The Yule Cat Solstice Strangedive - Iceland's Spooky Holiday Tradition | Ep #47

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Hello stranger and gladi Legiol,
welcome to a special Icelandic

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Yuletide episode of Madam
Strangeways, wherein I, Madam

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Strangeways, usually narrate
your true strange stories of the

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unexplained and discuss my
strange research on said strange

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topic.
But with just days to go before

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Yule and the winter solstice,
this deep dive strange dive.

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Episode.
Will be all about everyone's

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favorite Icelandic Cryptid, the
Yule Cat.

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And of course.
Along the way, I'll drag you

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down a slew of strange rabbit
holes, kicking and screaming as

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always, if needs must before we
get to today's Solstice Strange

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dive.
The strangest shout outs to my

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Patreon patrons, TJ Hotter of
the Tapes of Trepidation

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podcast, G Man music, Ted, Keith
and Tori, thank you so much to

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my Feral Fiendish 5 for
supporting the show.

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You can hear your name at the
beginning of every episode and

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you can get a free sticker and
you can get bonus Madam Strange

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Notes episodes just for joining
the Patreon at

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patreon.com/madam.
Strange Ways.

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Oh hear that?
Sounds like it's about to rain

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Hellcats and hellhounds out
there.

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You know it's perfect weather
for a strange ride together with

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you here on Madam Strangeways.
Before we get into the yuletide

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strange dive, enjoy a 2 minute
and 43 second poem to set the

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strange scene.
Yola, Katherine The Yule Cat by

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Johannes Orkutnum, 1932 You all
know the Yule cat, and that cat

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was huge indeed.
People didn't know where he came

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from or where he went.
He opened his glaring.

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Eyes wide, the two of them
glowing bright, it took a really

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brave man to look straight into
them, his whiskers sharp as

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bristles, His back arched up
high, and the claws of his hairy

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paws were a terrible sight.
He gave a wave of his strong

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tail.
He jumped and he clawed and he

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hissed, Sometimes up in the
valley, sometimes down by the

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shore.
He roamed at large, hungry and

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evil in the freezing Yule snow.
In every home people shuddered

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at his name.
If one heard a pitiful meow,

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something evil would happen
soon.

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Everybody knew he haunted men
but didn't care for mice.

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He picked on the very poor that
no new garments got for Yule,

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who toiled and lived in dire
need from them.

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He took in one fell swoop their
whole Yule dinner, always eating

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it himself if he possibly could.
Hence it was that the women at

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the spinning wheels sat spinning
a colorful thread for a frock or

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a little sock, because you
mustn't let the cat get hold of

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the little children.
They had to get something new to

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wear from the grown-ups each
year, and when the lights came

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on on Yule Eve and the cat
peered in, the little children

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stood rosy and proud, all
dressed up in their new clothes.

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Some had gotten an apron and
some had gotten shoes or

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something that was needed.
That was all it took, for all

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who got something new to wear
stayed out of that pussycat's

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grasp.
He then gave an awful hiss but

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went on his way.
Whether he still?

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Exists.
I do not know, but his visit

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would be in vain if next time
everybody got something new to

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wear.
Now you might be thinking of

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helping where his help is needed
most.

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Perhaps you'll find some.
Children that have nothing at

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all, perhaps searching for those
that live in a lightless world,

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will give you a happy day and a
merry, merry Yule.

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And a merry Merry Yule to those
of you who are not eaten alive

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by the gigantic, monstrous Yule
cat.

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Merry, merry survival to the
survivors of the The Yule Hunger

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Games.
Now, if you're from Iceland or

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you speak Icelandic, I'm sorry,
I apologize.

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I tried really hard.
I did a lot of practicing.

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I listened to a lot of
pronunciation and I did a lot of

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retakes for this episode.
So I tried really hard to

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pronounce everything properly
and to give this culture the

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respect that it deserves.
So for this Yule episode, this

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very special Yule episode, we
will be talking all about the

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Yule cat, all the Yule cat all
the time.

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You're going to hear about the
folkloric origins and some

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spooky weird history.
And you know, I don't know,

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whatever little strange rabbit
holes that I found along the way

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while I was researching the Yule
cat, which is of course, many

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rabbit holes, many of them.
However, if after you listen to

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this episode, you want even more
about the Yule Cat, you should

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tune into Tapes of Trepidation
because I have done a

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collaboration with TJ Hotter
over there, who runs the show,

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and I wrote an original short
horror fiction story about a

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Yule Cat situation.
And I also narrated the story.

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So you can listen to that on
Tapes of Trepidation and his 12

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Scares of Christmas series that
he does leading up to Christmas.

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So for some spooky festive
fiction, oh, there's something

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there.
Freaky, festive, freaky.

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I think that I think that
depicts that's something

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different, frightful.
For some frightful festive

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fiction, check out friend of the
show TJ Hotter's podcast, Tapes

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of Trepidation.
He does a great job and he's an

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amazing human being.
So very excited for you to

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listen.
I haven't really put like

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fiction out into the world since
I was a teenager.

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Publishing fanfiction to
fanfic.net or

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fanfiction.netanywayletmeknowmanofstrangeways@gmail.com.
If you listened, if you liked

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it, and check that out on Tapes
of Trepidation, OK, here we go.

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We're going to get into the
nitty gritty of the Yule Cat.

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So, from Wikipedia, the Yule
Cat, or the Yola Catoden is a

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huge and vicious cat from the
Icelandic Christmas folklore

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that is said to lurk in the
snowy countryside during the

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Christmas season and eat people
who do not receive new clothing

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before Christmas Eve.
The Yola Catoden is closely

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associated with other figures
from Icelandic folklore and is

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considered the pet of the Ogress
Grilla and her sons, the Yule

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Lads.
Now I'm going to just, I'm just

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going to say right now, wow.
I'm just going to say right now

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there are 13 Yule Lads.
We're not going to talk about

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the Yule Lads hardly at all
because we would be here for 500

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years at the rate in which this
is going.

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Because I accidentally did
something like 8 pages of notes

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and research about just the Yule
Cat.

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This was originally going to be
about multiple creepy Christmas

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creatures.
Instead is basically just about

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the Yule cat, which that's
basically me in a nutshell.

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I intend to talk about more
things.

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Instead, I just talk about cats.
All right, So just setting

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expectations there.
So as you heard in the poem that

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I read at the beginning, which
is by Johannes or Kotlum, that

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was back in 1932.
Actually, it we go back further

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than 1932 for the first instance
of of the Yule cat.

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But we're going to get there.
I'm getting ahead of myself.

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Anyway, in that poem, you'll
notice that it does say that.

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Like you don't necessarily have
to wear new clothes yourself.

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If you give new clothes to the
less fortunate, then the Ulcat

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will leave you alone.
So long as you've either

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received or given new clothes to
someone, you're good.

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Now, it looks like that might
have been an addition by your

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boy Johannes in 1932, and that
was not part of the original

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Ulcat lore.
But I kind of like it.

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So I feel like let's let's roll
with it.

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So in addition to the poem in
1932 and the original book that

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it was published in back in
1862, which we'll get to in just

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a second, just give me a moment.
In addition to those in 1987,

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everyone's favorite Icelandic
Princess, Bjork, which is not

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Bjork because she said so, I
learned that it rhymes with

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jerk.
So Bjork, we'll go with that.

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She sang a song called Yola
Katidin, which is Icelandic, for

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the Yulkat.
And that was 1987.

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And I think that's probably what
put the Yulkat on the modern map

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or at least made it much more
popular, especially to this day.

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But it was based on an original
song written by Ingi Buch

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Thorbergs.
She was among the first women

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songwriters in Iceland.
So we love to hear it.

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So this Yul, you know what
you're listening to now, right?

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You're listening to Yola Katidin
by Bjork, not Bjork.

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Bjork.
So when we're talking about the

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Yule cat, why is it a cat?
Why is it a cat monster?

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Why isn't it just another ogress
like via?

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Why isn't it another creature?
For instance, I don't know, an

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animal like a Yule goat.
Why isn't it that?

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Why is it a cat?
Well, I of course wanted to

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understand what about Iceland
would make them make a a a cat

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monster?
I'm just curious.

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So, according to Head magazine,
written by Kathleen Herons, cats

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were the traveling companions of
choice for Vikings, although not

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for sentimental reasons, but
rather to kill mice and also to

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be skinned for their fur.
I don't like that, but I want to

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include it because I like to
share the truth, the strange

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truth, even when I don't like
it.

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Consequently, feline populations
grew throughout the Nordic

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countries when the Vikings
settled there.

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To this day, Reykjavik, the
capital of Iceland, is

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culturally a cat city.
According to Reykjavik

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excursions, as of August 2022,
there was a cat to human ratio

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in Reykjavik of 1 to 10.
One cat for every 10 humans.

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Which honestly I've put it in
perspective here.

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I looked it up, what's the
closest like American city size

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to Reykjavik?
So based on population, it looks

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like Omaha, NE has a similar
population size to Reykjavik.

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And so I wanted to know how many
cats does Omaha NE have?

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And it's 60,000 and Reykjavik
has 20,000.

