A horror story for Christmas

Many children around the world will spend the month of December eagerly awaiting the arrival of Santa Claus. Italian children will also wait for Befana, German children for the gifts from St. Nikolaus… and Icelandic children will fearfully wait for the Christmas Cat to pass by! Don't you know it? Then get ready to listen to a story…

By Alessandra Ivaldi / 11.12.2025

In Icelandic we speak of Jólakötturinn, which means “Christmas cat”. However, it is also called Yule cat after the pagan holiday that was celebrated in December in Iceland before the spread of Christianity, when Christmas did not yet exist.

If you are imagining a cute cat in a red cap with a white pon-pon, faithfully accompanying Santa Claus from house to house, then you got it all wrong. The Yule cat is gigantic and scary. He has evil eyes and is capable of superhuman leaps. And what's worse is that it doesn't hunt mice, but people. Children are his favorite prey. This comes as no surprise, since the Yule cat lives with two terrible trolls, who love to feed on children, especially the most disobedient ones.

The Yule cat is quite selective in its food choice. According to Icelandic tradition, during the winter holidays, families offer warm sweaters, socks and other items of clothing as gifts to relatives and friends. If someone doesn't get a new piece of clothing for Christmas, receiving it as a gift or making it themselves, then that person will become prey of the ferocious Yule cat.

Photo by Pixabay

At this point you are probably wondering who the hell made up such a story. A hideous giant cat devouring children who don't get new clothes at Christmas? What's the point of all this?

In fact, the legend of the Yule cat has very ancient roots, which are lost in Icelandic folklore. However, according to some scholars, its particular popularity has to do with precise historical facts. This legend, in fact, is linked to the economic history of Iceland, which for a very long time saw the production and trade of woolen clothing as its main source of wealth.

Before the Industrial Revolution, spinning and weaving took place inside the citizens’ houses and the entire family had to contribute to wool production, including children. The living conditions of the population were harsh and obviously Christmas presents were a luxury that few could afford. Only those who completed their share of the work by Christmas received small items of wool clothing as a reward. Since the Yule cat devours people who don't receive new clothes for Christmas, it's easy to understand how this legend was spread precisely to scare children into finishing their part of the job in time.

This same legend was later exploited even by wool mill owners. If production had finished before Christmas, then they would have given their employees some new clothes. Otherwise, there would have been no gift and the Yule cat would have massacred the “lazy” workers.

Photo by Pixabay

Therefore, the story of the evil cat had a specific practical purpose and became increasingly popular as the Icelandic economy specialized in the processing and export of wool. Not only that: the more the legend spread, the more it filled with new, increasingly violent and gruesome details. The situation probably got out of hand for Icelandic parents, as even the government found itself forced to intervene in defense of the children, terrified by the ravenous Yule cat. In fact, in 1764 an official edict prohibited the scaring of children with stories of the Christmas cat and other monsters!

Now you too are familiar with the legend of the Jólakötturinn and will look with different eyes at the colorful packets accumulated under the Christmas tree. And for once, you will be happy to receive the usual pair of socks in unlikely colors or a hideous scarf, the result of a “recycling” operation of old, unwelcome gifts, since they could save you from the clutches of the terrible Yule cat!