Tonight Skyrjarmur,, the 8th Yule Lad comes to town This is a 15-day Icelandic Christmas series. To hear about the other Yule Lads that have already arrived and an overview of this Icelandic Christmas series, check out Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7 and Day 8.
Below is the Icelandic and English version of the poem about Skyrjarmur by Jóhannes úr Kötlum.
Icelandic version of the poem about Skyrjarmur
Skyrjarmur, sá áttundi,
var skelfilegt naut.
Hann hlemminn o’n af sánum
með hnefanum braut.
Svo hámaði hann í sig
og yfir matnum gein,
uns stóð hann á blístri
og stundi og hrein.
English version of the poem about Skyrjarmur
Skyr Gobbler, the eighth,
was an awful stupid bloke.
He lambasted the skyr tub
till the lid on it broke.
Then he stood there gobbling
– his greed was well known –
until, about to burst,
he would bleat, howl and groan.
Icelandic Christmas Tradition
Lighting of the Oslo tree in Austurvöllur square in downtown Reykjavík is not as grand as the Rockefeller Christmas tree lighting but it is still fun. Songs are sung and it is an all around good time. This normally happens in early December and that is when you know that the Christmas season is going into hyperdrive here.
