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| Art by Phineas Jones |
The owner of the Yule Cat is a troll giantess called Gryla. This is part of a very big family linked to the Yule tradition in Iceland, so I shall focus on the matriarch. Gryla was mentioned in the Prose Edda, although she has much older tales about her taking naughty, poor and disabled children. Described as having hooves instead of feet, she has tails, horns and she eats humans.
She always knows when children are being badly behaved, naughty and rebellious. She lives in a mountain cave, possibly near the volcanic region of the Dimmuborgir ("Dark Castles"). Every Yuletide, she wanders down to the villages and looks around for the children. Whenever she finds them, she puts them in a sack and carries them off to her dwelling. There she makes stew in a large pot, and eats the poor, disabled and naughty children.
This vile monster has been married three times. Her latest husband is called Leppaludi. She has many children who all live with her. To complete the monstrous family unit, there is the pet cat who is none other than the infamous Yule Cat. To learn more about the Yule Cat, read "Creepy Christmas Characters (part 2)."
More on the Creepy side of Christmas characters soon...
She Wolf Night team
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