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Episode 9 - Frau Perchta & The Thirteen Trolls
6 Plays1 hour ago
Nym & Nylene talk about some of the many nightmarish winter monsters from folklore across Europe. Nym celebrates the goddess of the alpines and terrifying nightmare, Frau Perchta. Nylene covers several wicked and festive monsters including the Yule Lads, Gryla, and the Yule Cat.
Enter the Nightmare for transcript, show notes, sources, and more!
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Transcript
Introduction to Podcast: Dark and Sinister Topics
00:00:29
Speaker
Welcome to Nim and Nyleen's Nightmare Cottage, where we discuss dark locations, sinister media, and other tales of the macabre. I'm Nim. And I'm Nyleen. Let the nightmare begin.
00:00:50
Speaker
And we're live. Not exactly live, but OK. I mean, I don't know. I just had a bunch of coffee, so I'm live enough. Fair enough. Happy winter solstice. Happy winter. Happy light time. Happy Christmas trees. Happy Christmas trees.
Festive Greetings and Inclusivity of 'Christmas Trees'
00:01:10
Speaker
Well, because I don't want to say happy Christmas because not everyone celebrates Christmas, but I feel like most people do Christmas trees. Well, happy festive time and all of that good stuff. Yes, that what she said. Yeah.
00:01:20
Speaker
So how have you been? Trying to get all of the presents presented. it's impossible with a toddler. Actually, it was kind of fun this year because like I actually took him on shopping with me. And having him pick out presents for people was hilarious because I was trying to pick up some presents for Ace from him. And he just kept picking things like a transformer or a dinosaur or a race car. And I was like, this would be hilarious if I just went with it and let him give whatever he wanted. But I have a feeling he would try to take it away from that person. so
00:01:54
Speaker
Also, apparently, all the presents under the tree are yours and monkey's. He told me so. um I asked him if I could have one. He said no. So they're all yours, apparently. Well, to be fair, most of the presents under my tree are his. so Oh, well. They're just trading, I guess.
Holiday Shopping with Toddlers: Challenges and Humor
00:02:10
Speaker
how How's your... i'm I'm good. I finally, I'm to this point where all of the planning and ah shopping and putting together and thinking and wrapping and all of that stuff, all of the the mountain of it is behind me now. And now I think I can just kind of enjoy the rest of the season. I still have to wrap everything.
00:02:31
Speaker
I do feel like most people have spring cleaning though. I do winter cleaning. Like after I've had Christmas before New Year's is when I do my purge. Like I just... everything is gone. I do a real good deep clean on the house for Halloween. Oh, yeah. Since everybody I know shows up for my house and then I'll do one in January after the the aftermath of the winter. Yeah, because basically from October 1st to a couple days after New Year, it's like it's a whole blur. Yeah, I can't now I'm not I'm not on top of anything, but been been good times. i'm I'm having fun with being done with shit.
00:03:08
Speaker
I feel that. I don't know. I'm trying not to get there because I wait for this time of year all year. Yeah. And so I'm like, I just want to enjoy being in the moment. I feel really bad because I haven't had a chance to like sit in my living room and bask in the glory that is Christmas lights. And I did that this morning for the first time all season. And it's been up. I've had everything up since Thanksgiving. same Like it's been up, but I've just been working so much or doing stuff in other rooms. I haven't had the chance to just melt. So I think I need to get to doing that soon.
00:03:37
Speaker
Yeah, playing some movies, drive that child around to look at Christmas lights. I do need to take him to look at Christmas lights. You're right. Oh, maybe I'll take him some more soon. Yeah, that'll be fun. There's a lot of really good playlists on Spotify depending on your mood. Oh, God. He loves Christmas songs. He's great about it.
Seeking the Perfect Christmas Music: Minor Key Frustrations
00:03:53
Speaker
I do want to say that while I was doing my research for today's story, I was looking on Spotify for a playlist that was Christmas music in the minor key. And there's like a dozen or more playlists that say they are Christmas music and the minor key. But the top four songs of each of them I listen to, it's like they don't know what minor key means. It's not minor enough. It's like maybe some more softer, not as peppy holiday music, but it's not fucking minor key. Yeah, you want like Tim Burton means Christmas.
00:04:26
Speaker
I mean, kind of. There's, I've been watching a lot of holiday horror movies and there's a couple of them that have some like really nice piano, minor key classic Christmas musics that just- I just heard it in my head. Like I heard a Christmas time is here in a minor key. So I can hear it. Yeah. Silent Night is the one currently in my head. So it's like, so they exist. So I was really hoping for a good playlist, couldn't find one. If anybody was listening to this and has one, nightmarecottage at gmail.com. Let us know where they are because we need them. Yes.
