Christmas in Iceland
"Glaedelig Jul"
In Iceland Christmas goblins or Jola Sveinar, take the place of Santa Claus. One comes each day, with the last one arriving on Christmas Eve. They play pranks and have names to suit them like "Window Peeper" and "Door Smeller".
Icelandic children believe that the goblins bring their Christmas gifts. Parents in Iceland enjoy dressing up like the goblins.
There are few trees in Iceland so children often help their fathers to tie the branches and foliage of shrubs to a centre pole to make their tree. They then decorate them with homemade ornaments. On Chrismas Eve the children stay up late and sing carols around the the tree and exchange gifts.
There is a special Christmas feast of smoked mutton that takes the place of turkey. With the mutton is served laufabraud (fancy fried cakes), ponnukokur (thin pancakes) and at the end of the meal, a big Christmas cake filled with raisins and currants.
