The Thirteen Yule Lads of Iceland
6 min readDec 5, 2019
Mischief, mayhem, and one scary cat
With the surge in tourism following the financial collapse of 2008–2009, may visitors have become acquainted with Iceland and one of its peculiar Christmas traditions: the Jólasveinar, or Yule Lads. Though the term Jólasveinn can be/is translated to Santa Claus in English, the mischievous Yule Lads don’t resemble their Euro-American cousin in the slightest.