Nyleen's Interest in Folklore and Winter Legends
00:04:59
Speaker
So shocking, I know I chose a Christmas legend, or not really a Christmas legend, but a holiday legend, a winter holiday legend. Okay. But before I kind of get into that, the more I research these folkloric traditions and stories, the more I'm learning about folklore, which is really, really interesting. I know. I love it. Yeah. And because I've been fascinated with it my whole life, but I've never studied it per se. Yeah. Yeah. You're just like, you just know of it. You don't really know like the roots of it and like what it, what it's transformed into.
00:05:28
Speaker
Exactly. and And seeing how these stories have evolved over the years and where those influences come from and then how you know one group celebrates it and another group celebrates it and what they take from each other. Yes. it's it's I don't know. It's been really, really cool. So before I get into my actual story, I just wanted to do a quick breakdown of kind of the the folkloric and mythological backdrop of winter holidays and their affiliations with like present day Christmas.
Saturnalia and Its Influence on Christmas Traditions
00:05:53
Speaker
Okay. Just to kind of give a bit of clarity to anybody who has there isn't familiar or needs a refresher.
00:05:57
Speaker
So the farthest back I could get on this was the ancient Romans in their Saturnalia celebration. Are you familiar with Saturnalia? No, I've never heard of that. Okay, so Saturnalia is, it's it's kind of its own subject on its own, but basically it was the time of year when the Romans would celebrate their god Saturn, who was their god of time, agriculture, abundance, and like just a whole bunch of other shit. So everything they need to survive. Basically, yeah, and he's kind of the equivalent to the Greek Kronos, who was the father of Zeus. Okay. So just to kind of give you like that where in the hierarchy he stands.
00:06:26
Speaker
Saturnalia was a days-long celebration with drinking, feasting, and role reversals between slaves and masters. In some communities, slave and master would dine together. In some, masters would serve their slaves. And that's interesting and then during this time, slaves were able to disrespect their masters without fear of repercussions. oh I still feel like the next day would be real awkward. I agree too, but everything I read was basically saying that once it's over, we're back to the status quo, so it doesn't matter.
00:06:52
Speaker
I don't know. I feel like I would be punished for being way too sassy the next day. Well, and in my view, all of these slave owners are evil anyway. So I feel like they wouldn't respect the rules of the thing. But what I'm just I'm reading what I was told. and So there was an ancient Roman historian named Okay, before I keep going, I just want to say that I'm going to say a lot of names.
00:07:16
Speaker
And most of them are ancient Roman or Germanic. Most of them are Germanic. And I'm doing my best. So but this one's an ancient Roman historian named Justinus. Justinus. Okay. And he believed that Saturn was actually a king in the pre Roman times in Italy. And he said, quote,
00:07:35
Speaker
The first inhabitants of Italy were aborigines, whose king, Saturnus, is said to have been a man of such extraordinary justice that no one was a slave in his reign or had any private property, but all things were common to all and undivided. As one estate for the use of everyone, in memory of which way of life, it has been ordered that the Saturnalia slaves should everywhere sit down with their masters at the entertainments, the rank of all beings made equal." Isn't that both socialisms?
00:08:03
Speaker
Yes, but maybe I'm wrong. I don't know. In a very, very, very basic explanation, yes. Okay. So as the Romans converted to Christianity, they moved Saturnalia from their calendars. But as their want to do, many of the commoners continued their yearly traditions.
00:08:19
Speaker
as they had to do with the Celts with Samhain, they plopped baby Jesus's birthday right down smack in the middle of winter solstice to help associate the new holiday with their existing festivities. So eventually we get to the Advent, Christmastime, and Epiphany. and Okay. Assuming you know what those are. Yes, I do. Okay. Very Catholic things. Yeah. So ah me, i was I was raised, well, I say raised, I grew up early Southern Baptist and then was kind of just left to my own devices. I like that explanation. I actually learned about epiphany while doing research for this, which made me feel really weird because I feel like I should have known about that.
00:08:53
Speaker
So just basically for anybody who doesn't know, Advent starts the fourth Sunday before Christmas to mark the preparations for the coming Messiah and more darkly his second coming. Christmas tide is the birthday party and the first of the 12 days of Christmas leading to Epiphany. And Epiphany is the foretelling of the prophecy by the Magi and is popularly referred to as Three Kings Day now. Any Catholic corrections? No. No. Okay. Not that I remember. Okay. Fair. It's been a while.
00:09:21
Speaker
So much like we saw with Halloween, traditions from different cultures and regions bleed into each other. Sometimes the earlier versions get treats of the Christian version and vice versa.
The Legend of Frau Perchta: Rewards and Punishments
00:09:30
Speaker
So all of that to get to the star of today's tale, Frau Perchdet.
00:09:34
Speaker
Frowelpurchta? Yeah, so I'm assuming you have not heard of Frowelpurchta? No, I have not. Which is funny because I, man, I delved into some stuff. Dude, before I get any further, I did so much fucking research on all of these Christmas folkloric traditions, creatures, monsters, all of these things. And there is a lot. Yeah. There is so, so much. And I read several books.
