There are 13 Santas in Iceland – meet the Icelandic Santas

Writer: Helena Bergström

Updated: August 2026 | In Iceland, one Santa Claus is not enough. Here, there are thirteen – and they come one by one during the last thirteen days before Christmas. They steal sausages, lick bowls, slam doors and peek through windows. As if that weren't enough, they have a man-eating troll mother and a giant Christmas cat in the family.

The Icelandic Santas, the Santa Clauses, has fascinated me ever since I lived in Iceland as an exchange student and celebrated a full Icelandic Christmas at Vestmannaeyar. Since then, I have returned to Iceland many times – but the stories of the thirteen strange elves are still among my favorites among all the country's traditions.

I got to know the Icelandic elves at Vestmannaeyar

The first time I came to Iceland wasn't on a regular vacation. I moved there as an exchange student, lived in Vestmannaeyjar and attended high school there for a year.

This meant that I got to experience Iceland in a completely different way than I had during all the trips I later made back to the country. I lived everyday life, went to school and got to know traditions that you don't necessarily come into contact with during a week's vacation.

One of them was the Christmas tradition of the thirteen Icelandic Santas. I had a special Christmas calendar with all the Santas, where every day you would turn to see which Santa it was. I liked it so much that the calendar came home with me to Sweden and came back for several Christmases. And the Santas were definitely not copies of our Swedish Santa.

Iceland has 13 Santas

The Icelandic Santas are called Christmas gifts, roughly ”Christmas boys” or ”Christmas boys”. In today’s tradition, there are thirteen of them and in the days before Christmas they come down from the mountains, one at a time.

The first, Stekkjastaur, arrives on December 12. After that, a new elf arrives every day until Christmas Eve, when the thirteenth and final one, Kertasníkir, appears.

Then they start to leave again in the same order. Stekkjastaur leaves the human world on December 25th and then disappears one by one a day. On January 6th the last one is gone and Icelandic Christmas is over.

The Icelandic elves weren't very kind

Today's jólasveinar have become considerably more modest than their predecessors. Nowadays, Icelandic children usually place a shoe in the window during the thirteen nights before Christmas. If the child has been good, today's Santa can leave a small gift in the shoe. Those who have not behaved risk finding a potato instead.

But it didn't start out so cutely. In older folklore, the Santa Clauses were troll-like and rather scary figures who came down from the mountains and caused trouble.

They stole food, disturbed people and animals, and all had their own more or less annoying quirks. The much friendlier role of Christmas present-bearer is a more modern development. And their name pretty much reveals what they were up to.

The 13 Icelandic Santas – day by day

December 12 – Stekkjastaur

The first Santa Claus sets out on the sheep. The name usually translates roughly as "The Sheep Post" or Sheep-Cote Clod. He has stiff legs, which at least makes life a little more difficult for him when he tries to disturb the sheep.

December 13 – Giljagaur

Hiding in ravines and sneaking into barns to get to the milk.

December 14 – Stúfur

”Stumpen” is the shortest of the brothers. He was particularly fond of frying pans and what was left in them.

15 December – Þvörusleikir

The ladle licker is exactly what the name suggests: a tall and skinny figure who tries to reach ladles to lick them clean.

December 16 – Pottaskefill

The pot scraper steals dirty pots and scrapes up the leftovers.

December 17 – Ashes Games

The bowl licker hides and waits for its chance to seize food bowls and lick them clean.

December 18 – Hurðaskelir

The door slammer enjoys slamming doors – preferably at night when everyone is trying to sleep.

December 19 – Skyrgámur

The skyr eater, of course, loves skyr and eats as much as he can get his hands on.

December 20 – Bjúgnakrækir

The sausage thief is hiding and trying to steal the sausages that were traditionally hung up for smoking.

December 21 – Window-gazing

The window peeper sneaks around outside houses and peeks in through the windows to see if there is anything worth stealing.

December 22 – Gáttaþefur

The door sniffer has a huge nose and an amazing sense of smell, which he uses to sniff his way to food.

December 23 – Ketkrókur

The meat hook tries to steal meat using a long hook.

December 24 – Kertasníkir

The last Santa is the candle thief. In the past, candles were valuable – and also made from tallow and therefore edible – so children's candles were tempting prey.

Grýla is the much nastier mother of the elves

If the thirteen brothers seem a bit awkward, they are still nothing compared to their mother.

Grýla is an ancient female troll or giant-like creature that appears in Icelandic folklore long before today's Jólasveinar. She leaves her hiding place in the mountains during Christmas and searches for disobedient children - whom, according to the stories, she stuffs in her sack, takes home and cooks in a pot.

Grýla is about as far from Disney's Christmas charm as you can get. Her husband is called Leppalúði and is considerably less energetic. In the stories, he is often portrayed as lazy and rather inept, and is greatly overshadowed by his terrifying wife.

The Christmas cat can eat anyone who doesn't get new clothes

And the family has pets. Of course not some cute little dog. The Icelandic Christmas cat, Christmas meat, is a giant and scary cat that, according to tradition, preys on people who haven't received any new clothes for Christmas.

Behind this strange story are likely connections to the old Icelandic farming community and wool production. Anyone who had done their share of the work with the autumn wool could be rewarded with a new piece of clothing before Christmas – while anyone who had not worked hard enough risked going without.

Threatening with a man-eating giant cat must still be considered quite effective management.

The 13 elves haven't always been thirteen

In older Icelandic folklore, both the number of Jólasveinar and their names varied between different parts of the country. There are accounts of far more figures than the thirteen we know today.

The modern set was given its permanent form primarily by the Icelandic poet Jóhannes úr Kötlum. In 1932 he published the poem The Santa Clauses in the book Christmas is coming, and the thirteen figures from there eventually became the Jólasveinar that Icelanders recognize today. It is therefore an old folk belief – but also a tradition that has changed and been shaped over the centuries.

From scary trolls to Christmas gift givers

Perhaps it's the mix of old and new that makes Icelandic Santas so charming. The Santas of the old stories weren't nice uncles who brought packages. They were thieving trolls who you wouldn't want in your house.

Over time, they have become much friendlier and have also taken on the characteristics of the international Santa Claus. Today, Jólasveinar appear at Christmas events, meet children and leave small gifts in their shoes.

But they still have their names and personalities. The Sausage Thief is still the Sausage Thief and the Door Slammer continues to slam doors. It's hard to imagine them being truly well-behaved.

Celebrating Christmas in Iceland

For me, the stories of the thirteen elves are also connected to my own first time in Iceland. I was young, living in Vestmannaeyar, and for the first time I got to experience an Icelandic Christmas from the inside instead of as a visitor.

Since then, I have returned to Iceland many times and seen the country from many different perspectives – with family, on private trips, on business trips, and with Peter. But that first time gave me a connection to Iceland that is difficult to get as a regular tourist.

And somewhere in that relationship there is still that old advent calendar where every December day I would flip through the next strange figure. First Stekkjastaur. Then Giljagaur. And so it continued, one a day, until Kertasníkir showed up on Christmas Eve.

More reading

• The Yule Goat, the Yule Witch and the Yule Cat – European Christmas creatures
• Facts about Santa Claus
• Things to do in Iceland – our best tips