Icelandic Puppets at Unity Theatre
They came from a distant country
with winters long and cold
They were the boys with horrid tricks
well, that’s what I’ve been told
One by one, for 13 days
they came for food and light.
And when the last one had arrived
it was the Holy Night.
As part of 2009’s NICE Festival of Nordic Art and Culture, Greela and the 13 Yule Lads came to Unity Theatre today, performed by the renowned Felix Bergsson directed by Kolbrun Halldorsdottir Iceland’s Minister for the environment.
This was a very entertaining show for all ages though one or two younger ones got a bit distressed during the scary bits. With humour, song and expert story-telling skills from Felix we were all engrossed from begining to end.
We learned a lot from this about how Christmas is celebrated in Iceland. There is a 13 day lead up to the big Holy Day, during this time children leave a single shoe in the window (rather than a stocking by the fire) and if they have been good one of the Yule Lads will leave a gift, if not then they leave a potato! The Yule Lads mother is a troll called Greela and she is really nasty to naughty children, she may even eat them.
Felix starts by introducing us to each of the 13 Yule Lad puppets in turn. With names like Spoon Licker, Sausage Stealer, Door Sniffer etc. you can’t fail to get a laugh. Then he relates the old story about the boy with only one shoe which is the inspiration for the shoe-in-the-window tradition.
The boy with one shoe is almost fed to Greela’s Yule Cat but is rescued by the lads who, though mischievous, are not so cruel. From that time on the 13 Lads go into the towns to leave gifts in the shoe. So a happy ending and we left feeling quite warm and Christmasy.
Greela and the 13 yule lads
21st November (one day only)
By Felix Bergsson