00:09:57
Speaker
between our last you know research project and this one and holy crap. It feels like there's something to creatures used for punishment. Yes. Unless you are good. Yes. I feel like you're going to talk about that later. Yes. So i'll I'll leave that there. Yes. Okay.
00:10:13
Speaker
Frau Perchte is known by several other names. Perchte, Frauhol, and Bertha are among the ones that I felt I would mess up the least. Perchte may be translated from Pergen, from Old High German meaning hidden or covered, or it may be also Old High German Berat, meaning the bright one. okay In pre-Christian folklore, this represented the return of the sun after the long dark days of the solstice. oh In Scandinavian and Alpine regions, these are they're so far north at near the Solstice, there's very little light each day during that time. yeah So Perchida's day represented bringing back the sun and life to the world. She was also kind of a goddess of agriculture in the Alpine regions. ok So depending on the region, Perchida has a few different physical descriptions. Sometimes she's a beautiful golden goddess, clad all in white. Sometimes she's an old hag or just an old woman.
00:11:02
Speaker
Sometimes she has horn and fur and sharp teeth, not unlike Krampus. So she's a shapeshifter. Well, she can be. There's actually some descriptions have her with cloven hooves to indicate that she could transform into a goat at will if she wanted to. But usually it's just, you know, so some places she's just the goddess in white. Sometimes she's just the old hag. Sometimes she's just the Krampus-y creatures, but sometimes so several of the stories even depict her as having two faces, both the young bright goddess and the dark evil hag, which made me think of the old optical illusion where you see that this one right here. Yeah. ah Honestly, I only really ever saw the young girl. like I remember seeing the old lady one time and then it ruined the picture for me, so don't ruin it again. Oh.
00:11:43
Speaker
you know
00:11:45
Speaker
like Well, I'll ruin it for everybody on Instagram. So so anyway, both in appearance and in lore, region and timing sculpt countless different versions of Perchta, but there's a lot of components that make regular appearances that kind of shape, you know, how people view from Perchta today.
00:12:00
Speaker
The goddess imagery comes with tales of her benevolence and kindness. and But when she's a hag or a monster, she's still kind if you honor her properly. But if you anger her, which we'll talk about in a second, she'll slice open your belly, rip out your guts, and stuff you full of rock straw and dirt. Oh, lovely. I feel like it's okay.
00:12:18
Speaker
I mean, that's why why stuff you with those things in particular? like Usually there's a lot of symbolism, that's the only reason I ask. There is some, and I'll get into that a little in a little bit. But before we get there, Perchda was also sometimes credited with leading the wild hunt. Are you familiar with the wild hunt? I know you're familiar with the Witcher. Yes, that one, but not. Okay.
00:12:37
Speaker
that and I for some reason thought it was in the Akatar books too as something else, but I could be wrong. It very likely is. So the Wild Hunt is actually something that is a collection of a lot of ancient German folklore that was put together by Jacob Grimm of Grimm fairy tale fame. But basically it's its its own thing. I almost kind of considered doing like a whole episode just on that before I landed on Perchida. So I'll probably do something about the Wild Hunt later. Okay.
00:13:02
Speaker
Basically, it's a prolific bit of German folklore that depicts a ghostly hunt led by a prominent figure, Woden, who is there the German equivalent of Odin, Krampus, and Perchda. Why are you laughing? I just think it's funny though, Odin, which in German is Woden. like right it's just I love i love like listening to words in other languages because it's just it's funny how like it's just one letter off sometimes. Yeah, yeah, totally. They are some of the among those who have been said to lead the hunt.
00:13:31
Speaker
But yeah, so Jacob Grimm was the first one to really put forward the collection of these tales. I have a a whole lot of stuff to say about the Grimm Brothers too, so that's that's that's kind of own other story. Another common characteristic found in Frau Purchta stories come from the post-Christian era, is that she's frequently accompanied by an entourage of ghosts of unbaptized children. Oh my god, that's so sad. I know, the smallest of which trails the back of the procession carrying a bottle of mother's tears. Wow.
00:13:58
Speaker
Yeah, um nightmare fuel. I'm telling you, this is the cottage of nightmares. She's probably most associated with spinning, which was a huge part of daily life at the time. Her goddess version was thought to have taught humans how to make linen from flax. Spinning. Okay, I was like- Right, yeah, sorry. thought it Sorry. Not DJ spinning. No, I was thinking more like just like someone just standing in a field like spinning around a circle.
00:14:21
Speaker
And I was like, okay. No, no, no. Like, got it. Like, spinning yarn. Some of the ways to please her vex her revolved around spinning chores. You needed to have your year spinning completed by purchase day, which was epiphany. ah You also could not be caught spinning on her day or you would face punishment. As the legend goes, the twelfth night was purchase night, and if you pleased her, she would leave you a silver coin.
