Jólakötturinn: The Icelandic Cat Who Might Eat You for Christmas

For regular readers of this blog, the words “Christmas” and “cat” probably bring up thoughts of all the neat presents you’re getting for your cat(s) this year. Or maybe you picture your cat(s) sleeping peacefully under the tree or climbing less peacefully up the tree. In any case, the cat is innocent and sweet (yes, even when climbing the tree!). But in Iceland, the Christmas Cat, or Jólakötturinn or Jólaköttur, is a different animal altogether.  The Jólakötturinn is a monster of a cat that will eat you unless you have met one specific requirement.

A giant cat that wants to see your new Christmas clothes

The Jólakötturinn is said to be a giant cat bigger than a house. It is active on Christmas night, when it prowls from house to house, looking in windows and inspecting kids’ Christmas gifts. If a child has received new clothes, he or she is safe. But for children who have not received new clothes, the outcome is a little more unpleasant. First, the Jólakötturinn eats the child’s Christmas dinner; then it eats the child.

Why the focus on new clothes? Well, according to the tradition, if you finish your work on time, you get new clothes for Christmas. But if you’re lazy and put your work off so you can’t finish on time, no clothes for you, and you can be expecting a visit from the Jólakötturinn. Children are also encouraged to be generous to less-fortunate kids who might not otherwise receive new clothes for Christmas; that way, those less-fortunate kids can also be safe from the Christmas Cat.

Where did this idea come from?

The legend may be as old as the Dark Ages, but it apparently wasn’t written down until the 19th century. According to “The Yule Cat,” people worked hard to finish the work required to process the autumn wool before Christmas. Those who helped with this work received new clothing; those who didn’t, received nothing. The threat of the Jólakötturinn could offer some extra encouragement to those who were otherwise not inclined to work.

Jólakötturinn is not alone

The Jólakötturinn is not the only child-eating monster in Iceland’s Christmas lore. The beast is said to live in Iceland’s mountains with the giantess Grýla and her sons the Yule Lads. Grýla is believed to devour children who have misbehaved (a notion that gives a whole new meaning to Santa’s “naughty list”). The Yule Lads are pranksters (or child eaters, depending on the darkness of the version you believe) who steal food and play pranks on people. In modern times, they also leave presents in children’s shoes. For children who have been bad during the year, the Yule Lads leave behind rotting potatoes (and you thought coal was bad!).

So, this Christmas, as you sip hot cocoa and pet your cat while you gaze happily at the Christmas tree, make sure you’re wearing at least one new article of clothing to prove your industriousness, or don’t be surprised if you get a rather unpleasant visit from a giant cat!

Sources

Cellania, Miss. “8 Legendary Monsters of Christmas.” Mental Floss. December 16, 2015. http://mentalfloss.com/article/54184/8-legendary-monsters-christmas.

Lewis, Danny. “Each Christmas, Iceland’s Yule Cat Takes Fashion Policing to the Extreme.” Smithsonian.com. December 19, 2016. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/each-christmas-icelands-yule-cat-takes-fashion-policing-extreme-180961420/

“Yule Cat”, Wikipedia, last edited December 7, 2017, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yule_Cat.

Cat of the Week: Chevy in Baltimore

Each week in this space, we feature an older adult or senior cat (7 years +) in need of adoption or sponsorship. Mature cats make great companions, and unlike kittens, they (probably) won’t climb the curtains! Adopt an older cat, and help them enjoy the best years of their life.

Today, please say hello to Chevy. Chevy is a handsome black-and-white gentleman who is 8 years old. He is a big boy, and he loves getting attention and pets. His tastes are simple: all he really needs to be happy is a comfy bed, yummy food, and lots of love. He enjoys a little catnip as well! Chevy has lived with another cat and kids before. He’d love to settle in with a new family soon.

Chevy is currently at Charm Kitty Cafe in Baltimore, Maryland. Learn more about him here.

Can’t adopt? You can still help! Check out Sammy’s Cat Necessities Fund, which provides money for everyday and medical needs of cats at the Baltimore Humane Society. You can also make a general donation or sponsor a particular animal on this page. Every little bit helps!

Book Review: That Olde White Magick

On this Mysterious Monday, we bring you our review of That Olde White Magick, by Sharon Pape. This is book 3 in the Abracadabra mystery series, and it is the first book in the series that we have read.

