by JuicyPuffin

Created on: December 07, 2011

Currently there are only thirteen "Yuletide lads", but in the past there were many, many more. The Yuletide lads are basically little elves that wreak mischief upon Icelandic households, and all come from one mother who is similar to a troll. The names of the elves also describe what they are known for.

Stekkurjasaur or Sheep-Cote-Clod, was the first Yuletide lad. He sucks the milk from sheep and has two peg legs which hinder him in this activity. Stekkur is an old word for sheep, and saur means filth.

Giljagaur or Gully Gawk is another, and he hides in barns and gullies to skim off the foam of the milk laying in milk buckets when no one is looking. Gilja means gully or ravine, while gaur means "gangling fellow".

Stufur or Stubby is the smallest Yuletide lad. He takes cooking pans and picks off the burnt pieces of pancake that have stuck to them, eating them for a snack. In order to understand this you must know that traditionally there is an Icelandic pancake pan that is essentially an extremely shallow saucepan, and they never actually wash the pan - they simply rinse it with water and keep all the old grease on the pan, as it makes for tastier pancakes. Stufur means stump or stub.

Thvorusleikir or Spoon-Licker is very thin. He licks stirring utensils, springing into the kitchen to nab them while the chef is away. Thvara was a type of pole with a blade that used to be used to sir things, similar to a spoon. Leikir means play, so he is someone who plays with stirring utensils.

Pottasleikir or Pot-Licker is the fifth and he scrapes lichen from cooking pots. Old names for him used to be Skefil "Scraper" and Skofnasleiki "Lichen-player". There was another pot-related Yuletide lad named Syrjusleiki, and syrju is what forms on the bottom of pots, for example fat and blood after a slaughter. Of course pots are normally used for something different today, so he is quite similar to Stufur now, the only differences between the two being that Pottasleikir does pots while the other does pans. Potta means pot.

Askaleikir or Bowl-Licker was common in centuries past when people used to eat from traditional wooden diner bowls called "aska". He hid under their beds and waited for them to put the bowls down in order for their pets to lick the leftovers. Then Askaleikir was the first to grab the bowl and lick out the insides.

Hurðaskellir or Door-Slammer is the seventh and he is a noise-related lad who does as his English name suggests. He especially loves to slam doors

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