12 Demons of Xmas Day 9: Grýla
Just a busy working mom of 13…
Today’s comic went live on instagram yesterday, but with the family being together for the holiday break, I’ve been mostly unplugged. There’s been lots of good food and good conversation, which is the best I could wish for.
I hope you like these last few demons of the Yule season (which continues thru January 6). Enjoy. 🖤
Yep, it’s Grýla! Number 9 in our 12 demons of Xmas. Grýla is a hardworking ogre mother with a layabout husband and no help from her 13 children, the unruly Yule Lads. They also have a family pet—the flesh-eating giant Yule Cat.
They’re just one big, Icelandic Yule family.
(You can read more about Yule Cat here and the Yule lads here).
Grýla herself is said to be a terrifying, withered, old giantess who feasts on the flesh of naughty children once a year, specifically on Xmas Eve. Some descriptions give her nine tails and goat horns and eyes that are placed literally on the back of her head, but I figure her life is hard enough taking care of her scores of troll children, so I gave her a more down-to-earth look.
According to legend, Grýla descends from her Icelandic mountain home to snatch up all the naughty children for a great big stew, which she eats with her lazy drunk of a husband, Leppalúði. Some years, there supposedly aren’t enough naughty children for the pair to eat, so she and her flesh-hungry husband starve to death in the cold of winter.
Unfortunately, they can both be resurrected if they’re given just a taste of naughty child flesh, so the threat of Grýla the giantess is ever-present, even when Icelandic children have been on their best behavior all year.
If Grýla seems like an odd fit for the Xmas season, that might be because the legend of the ogress from the mountains is actually older than the traditions that put her at your doorstep on Xmas Eve. There are stories of Grýla and Leppalúði that predate Christianity, and as it turns out, Leppalúði wasn’t Grýla’s first husband. There were at least two before him, but Grýla supposedly grew bored of them and ate them both.
She and her previous husbands—and Leppalúði, too—have more children than just the Yule Lads. Going by the stories, Grýla has literally dozens of children between the three of her husbands. She and Leppalúði have at least twenty.
In the end, she’s just a hardworking mom trying to have it all.
And you know, eat a stew of naughty children.
So make sure you lock your windows and doors this winter, and don’t entertain any giant beggars who may visit your doorstep.
Happy Yule, friends.
Much love,
🖤Becca Lee, the Haunted Librarian🖤
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