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So I when you put it in
perspective, maybe that's not

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that many cats, but when you
compare it to the amount of

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dogs, that's when it really
starts to get crazy.

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Because as of 2023, it appears
that there were only 10,000 dogs

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in Reykjavik.
And the reason why there's so

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many more cats than dogs is
because it was illegal to own a

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dog in Reykjavik for 60 years.
From 1924 to 1980480419 84.

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It was illegal.
Now, did people still own dogs?

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Yes.
Did they just get fined?

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Yes.
Did they all pay the fines?

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No.
Are they now paying the fines

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because there's a bunch of red
tape Even to this day to own a

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dog, they're still not paying
the fines.

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I mean, I can understand, but
genuinely there's so much red

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tape around owning a dog now
that even now there's just more

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cats than dogs in Reykjavik
according to my information.

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Are you from
reykjavikdoyouknowdifferentlyletmeknowaboutstrangeways@gmail.com?

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Always happy to learn.
Anyway, it's clear that

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Icelanders love cats and it even
goes back way before 1924

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because like all their Norse
pals, Icelanders worshipped

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Freya, the goddess of love,
beauty for fatality, sex, war,

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gold, and also the magic
involved in seeing the future

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and also influencing the future.
Interesting.

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So here's my favorite fact about
Freya.

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Who is the coolest goddess?
Well, she's up in my top 3 for

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sure.
And you're about to learn why.

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It's not just because she is
where Friday's came from.

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The name Friday came from Freya.
It's not just that, it's also

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because she flew across the sky
riding a chariot pulled by by

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two huge cats.
Cats.

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They were like Norwegian Forest
cats, like really fluffy and all

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tufted ears and just really long
fur So cute.

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And that also kind of matches
the Yule cats description.

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Interesting.
It's almost like there's kind of

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a basis, a foundation for when
the Yule cat was created.

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But no, remember just a minute
ago when I was like, oh, the

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Yule goat, Why isn't it a goat?
Yule goat?

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No, actually, there is actually
a Yule goat.

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Now.
He's not Icelandic, but he's

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called the Yulebuk and he's
Scandinavian, so here we go.

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From Wikipedia, the Yule goat is
a Scandinavian and Northern

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European Yule and Christmas
symbol and tradition.

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Its origin is from Germanic
paganism and has existed in many

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variants during Scandinavian
history.

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Modern representations of the
Yule goat are typically made of

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straw, which is where you might
have seen it if you've ever

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seen.
I think they light it on fire or

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00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:08,240
something.
But it's a giant goat made of

221
00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:11,080
straw and it's the Yule goat.
Isn't that fun?

222
00:14:11,080 --> 00:14:13,480
So there are other animals that
have Yule in front of them.

223
00:14:13,480 --> 00:14:16,840
But he wasn't a monster, though.
He was a friendly goat, so here

224
00:14:16,840 --> 00:14:20,000
we go.
There's even a term EULA book

225
00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:22,320
king.
It's a Christmas tradition of

226
00:14:22,320 --> 00:14:24,600
Scandinavian origin.
Between Christmas and New Year's

227
00:14:24,600 --> 00:14:29,320
Day, people wearing masks and
costumes, EULA bookers go door

228
00:14:29,320 --> 00:14:31,600
to door where neighbors
receiving them attempt to

229
00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:33,800
identify who's under the
disguise.

230
00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:35,360
Isn't that fun?
I don't know.

231
00:14:35,360 --> 00:14:37,920
That sounds kind of fun because,
like, you're literally supposed

232
00:14:37,920 --> 00:14:39,080
to.
What does it say?

233
00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:41,480
It goes.
EULA bookers will often disguise

234
00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:44,720
their voices and body language
to further the masquerade.

235
00:14:44,920 --> 00:14:46,360
How cool is that?
That sounds.

236
00:14:46,440 --> 00:14:49,960
It's so much fun.
One version of ula booking,

237
00:14:49,960 --> 00:14:52,080
people go door to door singing
Christmas songs.

238
00:14:52,080 --> 00:14:54,720
Less fun.
We've gotten less fun.

239
00:14:55,440 --> 00:14:57,880
But then after they've sung,
they're usually rewarded with

240
00:14:57,880 --> 00:15:00,080
candy, which I was like, this
just sounds like trick or

241
00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:02,080
treating.
But I do like where you're

242
00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:04,320
trying to trick them, where
you're trying to pretend that

243
00:15:04,320 --> 00:15:06,640
you're someone else and you
were, I don't know, I think

244
00:15:06,640 --> 00:15:08,920
that's really fun.
Have you ever let me know my

245
00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:11,840
strangeways@gmail.com?
Have you ever gone ula booking?

246
00:15:12,040 --> 00:15:16,400
Have you ever been a ula Booker?
There's two KS.

247
00:15:16,400 --> 00:15:17,840
I don't know.
This is complicated.

248
00:15:17,840 --> 00:15:21,440
I'm not Norse or Icelandic.
If you.

249
00:15:21,440 --> 00:15:23,720
If that's not a punctively
cleared view.

250
00:15:24,120 --> 00:15:26,080
OK, back to the Yule cat.
Yule cat.

251
00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:27,120
Yule cat.
Yule cat.

252
00:15:27,440 --> 00:15:29,840
Icelanders love cats.
I don't know what to tell you.

253
00:15:30,160 --> 00:15:32,240
That's that.
That's why it's a cat.

254
00:15:32,360 --> 00:15:36,120
That's why it's a cat.
That's why it's a cat.

255
00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:40,320
All right, Yule cat history.
Here we go, the first definitive

256
00:15:40,320 --> 00:15:45,960
mention of the Yule cat is from
a 19 Nope and 1862 collection of

257
00:15:45,960 --> 00:15:50,480
folklore by Ioan Arneson, and
the book translates to Icelandic

258
00:15:50,480 --> 00:15:53,800
folk tales and fairy tales, but
in Icelandic it is called the

259
00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:58,320
Eastlands Car Theod Soaker OG al
Ventiri.

260
00:15:59,120 --> 00:16:01,920
You're welcome.
There are so I cannot stress

261
00:16:01,920 --> 00:16:06,680
enough how many accents and
umlauts are going on in these

262
00:16:06,680 --> 00:16:09,600
words.
So from Wikipedia, while the

263
00:16:09,600 --> 00:16:12,880
book Icelandic folk tales and
fairy tales, while the story of

264
00:16:12,880 --> 00:16:17,800
the Yule Cat in that book did
not associate Yola Katzen with

265
00:16:17,800 --> 00:16:22,360
Griya the Augress or her son's
The Yule Lads, the characters

266
00:16:22,360 --> 00:16:24,640
were also featured in that
collection.

267
00:16:24,800 --> 00:16:28,040
So the commonality led to
connections of those 3

268
00:16:28,040 --> 00:16:32,440
characters.
Well, of those 131415 characters

269
00:16:32,440 --> 00:16:35,120
in later stories.
So by the middle of the 20th

270
00:16:35,120 --> 00:16:39,280
century, Yola Katzen, the Yulkat
was considered the pet of Glia

271
00:16:39,280 --> 00:16:41,720
and her sons.
And some later stories the

272
00:16:41,720 --> 00:16:46,040
Yulkat is so disobedient that
only Stupfer, the youngest

273
00:16:46,040 --> 00:16:50,440
Yulat, is able to control it.
And he writes the Yulkat across

274
00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:52,680
the countryside.
So love that.

275
00:16:52,800 --> 00:16:55,720
That sounds fun.
All right, Taking a really brief

276
00:16:55,720 --> 00:17:00,360
little rabbit hole into the
ogress, which is of course the

277
00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:05,800
the female form of ogre Griya
was first mentioned in a 13th

278
00:17:05,800 --> 00:17:07,839
century text, so she goes way
back.

279
00:17:07,839 --> 00:17:12,720
She goes way back prior than
1862, which is actually pretty

280
00:17:12,720 --> 00:17:15,920
recent.
But Griya goes back really far.

281
00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:19,920
And also Griya was not
associated with Christmas until

282
00:17:19,920 --> 00:17:22,520
the 17th century, so she first
got mentioned in the 13th

283
00:17:22,520 --> 00:17:24,760
century.
Then it's not until the 17th

284
00:17:24,760 --> 00:17:27,200
century that Griya is associated
with Christmas.

285
00:17:27,599 --> 00:17:30,960
In 17th century poems about
Griya, she is generally

286
00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:34,720
represented as a hideous and
greedy troll like Crone who

287
00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:37,360
wanders between human
settlements and demands charity

288
00:17:37,360 --> 00:17:40,640
from those she encounters, often
asking for naughty children.

289
00:17:41,720 --> 00:17:44,480
Which with which to eat, she
will eat them.

290
00:17:45,280 --> 00:17:47,720
Griya is said to collect
whispers about all of the

291
00:17:47,720 --> 00:17:51,040
naughty children all year long
and then come Christmas time,

292
00:17:51,200 --> 00:17:54,520
she snatches them up, stuffs
them in a sack and cooks them

293
00:17:54,520 --> 00:17:58,600
into a Stew to eat.
She is the one who eats them all

294
00:17:58,600 --> 00:18:01,560
year long and then the next
Christmas time she collects more

295
00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:03,800
naughty kids to put into a Stew
pot.

