#jólakötturinn

[yulecatt]

the ogre’s pet

[the-mortuary-witch]

Happy Yule to those who celebrate it, I’ve already left out some dried cranberries, mixed nuts, homemade chocolate chip cookies and dried oranges that I made for Odin, Krampus, the Yule Lads, Grýla, and Jólakötturinn (the Yule Cat) since I’m Icelandic. Also, gonna give some cookies or candy canes to Freyja, Loki, Hel, and Fenrir tomorrow! Blessed be.

[monniponi]

Yule Cat 😺

[blackbeeno3569]

Working on something.

[disease]

JÓLAKÖTTURINN (THE CHRISTMAS CAT) BJÖRK | HVÍT ER BORG OG BÆR, 1987

[witch-with-scissors]

"Merry Yule Carollers"

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Digital collage inspired by European folklore.

The Winter Solstice Sabbath was visited by four of my favorite holiday creatures. Do you recognize them? 🐐💀🐮🐈‍

🐐 The goat is Joulupukki - literally "Yule/Christmas Goat" in Finnish. It brings gifts in Scandinavia. In the period after the holidays, people dressed as goats went from house to house, singing songs and asking for leftovers. They often scared children too.

💀 The horse skull is Mari Lwyd - "Grey Mare" from Wales. The skull in the sheet with glass eyes. Together with a group of people, at Christmas time, she knocked on houses and sang a song in which she asked to be let in. The residents of the house sang why Mari Lwyd could not enter. The dialogue between the two sides (known as pwnco) continued until the residents of the house ran out of excuses or rhymes. Then Mari could Lwyd enter and was given beer and food.

🐮 The bull is Turoń - in Polish "tur" is "aurochs", an extinct type of wild cow from Europe, but Turoń often resembles more the child of a crocodile and a goat than a cow… Turoń was horned, usually black and snapped its mouth from which the tongue often hung out. Together with a group of people and strange creatures, he went from house to house around the holidays. They scared people, sang songs, made jokes and ate leftovers.

🐈‍ The cat is Jólaköttur - called the Yule Cat, also called the Bloodthirsty and Christmas Cat, originally from Iceland. He lurks during the holidays and eats people who are not wearing something new.

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Take care of local traditions and old folklore! Happy holidays! ⭐

[misspjsuperior]

In Icelandic folklore Jólakötturinn, the Yule Cat, comes to eat those who do not wear their new clothes for Christmas. In this illustration, you can see somebody did not put on their new Christmas sweater. Or perhaps even more unfortunately, no one got them one!

Jólakötturinn is huge, as big as if not bigger than a house, and only comes around for Christmas. Some say Jólakötturr (as sometimes shortened) is the pet of the a family of trolls known as the Yule Lads who are Santa’s helpers in Iceland. It’s also said that he has a particular taste for ungrateful children.

The legend of the Jólakötturinn was not written down for publishing until the early 19th century. At first a more obscure countryside myth, the lore of Yule Cat has only grown since and is now internationally known and celebrated. It is theorized the practical purpose of this myth may have been to aid in wool production in earlier seasons of the year which children took part in helping with.

Jólakötturinn illustration by PJ superior

[apesoformythoughts]

Hellboy Winter Special: The Yule Cat

[demeternatiart]

Painting Process of the newest Yule Cat gouache painting. ✨🎨��‍⬛

Gouache always gives me anxiety when I'm working with it, because most of the times I don't know what I'm doing and I'm trying to figure things out on the way. 😅 But it gets better with practice, so maybe some day I can use gouache casually too. 😁

[gareteddybear]

Poll time!

[darkcranemedia]

I always thought the Yule Cat was more interesting than 8 tiny reindeer. It might also explain why I always get socks.

[curiousnaturestudio]

Jólakötturinn

[mosimyri]

Here they all are! The yule cat cards I made for this year’s presents <3

[mired-in-halloween]

Marked Safe... From The Yule Cat

Yule Cat Christmas Card by AnastasiaKashian

[blackbeeno3569]

My very first Christmas anything for them. Hazel doesn't like Christmas. Too sad, too bitter. However that only makes it the perfect excuse to explore somewhere new and extraordinary. The Yule Cat is a lovely Icelandic spirit many of you surely know. A giant feline haunts the streets during Christmas, preying on those who don’t have new winter clothes for the season. What better Christmas spirit could these two meet?

[badperidot]