Hopefully you already saw 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 18 — is the day when the seventh Yule Lad arrives.
The seventh Yule Lad’s name is Hurðaskellir, which translates as Door-Slammer. As you can probably guess from his name, his particular brand of mischief is that he likes to slam doors, especially during the night, waking people up.
Here’s how he’s described in the 1932 Icelandic poem, “Yule Lads,” by Jóhannes úr Kötlum:
The seventh was Door Slammer,
a sorry, vulgar chap:
When people in the twilight
would take a little nap,
he was happy as a lark
with the havoc he could wreak,
slamming doors and hearing
the hinges on them squeak.
Door-Slammer arrives each year on December 18, and leaves again on New Year’s Eve, December 31.
And here’s a more thorough explanation, by Robert Nelson, on Medium.
Hurðaskellir is, depending on your point of view, either a fun loving miscreant or a deeply disturbed sociopath. You see, he enjoys sneaking into your home for the express purpose of slamming doors. He’s not just in it for the loud noises, although it does seem to provide him a great deal of pleasure. Instead, he waits until you’re asleep, and then slams the door. He’s trying to wake you up!
The poem identifies his preferred moment as “twilight,” which, in Iceland at this time of year, is in the mid-afternoon (3:30 pm, or so, in Reykjavik). Remember, the land of the midnight sun in summer is the land of perpetual darkness in winter. You’ll experience a good three hours or so of day-like conditions between sunrise (the sun poking its head out from behind the mountains) and sunset (the sun returning to the darkness). The bright side of all of this is that when Hurðaskellir, you’re probably well-rested because there’s not much to do during this time other than rest at home.
Also, I can’t really imagine a regular human being would be drawn to the mechanical squeaking of door hinges, but Hurðaskellir is into that as well. More evidence that he is unwell.
And here’s another, from Iceland24:
Seventh was Door Slammer,
– He was a little brash.
When people in the dark
Wanted to nap.He was not one bit
Sorry for that,
If loud, creaking noises
Came from the hinges.Hurðaskellir (Door Slammer) is a peculiar Yule Lad and much more of a prankster than most of his brothers. He doesn’t care much for food, but he’s got the obsessive addiction of door-slamming. No door is safe when this crazy rascal is around. The louder the noise, the better – and just to be sure, better repeating the trick more than once in a row: Hurðaskellir’s ego is quite troublesome.
We all know people with the annoying tendency of being very noisy when they close doors, but the problem with Hurðaskellir is that he likes to do that at night. I suggest that you don’t forget to lock any single door in your house, especially if you’re living with somebody with severe heart conditions…
What’s worse is that Hurðaskellir seems to have a fan club with a lot of children in it, because they just LOVE to slam doors and say they are imitating their favorite hero.
Hurðaskellir is going to harass your doors on 18 December.
The 13 Yule Lads, Mom, Dad and Cat:
