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08.12.2012 00:22

Icelandic Santas

As many of you probably know, the Icelanders don't have just one Santa but 13, brothers and children of the trolls Grýla and Leppalúði. Their pet is Jólakötturinn, the Christmascat, which eats people that don't get any clothes for Christmas. So watch out!

During December these brothers open their home and people can visit them in the fascinating scenery of Dimmuborgir in Mývatnarea. Once a year they take their bath, which is usually in early December, so they are nice, dry and clean before they start visiting the Icelandic children. Well, infact not all of them will be nice and clean as Stúfur, the smallest one, is so afraid of water, he doesn't dare to come close and therefore is already quite dirty. Others have to be tricked to bath by telling them that they are all going for a fishing trip and then just pushing them into the water.

It was bathingday today so we made a nice excursion with Hjördís, Kristján and Hrund. First we went to Dimmuborgir to meet the Santas at their home. We met Stekkjastaur with his stiff legs, Giljagaur and one of their brothers. The kids got candles, which they should take care of very well, so Kertjasníkir, the Santa coming on 24th, doesn't steal them. It was so nice to see how the Santas tried to interact with the kids, with more or less success. In the end they even got involved in a snowballfight with our bunch of kids and had a lot of fun. Stekkjastaur saw that Hjördís was a bit shy, grabbed her and took her to his stonethrone, where they had a very nice chat. Rather funny for us to watch it.
Afterwards we went to Vogafjós, the cow-shed café, at lake Mývatn. We were the only guests and got delicious food there. If you are in the area, try it! We recommend the raw smoked lamb and the dish with various specialities.

Last but not least we went to Jarðböðin, where the Christmasbath took place. In no time Ingólfur and the kids were in the pool, closely followed by 10 of 13 Santas. Looks like 3 escaped from bathing again...

They brought a lot of strange things along, Kjetkrókur (Meathook) trying to teach his hook to swim, others washing themselves and others with huge brushes and in the end singing Christmassongs with the kids and grown-ups.

It was a very, very nice afternoon, we had a lot of fun and I hope you enjoy the pics I took!