The plot

Kailyn Wilde is a sorcerer who lives in New Camel, New York, where she owns a magic shop called Abracadabra. She is surrounded by quite the interesting cast of characters. There’s her aunt Tilly, who conducts psychic readings in her tea shop; her deceased mother and grandmother, who show up as clouds of energy; Merlin the sorcerer (yes, the one from the King Arthur legends); a reporter boyfriend (sort of) who has recently been freaked out by her magical abilities; and a whole bunch of cats.

These characters are all dropped into the middle of a mystery when a board member is found murdered just before she was to vote on a zoning issue to allow (or not) a new hotel to be built at the edge of town. Kailyn is determined to find out who killed the woman, and it seems the best way to do that is to figure out who would benefit from eliminating the dead woman’s vote on that zoning issue. But when she gets too close to the answer, someone wants her out of the way…

The cats

The main cat in this book is Sashkatu, who used to be the familiar of Kailyn’s mom. He’s older and has arthritis, and he and Kailyn are not exactly the best of friends yet, but they’re working on it. Kailyn has five other cats as well, whom Sashkatu is still getting used to. There’s also Isenbale, Tilly’s Maine coon. All the cats love Merlin—they cannot get enough of him, and they all congregate around him whenever he’s in the room. The cats don’t really play a big part in the plot, but we still think they’re pretty neat. I should clarify that the cats themselves don’t play a big direct role, but Kailyn does use their fur once to clog up some pipes so she has an excuse to call the plumber who is one of her suspects. She also makes up a story about a missing cat to give herself an excuse to visit the police station. So you could say the cats are important in their own way.

Our verdict

We loved Sharon Pape’s characters. Merlin is a favorite, and we especially enjoyed the bits of modern life he chooses to embrace. He won’t wear modern clothes except when he’s forced to, but he loves pizza (really, who doesn’t?) and cowboy movies (so he says stuff like “pardner” a lot; it’s hilarious). The tension between Kailyn and her reporter boyfriend over her identity as a sorcerer is well done. Just how would an “ordinary” person react to finding out their significant other can cast actual spells on people? We also enjoyed the way Kailyn’s mother and grandmother show up; the clouds of energy are more believable than full-bodied apparitions.

The story these characters are in is pretty terrific too. When we found out who the real killer was and the circumstances of the crime, we were truly surprised. And Kailyn’s life-threatening moments—and how she gets out of them—are some of the best we’ve read in a while. The climax of That Olde White Magick is edge-of-your-seat reading that left us smiling. Sure, we wished the cats played a bigger role in the story, but they do their part just by being there and acting catlike.

Recommended!

A note on the "Paws Up" system: Miss C gives either one or two paws up. One paw is for a good read; two paws is for a great read. She never gives three or four paws because that would require her to lie on her back...and Miss C does not do that!

We received a free copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. We wouldn’t tell you it was good unless we really liked it!

The link below is an Amazon Associates link. If you purchase the book through this link, old SoLT and I could get some coin for our kibble account. Thank you!

Sunday Selfie: Paisley at Work

Real Cat Paisley spent a little (a very, very little) bit of time in the office this week, and she took this selfie to prove she was there:

We're joining the Sunday Selfies blog hop, hosted by The Cat on My Head.

Caturday Art: Colorful Paisley

The weather has been kind of dreary at the Cuddlywumps Cat Lodge the past day or so, and we decided to do something really colorful for Caturday Art. Old SoLT took a photo of Real Cat Paisley into Dreamscope and used the Watercolor Cartoon effect on it--and it only took about 20 minutes (!). Then she put it on a blue background with a satin effect in Photoshop, and voila!

We are joining the Caturday Art blog hop, hosted by Athena and Marie!

Words with Webster: Crepuscular, Plus Friendly Fill-Ins

We have two fun Friday features for you today. First up is Real Cat Webster, who has an enlightening word to share. After that, it’s on to Friendly Fill-Ins!

Words with Webster

Hi, everybody! It’s me, Real Cat Webster. Welcome to Words with Me. Today’s word is “crepuscular.” I picked this word because we cats are crepuscular. According to my favorite dictionary, Merriam-Webster’s, it means “active in the twilight.” Cats are most active at dawn and dusk (those are the times me and Paisley get the crazies sometimes and run around a lot), so that’s why we’re crepuscular. Other crepuscular animals are rabbits, deer, possums, skunks, bobcats, fireflies, and owls.