296
00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:09,040
So that's Griya in a nutshell.
She does have 13 zany wacky

297
00:18:09,040 --> 00:18:11,600
children, the Yule Lads, which I
told you we are not going to

298
00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:14,520
deeply get into.
However, I will mention that

299
00:18:14,520 --> 00:18:16,320
there is one who steals
sausages.

300
00:18:16,320 --> 00:18:18,440
He's the sausage stealer, that's
his name.

301
00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:22,000
And there's also a yogurt licker
who eats all the yogurt.

302
00:18:22,600 --> 00:18:24,800
So there you go.
There's my little tiny little

303
00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:27,280
dip, my little toes, my little
strange toes into.

304
00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:30,160
I don't like that.
We're not going to say that.

305
00:18:30,200 --> 00:18:31,760
Don't say that.
OK, It's fine.

306
00:18:32,680 --> 00:18:36,720
We're going to move on.
Dipped my little toesies into

307
00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:39,080
the 13 Yule lens.
That's all you're going to hear.

308
00:18:39,080 --> 00:18:42,640
OK, OK, so back to the Yule cat.
Which is why we're here now.

309
00:18:43,000 --> 00:18:46,200
Why clothes?
You may be asking why is it

310
00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:50,640
clothes that the Yule cat says
you need to have an order for it

311
00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:52,440
to not eat you?
Very good question.

312
00:18:52,440 --> 00:18:56,000
Why clothes indeed.
So usually, as you may know,

313
00:18:56,200 --> 00:18:59,720
folklore exists to kind of pass
along some sort of moral or, or

314
00:18:59,720 --> 00:19:04,640
lesson or something that'll like
save your life, like literally

315
00:19:04,640 --> 00:19:06,360
or socially.
Because you know, if you do

316
00:19:06,360 --> 00:19:09,600
things that go against the
social grain, you're going to be

317
00:19:09,680 --> 00:19:12,160
ostracized.
And then if you think about it

318
00:19:12,800 --> 00:19:15,480
in the old days, that probably
means you're going to die

319
00:19:15,480 --> 00:19:18,000
because you need a community,
right?

320
00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:20,080
It could also just save your
life literally.

321
00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:23,080
Like, you know, don't go out in
the woods or hold which lady

322
00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:26,480
I'll put you in an oven or don't
go near the water because

323
00:19:26,480 --> 00:19:29,720
another lady, but she's in white
this time and she drowned her

324
00:19:29,720 --> 00:19:31,720
children there.
And she might drown you too if

325
00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:34,080
you go close to the water.
So you see, it's like, don't go

326
00:19:34,080 --> 00:19:36,760
in the woods because you'll die.
Don't go near the water because

327
00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:38,480
you'll drown.
These, these sorts, these are

328
00:19:38,480 --> 00:19:40,280
the sorts of things you find in
folklore a lot.

329
00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:43,920
So then what lesson is the Yule
cat really angling for here?

330
00:19:44,240 --> 00:19:48,440
Well, from Head magazine, again
written by Kathleen Herons.

331
00:19:49,240 --> 00:19:52,480
Until the early 2000s, all
clothing in Iceland came

332
00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:56,080
directly from sheep's wool that
had to be meticulously processed

333
00:19:56,080 --> 00:19:59,440
before the harsh Nordic winter
set it until the early 2000s.

334
00:19:59,440 --> 00:20:01,560
That's crazy.
That was not that long ago.

335
00:20:01,560 --> 00:20:02,840
I think that was like 5 years
ago.

336
00:20:02,840 --> 00:20:05,880
That's crazy.
Clothing stores didn't even open

337
00:20:05,880 --> 00:20:12,120
until 1870 in Iceland, according
to ethnologist Arne Bjornsen, so

338
00:20:12,120 --> 00:20:15,320
small villages were in a race
against time to make clothing.

339
00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:19,080
In the substance Farming
society, it was all about people

340
00:20:19,080 --> 00:20:20,880
working together towards a
common goal.

341
00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:23,760
And in order to enjoy the
Christmas season, all work had

342
00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:27,080
to be completed on time.
Are you maybe seeing where this

343
00:20:27,080 --> 00:20:28,160
is going?
OK, listen.

344
00:20:28,720 --> 00:20:32,560
New clothes were gifted only to
those who earned them by

345
00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:36,600
completing their work on time.
So anyone who didn't receive new

346
00:20:36,600 --> 00:20:40,600
clothes for Christmas Even so
much as just a pair of socks or

347
00:20:40,600 --> 00:20:45,320
a mark of shame.
So This is why they needed to be

348
00:20:45,320 --> 00:20:48,080
incentivized, I think.
Especially children, which she

349
00:20:48,080 --> 00:20:51,480
does go on to explain.
Maybe Iceland needed a graver

350
00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:54,720
threat because wool was also the
country's primary export,

351
00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:57,080
critical to its economy and
survival.

352
00:20:57,240 --> 00:20:59,520
If people were freezing
throughout winter and had

353
00:20:59,520 --> 00:21:01,800
nothing to sell when winter
ended, the community would

354
00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:05,040
suffer infinitely more.
And children were vital to the

355
00:21:05,040 --> 00:21:08,320
community's farming workforce,
so strength in numbers was

356
00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:12,720
indispensable.
Some children, this would be me.

357
00:21:13,000 --> 00:21:16,120
Some children weren't deterred
by the mere prospect of having

358
00:21:16,120 --> 00:21:19,320
no new clothes and a bad
reputation, so they just needed

359
00:21:19,320 --> 00:21:21,120
some more, something more
compelling.

360
00:21:21,960 --> 00:21:24,560
And it worked.
The threat of being eaten by

361
00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:29,040
giant Yule Cat worked.
And there's a precedent for just

362
00:21:29,040 --> 00:21:32,520
how well these scary sorts of
folkloric tales worked,

363
00:21:32,520 --> 00:21:37,200
actually.
Because back in seventeen, 46120

364
00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:40,720
years before the 1st ridden
instance of the Yule Cat, Griya

365
00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:44,800
and the Yule Lads remember the
ogress her 13 mischievous kids,

366
00:21:44,800 --> 00:21:47,120
the Yule Lads that we're not
going to talk about, but let's

367
00:21:47,120 --> 00:21:48,800
pretend that we talked about
them in depth.

368
00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:52,760
So Griya and the Yule Lads were
scary stories that were told to

369
00:21:52,760 --> 00:21:54,440
kids, you know, to keep them in
line.

370
00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:59,040
And it was too scary because,
like I said, 1976, the Icelandic

371
00:21:59,040 --> 00:22:03,400
government prohibited parents
from using Griya, the the Yule

372
00:22:03,400 --> 00:22:07,440
Lads and similarly scary stories
in order to keep their kids in

373
00:22:07,440 --> 00:22:09,760
line.
Now, I don't know how you

374
00:22:09,760 --> 00:22:14,520
enforce that, but it happened.
There was a ban on using these

375
00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:17,560
terrifying stories to tell kids
in order to make

376
00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:24,800
themworkmoreforyouidontknowhowyouenforceitifyouknowletmeknowaboutastrangeways@gmail.com.
How do you enforce that law?

377
00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:30,440
Do you find people?
So that's why the Yule Cat

378
00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:33,400
specifically only targets people
who don't get new clothes for

379
00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:35,320
Christmas.
Because if they were lazy then

380
00:22:35,320 --> 00:22:38,160
they weren't helping and then
the whole community suffers

381
00:22:38,160 --> 00:22:40,240
because they weren't working
hard enough.

382
00:22:40,520 --> 00:22:43,800
Which yuck.
I don't like working at all and

383
00:22:43,800 --> 00:22:46,840
I definitely don't like working
hard, so I probably would have

384
00:22:46,840 --> 00:22:50,000
been eaten by the Yule cat.
Let's just say there's an

385
00:22:50,000 --> 00:22:53,520
alternate universe in which I
was born an Icelandic child in

386
00:22:53,520 --> 00:22:57,600
the 1700s, and I was eaten whole
by the Yule cat.

387
00:22:57,600 --> 00:23:00,360
Thankfully, that is not this
universe, thankfully.

388
00:23:00,760 --> 00:23:04,000
So now I want to talk to you
about the Yule Cat's origins.

389
00:23:04,960 --> 00:23:08,080
So since the yulcat didn't
appear at all in writing until

390
00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:12,360
1862, this has LED some people
to believe it was purely made-up

391
00:23:12,400 --> 00:23:15,760
by the author.
Remember our boy Yon Arnesen?

392
00:23:16,120 --> 00:23:19,640
Now he's the first one to have
captured the story in writing.

393
00:23:19,800 --> 00:23:23,800
But the poem that we heard at
the beginning was by Johannes,

394
00:23:24,120 --> 00:23:26,040
and that was not written in
1862.

395
00:23:26,040 --> 00:23:28,680
That was written in 1930.
Something I don't remember.

396
00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:30,000
It's at the top of my Google
Doc.