00:14:44
Speaker
If you upset her, she will punish you, most famously, by cutting you open, replacing your inchshells with other things, and then she would sew you back up so your family would think you died peacefully in your sleep. I feel like you would notice, like, a giant... That's where you suspend the disbelief? I mean, yeah.
00:15:01
Speaker
So the reason that she would stuff straw and dirt and rocks into your belly when she where she pulled out your entrails, it's usually because that was the stuff that was left around your unclean home. She would stuff your belly with the things that kept your shit from being clean. Got it. So your spitting better be on point, your house better be fucking clean. What does she do with your entrails? Does she eat them? Unknown, probably. I don't know. Maybe she fed them to her ghostly children.
00:15:25
Speaker
That's sad. Okay, I'll cut that out. You don't have to cut it out. but No, the story isn't about that. gosh So the aforementioned spinning faux pas, lying, leaving your house a mess, not eating their proper foods or not honoring her are all ways to get punished. Liars would have their tongues scraped out with glass.
00:15:46
Speaker
She would flatten misbehaving children with her one giant foot, which was giant from working the spinning pedal all the time. And of course she was most known for her disemboweling followed by taxidermy. Cute. So beyond honoring her to prevent her from fucking murdering you, people would honor her out of true reverence. She would bestow blessings of luck for a full year on people, families, and whole villages when she was pleased.
00:16:08
Speaker
which was real important back then. Which was real important back then, yeah. but you know Scarcity of food and all the stuff you really needed to follow the rules. People would leave out usually very specific food for her to earn her favor. This was usually a very particular type of porridge or something like fish and dumplings, just you know things that are based on their food rules of the time. Dumplings.
00:16:30
Speaker
but So revered was Perchda that the church got intimidated and set out to demonize her like they do. They talked mad shit. Even Martin Luther of nailing shit on doors fame had some angry sermons about how she was an asshole and defiled God a lot. Oh good. But you know what's really sexy?
00:16:45
Speaker
is a villain with a heart of gold. So the dual nature that the church created just added to Perchta's popularity. She hung on with many communities and is still celebrated there today, ah mostly concentrated in Austria, where even tales vary from village to village for that too. One particular version of Perchta comes from the form of the Schnabelperkten. What from the Rauris Valley of Salzburg, Austria. okay Apologies for pronunciation. This version combines the legend of Perchta with Mummer's traditions, which you might remember from our Halloween conversations of Mummer's being people that would go door to door singing.
00:17:21
Speaker
and begging for golden food. Oh, like carolers for Halloween. okay Exactly, yeah. But these people will dress in white beaks for masks over women's work clothes carrying comically large wooden scissors and brooms, and they go door to door to check to see if your house is clean. wow It's customary to offer a drink or denotions which go to charity, and this is a picture of how they dress. Oh my gosh, that's really funny.
00:17:46
Speaker
And then it looks like, what is that thing from Silent Hill, the pyramid head, but like a lady version, read a dainty lady version of it? In St. Johann in Pongau, Austria, there is a Perchita event that looks a lot like a Krampus run, and but you'll see Shiok perk, which means ugly Perchita, or Schönpert, which means beautiful Perchita walking the street in a parade to celebrate and honor her legend. So you'll see the goddesses as well as the Krampus-like figures.
00:18:14
Speaker
And then to wrap things up, I wanted to give just one a very short tale about Frau Frau Perchta had been traveling with her ghosts and monsters for many moons when her wagon broke down and she had to stop.
00:18:28
Speaker
A farmer saw this in the distance and rushed to the broken wagon to see if he could help. As he approached, he realized whose wagon it was and promptly shit his pants. Oh, good. And did not want to anger her. So he soon realized that the problem was a broken linchpin in the wheel. He carved out a new pin and got everything back and worked in order. He was very relieved to report to Frau Perchta that she was good to go. She thanked him and told him to save the shavings from the wood cutting. Too scared to question anything and ready to get the fuck out, he scooped up the shavings and peaced out.
00:18:58
Speaker
When he got home, he found that all the dust and shavings he had collected had turned to gold. Ooh, cool. So that is Frau Purchta. Awesome. I actually had several, I had to pick between the stories I wanted to tell because I found like three or four really good ones that kind of illustrate her vibe pretty well, but I thought that was a good one because he was scared as fuck, but like still wanted to do right by her and then she did in fact reward him. As you do. Well, as she does. So yeah, that was Frau Purchta. Love it.
Introduction to Icelandic Yule Lads: Mischief and Tradition
00:19:32
Speaker
So I have a few that we're going to go over today. Do you remember that I did an episode talking about Icelandic sorcery, right? Absolutely. I do. So I stumbled upon some Icelandic Christmas or Yol, that's apparently how it's pronounced stuff, and then fell into a hole on all other kinds of like Icelandic lore. And then also like just some like other little random things that like there wasn't a whole bunch of information on to make a whole episode about it, but I just threw it in there because it was cute. Cool.
