By Almas Thanzi
Christmas Eve and you look out the window. The world outside is fully prepared to embrace Christmas Day with sweet choirs, decorated hollies, conifers and pines with beaming hues of tinsels and fairy lights, the aroma of lavender scented candles flickering on the mantelpiece, freshly baked plum cakes and ginger bread, the celebration is intimately in the air!
Your doors are made of the finest wood, double locked, windows double glazed and protective. But if you haven't gotten yourself at least a new pair of socks you might end up in trouble on the Christmas!
The unfriendly, attend eyes of the Yule cat lurking in the jumble of the dense and dark trees might come and gobble you up.
Now, if you haven't heard about the gigantic and monstrous Yule cat, put on the kettle, make yourself a cup of tea and settle down on your couch for a while, because there is an alluring ancient folklore still venerated in Iceland about an enormous cat that swoops down when the bells jingle at the Christmas time to devour anyone who do not possess a new piece of clothing.
Though the roots of the myth of Jólakötturin or the Yule cat are lost in the frosts of time it is speculated to have originated during the dark ages, and according to the this tale, the cat is no ordinary cat, it is a whopping animal parading the streets looking out for the people who couldn't earn a new clothing for the Christmas day. Unfortunately, the myths suggests that they might just end up on the dinner platter of the Yule cat.
Moreover, another version of the tale removes the hostile traits attributed to the Yule cat and narrates a more benign tale of the cat eating up the presents and the food of the person devoid of a new clothing. This version of the tale was further popularized by the Icelandic poet Jóhannes Ür Kottum through his poem, Jólakóturinn.
Presumably, this myth of The Yule cat has got didactic shades to it. It becomes as an advisory tale which urges the affluent section of the society to lend a helping hand to the less fortunate weary souls caught the in wet cobweb of poverty, so that they are not chased and devoured by the Yule cat used a metaphor for death. Though the tale is a bit terrifying, it has invariably served to inspire generosity and humanity since time immemorial.
On this Christmas season while you get yourself and for your family new clothes be considerate of the homeless sleeping in the biting cold. Let's learn something from the Icelandic folks and reach out to the afflictions of others and take possible measures to save, uplift and educate one another on what's happening around us, shun away ignorance and not remain willfully dormant to the monstrous cat prying through the window!
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