397
00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:32,360
It's in the 30s.
It was a very long time after

398
00:23:32,480 --> 00:23:35,600
the original story was captured
by Young Artisan.

399
00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:40,280
So because people are saying
that maybe he made it up, of

400
00:23:40,280 --> 00:23:42,120
course I had to go down this
rabbit hole.

401
00:23:42,120 --> 00:23:44,640
So here we go.
Here we're going to go and

402
00:23:44,640 --> 00:23:47,200
figure out where did the Yule
cat first come from?

403
00:23:48,080 --> 00:23:50,560
So in addition to some people
saying that it was completely

404
00:23:50,560 --> 00:23:54,760
made-up, others say that it was
basically riffing off of a turn

405
00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:59,320
of phrase that in Iceland, that
roughly translates to to dress

406
00:23:59,320 --> 00:24:03,280
the cat.
Now, in my research, it seems

407
00:24:03,280 --> 00:24:06,520
like what that means is that
you're wearing the same clothes

408
00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:09,920
over and over again.
The idea being that cats don't

409
00:24:09,920 --> 00:24:11,520
change their clothes, quote UN
quote.

410
00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:12,720
Their clothes are just their
fur.

411
00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:15,400
They don't change clothes.
And then if you're not getting

412
00:24:15,400 --> 00:24:18,920
new clothes, you're just wearing
the same clothes everyday just

413
00:24:18,920 --> 00:24:20,680
like a cat.
So to dress the cat, I don't

414
00:24:20,680 --> 00:24:25,280
know, I couldn't find too much
information on this, but if

415
00:24:25,280 --> 00:24:27,600
you're you know what are you
from Iceland?

416
00:24:28,120 --> 00:24:29,880
Are you more familiar with the
term to dress the cat?

417
00:24:29,880 --> 00:24:31,720
Let me know about
strangewaysgmail.com.

418
00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:39,960
So some people think that eon
herd the term to dress the cat

419
00:24:40,480 --> 00:24:44,720
and then decided oh maybe let's
write a story about it in which

420
00:24:44,720 --> 00:24:47,560
I incorrectly assumed that
there's a monster or I make it

421
00:24:47,560 --> 00:24:49,360
up and I just make up the story
about a monster.

422
00:24:49,480 --> 00:24:51,840
OK maybe.
I don't know though because it

423
00:24:51,840 --> 00:24:56,600
seems like legends of monster
cats and also being punished for

424
00:24:56,600 --> 00:25:00,400
not getting new clothes at
Christmas was also found in some

425
00:25:00,400 --> 00:25:03,320
parts of Scotland and Ireland
and could have easily travelled

426
00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:05,920
N to Iceland.
Now I had a really hard time

427
00:25:05,920 --> 00:25:10,200
backing up this claim.
I could not find any stories in

428
00:25:10,200 --> 00:25:15,360
Scottish or Irish or just in
general Gaelic sources about

429
00:25:15,360 --> 00:25:20,320
this, about like cat monsters
other than like Kate Shee or you

430
00:25:20,320 --> 00:25:22,360
know, but like they're not
Christmas related.

431
00:25:22,360 --> 00:25:26,200
I couldn't find any Christmas or
like clothing related monsters

432
00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:28,560
in terms of folklore from
Scotland or Ireland.

433
00:25:28,560 --> 00:25:30,960
So you know what I'm going to
say Madam strangeis@gmail.com If

434
00:25:30,960 --> 00:25:33,440
you know of one, let me know.
I'd love to read about it, but

435
00:25:33,440 --> 00:25:36,800
by far here is one of the
strangest theories that I read

436
00:25:36,800 --> 00:25:40,280
about the concept of where the
you'll you'll cat came from.

437
00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:42,880
That's a hard sentence You'll
cat came from.

438
00:25:43,520 --> 00:25:44,920
This is again from Head
magazine.

439
00:25:45,280 --> 00:25:48,520
Archaeologist.
Oh no, I didn't look up this

440
00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:49,800
word.
Oh.

441
00:25:50,360 --> 00:25:55,560
Or this name.
Gullmunder Olafsen summarizes

442
00:25:55,560 --> 00:25:58,640
his findings regarding the
Yulkat folklore and the Krampus

443
00:25:58,640 --> 00:26:00,040
theory.
Oh, here we are.

444
00:26:00,040 --> 00:26:02,400
We're talking about Krampus, he
says.

445
00:26:02,400 --> 00:26:06,440
Krampus split and gave birth to
different derivative forms of

446
00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:09,280
Christmas lights.
Now I think there's some, I

447
00:26:09,280 --> 00:26:11,400
think there's some trouble with
the translation here, but I'm

448
00:26:11,400 --> 00:26:12,880
just going to read it exactly
how it is.

449
00:26:13,080 --> 00:26:15,520
Krampus split and gave birth to
different derivative forms of

450
00:26:15,520 --> 00:26:18,840
Christmas lights.
The goat in Scandinavia, which

451
00:26:18,840 --> 00:26:22,240
we talked about, and the cat in
Iceland, the Yule cat.

452
00:26:22,680 --> 00:26:26,280
Then you can wonder why this
Christmas spirit of ours appears

453
00:26:26,280 --> 00:26:28,600
in the form of a cat, which is
what I'm asking.

454
00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:32,000
It is due to the folk belief
that has been known in Europe

455
00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:35,680
for centuries about the devil's
ability to change moods, which

456
00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:41,560
can appear in the form of a cat.
I have questions 1.

457
00:26:42,040 --> 00:26:45,480
I feel like he's talking not
literally about Krampus split

458
00:26:45,480 --> 00:26:48,680
and giving birth to both the
Yule cat and the Yule goat.

459
00:26:49,000 --> 00:26:52,480
But I kind of like it better if
he is saying that Krampus gave

460
00:26:52,480 --> 00:26:56,000
birth to the Yule cat and the
Yule goat, but I don't think

461
00:26:56,000 --> 00:26:59,280
that's true.
However, how it says folk belief

462
00:26:59,280 --> 00:27:01,200
that it's been known in Europe
for centuries about the devil's

463
00:27:01,200 --> 00:27:05,080
ability to change moods.
I assume like shapes is probably

464
00:27:05,200 --> 00:27:08,280
the intent here and that he can
appear in the form of a cat.

465
00:27:08,280 --> 00:27:10,280
We do know that.
And like also Black Cats

466
00:27:10,280 --> 00:27:14,040
especially are associated with
witchcraft and witches and cats,

467
00:27:14,040 --> 00:27:17,040
again, we associate cats with
Freya, you know, one of the

468
00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:19,280
goddesses of what different one
form of magic.

469
00:27:19,440 --> 00:27:22,320
We also associate cats with
Hecate, right?

470
00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:25,280
Because again, cats are
associated with witchcraft.

471
00:27:25,320 --> 00:27:28,640
So there's that.
There's something here, there's

472
00:27:28,640 --> 00:27:30,480
something there.
It's just cool.

473
00:27:30,480 --> 00:27:34,800
It's metal and you know what?
It also really reminds me of the

474
00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:39,080
Wild Hunt, which is crazy that
this is the third time that I

475
00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:42,440
have been referencing the Wild
Hunt considering I'd never heard

476
00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:45,720
of it once in my life.
Leading up to doing my research

477
00:27:45,760 --> 00:27:50,240
for the Sleepy Hollow episode
where it first comes up and then

478
00:27:50,240 --> 00:27:53,960
it also came up in I think the
Greek Witches episode.

479
00:27:54,120 --> 00:27:56,800
And then now here we are.
Christmas time Wild Hunt.

480
00:27:57,000 --> 00:27:59,880
Which makes more sense for me to
read about it now because the

481
00:27:59,880 --> 00:28:02,640
Wild Hunt.
For those of you who have not

482
00:28:02,640 --> 00:28:05,280
listened to my previous
episodes, you should go listen

483
00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:07,520
to those.
But in the meantime, the Wild

484
00:28:07,520 --> 00:28:09,400
Hunt, and this is from
Wikipedia.

485
00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:12,640
The Wild Hunt is a folklore
motif occurring across various

486
00:28:12,640 --> 00:28:15,760
Northern, Western and Eastern
European societies, appearing in

487
00:28:15,760 --> 00:28:17,960
the religions of the German
Skelton Slavs.

488
00:28:18,160 --> 00:28:21,960
Wild Hunts typically involve a
chase led by a mythological

489
00:28:21,960 --> 00:28:25,520
figure escorted by a ghostly or
supernatural group of hunters

490
00:28:25,720 --> 00:28:29,400
engaged in pursuit.
The leader of this hunt is often

491
00:28:29,400 --> 00:28:33,000
a named figure associated with
Odin in dramatic legends, but

492
00:28:33,000 --> 00:28:36,280
may variously be a historical or
legendary figure like biblical

493
00:28:36,280 --> 00:28:41,080
figures such as Herod, Kane,
Gabriel or the Devil, or a bunch

494
00:28:41,080 --> 00:28:44,720
of other historical and
legendary figures from those

495
00:28:44,720 --> 00:28:47,840
kind of areas.
OK so listen to this.

