {{lang|is|Jólakötturinn|italic=no}} was considered the pet of {{lang|is|Grýla|italic=no}} and her sons. In some later stories, {{lang|is|Jólakötturinn|italic=no}} is so disobedient that only {{lang|is|Stúfur|italic=no}}, the smallest Yule Lad, is able to direct it, and he rides the cat across the countryside.<ref name="folklore" /><ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.thjodminjasafn.is/jol/adrar-vaettir/nr/2983 |title=Jólakötturinn |work=Thjodminjasafn.is |publisher=National Museum of Iceland |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20151222144049/http://www.thjodminjasafn.is/jol/adrar-vaettir/nr/2983 |archive-date=22 December 2015 |language=Icelandic}}</ref>
Ingibjörg Þorbergs composed several songs based on Jóhannes's poems, including one based on {{lang|is|Jólakötturinn}}, around 1970.<ref name="folklore" />
===Modern popularity=== In 2008, the English-language online newspaper ''The Reykjavík Grapevine'' published an article about the Yule cat;<ref>{{cite web |url= http://grapevine.is/culture/art/2008/12/10/the-christmas-cat/ |title=The Christmas Cat |last=Magnússon |first=Haukur |date=10 December 2008 |access-date=28 November 2015 |work=The Reykjavík Grapevine |publisher=Fröken Ltd |archive-date=8 December 2015 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20151208115345/http://grapevine.is/culture/art/2008/12/10/the-christmas-cat/ |url-status=live}}</ref> this is considered partially responsible for the Yule cat gaining international recognition, and the story of the {{lang|is|Jólaköttur|italic=no}} was repeated and expanded upon in various other articles.<ref name="folklore"/><ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/each-christmas-icelands-yule-cat-takes-fashion-policing-extreme-180961420/ |title=Each Christmas, Iceland's Yule Cat Takes Fashion Policing to the Extreme |access-date=29 November 2023 |date=19 December 2016 |first=Danny |last=Lewis |archive-date=26 November 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20231126233000/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/each-christmas-icelands-yule-cat-takes-fashion-policing-extreme-180961420/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In 2018, the city of Reykjavík set up a {{convert|5|m|ft|abbr=on}} tall iron sculpture of the Yule cat as a Christmas decoration in the city's central square.<ref name="folklore"/><ref>{{Cite web |url= https://grapevine.is/news/2018/11/27/christmas-cat-cost-causes-controversy/ |title=From Iceland — Christmas Cat Cost Causes Controversy |date=27 November 2018 |first=Colin Arnold |last=Dalrymple |access-date=29 November 2023 |work=The Reykjavík Grapevine |publisher=Fröken Ltd |archive-date=9 February 2023 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230209093147/https://grapevine.is/news/2018/11/27/christmas-cat-cost-causes-controversy/ |url-status=live}}</ref> In December 2023, a film about the Yule cat titled {{lang|is|Þið kannist við...}} ({{lit}} ''You Know...'', localized into English as ''Krampuss'') was released in Iceland.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Allir sáttir á hryllilegri jólakattarmynd |url=https://www.mbl.is/smartland/samkvaemislifid/2023/12/22/allir_sattir_a_hryllilegri_jolakattarmynd/ |access-date=2023-12-25 |website=www.mbl.is |language=is}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
*{{cite news |last= |first= |date=December 1985 |title=Jólakötturinn |url=https://timarit.is/page/3304702 |trans-title=The Christmas Cat |work=Lesbók Morgunblaðsins |language=is |location=Reykjavík |publisher= |access-date=2 February 2025 |issn=1670-3898}} *{{cite news |last= |first= |date=December 1958 |title=Jólaföt — jólaköttur |url=https://timarit.is/page/3285186 |trans-title=Christmas clothes — Christmas cat|work=Lesbók Morgunblaðsins |language=is |location=Reykjavík |publisher= |access-date=2 February 2025 |issn=1670-3898}}
==External links== *{{cite web |url= http://johannes.is/jolakotturinn/ | title=Jólakötturinn – Skáldasetur | Jóhannes úr Kötlum | date=8 December 2007}} The poem {{lang|is|Jólakötturinn}}, {{inlang|is}} ([https://web.archive.org/web/20050108092720/http://www.simnet.is/gardarj/yule11.htm English translation])
{{Christmas}}
Category:Christmas characters Category:Scandinavian legendary creatures Category:Icelandic folklore Category:Cats in folklore Category:Mythological cats Category:Monsters Category:Supernatural legends