00:20:00
Speaker
to start. Did you know that Christmas celebrations start on December 12th for the Icelandic people? I did not know that. Yeah. So obviously that was really exciting for me because I'm a little bit obsessed with Christmas.
00:20:13
Speaker
So December 12th is when the Yolads actually start arriving. So that's what we're going to talk about today. Nice. The story of the Yolads used to be a lot more sinister in the past than it is today. Originally, they were part of Iceland's dark folklore, and they were portrayed as trolls or ogres that lived in the mountains and would come to villages and cause all kinds of trouble for the people living there. They were known as the sons of Grala, who I'll talk more about later.
00:20:39
Speaker
each one of the 13 Yule Lads. Sorry, I was like, wait, how many are there? They're 13. They're known for their own bad behavior, and they have their own personality based on like the type of mischief they would do. like Think Snow White in the Seven Dwarves style, but with less singing and more mischief. Right?
00:20:56
Speaker
love and so The kinds of pranks they pulled usually had to do with like adding additional inconveniences to, as we discussed, the already hard Icelandic winters. They were dark, cold days, there were food shortages, so if they weren't appeased, they were said to target children who misbehave. The most widely accepted version of their descriptions and story comes from a 1932 poem called Jolles van der Sveer. I'm sure that's exactly how it's re pronounced. That means Jolled lads. And it was written by Johannes Frach Kultlem. They were also known to cause real harm if they were not abused. So they were enormous, filthy, unintelligent creatures with beastly humanoid qualities. They could only operate in the hours of the night as the sun would turn them into stone. So they would each stay around until Christmas Day and then leave one by one each day as it came.
00:21:49
Speaker
So I'm going to call them by their translated names because it seems unfair for me to butcher. They're beautiful. That's fair. So we're just gonna call them by their trans anything. All right so like I said starts on December 12th and the very first one comes. He is a sheep coat plod. Icelanders they would keep their sheep underground during winter. Occasionally their tormented bleeding would echo up into the house and this was considered a sign that the sheep coat had found them. It was said that he would sneak in and harass the sheep. Did not say what harass meant.
00:22:22
Speaker
Um, but something did say that he would sometimes steal their milk or their meat, which obviously isn't great when you're cold and starving and need them to help you feed you and your family for the whole winter. But like most of his brothers, he was limited by a deformity. He had stiff wooden legs, which impaired his ability to move. So you wouldn't really go like fight him or anything. You just kind of just wait for him to move on and try not to fuck up next time kind of situation.
00:22:45
Speaker
So that was the first one. And then the second one comes on December 13th. He is called Gullycock. He hides in the gullies around the house waiting for people inside to fall asleep. And then he breaks into your cow shed and he steals your milk, which seems kind of rude if the other one already took your sheep's milk. So now you know you have no milk. And the pictures of these, oh my God, I'm going to put them online. yes They are something else.
00:23:14
Speaker
So the third one comes on December 14th. He's stubby, which I feel like that's rude, but he's the smallest one of the lads and he goes around stealing the frying pans and he takes bits of food that remained in them. This of course wasn't great because pots and pans were not easy to come by and they had to be imported through great expense. So, you know, not only would he steal your food, he would steal the pans.
00:23:37
Speaker
The next one would come on December 15th. He was spoon licker, which I'm sure you'll guess what he does. I'm imagining he licks some spoons. But like if they look clean, what was the harm really? like I feel like hygiene back in the day wasn't very big anyway. He's like, what are they doing? Just rinsing it off anyways, right? The fifth one comes on December 16th. He's pot scraper.
00:24:01
Speaker
Yeah. Did he scrape pots? So he'll actually steal all of your unwashed pots so that he can take all of like the sauce and chunks of meat and veggies that are left. I didn't see any like notes saying like if he returned the pots. So that's another thing. So if he took them, that wasn't great. But the main lesson was for children to clean their plates and that the food that they had was meant to last for the long winter. So wasting it was frowned upon. So you know you better eat all your food or this troll dude is going to come and steal them all.
00:24:29
Speaker
makes sense. December 17th was a bowl liquor. He hides under children's beds waiting for them to finish their nighttime soup or pudding. He then takes whatever bowls are left and then eats them under the bed. The whole bowl? I guess. I don't know. No. I'm hoping just the food inside. I'm saying it's bowl liquor. So assuming that. But could you imagine like you're just like laying there like half asleep and you just hear something like Oh no. Under your bed? No, thank you. I would just die. i would like What do you do? like You can't get up because then it's just going to take you and eat you. So you just stay there and die, apparently. I feel like I could bribe it with more food. Where are you going to get more food from? Well, you'd have to get up first. He wants the stuff in the bowls. He doesn't want to eat me. He might want to eat you or take you back to Grila. I mean, I hear she has a cat.