496
00:28:48,120 --> 00:28:50,920
The hunters are generally the
souls of the dead or ghostly

497
00:28:50,920 --> 00:28:54,720
dogs, sometimes fairies,
valkyries or elves.

498
00:28:55,240 --> 00:28:58,280
But in a lot of the descriptions
that I read about the Wild Hunt

499
00:28:58,280 --> 00:29:02,360
in my research for those earlier
episodes is they were like what,

500
00:29:02,360 --> 00:29:07,640
like 9 legged horses with
glowing fiery eyes and skeletons

501
00:29:07,640 --> 00:29:10,760
and skulls and really really
cool badass stuff.

502
00:29:10,760 --> 00:29:14,840
But did you know that there is a
specific night that is dedicated

503
00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:18,000
to the Wild Hunt?
Yeah, somehow I missed that in

504
00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:20,480
my previous research.
But looking at it now, the

505
00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:24,560
second night of Yule is
dedicated to Odin and the Wild

506
00:29:24,560 --> 00:29:26,200
Hunt.
So that's December 22nd.

507
00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:31,080
So on December 22nd, what you
are supposed to do is leave the

508
00:29:31,080 --> 00:29:35,720
last sheaves of corn that you
find at the end of the harvest

509
00:29:35,720 --> 00:29:39,800
so that all the crazy nine and
eight legged horses, the fiery

510
00:29:39,800 --> 00:29:43,560
eyes that are carrying all of
those weird scary dead people

511
00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:47,160
can eat some corn in the middle
of the ride they can stop by.

512
00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:52,960
Does that sound familiar?
It almost sounds like what you

513
00:29:52,960 --> 00:29:57,800
might leave out for Santa with
his chariot that's led by

514
00:29:57,800 --> 00:30:00,360
reindeer that are not scary evil
horses.

515
00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:02,200
But we'd be way cooler if they
were.

516
00:30:03,760 --> 00:30:06,960
Now, some sources that I was
reading suggested that the Yule

517
00:30:06,960 --> 00:30:11,520
cat may have had connections to
the Wild Hunt, especially just

518
00:30:11,520 --> 00:30:14,760
the imagery of of a giant
monstrous cat that resembles,

519
00:30:14,760 --> 00:30:16,080
you know, a Norwegian forest
cat.

520
00:30:16,520 --> 00:30:19,120
Also because you see that
imagery with Freya.

521
00:30:19,440 --> 00:30:23,600
And then you've got Odin, who is
leading the hunt, and then he's

522
00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:25,600
got his mythological figures
that are around him.

523
00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:29,160
So I feel like there's an
argument there to be made that

524
00:30:29,400 --> 00:30:33,080
the imagery of the Yule cat may
have been taken from, at least

525
00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:35,960
in part, in inspiration from the
Wild Hunt.

526
00:30:35,960 --> 00:30:40,760
Just like Santa Claus, who is
not nearly as cool as the Wild

527
00:30:40,760 --> 00:30:42,200
Hunt.
I've said it before and I will

528
00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:44,160
continue to say it, it's way
cooler.

529
00:30:44,200 --> 00:30:47,560
The Wild Hunt is way cooler.
So remember December 22nd, Leave

530
00:30:47,560 --> 00:30:52,200
your corn out for the the evil
horses on the Wild Hunt.

531
00:30:53,240 --> 00:30:56,680
All right, now, if you think
that I forgot that we are trying

532
00:30:56,680 --> 00:31:01,600
to talk about whether or not Yon
Arnesen made-up the story of the

533
00:31:01,600 --> 00:31:04,600
Yul cat or whether or not it's
actually a real story that

534
00:31:04,600 --> 00:31:06,520
existed.
Well, you're wrong.

535
00:31:06,640 --> 00:31:09,280
You can put a pen in that
because I have to give you some

536
00:31:09,280 --> 00:31:13,240
back story so that you
understand the context for what

537
00:31:13,240 --> 00:31:15,120
I'm going to tell you at the
end.

538
00:31:15,280 --> 00:31:18,200
So it's going to sound like
we're going off topic and maybe

539
00:31:18,200 --> 00:31:21,400
we'll just a little bit, but I
promise you that we will come

540
00:31:21,400 --> 00:31:23,880
back around.
So we're just going to go so on

541
00:31:23,880 --> 00:31:25,200
a little bit of a rabbit hole
here.

542
00:31:25,200 --> 00:31:26,720
Actually a lot of bit of a
rabbit hole.

543
00:31:26,960 --> 00:31:31,480
OK, so as I was looking at scans
of the original copy of Yon

544
00:31:31,480 --> 00:31:36,800
Arnesen's collection of stories
called the Icelandic Folklore

545
00:31:36,840 --> 00:31:42,080
something something, I saw the
name Jacob Grimm printed in

546
00:31:42,080 --> 00:31:45,280
really big bold letters on one
of the first pages that were

547
00:31:45,280 --> 00:31:47,320
scanned.
OK, well, it actually had AK

548
00:31:47,320 --> 00:31:51,120
instead of AC for Jacob.
And so first I was like, who's

549
00:31:51,560 --> 00:31:54,560
Jakob Grimm?
Oh, wait, hold on a second.

550
00:31:54,800 --> 00:31:57,520
Grimm.
Yeah, I know that guy Grimm of

551
00:31:57,520 --> 00:32:01,760
the Brothers Grimm fame.
OK, so why is his name in Yon

552
00:32:01,760 --> 00:32:04,000
Arneson's book?
I asked myself.

553
00:32:04,040 --> 00:32:08,280
Well, apparently, Jake, can I
call you Jake?

554
00:32:08,600 --> 00:32:12,360
Jake wrote the foreword of
Arneson's Icelandic fairy tale

555
00:32:12,360 --> 00:32:16,000
collection, which is crazy.
So one of the Brothers Grimm

556
00:32:16,240 --> 00:32:20,840
wrote the foreword for this book
in which the Yule cat arise.

557
00:32:20,840 --> 00:32:24,080
Can you hear?
Oh no, there's a Yule cat at the

558
00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:27,560
door.
Oh no, what will I do?

559
00:32:27,800 --> 00:32:29,800
I didn't receive any new
clothes.

560
00:32:30,320 --> 00:32:32,760
Just kidding.
That's just Cleocatra, who wants

561
00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:35,600
into the office because cats
hate closed doors.

562
00:32:36,480 --> 00:32:37,920
All right, let's see, where were
we?

563
00:32:38,280 --> 00:32:41,480
Oh, right, so one of the
Brothers Grimm wrote the opening

564
00:32:41,560 --> 00:32:45,320
to Arneson's Icelandic fairy
tale book, which makes sense

565
00:32:45,320 --> 00:32:47,440
actually, now that I'm looking
at it.

566
00:32:47,800 --> 00:32:50,120
I just didn't realize that they
were alive at the same time and

567
00:32:50,120 --> 00:32:52,360
also writing books at the same
time.

568
00:32:52,640 --> 00:32:56,280
But also, Arneson was a huge fan
of the Brothers Grimm, so that

569
00:32:56,280 --> 00:32:57,960
had to be pretty cool for him.
Think about it.

570
00:32:57,960 --> 00:33:02,960
It had to be like a big moment.
Also, by the way, fun fact, this

571
00:33:02,960 --> 00:33:05,160
actually is a fun fact.
Usually my fun facts are kind of

572
00:33:05,160 --> 00:33:08,040
depressing or morbid.
This is a really fun fact if you

573
00:33:08,040 --> 00:33:10,960
like Tolkien.
The survey of Icelandic folklore

574
00:33:10,960 --> 00:33:14,640
and early modern scholarship
about Icelandic elves in the

575
00:33:14,640 --> 00:33:18,920
introduction to Joan Arneson's
book, which also includes the

576
00:33:18,920 --> 00:33:23,400
story of the Yule Cat, provided
the framework for JRR Tolkien's

577
00:33:23,400 --> 00:33:26,680
conception of elves and his
fantasy fiction.

578
00:33:26,800 --> 00:33:28,520
So thank you, Joan.
Thank you.

579
00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:31,760
Because not only did he, he gave
us the Yule cat, but he also

580
00:33:31,760 --> 00:33:34,920
gave us Legolas.
I was a huge fan of Legolas.

581
00:33:35,200 --> 00:33:38,440
I you know what it's weird.
TikTok thinks that I am the

582
00:33:38,440 --> 00:33:42,120
biggest Lord of the rings fan
and it constantly is pushing

583
00:33:42,120 --> 00:33:43,840
Lord of the rings content to my
FYP.

584
00:33:43,840 --> 00:33:47,160
And I mean, like I like Lord of
the rings.

585
00:33:47,280 --> 00:33:49,200
I mean, I wouldn't say like I'm
a huge fan.

586
00:33:49,200 --> 00:33:52,000
I haven't read any of the books.
I've seen the movies, but it's

587
00:33:52,000 --> 00:33:54,880
been a long time since I saw the
movies.

588
00:33:54,880 --> 00:33:58,240
But I tell you what, Legolas top
tier.

589
00:33:58,360 --> 00:34:00,760
So thank you for Legolas.
Also, who else?

