The Yule Cat, gouache

[Ocelot II]

Last edited Tue Dec 23, 2025, 11:37 PM - Edit history (2)

Gleðileg jól!

The Yule Cat, Jólakötturinn, is a creature of Icelandic folklore. He is the pet of the troll woman Grýla, her husband Leppalúði, and their thirteen troll sons, the Yule Lads. The cat is enormous, bigger than a house, and he prowls around on Christmas Eve looking for people who didn't get new wool clothing for Christmas, whom he eats. "The Yule cat was used as a threat and incentive for farm workers to finish processing the wool collected in the autumn before Christmas. Those who took part in the work were rewarded with new clothes, but those who did not would get nothing and thus would be prey for the Yule cat."

[samplegirl]

1. Love it

What imagination!
Merry 🎄 Christmas

[mwmisses4289]

2. Lovely!

It's a wonderful artwork, especially the cats eyes.

[wendyb-NC]

3. Wow, that's cool

Giant black cat, with the moon in their eyes, is behind the house, it's holiday magic. That's a very creative painting, thank you for posting your art, Ocelot II.

[3catwoman3]

4. The eyes look like crescent moons.

[Diamond_Dog]

5. Love your story and illustration!

[littlemissmartypants]

6. I love this, especially the scarves blowing in what I imagine is a very...

Cold breeze. Thank you.

🎁🎄❤️

[SuzyandPuffpuff]

7. Thank you

Great tale (tail!) Thx for sharing

[xocetaceans]

8. Jolaktturinn - Christmas Cat - Bjork

Jólakötturinn
(Lag / texti: Ingibjörg Þorbergs / Jóhannes úr Kötlum)


Þið kannist við jólaköttinn,
sá köttur var gríðarstór.
Fólk vissi‘ekki hvaðan hann kom
eða hvert hann fór.

Hann glennti up glyrnurnar sínar,
glóandi báðar tvær.
Það var ekki heiglum hent
að horfa í þær.

...

https://glatkistan.com/2017/02/28/jolakotturinn/

[Ocelot II]

9. I love that song.

I have actually performed it in a choral arrangement, in Icelandic, which seems like a blend of Norwegian and Klingon. We learned how to pronounce it by listening to this exact recording.

[xocetaceans]

10. That is really cool. Performing the song had to be a lot of fun.

There is a neat channel on YouTube which discusses older things related to Icelandic among other topics:

[Ocelot II]

11. It's a tongue-twister, but I am proud of the fact that now I can sing in Icelandic.

The song is a real earworm, too.

[xocetaceans]

12. This song is not Icelandic, but if you were exposed to Swedish culture in the US, you may have heard this one . . .

Here is a different version of the song with authentic Swedish:

[Ocelot II]

13. Exposed to Swedish culture? Dude, I live in Minnesota!

We marinate in Swedish and Norwegian culture here! I have heard that carol, and know pretty much by heart Berede väg för Herran and Gläns över sjö og strand, and a whole bunch of Norwegian carols. You couldn't get away from Swedish/Norwegian culture here if you wanted to. I won't eat lutefisk or surströmming, though. The music is great but the cuisine not so much, except for the pastries.

[MustLoveBeagles]

14. Interesting custom

I love the painting 😍🎨