{"id":2851,"date":"2013-12-12T12:47:27","date_gmt":"2013-12-12T12:47:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/?p=2851"},"modified":"2013-12-12T12:47:27","modified_gmt":"2013-12-12T12:47:27","slug":"the-christmas-cat-is-coming-to-town","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/2013\/12\/12\/the-christmas-cat-is-coming-to-town\/","title":{"rendered":"The Christmas Cat is coming to town!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"kissapeijakas003\"<\/a>You better watch out, you better not cry… and you better receive at least one item of clothing for Christmas. This is how you’ll live to see the New Year, at least according to an Icelandic tradition.<\/p>\n

As a typical Christmas time scare for children, Ur\u00f0ark\u00f6tturinn<\/em> (= the cliff cat) is actually so frightening that once upon a time telling children horror stories of it was legally prohibited. Even its owner, the troll lady Gr\u00fdla, pales in comparison – at least Gr\u00fdla only ate children…<\/p>\n

But wait, how can that be any kind of a mitigating factor? The awful thing about Ur\u00f0ark\u00f6tturinn is that it preyed on anyone who didn’t receive an item of clothing for Christmas, thus targeting the friends and families of people who were already so badly off that they couldn’t afford that single item of clothing to give. A poem by J\u00f3hannes \u00far K\u00f6tlum, first printed in 1932 in the book J\u00f3lin koma<\/em> (= Christmas is coming), describes the beast as follows:<\/p>\n

J\u00f3lak\u00f6tturinn<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00dei\u00f0 kannist vi\u00f0 j\u00f3lak\u00f6ttinn,<\/em>
\n \u2013 s\u00e1 k\u00f6ttur var gr\u00ed\u00f0arst\u00f3r.<\/em>
\n F\u00f3lk vissi ekki hva\u00f0an hann kom<\/em>
\n e\u00f0a hvert hann f\u00f3r.<\/em><\/p>\n

You’ve heard of the Christmas cat,\/that cat was monstrously huge.\/People knew not where he came\/or where he went.<\/p>\n

Hann glennti upp glyrnurnar s\u00ednar,<\/em>
\n gl\u00f3andi b\u00e1\u00f0ar tv\u00e6r.<\/em>
\n \u2013 \u00dea\u00f0 var ekki heiglum hent<\/em>
\n a\u00f0 horfa \u00ed \u00fe\u00e6r.<\/em><\/p>\n

He opened his eyes wide,\/they both were glowing.\/It was not for the cowards\/to look into them.<\/p>\n

Kamparnir beittir sem broddar,<\/em>
\n upp \u00far bakinu kryppa h\u00e1,<\/em>
\n \u2013 og kl\u00e6rnar \u00e1 lo\u00f0inni l\u00f6pp<\/em>
\n var lj\u00f3tt a\u00f0 sj\u00e1.<\/em><\/p>\n

Whiskers sharp as needles,\/the tall curve of its bent back,\/and claws in the hairy paws\/was awful to look upon.<\/p>\n

Hann veifa\u00f0i st\u00e9linu sterka,<\/em>
\n hann st\u00f6kk og hann kl\u00f3ra\u00f0i og bl\u00e9s,<\/em>
\n \u2013 og var \u00fdmist uppi \u00ed dal<\/em>
\n e\u00f0a \u00fati um nes.<\/em><\/p>\n

He waved his strong tail,\/he leaped and he scratched and hissed,\/and was either up in the valley\/or out in the headland.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Photo by Shannon Kringen<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Hann sveima\u00f0i, soltinn og grimmur,<\/em>
\n \u00ed s\u00e1rk\u00f6ldum j\u00f3lasn\u00e6,<\/em>
\n og vakti \u00ed hj\u00f6rtunum hroll<\/em>
\n \u00e1 hverjum b\u00e6.<\/em><\/p>\n

He roamed, famished and savage,\/in the ice-cold Christmas snow\/and woke fear in everyone’s hearts\/in every town.<\/p>\n

Ef mj\u00e1lma\u00f0 var aumlega \u00fati<\/em>
\n var \u00f3lukkan samstundir v\u00eds<\/em>
\n Allir vissu\u00b4, a\u00f0 hann veiddi menn<\/em>
\n en vildi ekki m\u00fds.<\/em><\/p>\n