590
00:34:01,640 --> 00:34:04,680
Elrond.
Which is really weird because I

591
00:34:04,680 --> 00:34:08,639
feel like I've mentioned Elrond
in the last maybe not 2

592
00:34:08,639 --> 00:34:11,159
episodes, I don't remember, but
I know I mentioned to him the

593
00:34:11,159 --> 00:34:12,320
other day because I thought
that's weird.

594
00:34:12,320 --> 00:34:15,360
Why am I talking about Elrond?
Like that's so strange.

595
00:34:15,679 --> 00:34:18,679
Maybe it's because I'm seeing
all this content on TikTok about

596
00:34:18,679 --> 00:34:19,679
Lord of the Rings.
I don't know.

597
00:34:19,760 --> 00:34:23,800
All right, anyway, moving on.
While I was going down this

598
00:34:23,800 --> 00:34:27,719
rabbit hole about Jacob Grimm
and Yon Arnesen, I found this

599
00:34:27,719 --> 00:34:32,440
book called Grimm Ripples, The
Legacy of Grimm's Deutsche Zagen

600
00:34:32,679 --> 00:34:36,440
in Northern Europe, which is
written by Terry Gunnell, in

601
00:34:36,440 --> 00:34:38,920
which Deutsche Zagen means
German legends.

602
00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:42,320
So the legacy of the Grimm's
German legends in Northern

603
00:34:42,320 --> 00:34:44,920
Europe, which fascinating,
right?

604
00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:47,760
So here, here we go.
This is from that book.

605
00:34:48,040 --> 00:34:51,120
The printed collection of
Icelandic folk tales and fairy

606
00:34:51,120 --> 00:34:56,840
tales written by Ioan Arneson
from 1862 to 1864 was actually

607
00:34:56,840 --> 00:35:00,960
just one key part of a large
scale romantic nationalist

608
00:35:00,960 --> 00:35:03,760
movement that was taking place
in the growing capital of

609
00:35:03,760 --> 00:35:08,040
Iceland in the mid 19th century.
I was like, I'm going to be

610
00:35:08,040 --> 00:35:11,360
honest, I don't know what a
romantic nationalist movement

611
00:35:11,360 --> 00:35:13,960
is, so I want more from the
context.

612
00:35:13,960 --> 00:35:17,080
I feel like I have an idea, but
let's, let's, let's dig deeper.

613
00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:21,720
Inspired and encouraged in no
small degree by foreign cultural

614
00:35:21,720 --> 00:35:24,840
conduits, and viewed as an
expression of native art,

615
00:35:24,840 --> 00:35:28,400
ancient belief and native
worldview, the two volume work

616
00:35:28,520 --> 00:35:32,800
of Arneson was deliberately
distributed free to influential

617
00:35:32,800 --> 00:35:36,640
figures around the country.
The hope was that it would

618
00:35:36,720 --> 00:35:40,920
provide material for new forms
of national art and a new level

619
00:35:40,920 --> 00:35:43,520
of self respect for the
creativity of the local people

620
00:35:43,520 --> 00:35:46,160
and their living traditions,
which were now shown as being

621
00:35:46,160 --> 00:35:49,600
intrinsically linked to the
medieval Golden Age of Iceland's

622
00:35:49,600 --> 00:35:52,480
past.
OK, I feel like that's a really

623
00:35:52,480 --> 00:35:55,200
needy sentence, but we're
getting somewhere.

624
00:35:56,320 --> 00:35:59,840
The book's editor, Yon Arnesen,
found himself becoming a central

625
00:35:59,840 --> 00:36:03,320
player in a local network of
local cultural thinkers who, in

626
00:36:03,320 --> 00:36:08,840
the space of just over 25 years
between 1858 and 1874, created

627
00:36:08,840 --> 00:36:12,560
not only a key collection of
national folk tales, but also a

628
00:36:12,560 --> 00:36:16,920
national costume, a national
anthem, a National Museum and

629
00:36:16,920 --> 00:36:20,520
two models for a new kind of
national drama, as well as a

630
00:36:20,520 --> 00:36:23,920
blueprint for how the capital of
the imagined Icelandic Republic

631
00:36:23,920 --> 00:36:27,880
of the future might look.
OK, again, this is meaty.

632
00:36:27,880 --> 00:36:30,760
But now it's giving me some
context for like, why did Yon

633
00:36:30,760 --> 00:36:34,320
Artisan even collect this book
of Icelandic folklore?

634
00:36:34,320 --> 00:36:37,040
Right?
Well, it's because we were

635
00:36:37,040 --> 00:36:42,520
trying to reignite the native
beliefs in the native folklore

636
00:36:42,520 --> 00:36:47,520
and basically just bringing to
life native Icelandic culture.

637
00:36:48,080 --> 00:36:50,320
But then I started to wonder why
though?

638
00:36:50,320 --> 00:36:53,280
Why then?
Why was there a romantic

639
00:36:53,280 --> 00:36:56,080
nationalist movement?
Obviously something inspired it,

640
00:36:56,080 --> 00:36:58,720
but hold on, we'll get there,
don't worry.

641
00:36:59,400 --> 00:37:02,760
So for Arneson's collection of
folklore, the first call for

642
00:37:02,760 --> 00:37:07,080
Icelanders to collect folk
legends came as early as 1817,

643
00:37:07,320 --> 00:37:10,120
and it was issued by the Danish
Archaeological Commission.

644
00:37:10,400 --> 00:37:13,240
They sent again.
This is still in that book The

645
00:37:13,240 --> 00:37:17,640
Grim Ripples by Terry Gunnell.
They sent 300 copies of a

646
00:37:17,640 --> 00:37:21,680
questionnaire sent to clerics
all around Iceland requesting

647
00:37:21,680 --> 00:37:26,280
them to send the Commission
details of any archaeological

648
00:37:26,280 --> 00:37:29,360
remains that they knew about,
along with legends told by the

649
00:37:29,360 --> 00:37:32,640
common people about people of
the ancient past.

650
00:37:32,680 --> 00:37:35,600
Other than those which are found
in written pages, including

651
00:37:35,600 --> 00:37:39,400
noteworthy places, ancient
beliefs or superstitions

652
00:37:39,560 --> 00:37:41,800
regarding various things,
especially things that have

653
00:37:41,800 --> 00:37:44,680
happened and so on, particularly
when they are related to such

654
00:37:44,680 --> 00:37:49,200
archaeological remains.
OK, wordy, but you get the idea.

655
00:37:49,200 --> 00:37:52,960
They're saying tell us about
things that are only mentioned

656
00:37:53,240 --> 00:37:57,720
spoken word, all any folklore or
superstition or anything, any

657
00:37:57,720 --> 00:38:00,120
sort of ancient beliefs that's
passed down by word of mouth,

658
00:38:00,240 --> 00:38:02,200
but it's not captured on the
page.

659
00:38:02,800 --> 00:38:05,760
OK, So remember Yon Arnesen, the
author of the book The Brotha

660
00:38:05,760 --> 00:38:09,680
Yulkats Light, right?
Well, his dad, a reverend, was

661
00:38:09,680 --> 00:38:12,640
involved in this process, or at
least he was alive when these

662
00:38:12,640 --> 00:38:16,280
requests were being sent out to
clerics and he was a cleric.

663
00:38:16,480 --> 00:38:20,360
So he turned his nose up at this
exercise along with a lot of

664
00:38:20,360 --> 00:38:23,160
other people at the time.
Actually, for some reason they

665
00:38:23,160 --> 00:38:27,040
were Pooh poohing the idea,
saying things such as it is

666
00:38:27,040 --> 00:38:30,240
impossible to write up but let
alone understand such rubbish as

667
00:38:30,240 --> 00:38:33,560
you find in countless old wives
tales and superstitions from

668
00:38:33,560 --> 00:38:36,520
which I would happily distance
myself for as long as possible.

669
00:38:37,440 --> 00:38:43,720
Like Boo Boo boring.
What do you mean I want to hear,

670
00:38:43,800 --> 00:38:45,760
I want to hear, that's all I
want to hear.

671
00:38:46,120 --> 00:38:49,120
I want to hear old wives tales
and superstitions all day long.

672
00:38:49,120 --> 00:38:51,680
It's crazy to just be like, I
don't want to hear that.

673
00:38:51,720 --> 00:38:55,200
That's crazy talk.
So anyway, back to the book Grim

674
00:38:55,200 --> 00:38:57,440
Ripples.
It continues and says clearly

675
00:38:57,440 --> 00:39:03,040
the influences of figures like
Bishop Eric Pontipidin in 1698

676
00:39:03,080 --> 00:39:07,520
through 1764, who had attempted
to wipe out folk belief and

677
00:39:07,520 --> 00:39:11,160
tradition in Denmark and Norway
with his Lutheran tract, which

678
00:39:11,160 --> 00:39:14,360
was written in Latin, which I
definitely speak.

679
00:39:14,360 --> 00:39:19,680
So the name of that tract that
he wrote is a Verriculum

680
00:39:19,800 --> 00:39:22,680
Fermenti Vetteris.
Thank you.

