Meet the Icelandic Yule Lads — Hurðaskellir

The Door-Slammer

Photo by Ferdinand Stöhr on Unsplash

This is the seventh in a fourteen-part series on the Icelandic Jólasveinar, or Yule Lads. For an introduction and the full list of mischievous Christmas imps, and one terrifying Christmas cat, you should read the following:

The Thirteen Yule Lads of Iceland

Icelandic Name: Hurðaskellir

English Translation: Door-Slammer

Arrival: December 18

Departure: December 31

The seventh was Door Slammer,

a sorry, vulgar chap:

When people in the twilight

would take a little nap,

he was happy as a lark

with the havoc he could wreak,

slamming doors and hearing