Sheep-Cote Clod
The first Yule Lad comes to town on 12 December. His name is Sheep-Cote Clod and he used to try to suckle the yews in the farmers' sheep sheds.
The Yule Lads visit the National Museum from the 12th of December until 24th, daily at 11 am. They wear their old Icelandic costumes and sing and tell children (and adults) stories. Admission ticket is needed.
The first of them was Sheep-Cote Clod.
He came stiff as wood,
to prey upon the farmer's sheep
as far as he could.
He wished to suck the ewes,
but it was no accident
he couldn't; he had stiff knees
- not to convenient.
The Icelandic jólasveinar (Yuletide Lads) have little connection with the international red-clothed Santa Claus. The Yuletide Lads are descended from trolls, and orginally they were bogeymen who were used to scare children. During this century they have mellowed, and they sometimes wear their best, red, suits. But they still tend to pilfer and play tricks. They are the sons of two of the most hideous ogres ever known in Iceland, Grýla and Leppalúði.