The yule cat is an Icelandic folklore tale that talks about a gigantic cat who likes to visit the houses of children at Christmas. If it sounds cute – it isn’t. Sure, a huge cat and Christmas might sound cozy, but this specific one has a passion for fashion and is very strict about it.
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The cat looks through the windows to see if the kids got new garments for gifts. If they didn’t then, in the best-case scenario she eats all their dinner, and in the worst-case scenario, she eats the kids themselves. The fans might not be as crazy about her as they are about theseanime cat boysbut they are certainly interested to learn what the deal is with the yule cat and its legend.
8The Real Name
The real name, or better yet, how folks in Iceland called the yule cat is Jolakotturinn. It is pronounced as yola-cut-ter-rin, and it perfectly describes the monstrous kitty that roams the Icelandic countryside.
7The Owner Of The Yule Cat
People might think that Jolakotturinn is a stray cat slash mythical monster, but she has an owner, and what an owner it is! If there were apps back then, surely she would haveone for pet mums.
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Gryla is an ogress, who knows which kid behaves badly. If readers think that she sounds a bit like Santa Claus, they might want to rethink: Gryla punishes children by making a stew out of them.
Her beloved pet is not only someone to chill around the fireplace with, but someone who helps her capture the naughty children - aka, her next meal. It’s a mystery how this is not a majormovie featuring a catyet.
6The Shoe On The Window
It is easy to get confused when it comes to Icelandic myths. Yule cat does have a connection to the weird tradition of the shoe on the window, but not because of her role as fashion police.
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Her owner, Gryla, has 13 kids called The Yule Lads, and each of them is worse than the other. So, every December 12th, everyone must put a shoe on the window, if they want to have a chance at gifts. Depending on how good they have been, the kids would either get candy or rotting vegetables.The creepy catdoes not take part in this ritual, but certainly, she watches from afar, purring happily.
5The Yule Lads Are Just As Bad
If the readers think that the Yule lads sound better than the cat or the mother, then they must know that the 13 boys have names that describe their personalities. As theNational Museum of Icelanddescribes them:
4The Breed
The breed of the yule cat is a Norwegian Forest cat. Since the breed is known to be big and fluffy, it fits the image of a giant cat – although it is hard to imagine the big floofs eating children who were not fortunate enough to have new clothing.
In the myths, she towers over the tallest houses, has glowing eyes, and does not have the softest skin since it resembles needles.Gamers are used to seeing cats everywhere, so if someone put Jolakotturinn in a game along with the yule lads, it wouldn’t be the most surprising thing.
3Origins
The yule cat doesn’t have a definite origin or a date to mark down, as the opinions on how it came to be, differ.
One of the most usual ones, says that Jolakotturinn’s legend started around the Middle Ages. The farmers would scare their workers with the myth, so they would finish producing wool before Christmas. If they did, then they would be rewarded with new clothes, so they wouldn’t get caught by the yule cat.
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Another one says that it was a myth that parents made up, so they could scare their kids to behave because if they didn’t, they wouldn’t get new clothes and the terrifying giant cat would get them.
In 1764, there was a ban over the yule cat and the folklore that involved her, because people would get a bit too terrified. The ban was lifted later.
Also, the poet Johannes ur Kotlum wrote a poem about Jolakotturinn and named it “The Christmas Cat”, which made its popularity rise once more. The 1932 poem can be read on thei iz cat website.
2Why Clothes?
The yule cat is all about substance over style. It promotes the following ideas:
1Different Interpretations
In some stories, the yule cat is less monstrous but still huge and goes to the houses to see if the children got new clothes. If they didn’t, she eats their food. Some others tell the story of an ugly-looking beast that looks like a cat and eats the children instead of their dinner if they don’t have new garments.
Lastly, a lot of people prefer the myth of the yule cat going out with her owner and helping her catch kids, so she can make a stew out of them later.She might not be one of the best anime cats, but she is definitely one of the best legendary cats from myths!
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