Day 7 – The 6th Icelandic Yule Lad (Askasleikir) comes to Town

Tonight Askasleikir, the 6th 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 and Day 6.

Below is the Icelandic and English version of the poem about Askasleikir by Jóhannes úr Kötlum.

Sá sjötti Askasleikir, 
var alveg dæmalaus.- 
Hann fram undan rúmunum 
rak sinn ljóta haus. 

Þegar fólkið setti askana 
fyrir kött og hund, 
hann slunginn var að ná þeim 
og sleikja á ýmsa lund.

Bowl Licker, the sixth one,
was shockingly ill bred.
From underneath the bedsteads
he stuck his ugly head.

And when the bowls were left
to be licked by dog or cat,
he snatched them for himself –
he was sure good at that!

Laufabrauð – leaf bread

Laufabrauð is a traditional Icelandic bread that is eaten in the Christmas season. Even though it is said to have originated in the north of Iceland, it is now eaten all around the country.

The look of it is a very thin flat cake with a diameter of about 15 to 20 cm (6 to 8 inches), and is decorated with leaf-like, geometric patterns. It is fried to a crispy texture in hot fat or oil.

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