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PEOPLE & ARTS Thursday 13 december 2018

In Iceland, 13 ‘Yule Lads’ come to town to herald Christmas

By EGILL BJARNASON The Yule Lads, who speak
Associated Press Icelandic, admit sometime
MYVATN, Iceland (AP) — struggling with foreign lan-
The people of northern Ice- guages.
land have had their travel Fortunately the letters are
plans disrupted with a re- not delivered to the Yule
cord high snowfall this De- Lads’ home, where they
cember. Roads have been might be stolen by their evil
shut, flights cancelled and mother, Gryla, said to be a
school suspended. 600-year-old woman who
But for the children of this eats children.
isolated North Atlantic is- This dysfunctional fam-
land nation, the main worry ily even has an innocently
is how the waist-high snow named “Christmas Cat,” a
might affect the Icelandic giant feline with the habit
Santa, Stekkjastaur, who of eating children — par-
comes to town Wednes- ticularly those not wearing
day. new clothes over the Chris-
Stekkjastaur, after all, has a tian holiday.
stiff peg-leg. “You find a number of par-
He is one of 13 mischievous ents saying that we have
troll brothers, called the to tone Gryla and her fam-
Yule Lads, who have enter- Local actor playing ‘Candel-Stealer’, one of Iceland’s 13 mischievous troll brothers that have ily down a bit,” said Terry
tained and also frightened taken the role of Father Christmas, addresses guests at the geothermal nature lagoon by Lake Gunnell, a professor in folk-
Icelandic children for hun- Myvatn, north Iceland, Saturday Dec. 8, 2018. lore at the University of Ice-
dreds of years. Associated Press land. “But that would take
Instead of a friendly Santa sage-Swiper is now keen to 24, when Icelanders cel- Soffia Jonsdottir, who is away some the genuine
Claus, children in Iceland host barbecues. ebrate Christmas. Santa’s de-facto secretary Icelandic Christmas which
enjoy favors from the broth- Traditionally, they bathe “But, but, but — I was told in Iceland, says the Icelan- is a dark time when days
ers, who come down from once a year ahead of we were going fishing,” dic Postal Service forwards pass with only few hours of
their mountain cave 13 Christmas. Every year local mumbled actor Hulda Sig- all Santa mail to the tiny sunlight.”
days before Christmas ac- actors in Myvatn, an inland mundsdottir, who plays outpost at Myvatn. Gunnell said the Yule Lads
cording to folklore. community bordering Ice- “Pot-Licker,” as she dipped “Santa is a distant cousin of had traditionally been used
The brothers are loud, reck- land’s uninhabited interior, her woolen sock reluctantly the Yule Lads so of course to discipline children when
less, and have names like dress up in 19th-century into the bath. we are happy to help out,” adults were busy preparing
Door-Slammer, Window- costume and arrive as the In the spirit of today’s global she said. “We reply to every for the holiday.
Peeper, Meat-Hook, Can- Yule Lads to a natural la- outsourcing economy, the letter that has a return ad- “On the old Icelandic
dle-Stealer — reflecting goon heated with water Yule Lads have also taken dress.” farms, stories of dark figures
their preferred method of from hot springs. on the responsibility of re- The letters arrive throughout kept children from running
pranks or criminal behavior. To children in the region, plying to letters addressed the year and often include into the mountains or fall-
But they claim to be mostly their arrival marks the to Santa Claus, their foreign a wish-list, personal gift or ing into lakes or things like
rehabilitated, and Sau- countdown to December colleague. simply a warm greeting. that,” he said.q

Breakthrough Entertainer: Country singer Kane Brown

By MESFIN FEKADU singing. That’s when he be- outdo myself.”
Associated Press gan posting videos of him- At times, Brown has been
NEW YORK (AP) — Kane self singing cover songs to seen as an outsider in the
Brown wasn’t sure he was Facebook, where he built a country music world, main-
going to make it. But there solid fan base. ly because he is biracial
was one thing he was cer- Now, the 25-year-old has and has multiple tattoos.
tain about: He was never three No. 1 country hits with But he said his individuality
going to give up. “What Ifs,” ‘’Lose It” and is also an advantage, and
The singer from humble be- “Heaven,” the most played he encourages other art-
ginnings has become one song on country radio this ists on the rise to embrace
of the brightest new sing- year. His self-titled debut al- what makes them unique.
ers in music and arguably bum is a platinum success “Don’t try to fit in with any-
country music’s most suc- and his sophomore effort, body else or be anybody
cessful act of the year. “Experiment,” debuted at else because I feel like if
“I never had the ‘I-know- No. 1 on both the pop and you stand out and you’re
I’m-going-to-make-it’ men- country charts last month. unique, that’s what makes
tality. I always had the And Billboard named him people fall in love with
‘I’m-never-gonna-give-up’ In this Nov. 7, 2018 photo, country singer Kane Brown poses for second on its year-end list you,” he said.
mentality,” said Brown, a portrait in New York. of top country artists — only “Don’t listen to anybody
who grew up in Georgia. Associated Press behind the incomparable telling you, ‘You can’t do
“I’m very competitive. Like, “I feel that’s the attitude tive nature comes from Chris Stapleton. something,’” he added.
it’s with anything. If you say you have to have if you’re playing sports. He said as a Despite all the success, “I’ve been told ‘no’ my
you’re gonna beat me in trying to make it in this kid he wanted to become Brown still wants more: “I’m whole life and now I’m just
a video game, no, you’re game,” he added. an athlete when he was in huge competition with trying to prove everybody
not.” Part of Brown’s competi- older, but he also enjoyed myself and I always try to wrong.”q