The National and University Library of Iceland wishes everyone in Iceland a merry Christmas and a happy New Year, with thanks for the year that is ending.
The Yule Lads (jólasveinar) have ancient roots in Icelandic folk belief. Today they are usually said to be 13. They are of troll stock, the sons of the ogres Grýla and Leppalúði, and live in the wilderness. Stories of the Yule Lads are part of the Icelandic Christmas, and during Advent they come to the settlements one by one, one a day until Christmas Eve, and then go back one after another to where they came from. Their names come either from what they covet or from what most marks them out.
The drawing is by Tryggvi Magnússon (1900–1960) and illustrates a poem by Jóhannes úr Kötlum in the book Jólin koma (Christmas Is Coming). The original drawings are kept in the Library.