There's a raging blizzard and the landscape is a total whiteout. The fierce wind is building mountains of snow and ice, and the sky is heavy with dark clouds. The only sign of life in the frozen wilderness is a figure trudging through the snow dragging a weighty sack. The figure makes no trail or leaves any footsteps because the snow is covering all traces as it passes by.
Something is moving in the sack, but the figure takes no notice. On and on it trudges through the snow, dragging the burden behind it. Nothing else is moving in the vast whiteness. There is just this dark shape battling against the elements, moving determinedly through the frozen world.
This is Gryla, the Ogress of Iceland, returning home after one of her gruesome trips to some far-off village. Gryla lives in the mountains of Iceland with her fiendish Christmas cat, her troll husband and her gang of 13 sons. But more about them later. Gryla is hideous with her deformed face and claw-like hands, and very few humans who have actually seen her have lived to tell the tale.
The two words 'naughty' and 'nice' take on an extra meaning in Iceland during Christmas time. Every child knows that Gryla, with her excellent sense of hearing, can detect children who misbehave in the run-up to Christmas. When she discovers a very naughty child, there is a real danger that Gryla will come and carry him or her off to her cave in the mountains. Gryla's favourite food is boiled human youngster, and she has a very big pot.
Gryla's habit of devouring naughty children is very convenient for the ogress, as there is never a shortage of food in the weeks before Christmas. It's also handy for parents, as they can use her as a threat to make sure their children are well behaved throughout December.
Now it's time to meet Gryla's 13 sons, the Yule Lads of Christmas. Fortunately, the ogress' offspring have not inherited their mother's evil character or her Yuletide eating habits. But the Yule Lads are far from perfect. They will steal anything they can get their hands on. But they also give out gifts to well-mannered kids. The Yule Lads are not all bad.