681
00:39:22,680 --> 00:39:24,440
Thank you.
Oh, where was I?

682
00:39:24,440 --> 00:39:26,200
Oh, right.
So the tract that he wrote in

683
00:39:26,200 --> 00:39:31,400
Latin, the name that I just said
translates in English to kicking

684
00:39:31,400 --> 00:39:33,280
out the sourdough.
Interesting.

685
00:39:33,480 --> 00:39:39,160
That was written in 1736, and
apparently it still ran deep in

686
00:39:39,160 --> 00:39:42,280
Iceland, even though this took
part in Denmark and Norway.

687
00:39:42,720 --> 00:39:45,680
So this is what I was saying is
like, why is there a romantic

688
00:39:45,680 --> 00:39:47,880
nationalist movement happening
in Iceland?

689
00:39:47,880 --> 00:39:51,200
And it's because of this.
It's because of a reaction to

690
00:39:51,200 --> 00:39:54,160
the attempt at kicking out the
sourdough.

691
00:39:54,440 --> 00:39:56,840
But then that got me curious
because what do you mean?

692
00:39:57,080 --> 00:40:01,160
I'm going to say kicking out the
sourdough sounds like an insult

693
00:40:01,600 --> 00:40:03,600
that I don't have the context
for.

694
00:40:04,160 --> 00:40:06,320
So of course I had to go down
yet another rabbit hole.

695
00:40:06,320 --> 00:40:08,880
Here we go down the sourdough
rabbit hole.

696
00:40:09,200 --> 00:40:11,920
And this is from religious
enlightenment in the 18th

697
00:40:11,920 --> 00:40:15,360
century Nordic countries by Lund
University.

698
00:40:15,800 --> 00:40:19,080
Is it Lund or Looned?
If only there was some way that

699
00:40:19,080 --> 00:40:21,720
I could quickly look it up.
Oh well, we'll never know.

700
00:40:21,960 --> 00:40:24,720
The medieval church and all its
ritual trappings were clearly

701
00:40:24,720 --> 00:40:27,680
becoming a thing of the past,
with only vestiges left.

702
00:40:27,880 --> 00:40:31,000
These vestiges, however, were
still regarded as troublesome

703
00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:34,680
symbols by pastors and learned
scholars writing about the great

704
00:40:34,680 --> 00:40:38,320
superstition which they felt
still beset the simple people,

705
00:40:38,440 --> 00:40:41,040
quote UN quote, especially in
the countryside.

706
00:40:41,080 --> 00:40:46,200
So we kind of saw that with
Arneson's dad being like, yuck,

707
00:40:46,280 --> 00:40:48,680
why would you even want to hear
such a rubbish like that's

708
00:40:48,680 --> 00:40:52,080
split, which is awful because
again, what do you mean that's

709
00:40:52,080 --> 00:40:52,760
crazy?
All right?

710
00:40:52,760 --> 00:40:55,640
It continues.
The dichotomy between learned

711
00:40:55,640 --> 00:40:59,600
and urban culture on the one
hand and the rural communities

712
00:40:59,600 --> 00:41:03,400
on the other was felt by some at
least, to be a wide and

713
00:41:03,400 --> 00:41:06,240
unacceptable gap which could
only be bridged through the

714
00:41:06,240 --> 00:41:09,040
stern enlightenment of the
unlearned.

715
00:41:09,320 --> 00:41:11,920
A prime example of this writing,
on the very cusp of the

716
00:41:11,920 --> 00:41:15,600
rationalistic Enlightenment
movement in Denmark would be the

717
00:41:15,600 --> 00:41:18,840
already mentioned Eric
Pontipidin, Bishop of the

718
00:41:18,840 --> 00:41:22,480
Diocese of Bergen in Norway, who
published a small treatise

719
00:41:22,480 --> 00:41:26,040
against superstition in Latin,
which we just talked about.

720
00:41:26,040 --> 00:41:27,960
Right here it is.
We're back to it.

721
00:41:28,560 --> 00:41:35,000
Oh, I'm going to try it again.
ET periculum fermenti vetteris.

722
00:41:35,880 --> 00:41:36,840
Thank you.
Thank you.

723
00:41:37,560 --> 00:41:40,520
The title of the work in
translation means Broom to

724
00:41:40,520 --> 00:41:44,680
remove the old sourdough.
OK, so I like Broom to remove

725
00:41:44,680 --> 00:41:47,320
the old sourdough rather than
kicking out the old sourdough.

726
00:41:47,320 --> 00:41:48,840
But I can see why you would say
both.

727
00:41:48,840 --> 00:41:50,480
Because that's the intent,
right?

728
00:41:50,480 --> 00:41:53,160
Is to get rid of it Anyway, it
continues.

729
00:41:53,160 --> 00:41:56,680
The metaphor signifies that all
ancient superstition should be

730
00:41:56,680 --> 00:42:00,760
swept out of the church.
Now this is me talking.

731
00:42:00,760 --> 00:42:02,440
This is the Madam talking to
you.

732
00:42:02,720 --> 00:42:07,760
When they say superstition, they
mean indigenous beliefs and

733
00:42:07,760 --> 00:42:10,560
culture.
So this is something that I

734
00:42:10,560 --> 00:42:13,920
thought was really interesting,
is that we see white people

735
00:42:13,920 --> 00:42:16,640
doing this to other white people
in Europe.

736
00:42:16,960 --> 00:42:20,680
I mean, obviously we see it to
this day, most notably, I think

737
00:42:20,680 --> 00:42:23,320
in the treatment of the
indigenous Americans by the

738
00:42:23,320 --> 00:42:25,720
Europeans who came over to
America.

739
00:42:26,480 --> 00:42:28,200
But I just thought it was really
interesting that like, white

740
00:42:28,200 --> 00:42:32,560
people are doing it to other
white people in Europe just so

741
00:42:32,560 --> 00:42:34,360
it's just there's always
something.

742
00:42:34,640 --> 00:42:38,360
There's always something.
They always want to get rid of

743
00:42:38,360 --> 00:42:44,440
what makes you you and make you
conform to their really boring

744
00:42:44,440 --> 00:42:46,400
beliefs.
I'm going to be honest, Like, I

745
00:42:46,400 --> 00:42:49,920
knew about Martin Luther, but I
didn't quite realize what a

746
00:42:49,920 --> 00:42:54,560
stick in the mud he and
Lutheran's at large were until I

747
00:42:54,560 --> 00:42:56,200
was really kind of reading about
this.

748
00:42:56,200 --> 00:43:00,440
So very interesting.
Anyway, they wanted to sweep out

749
00:43:00,720 --> 00:43:04,440
or remove or kick out the old
sourdough, which just means

750
00:43:04,880 --> 00:43:09,960
anything that Icelanders
believed prior to Catholicism

751
00:43:09,960 --> 00:43:14,880
and Lutheranism being installed.
This is still about the Yule

752
00:43:14,880 --> 00:43:17,240
Cat, you understand.
We're still talking about the

753
00:43:17,240 --> 00:43:19,280
Yule Cat.
So just make sure that you have

754
00:43:19,320 --> 00:43:22,440
that picture in your mind of the
Yule cat while this is

755
00:43:22,440 --> 00:43:24,520
happening.
The Yule cat, OK, picture The

756
00:43:24,520 --> 00:43:29,440
Yule cat is curled up at my feet
while I am recounting to you the

757
00:43:29,440 --> 00:43:32,040
history of said Yule cat.
OK, OK, good.

758
00:43:32,840 --> 00:43:35,640
So sweeping out the old
sourdough happened apparently

759
00:43:35,640 --> 00:43:38,240
through northern Europe, like it
did in Denmark.

760
00:43:38,240 --> 00:43:41,000
Hyphen Norway.
And note that it's Denmark

761
00:43:41,000 --> 00:43:45,400
hyphen Norway, not a slash, it's
a hyphen because apparently from

762
00:43:45,400 --> 00:43:49,560
the 16th to the 19th century,
Denmark and Norway are part of a

763
00:43:49,560 --> 00:43:52,520
union together.
And Iceland was part of Denmark.

764
00:43:52,720 --> 00:43:55,560
So obviously Iceland is part of
Denmark.

765
00:43:55,560 --> 00:43:58,760
Hyphen Norway.
So anyway, the sourdough

766
00:43:58,760 --> 00:44:03,000
sweeping didn't take hold in
Iceland like it did in Denmark.

767
00:44:03,120 --> 00:44:06,520
Hyphen Norway.
Probably because if my research

768
00:44:06,520 --> 00:44:08,960
has led me to the right
conclusion, which is definitely

769
00:44:08,960 --> 00:44:13,280
not always the case, Icelanders
are objectively just more badass

770
00:44:13,320 --> 00:44:16,280
than the Swedes or the Danes.
And I'm sorry, that just seems

771
00:44:16,280 --> 00:44:19,840
to be historical fact.
I don't know what to tell you.