If there was a pitiful meow outside\/the bad luck was immediately certain*.\/Everyone knew that he hunted humans\/and did not want mice.<\/p>\n

(*optionally: \u00a0the danger was right at your door)<\/p>\n

Hann lag\u00f0ist \u00e1 f\u00e1t\u00e6ka f\u00f3lki\u00f0,<\/em>
\n sem f\u00e9kk enga n\u00fdja spj\u00f6r<\/em>
\n fyrir j\u00f3lin \u2013 og basla\u00f0i og bj\u00f3<\/em>
\n vi\u00f0 b\u00e1gust kj\u00f6r.<\/em><\/p>\n

He aimed for the poor people,\/who received no new garment\/for Christmas – and toiled and lived\/in miserable conditions.<\/p>\n

Fr\u00e1 \u00fev\u00ed t\u00f3k hann \u00e6t\u00ed\u00f0 \u00ed einu<\/em>
\n allan \u00feess j\u00f3lamat,<\/em>
\n og \u00e1t \u00fea\u00f0 svo oftast n\u00e6r sj\u00e1lft,<\/em>
\n ef hann gat.<\/em><\/p>\n

From them he got his feeding\/for his Christmas dinner,\/and ate them usually\/if he could.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Photo by \u00d3mar Run\u00f3lfsson<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00devi var \u00fea\u00f0 a\u00f0 konurnar kepptust<\/em>
\n vi\u00f0 kamba og vefst\u00f3l og rokk,<\/em>
\n og prj\u00f3nu\u00f0u litfagran lepp<\/em>
\n e\u00f0a l\u00edtinn sokk.<\/em><\/p>\n

That was why the women fought\/with comb and loom and spinning wheel,\/and knitted colourful patches*\/or little socks.<\/p>\n

(*patches may mean the bottoms meant for traditional Icelandic shoes.)<\/p>\n

\u00dev\u00ed k\u00f6tturinn m\u00e1tti ekki koma<\/em>
\n og kr\u00e6kja \u00ed b\u00f6rnin sm\u00e1<\/em>
\n \u2013 \u00deau ur\u00f0u a\u00f0 f\u00e1 s\u00edna fl\u00edk<\/em>
\n \u00feeim fullor\u00f0nu hj\u00e1.<\/em><\/p>\n

For the cat could not arrive\/and eat the little children\/they would receive their items\/with the grown-ups.<\/p>\n

Og er kveikt var \u00e1 j\u00f3lakv\u00f6ldi\u00f0<\/em>
\n og k\u00f6tturinn g\u00e6g\u00f0ist inn,<\/em>
\n st\u00f3\u00f0u b\u00f6rnin b\u00edsperrt og rj\u00f3\u00f0,<\/em>
\n me\u00f0 b\u00f6ggulinn sinn.<\/em><\/p>\n

And when the candles were lit for Christmas eve\/and the cat peeped in,\/the children stood proud and ruddy\/with their parcels.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Photo by username ilovebutter<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sum h\u00f6f\u00f0u fengi\u00f0 svuntu<\/em>
\n og sum h\u00f6f\u00f0u fengi\u00f0 sk\u00f3,<\/em>
\n e\u00f0a eitthva\u00f0, sem \u00fe\u00f3tti \u00fearft,<\/em>
\n \u2013 en \u00fea\u00f0 var n\u00f3g.<\/em><\/p>\n

Some had received mittens\/and some had received shoes,\/or something, that they were in need of\/but that was all it took.<\/p>\n

\u00dev\u00ed kisa m\u00e1tti engan eta,<\/em>
\n sem einhverja fl\u00edkina hlaut. \u2013<\/em>
\n H\u00fan hv\u00e6sti \u00fe\u00e1 heldur lj\u00f3t<\/em>
\n og hlj\u00f3p \u00e1 braut.<\/em><\/p>\n

For the cat could not eat anyone,\/who some garment received.-\/She* hissed then rather awfully\/and ran away.<\/p>\n