00:25:21
Speaker
was not much better. this on this So the seventh one that comes is on December 18th and he is door slammer. This one feels a little creepy because he apparently really likes to like wait till you're asleep and then slam the doors in the middle of the night. I love this picture. He looks so light. I know he's you exactly. And he just like likes to scare the crap out of everyone and when they're sleeping. This is actually something that already happens to me. Like, you know, the AC kicks on and then like the door just like kind of closes because you didn't apparently close it all the way. ah I hate it so much. It just ruins everything for me. So.
00:25:57
Speaker
ah happens in my house when the AC kicks on one of the hall closets like kind of yeah just yeah and you're like oh but see you have a cat too so it's just additional spookiness that's true just happening all around you just accept the spooky when you live with a cat exactly so the eighth one comes on December 19 he is skier gobbler He just steals a lot of your skier, which I don't know if you know, it's kind of yogurt. It's like an Icelandic yogurt. He just devours all of it. They just really like dairy, I guess. I don't know, which apparently it was like a staple over there, especially because like they would have like a lot of just like meats and then starch.
00:26:38
Speaker
like meat potato. So the you know creamy, fatty yogurt was like just a really good palate cleanser between meals. Right. Right. Well, and it was the the treat. I think that was kind of a similar theme in what I was finding with like the indulgent of dairy versus the basics of so you know starch, the flour-based rice base. Yes. Plus the meats, yeah. Yeah. The ninth one.
00:27:03
Speaker
comes on December 20. He's the sausage swiper. I love that picture. um He was said to break in your home and just hide in the rafters waiting for dinner to be cooked. And then he'd swoop down and steal all of your sausage and eat it. What an asshole. Yeah, right? Like, come on, man. Sausage, especially back then, like, you had to make your own sausage. This hard is hard work. I'm sorry, I scrolled onto the next picture. Yes. Yes, the 10th the tenth when on December 21st, he's the window peeper, which Ew, super creepy. It just says that he peeps through your windows to see if there's anything he can steal, which doesn't really seem all that bad compared to the others who are just like waltzing in and helping themselves to your end of the bed midnight snacks. But still, like, could you imagine just face in the window and like, excuse me.
00:27:52
Speaker
So this next one, december eleventh i sorry the 11th one comes on December 22nd. He's door sniffer. He apparently has a giant nose and he just sniffs your doorways looking for baked goods. Yeah, honestly, it sounds like nightmare fuel because could you imagine you're just like sleeping and then you just hear someone
00:28:15
Speaker
just inhaling deeply in the middle of the night. And then you just see like a giant nose peeping around your doorway like, no, I'm i'm okay. Thank you. So the 12th one comes on December 23. He's meat hook. He just hides around your house waiting for meats to be put out. And then he uses his hook to just steal it and then eat it.
00:28:34
Speaker
I guess he just wants your Christmas means. It sounded a lot more threatening before you explained it. I agree. It's just, it seems really like less sinister when you explain it. So the last one comes on December 24th and he is candle stealer. So as you mentioned, winter in Iceland leaves only about four to five hours of daylight a day. This means candles and fire are very important to families, especially ones living in rural areas. The final one, he steals your candles, leaving you in a dark, gloomy, cold winter without the ability to read books, which Icelanders apparently really love to do.
00:29:04
Speaker
Worst of all, he was said to follow children around the house until they were alone and then take it straight from their hands. And he just liked to eat the candles because they were made of tallows. Wow. I know. So rude. Just like take it straight from their hands. Like I mentioned, in the olden days, each one of them like would come on their own day. They inflict their torture. And if they're not given some kind of leaf bread, they would move on. So wait, no, they they needed to be given a leaf bread to be appeased and then they would move on basically. So this has now evolved to each one coming on their own day, giving a gift if you're good or bad on top of inflicting their particular flavor of mischief. So the treat that's left out for the old lads is the leaf bread, which is a thin crispy flatbread. And then children would also leave a shoe in their windowsill and they would get either a small present
00:29:59
Speaker
if they're good each day, and if they're bad, they just got a raw or rotten potato in their shoe. Which, one, that's really mean to do it, oh, kid, right? Like, I understand if he's an asshole, but still, like, that's mean. Kids were harder back then. Are you trying to say it myself?
00:30:14
Speaker
No, I'm trying to say that. He is very soft. Um, but like if it was a raw potato, I feel like I would just cook it and eat it at a spite. Like, okay, sure thanks for giving me dinner. Like, well, since they took all your dairy and your meat, apparently it's true. I mean, at least you still have a rotten potato.
00:30:32
Speaker
Hey, I wouldn't eat a rotten one, just the raw one. So while the Yolads are mischievous, they are nothing compared to the supposed mother, Grila. She is a troll who roams around the country on Christmas Eve, taking children who are naughty and dumping them in her sack crepa style. She then takes them back to her cave where she cooks them into a stew. It's delicious. Yeah, right. Grila also has a furry feline named Yolkat.
