Grýla and the Yule Lads — The Mountain Witch of Dimmuborgir

Dimmuborgir Lava Fields, Lake Mývatn, North Iceland

In the black lava formations of Dimmuborgir, Iceland's oldest monster makes her home — a cave-dwelling giantess whose thirteen sons descend on villages each December to steal, harass, and drag away misbehaving children.

Dimmuborgir — the Dark Castles — is a field of extraordinary black lava pillars near Lake Mývatn, formed when a lava tube collapsed and the molten rock beneath drained away, leaving a cathedral of frozen stone rising from the earth like the ruins of something that was never built. This is where Grýla lives. Grýla is not a cheerful figure. Icelandic records from the 13th century describe her as massive, multi-tailed, part animal, part troll, with an appetite for children who misbehave. She descends from her cave during the winter darkness, her nose large enough to smell a naughty child from the next valley. Her thirteen sons — the Jólasveinar, the Yule Lads — follow her down in sequence, each arriving one night before Christmas to torment farm households in their own specific way. Stekkjastaur pesters sheep. Giljagaur hides in gullies and steals milk. Stúfur scrapes burnt food from cooking pans. Þvörusleikir licks spoons. Each more disturbing than the last. Modern Icelandic Christmas has softened the Yule Lads considerably — they now leave gifts in children's shoes. But in older tradition, the gifts were left only for the well-behaved. The others were taken. Grýla's husband, Leppalúði, is described as lazier than she is and largely useless. She has, the stories note, had many husbands. What became of them is not recorded. The lava fields of Dimmuborgir are open to visitors year-round. Guides do not recommend lingering after dark in December.