To Sleep and Dream

My little pretty angel Valentina sleeps and dreams of Yuletime Lads on their way into town, one by one, the thirteen nights before Christmas Eve. She puts her shoe in the window like all Christmas children do, and hopes she's been good enough to find a Lad has left a treat there in the morning.

Ari, Telma's toddler brother (they live across the street), found a potato in his shoe today: he'd been noisy and threw a tantrum last night, Telma said. They always know, those Lads do, who's been naughty and nice!

Here's a list of the thirteen scoundrels who make the two weeks leading up to Christmas pure joy for most of Iceland's children. If you'd like to read more about winter holiday traditions here, try this Samkoma site and cruise around the page for interesting topics, like our Christmas Cat who eats kiddies who don't get any new clothes under the tree, and the nasty Grýla the Yule Lads' ravenous mother.
Despite all these grim traditions involving mythic creatures who steal and tease and devour and kidnap, and despite the disgusting price of imported goods, Christmas in Iceland is a joyous holiday centered around family, good food and great friends...