00:30:57
Speaker
He said to devour anyone who doesn't get new clothes for Christmas. I love him. Yes. Like, so they don't need like a whole wardrobe, but like just a pair of socks will do. Interestingly enough, the legend of the Yule Cat ties back to Iceland's history and the wool production. um Workers were encouraged to finish their tests before the holidays and anyone who finished their weaving on time were rewarded with new garments. Anyone who didn't finish was considered lazy and at risk of being eaten by Yule Cat. And apparently that one bitch that you were talking about. So.
00:31:28
Speaker
fra perched ah perched up
00:31:32
Speaker
Interestingly enough, in the 18th and 20th centuries, these characters shifted from fearsome creatures used to terrorize children to more fun and playful, partly due to the Christianization of Icelandic culture.
00:31:43
Speaker
and partly due to the Danish government issuing a decree that banned the use of fuel ads and gryla to scare children. Yeah, they were like, guys, no more. It's not allowed. or're We're being mean to these children. Were they going to tell anybody else? Because there are so many things that scare children, especially during Christmas. I know, but i this was like an actual decree. Love that. Yes, I thought that was really funny. So I did find just a few additional cute ones just to have something small on them. I don't know how to say this, but I'm going to try. So Mary Lude. Mary Lloyd. Lloyd. I almost did that one as well. I love Mary Lloyd. It's a wesh a Welsh folk custom celebrated around Christmas and New Year.
00:32:25
Speaker
and it's a person basically running through town carrying a horse's skull on top of a long pole that's draped in a white sheet. They have a whole parade of people behind them and they'll go to different people's houses, have it out hurling, rhyming insults at each other, and then they try to get into the house for food and drink. So it's supposed to symbolize the clash between the old and the new year.
00:32:44
Speaker
Yes. And also, you're basically having a rap battle with a skeleton horse. I know. It's so good. I love that tradition. In fact, next year, i'm I'm trying to convince Monkey to let me put that big skeleton horse you got me out in front for Christmas. They all decorated or ribbons and stuff to make it look that way. Yes. So stay tuned. That would be really funny, actually. So the next one, the Christmas spider. Okay. Is a figure from European folklore, especially popular in Ukraine and
Folkloric Legends: Christmas Spider and Scandinavian Nisse
00:33:12
Speaker
Germany. The story is that a poor family who couldn't afford to decorate their tree on Christmas Eve, spiders spun webs across the tree, which shimmered when hit with sunlight or moonlight. The legend is said to have inspired putting tinsel on Christmas trees and is a symbol of good fortune and hope. Apparently in the Ukraine, it's common to include spider ornaments on trees. Like I do. Yeah. I was like, Oh, you include them. It's cute. yeah So lastly was my favorite, the niece.
00:33:38
Speaker
N-I-S-S-E. Okay, this is one I actually don't know. They're said to be small elf-like creatures from Scandinavian folklore. They're helpful but as usual mischievous and said to live on farms protecting the household and family as long as they're treated with respect. They are small with long beards and red hats. Sound like gnomes to me, which I love. They will help with farm chores and keep the family from misfortune as long as you're not neglected or offended. They do require a treat of porridge with butter.
00:34:07
Speaker
that's very similar to Perchta's treat that she requires, but it's like a very, very, very specific porridge for her. But I read a similar thing about those porridge. Yeah. So that's a thing, apparently. So those are the ones that I found. I mean, like like you said, there's so many of them that were really cool and really cute. And I wanted to talk about all of them, but I guess that leaves more fuel for future years. Absolutely. But yes, that's what I got. That was a lot of fun. Do you have nightmare fuel? I do. Okay, so my nightmare fuel was actually, it's unrelated but related. So going through the Yolads reminded me of the movie 13 Ghosts.
00:34:50
Speaker
Do you remember that movie? So basically it's just like really rich collector and he dies leaves behind his house. He has like 13 ghosts all following signs of the zodiac locked in the house. The movie was made in 2001 and honestly the makeup and effects were really good for that time I feel like. It's a fun watch honestly a little bit funny in some parts but the makeup and effects just add to that creepiness they're just very very well done.
00:35:15
Speaker
um So I really suggest giving it a watch or just a rewatch if you haven't watched it. Yeah, actually I should rewatch that because I remember having a lot of fun with that, but it's been ages since I've seen it. Exactly. So my nightmare fuel is actually going to be a few things.
Christmas-themed Horror Movies and Holiday Traditions
00:35:29
Speaker
We just had my yearly ah movie watching party that we do at the holidays. We started a few years ago where I wanted everybody to watch Gremlins because much like how Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown is quintessentially Halloween to me, like it pulls out all of my Halloween vibes.
