The legend of the Yule Cat comes to us from Iceland, quite literally a land of fire and ice. According to an Old Norse creation myth, the void from which life initially came was the space between the extremes of cold and heat. Ice and Fire. When you consider that in Iceland there are around 200 volcanoes as well as hot springs and the large Vatnajokull Icefield, you can easily see how this could happen. Why, in 1963, a new island was formed off the coast!

The climate in Iceland ranges from warm and humid in the southwest, to the polar-like tundra in the northeast. These conditions leave only about ¼ of the counrty to be considered habitable, well, unless you are made of lave or ice that is. Most towns and cities in Iceland dot the coastline.

In the early 4th century, a Greek explorer name Pytheas set sail from France, northward through the British Isles on his way to explore The End of The World. This remote northernmost land of Europe was known as Ultima Thule, and is believed to be the Iceland of today.

Irish monks were perhaps the first to spend any amount of time in Iceland. Apparently, they used this land as a sort of spiritual retreat before the 9th century.

It was the Norwegians who are credited as being the first Icelandic settlers. Late in the 9th century, some of the Norse folk decided to make a new life for themselves out from under the dominating thumb of Norway's King Harold I.

Among these early settlers were many Irish and Scottish women. These women were initially slaves, though considering that they were Celts AND women, I do wonder how long that lasted…

Anyway, sometime after 1000 B.C., when Olaf I of Norway decreed by law that Christianity was now the official religion of Iceland, the Icelandic people began to put into writing the oral mythical poetry that had accompanied the people to this new land.

Creativity, literacy and the Arts flourish in Iceland. They have their own Icelandic Dance Company, a National Symphony Orchestra, an Opera House and a rich literary tradition dating back to the middle ages. Icelanders read more books per capita than any other people in the world. In 1955, Mr. Halldor Laxness won the nobel prize for literature.

Into this literal hotbed of artistic creativity, the poet Johannes ur Kotlum was born in 1899. Johannes is the creator of the Yule Cat Poem. This poem teaches many lessons: hard work is rewarded, laziness is punished, that it is important to take care of the children and also assist those who may be less fortunate than us during the Yule Season.

According to legend, the goal of the Icelandic people in days gone by was to get all the year's new wool taken care of by the end of autumn. This means the shearing, washing, carding-all the things necessary to make wool into usable form for the creation of garments. The reward for all of this hard work was a new piece of clothing.

And if you procrastinated and didn't get the wool finished?

Then dude, your lazy, slacker self was Yule Cat fodder! For when the Yule Cat went a prowling, he could tell if you're wearing something new or not…

From the website:Yule In Iceland

Bibliography:
www.iceland.org/history_people.html
www.south.is/history.html
www.encyclopedia.com