13 Days Until Christmas 1st Night of Hanukkah
I do recommend this NPR series called "Hanukkah Lights" which has some really good Hanukkah stories told. You can find out more here.
More Iceland Christmas tales
We have someone (thing) called Grýla who is some ugly thing who is disputed at what she looks like exactly.
She is described as half ogre , half troll (the non internet kind) has some hoofs , 1 to more than 1 tails and some worts, described as ugly. I imaged searched there's no standard image of what she looks like. She has a husband , 13 children , and some people connect her to the Yule Cat too.
She apparently has a different way of handling unruly children or those who have been bad , she eats them. Good thing it's not Santa imagine the song having that as a line.( He knows when you're good or bad so be good or he will eat you!) Yes she takes them home in a bag and makes them into a soup. Parents in Iceland used this story to make sure their kids would be good. Now she wasn't originally apart of Christmas lore until the 17th century, before that it was just normal daily terrifying. (Eat your food kids or the troll lady will eat you)
She's been married a few times, glad she had time to marry. (?)
This line from BBC News is kind of funny
from
She is in a perpetual bad mood, mainly because she is always hungry. And it's not only children who attract her ire - her first two husbands bored her so much she ate them.
There was a decree in 1746 that parents had to stop using this story as tacit because it scared them, (I can't imagine why?)
Because why not drag this out more , tomorrow we will continue more about how modern Grýla and something about those sons of hers.
Grýla was called a bastard,
and ugly
with his hand
and his foot.
In the camps she lived
and looked across the countryside,
sometimes was weak
and sometimes fat.
The children chose
what Grýla was good
and whether she had food
in her bag and his pot.
If the children were good
, Grýla was hungry,
and shouted
untouched hunger singing.
If the children were bad
, Grýla became happy
and fumbled in his bag
fingerbreaking.
And bumped out of the hammer,
but slowly,
and hurried into town
- a straight path.
There she took the naughty
anguish
and poked them
in her bag.
And home to her again
, she quickly held,
- under the pot, fought
until night.
Another thing that happened there
nobody knows,
but Grýla immediately became
sick and fat.
She laughed at the
hammer
and kissed his
lipstick.
Once upon a time, it was a
Christmas
that the kids were
wearing pants and dresses.
And they were all
so puzzled
that Grýla was afraid
and surprised.
But for this long
long sat.
For fourteen days
she did not get food.
Then she got so much
veslings praise,
at last
she bumped - and died.
But the lipstick
of the bell waited,
and then he went
the same way.
Now my Icelandic children
like I pray
that they do not let their living
live.
http://notendur.snerpa.is/systaoggaui/grylukvaedi.htm
So join me next time for that, don't worry we won't eat you!
more after the jump
on our sister site
Radio Station of The Day
Today's radio station of the day is for Hanukkah. We found a really nice station that's web based on Tune in called "Tune in Hanukkah Hits" It does what it says on the tin so give it a listen. You can listen here or find it on the Tune in app , search : Hanukkah Hits.
Note :if you get Sirius XM they have a channel for Hanukkah that starts today at 12pmet more about that here