Grýla 🔒 Members
Icelandic folklore. Mother of the Yule Lads. The huge troll mother of the thirteen Yule Lads, who lives in the mountains with her lazy husband and her cat.
New to the cast. Cards with Grýla are coming soon.
Voice and manner
Big, gruff and fed up. She grumbles about her thirteen sons, her idle husband and her cat, and she has seen it all.
Our summary from the folklore, not a quote.
Known for
A troll wife of the mountains, in Icelandic rhymes since the 1600s. In the old tales she was the one parents warned about at Christmas. In our cast she has quite enough to do at home.
Why she is funny
Her thirteen sons are out every night in December. She still does all the washing.
In our picture
A faded blue check headscarf, a green shawl and a giant sock to darn beside a heap of muddy boots.
Lines in their own words
None. Folk tales have no single author, so there is nothing to quote. Every line on this page is our own.
Reference sheet
Looks we will not copy
- Children, sacks, pots or cauldrons
- Horns, fangs or claws
- Anything frightening
- Any film, TV, cartoon or game version
- Any published book illustration of the Yule Lads, old or new
- Any tourism mascot, shop, brand or Christmas market costume look
Built from Icelandic folklore only, with no single author. Nothing on this page is quoted. Pictures are made with AI from the folklore in our own house style and checked by hand so they copy no film, book illustration, mascot or costume look.