(*the word k\u00f6ttur<\/em> is masculine, which is why the Ur\u00f0ark\u00f6ttur is referred to as hann<\/em> (= he) at first, but k\u00edsa<\/em>\u00a0(= kitty) is feminine, which means that the pronoun also changes; neither tells you the real gender of the cat)<\/p>\n

Hvort enn er h\u00fan til veit \u00e9g ekki,<\/em>
\n \u2013 en aum yr\u00f0i hennar f\u00f6r,<\/em>
\n ef allir eignu\u00f0ust n\u00e6st<\/em>
\n einhverja spj\u00f6r.<\/em><\/p>\n

Whether she still exists I do not know,\/- but her travel would become miserable,\/if everyone was given\/some item of clothing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Photo by Angela Shupe<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00dei\u00f0 hafi\u00f0 n\u00fa kannski \u00ed huga<\/em>
\n a\u00f0 hj\u00e1lpa, ef \u00fe\u00f6rf ver\u00f0ur \u00e1.<\/em>
\n \u2013 M\u00e1ske enn finnist einhver b\u00f6rn<\/em>
\n sem ekkert f\u00e1.<\/em><\/p>\n

You may have it now in your mind\/to help, when it’s needed.\/- Maybe there still are children\/that receive nothing at all.<\/p>\n

M\u00e1ske, a\u00f0 leitin a\u00f0 \u00feeim sem l\u00ed\u00f0a<\/em>
\n af lj\u00f3s-skorti heims um b\u00f3l,<\/em>
\n gefi ykkur g\u00f3\u00f0an dag<\/em>
\n og gle\u00f0ileg j\u00f3l<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Maybe the search of those who live\/in dark homes*,\/gives you a good day\/and a merry Christmas**.<\/p>\n

(*lj\u00f3s-skortur means lack of light, the houses of people who cannot afford candles\/oil to light them)<\/p>\n

(**the last two lines imply that the real Christmas spirit is in selfless acts and helping others, not that people should help the poor to gain themselves a better mood)<\/p>\n

You can listen to Ragnhei\u00f0ur Gr\u00f6ndal sing this poem here<\/a>. Keep an eye (ear?) out on how some words lose their endings and\/or are tied together!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Photo by Dan\u00edel \u00d6rn<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

DISCLAIMER<\/strong>: none of the cats featured in this entry are Ur\u00f0ark\u00f6tturinn. You can tell by the fact that they’re all really cute, lovely creatures, which the Christmas Cat definitely is not.<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Additionally the poem is a great example of the traditional Icelandic metre that’s almost disappeared from use! Signs of its comeback have been few and far between, but at least one popular band Sk\u00e1l\u00f6ld writes their songs using it. For a Sk\u00e1lm\u00f6ld example check the entry Loki’s children<\/a> and see if you can spot the following rules:<\/p>\n

* Two stressed syllables alliterate on odd-numbered lines: these are called stu\u00f0lar<\/em>
\n* The next line’s first stressed word alliterates with the aforementioned two: this is called h\u00f6fu\u00f0stafur<\/em>
\n* All vowels alliterate with each other, the letter J can alliterate with some vowels
\n* Other consonants only alliterate with exactly the same consonant<\/p>\n

Icelandic Christmas is full of monsters of all kinds<\/a>, most of which feed on humans. Lucky us, some of them can be avoided with a little bit of effort. So why not join the Icelandic Christmas mood and save your friends and family from an awful death this year? All you need to do is to give them one item of clothing (and make sure they’re likewise informed so that you might be saved as well)!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

You better watch out, you better not cry… and you better receive at least one item of clothing for Christmas. This is how you’ll live to see the New Year, at least according to an Icelandic tradition. As a typical Christmas time scare for children, Ur\u00f0ark\u00f6tturinn (= the cliff cat) is actually so frightening that…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":4988,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[90791,91379,91060],"tags":[91405,3,178,7,10341,2401,91396,6977],"class_list":["post-2851","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-icelandic-culture","category-icelandic-customs","category-icelandic-history","tag-advanced","tag-culture","tag-history","tag-holidays","tag-intermediate","tag-poetry","tag-so-icelandic","tag-supernatural"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2851"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2851\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2865,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2851\/revisions\/2865"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/icelandic\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}