Hopefully, by now, you’ve seen my post last Tuesday with an overview of the Icelandic tradition of the Yule Lads. If you haven’t, go back and read that first so this will make more sense. According to folklore, today — December 22 — is the day when the eleventh Yule Lad arrives.
The eleventh Yule Lad’s name is Gáttaþefur, which translates as Doorway-Sniffer. He has an abnormally large nose, and his particular brand of mischief is an acute sense of smell which he uses to locate leaf bread (laufabrauð), which “is a traditional kind of Icelandic bread that is most often eaten in the Christmas season. Originating from northern Iceland but now eaten throughout the country, it consists of round, very thin flat cakes with a diameter of about 15 to 20 cm (6 to 8 inches), decorated with leaf-like, geometric patterns and fried briefly in hot fat or oil.” It’s also called snowflake bread.
Here’s how he’s described in the 1932 Icelandic poem, “Yule Lads,” by Jóhannes úr Kötlum:
Eleventh was Door Sniffer,
a doltish lad and gross.
He never got a cold, yet had
a huge, sensitive nose.
He caught the scent of lace bread
while leagues away still
and ran toward it weightless
as wind over dale and hill.
Doorway-Sniffer arrives each year on December 22, and leaves again on January 4.
And here’s a more thorough explanation, from Iceland24:
Eleventh was Doorway Sniffer
– Who never had a cold,
Even though he had a funny
And enormous nose.The scent of Leaf Bread
He smelled in the hills,
And lightly, like the smoke,
He followed that scent.
Gáttaþefur (Door Sniffer) is a big-nosed fellow that, instead of developing a nose complex and turning to rhinoplasty, used his protuberance to his own advantage.
Gáttaþefur ‘s nose not only is noticeable enough to make any Cirano look like a mere amateur, but it is also extremely sensitive: this dude can smell Christmas delicacies as accurately as a truffle hog. But Gáttaþefur doesn’t care much for truffles. He prefers laufabrauð (the traditional Icelandic bread that is eaten during the Christmas period), cookies and cakes. And of course when he finds something edible he likes, he doesn’t content himself with the smell…
Gáttaþefur will be around sniffing on the night of December 22. Be sure to lock all your cookies in a safe if you don’t intend to eat them all before this darling arrives.
The 13 Yule Lads, Mom, Dad and Cat:
