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.

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About the Author
Jewells is a native New Yorker that fell in love with an Icelander and now lives in one of the most fascinating countries in the world. As the host of the All Things Iceland podcast, she shares about Icelandic culture, history, language and nature. When she is not making podcast episodes or YouTube videos, you can find her attempting to speak in Icelandic, hiking up mountains, reading books and spending time with her family.

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