More from Iceland. Settled by Vikings a thousand years ago, Iceland was long isolated in the chilly North Atlantic and its people developed a number of interesting, and terrifying folk beliefs — tales of cannibal ogres and their offspring threatening isolated farmhouses during the Christmas season. The land was said to be haunted by monsters with a taste for human flesh whose thirteen offspring were prone to invade the house and make life miserable for the inhabitants.
These Jólasveinar, or Yule Lads, had names such as Meat Hook, Doorway Sniffer and Door Slammer which give clues as to their particular malicious specialties. They came down from the mountains one by one in the thirteen days before Christmas, practiced their nasty deeds and left one by one in the days after Christmas. Nowadays the Jólasveinar have mellowed with time and are welcomed into the home as gift bringers. Starting on December 12, the eve of St Lucia, children put out their shoes at night believing that each of the Lads as they arrive will leave them little treats. Once they have all arrived, they leave one by one, to be gone by Epiphany.