772
00:44:20,200 --> 00:44:22,760
If you disagree, let me know.
I'm not exchangeways@gmail.com,

773
00:44:22,920 --> 00:44:27,480
but so far from what I have done
in my research, that seems to be

774
00:44:27,720 --> 00:44:30,920
that seems to be the case.
OK, no, but seriously, here's

775
00:44:30,920 --> 00:44:34,320
actually some more context into
why the romantic nationalist

776
00:44:34,320 --> 00:44:36,600
movement in Iceland happened in
the first place.

777
00:44:37,120 --> 00:44:39,640
Here we go, Wikipedia.
After the Napoleonic Wars in

778
00:44:39,640 --> 00:44:44,040
1814, Denmark hyphen Norway
broke up into two separate

779
00:44:44,040 --> 00:44:47,640
kingdoms via the Treaty of Keel,
but Iceland remained a Danish

780
00:44:47,640 --> 00:44:50,000
dependency.
Throughout the 19th century, the

781
00:44:50,000 --> 00:44:53,880
country's climate continued to
grow colder, resulting and the

782
00:44:53,880 --> 00:44:57,520
mass emigration meaning with an
E not an I.

783
00:44:57,520 --> 00:45:01,240
So they're leaving the mass
emigration to the New World,

784
00:45:01,400 --> 00:45:05,320
particularly to the region of
Gimli, Manitoba in Canada, which

785
00:45:05,320 --> 00:45:09,480
was sometimes referred to as New
Iceland, which I did not know

786
00:45:09,920 --> 00:45:14,160
about. 15,000 people emigrated
out of a total population of

787
00:45:14,160 --> 00:45:19,280
70,000.
So Iceland lost 15,000 out of

788
00:45:19,280 --> 00:45:22,360
70,000.
That is a huge loss.

789
00:45:22,560 --> 00:45:26,200
So as a result, a national
consciousness arose in the first

790
00:45:26,200 --> 00:45:29,320
half of the 19th century,
inspired by romantic and

791
00:45:29,320 --> 00:45:32,560
nationalist ideas from mainland
Europe.

792
00:45:33,080 --> 00:45:35,760
So what we took a look at
earlier was Icelandic

793
00:45:35,760 --> 00:45:37,760
independence.
That movement took shape in the

794
00:45:37,760 --> 00:45:41,880
1850s, and it looks like they
got their very own national

795
00:45:41,880 --> 00:45:45,960
anthem in 1874.
So right in the middle of this

796
00:45:45,960 --> 00:45:52,240
Icelandic independence movement
in 1862 and 1864, we get the

797
00:45:52,240 --> 00:45:55,200
book that we talked about at the
very beginning that I've said

798
00:45:55,200 --> 00:45:59,760
500 years ago and 500 Times Now
at this point, the Icelandic

799
00:45:59,760 --> 00:46:03,440
folk tales and fairy tales by
Joan Arnesen, The Icelandic

800
00:46:03,440 --> 00:46:08,440
title being yes, I will try it
again, Eastlandskar, Theod Soger

801
00:46:08,480 --> 00:46:12,040
OG Alventiri.
So all to say, the Yule Cat was

802
00:46:12,040 --> 00:46:17,200
brought to light specifically in
this period of time when he was

803
00:46:17,200 --> 00:46:20,160
collecting all of these stories
that were previously only word

804
00:46:20,160 --> 00:46:22,560
of mouth.
So this brings me back to what I

805
00:46:22,560 --> 00:46:25,720
said earlier.
You may have doubted that I was

806
00:46:25,720 --> 00:46:27,800
ever going to get back here, but
here we are.

807
00:46:27,840 --> 00:46:29,880
That rabbit hole was on a dead
end.

808
00:46:29,880 --> 00:46:32,600
It actually circled back to the
original point.

809
00:46:33,120 --> 00:46:37,280
So knowing that yon Arnesen
collected a ton of stories from

810
00:46:37,280 --> 00:46:40,840
around the country and that his
collection of folk legends took

811
00:46:40,840 --> 00:46:45,880
up two different volumes and was
something like 1300 pages in

812
00:46:45,880 --> 00:46:50,120
total, there's no reason that I
can see for Arnesen to have

813
00:46:50,120 --> 00:46:53,080
made-up the Yul cast story.
Why would you?

814
00:46:53,240 --> 00:46:57,320
It sounds like he got so much
information, why would he make

815
00:46:57,320 --> 00:46:58,320
up a story?
He doesn't need it.

816
00:46:58,320 --> 00:47:02,320
He has enough content if he had
enough to write 2 books to

817
00:47:02,320 --> 00:47:03,440
publish 2.
He's not writing.

818
00:47:03,440 --> 00:47:05,520
You know what I mean?
He's transcribing it and

819
00:47:05,520 --> 00:47:06,680
including it.
You get me?

820
00:47:06,960 --> 00:47:11,480
If he had enough content to make
two books, why on earth would he

821
00:47:11,520 --> 00:47:15,880
accidentally misunderstand the
figure of speech from his own

822
00:47:15,880 --> 00:47:20,040
language, Icelandic?
Because he's also from Iceland.

823
00:47:20,160 --> 00:47:24,120
Why would he misunderstand the
purpose of the meaning behind a

824
00:47:24,120 --> 00:47:28,760
common phrase to dress the cat
And then on his own make up a

825
00:47:28,760 --> 00:47:31,400
story about it and actually
include it in the book?

826
00:47:31,400 --> 00:47:35,440
It just to me, I don't know, to
me, I don't buy it.

827
00:47:35,760 --> 00:47:38,960
To me, I think that there's
plenty of there's, there's

828
00:47:38,960 --> 00:47:43,600
plenty of evidence that shows
that cats are a huge part of the

829
00:47:43,600 --> 00:47:47,040
Icelandic mythology, that this
is just sort of something that

830
00:47:47,040 --> 00:47:49,560
we see over and over in a bunch
of different cultural

831
00:47:49,560 --> 00:47:53,320
zeitgeists, especially around
Christmas and around scaring

832
00:47:53,320 --> 00:47:58,000
kids and into doing work.
I just feel like, I don't know,

833
00:47:58,360 --> 00:48:01,880
I just feel like the Yule Cat
probably did exist and it was

834
00:48:01,880 --> 00:48:04,480
just, it was just by word of
mouth and it wasn't written down

835
00:48:04,480 --> 00:48:06,520
yet until he did.
Because there really wouldn't

836
00:48:06,520 --> 00:48:10,920
have been any reason to capture
the Yule Cat story in print

837
00:48:10,960 --> 00:48:15,280
until Yon Arnesen started
prioritizing sharing traditional

838
00:48:15,280 --> 00:48:18,360
Icelandic stories so that they
wouldn't be lost to the

839
00:48:18,360 --> 00:48:23,040
admittedly Grinch like Lutheran
attempts at being the wettest of

840
00:48:23,040 --> 00:48:26,360
blankets.
That's just, that's just how I

841
00:48:26,360 --> 00:48:28,160
feel, but let me know what you
think.

842
00:48:28,160 --> 00:48:31,760
Do you think the Yule Cat
actually existed prior to Yone

843
00:48:31,760 --> 00:48:33,920
Arnesen collecting all of his
stories in a book?

844
00:48:34,360 --> 00:48:35,440
What do you think?
Let me know, man of

845
00:48:35,440 --> 00:48:38,400
strangeways@gmail.com.
So that's the story of the Yule

846
00:48:38,400 --> 00:48:40,280
Cat.
That's the background and the

847
00:48:40,280 --> 00:48:44,960
folklore and the history around
the Icelandic monstrous creature

848
00:48:45,000 --> 00:48:48,360
the Yule Cat, otherwise known as
Yola Catan.

849
00:48:48,920 --> 00:48:52,240
Oh, and don't forget, if you
want to hear my short fiction

850
00:48:52,240 --> 00:48:56,000
about a Yule cat, make sure to
go listen to it on Tapes of

851
00:48:56,000 --> 00:48:58,680
Trepidation podcast by TJ
Hotter.

852
00:48:58,920 --> 00:49:02,560
So with that, I hope everyone
has the strangest of Yules and

853
00:49:02,560 --> 00:49:06,560
perhaps a merry one as well.
A merry strange Yule or merry

854
00:49:06,560 --> 00:49:10,240
whatever, merry whatever and all
that, etcetera.

855
00:49:10,640 --> 00:59:59,960
And a strange new year.
Not be in danger you're safe

856
00:59:59,960 --> 01:00:08,280
here with me stories of the
unexplained now I'm running A1

857
01:00:08,280 --> 01:00:15,680
Madam show here so podcast or
leave me a rating on Apple or

858
01:00:15,680 --> 01:00:28,200
Spotify and.
Content Madam Strangeways

859
01:00:31,240 --> 01:00:43,720
makes.co at Cult of Teddy on
Instagram of the author You can

860
01:00:43,720 --> 01:00:47,040
submit your own true strange
story to Madam Strangeways at

861
01:00:47,040 --> 01:00:48,000
Gmail dot.
Com.

862
01:00:54,560 --> 01:01:15,140
Asleep
Gladie like you.

863
01:01:16,340 --> 01:01:19,700
Gladie like you.
Gladie like you.

864
01:01:20,020 --> 01:01:22,460
Gladie like you.
Gladie, like you.