Among left-wing politicians: traditional ‘Christmas cat’ causes red heads in Iceland

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As we all know, traditions are a big and important part of Christmas. Every country has its own customs, some of which may seem strange. In Iceland, a five-meter-high, illuminated cat figure is erected every year during Advent.

However, anyone who thinks of a sweet, meowing kitten is on the wrong track. The animal has nothing to do with cuteness – on the contrary.

The history has its origins in the 19th century

Jólakötturinn, which means ‘Christmas Cat’ in Icelandic, is as much a part of Christmas in Iceland as cinnamon stars and Mailänderli are in Switzerland. But the Christmas custom is definitely of the more brutal variety. Because the cat’s menu does not include mice or fish, but small children. Particularly macabre: The animal especially favors children affected by poverty.

There are numerous myths surrounding the origins of the Jólakötturinn. Several sources point to the 19th-century Icelandic poet Jón Árnson (1819–1888), who described the Christmas cat in one of his works as an “evil beast” that either eats children or steals the leftovers from their Christmas dinner.

It is not surprising that the habit of a cat attacking the poorest and most vulnerable in a society is bringing left-wing politicians to the barricades.

Different interpretations about the meaning of the Christmas cat

The Christmas cat is a red flag, especially for Sanna Magdalena Mörtodóttir, who sits on the Reykjavík City Council for the Socialist Party of Iceland. «The cat eats children whose parents cannot afford clothes for them. Many families in Reykjavík are in this situation,” the politician wrote on Facebook, pointing out that the city spends a lot of money on elaborate decorations but ignores the problems of the city’s poorer residents.

But there is not just one interpretation of the myth. For many, the Christmas cat also represents values ​​such as hard work and hard work. In some stories, the cat eats lazy children and adults who had not yet spun the sheep’s wool from autumn to winter and processed it into new clothes – and not poor children.

As the Icelandic portal Simnet writes, in the time of the poet Árnson, new clothes were considered a reward for a job well done. In this way, the fairy tale character Jólakötturinn could recognize who had worked particularly hard. If you were lazy, the animal would eat you. It reads: “The Christmas cat was used as motivation to get people to work hard.” (ced)

Source: Blick