Due to the pandemic, Revels Houston did an online carol singalong in lieu of our traditional holiday stage show in 2021. I love the legend of the Yule Cat, so it’s no surprise that I snuck this story in when they asked me to pen a couple of brief skits for the performance. This was my favorite of the two, so I thought I would share it here. Am I unabashedly recycling seasonal material in order to give myself some extra time this week? You bet.
On that cynical note, please enjoy…
The Yule Cat
LEE: That’s a great shirt. Is it new?
TAYLOR: Oh, this old thing? No, I’ve had it for years.
LEE: Well, I hope you’re not planning to wear it on Christmas!
TAYLOR: (shrugs) I don’t know. I might. Why not?
LEE: Don’t you know about Jólakötturinn?
TAYLOR: Yola – what now?
LEE: Jólakötturinn, you know – the Yule Cat.
TAYLOR: I have no idea what you’re talking about!
LEE: There’s a tradition in Iceland that says if you don’t wear something new on Christmas, the Yule Cat will show up and eat you.
TAYLOR: Wait, what?
LEE: Let me tell you the whole story. There’s a giantess named Gryla who lives in a cave out in Iceland’s lava fields with her husband and her 13 sons. Gryla is kind of bad news. And she keeps an enormous cat with huge, glowing eyes and fur as sharp as needles as a pet. Unfortunately, her cat is a less picky eater than Gryla herself, who prefers to eat naughty children. Gryla’s cat roams the snowy Icelandic countryside each Christmas and will eat anyone who isn’t wearing new clothes.
TAYLOR: That… that doesn’t make any sense.
LEE: Well, originally, they said that the Yule Cat only ate lazy children’s Christmas dinners, but somewhere along the line, things escalated.
TAYLOR: But why does the Yule Cat care if you have new clothes?
LEE: Some say that farmers spread tales of the Yule Cat as a way to encourage workers to finish processing the autumn wool before Christmas. They would get new clothes as a bonus if they completed their work on time, so new clothing became part of the story. Others say that living in a cave with a giantess and 13 kids just makes a cat go a little bit skittish.
TAYLOR: Okay, but skittish isn’t bloodthirsty.
LEE: Actually, you can blame a poet for that. Jóhannes úr Kötlum published a piece called Jólakötturinn in 1932 that firmly established the more ruthless Yule Cat in modern Icelandic Christmas lore. It’s still popular today.
TAYLOR: Huh. Interesting. But that still doesn’t mean I shouldn’t wear my favorite shirt on Christmas.
LEE: Do you remember my cousin, Gunnar?
TAYLOR: Oh, yeah! How is he? I haven’t seen him in years.
LEE: Oh, he didn’t believe in the Yule Cat and wore all of his old favorite clothes to Christmas dinner one year, and – wait, where are you going?
TAYLOR: (hurrying to exit) I’m going to buy a new shirt! I’m not taking any chances!
Now you know why Björk is the way she is. Happy holidays!
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