00:35:47
Speaker
Grimlands is my Christmas vibes. like It's why I love the big C9 multicolored lights. There are certain Christmas songs that are in it that just like immediately bring me there. It's it's such a you know thing. so But that was the first one we did. The next one we did, I'm actually, I'm going to list all four of the ones we've done but because these are these are my night or field. This is my gift to anybody who listens. It's great holiday watching. The next one I want to recommend is ah Santa's sleigh.
00:36:16
Speaker
Which is probably my number one Christmas movie recommendation of all time. To know you're getting the right one because there's a few different Santa Slay movies. It is spelled S-L-A-Y. And Santa is played by Goldberg, the wrestler. And I'm not going to ruin anything, but it is choice. It is great. It is just great. It is Christmas horror. Go in expecting ridiculousness. It is golden. The following year we did Santa Jaws, where a kid I think I saw this one. Oh, you guys missed that. You maybe didn't show, yeah. So Santa Jaws is about this kid who his he draws these comics of Santa Jaws and it comes to life and starts killing everybody. Like a shark, Santa? A Santa that is a shark, yeah. Really great kills with, you know, sharpened candy cane and Christmas lights. It's really great. And then this year we did the mean one.
00:37:07
Speaker
to that movie was hilarious and fantastic and horrible and great at the same time. It was just everything you could have hoped for. So yeah, that's what we did this year. It's basically, you know,
00:37:21
Speaker
ah based off of the Grinch, how the Grinch until Christmas, but super horror and very camp and just ridiculous. So these are the movies I've subjected all of my friends to each year. We do a new one. I watch a lot of really bad Christmas horror to get these. And so I share them all with you now too. And I'm actually going to tag on a bonus because of your mention of the Yule ads and the porridge and stuff on Netflix.
00:37:46
Speaker
Okay. and There's something called there's something in the barn or someone in the barn. Okay. And I'm surprised I haven't run across this. I'm surprised too. It's horror. It's not gory. Ace would love it. Watch it. Okay. Okay. There's something in the barn. Yeah. Okay. So that's my nightmare field. A whole bunch of Merry Christmas, happy holidays, winter solstice nightmare field for you. Lots of stuff to do.
Mad Libs Activity and Closing Holiday Wishes
00:38:09
Speaker
They're all streamable somewhere. I'm sure. Awesome.
00:38:18
Speaker
Do you have a palate cleanser today? I do, I do. So how long has it been since you've done a Mad Lib? Honestly, not as long as you would think. I used to get kind of drunk with my friends back in my 20s and we would do Mad Libs and it was funny. Yeah, that was a long time ago.
00:38:41
Speaker
Not that long ago, not as long as you. I was going to say, says the bitch. This 10 years will be 11 years, 9 years, I don't know. Bitch who's going to be doing it. What we're going to do is I'm going to ask you to give me nightmare cottage verbs, nouns, and and adjectives and stuff. And then I'm going to fill in a very Christmasy mad. Okay, hold on. First, I need a verb.
00:39:01
Speaker
A verb is an action. An action, yeah. A nightmarish verb. Slashing. Or is that more of an action? No, that's perfect. That's exactly what that is. Give me another one. Bloody. That's an adjective. Okay. Bleeding. Bleeding. As you can tell, I failed you. Adjective. Grissom. Give me a color. Purple. That is not nightmarish, but it is in our low days. Another adjective.
00:39:33
Speaker
stinky stinky give me another color orange okay and a noun graveyard and another verb clawing and another crunching sorry I think I'm murdering someone in mine and they need two plural nouns mummies and gnomes okay And they need an adjective and two more plural nouns and you'll be done. Goodness. Burned. Burned. And plural nouns. I'm just like looking around the room. oh Demons. And one more. Bay. All right. Are we ready for our Christmas Madlet? I'm really sorry. It's an old tradition. OK, I'm going to have to change some conjugations of these words. It's an old tradition to slash stockings on Christmas Eve. Some people bleed stockings themselves out of gruesome purple or stinky orange graveyards. What? Ew. Why? What? While others claw their stockings at the store. People crunch, no, people, yeah, people crunch Christmas stockings over the mummies. No, over the shit.
00:40:54
Speaker
I think I missed one. To be filled with small mummies for Christmas morning, these gifts or stocking stuffers include things like, here we go, gnomes, burnt demons, or fae. Oh good.
00:41:09
Speaker
But yeah, so fantastic. That's our wintery holiday episode of the Nightmare Cottage. Everyone have a very good holiday. Be safe or or know whatever you prefer to do. Visions of spider webs dancing in your heads. Merry Christmas. Goodnight.
00:41:31
Speaker
If you have topic suggestions, movie or book recommendations, questions for the cottage, or just want to say hi, you can email us at nightmarecottage at gmail dot.com. You can find us on Instagram at nightmarecottage and on our website at nightmarecottage.com. Sleep tight, if you dare.