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Some Icelandic Christmas Folklore pt. VI – Pottasleikir AKA Yule Lad No. 5

by Pu on December 15, 2010

Pottasleikir is going to lick your pots clean.

Has your mother ever told you not to lick plates after eating? In the case of Pottasleikir (Pot Licker), perhaps Grýla has never objected to this impolite behavior — by the way, did you know it was her to cause the volcano eruption earlier this year?

Pot Scraper, the fifth one,
was a funny sort of chap.
When kids were given scrapings,
he’d come to the door and tap.

And they would rush to see
if there really was a guest.
Then he hurried to the pot and had a scraping fest.

You can now understand that if the Pottasleikir is deficient in good manners, it’s not his own fault: a good education is very important also for mythical creatures. And you will not be mad at the poor chap then if you find him licking your pots clean in the middle of the night. Anyway, why did you leave dirty pans all around your kitchen?!

Expect Pottasleikir’s visit on the 16th of December.

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  • Some Icelandic Christmas Folklore pt. V – Þvörusleikir AKA Yule Lad No. 4
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Tagged as: Christmas, festivities, folklore, Grýla, Yule Lads

Kevin Futers January 2, 2011 at 8:50 am

My son’s fiancee is from Yorkshire and she always calls the dishes “pots” – presumably a Viking influence down to this day. The rest of the English speaking world tends to think of pots as things that you cook in rather than eat off!

Mari January 2, 2011 at 4:43 pm

Funny!

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