“Crepuscular” has been used to describe the habits of animals since at least 1826, according to this quote from the Oxford English Dictionary:

Crepuscular insects. (William Kirby and William Spence, An introduction to entomology; or, Elements of the natural history of insects, IV. Xlix.525)

I know, that was a really boring quote, right? So I went back earlier, to 1668, the earliest recorded use of “crepuscular,” with the meaning “resembling twilight; dim, indistinct,” and found this quote:

And perhaps I might have lost the Crepuscular remains of my Sight. (Royal Society Philosophical Transactions 3.730.)

Well, it’s not Shakespeare, but I guess it’ll have to do.

Our word today came to English straight from the Latin crepusculum, meaning “twilight, dusk.”

Finally, here’s a fun fact Mommy remembers from her eight-grade science class: Those cool shafts of light you see sometimes when the sun shines through clouds are called "crepuscular rays."

Friendly Fill-Ins

And now it’s time for Friendly Fill-Ins, from 15andmeowing and McGuffy’s Reader. They are a fun way to learn a little bit about the authors of the blogs you read. The first two questions, answered by old SoLT this week, are from Ellen of 15andmeowing, and the next two, answered by Real Cat Paisley, are from Annie of McGuffy’s Reader.

Old SoLT’s answers:

1. The best part of last week was I finally got over the cold I had.

2. The worst part of last week was I had a bad cold most of the week.

Real Cat Paisley’s answers:

3. Napping is a Winter project that I will be working on.

4. A holiday gift that I always buy for someone is nothing—Mommy never lets me have any money, and I can’t get her credit card out of her wallet!

Science Says Dogs Are Smarter Than Cats…Does It Matter?

By now you may have heard the latest news in the seemingly never-ending conflict between “dog people” and “cat people”: study results that were first reported last week^* showed dogs have more brain power than cats. Specifically, dogs were found to have more neurons in their cerebral cortex than cats have. The cerebral cortex is the outer part of the brain, where thinking happens, so how many “little gray cells” you have in it is important.

Comparing carnivores’ brains

The researchers, including Suzana Herculano-Houzel, an associate professor of psychology and biological sciences at Vanderbilt University, looked at the brains of eight species of carnivores: bear, lion, ferret, racoon, mongoose, hyena, and (obviously) cat and dog. They wanted to compare the number of neurons vs. brain size between the species. Dogs were found to have about 530 million cortical neurons, vs. 250 million for cats.

What does this mean? Herculano-Houzel—an admitted dog person—was quoted as saying, “I believe the absolute number of neurons an animal has, especially in the cerebral cortex, determines the richness of their internal mental state and their ability to predict what is about to happen in their environment based on past experience.” She also said, “Our findings mean to me that dogs have the biological capability of doing much more complex and flexible things with their lives than cats can.” Behaviors like this, I guess:

I’m kidding (you know I’m kidding, right?). We love dogs. We’re just not sure all that supposed brain power is doing dogs much good, at least in terms of their ability to live a civilized life. After all, while we cats play with our catnip mice and nap in our comfy beds, dogs are barking, drinking from the toilet, and rolling in the smelliest, most vile things they can find, after which they have to get a bath. Now I ask you, is that smart?

Dogs and cats are not the same

But what does 530 million cortical neurons vs. 250 million cortical neurons really mean? Well, we take it as further evidence that cats and dogs are not the same. Without descending into yet another argument over who’s better, who’s smarter, who’s more loyal, more loving, more comforting, more fun, more purry, more whatever-is-important-to-you, can we agree that cats are cats and dogs are dogs and they’re all great … just for being who and what they are?

Those  numbers of neurons tell us a lot, but they don't tell us everything. There are brilliant dogs and brilliant cats, and there are dumb dogs and (I hate to say it) dumb cats. There are also some pretty dumb people (despite their 16 billion cortical neurons), and there are plenty of people of average or above-average intelligence who (again despite all those neurons) get outsmarted every day by their cats and/or dogs. 

So go figure.

This all just goes to show that it's not how many neurons you have, it's what you do with them that counts.

Source

David Salisbury, “Sorry, Grumpy Cat—Study Finds Dogs Are Brainier Than Cats,” Research News @ Vanderbilt, November 29, 2017, https://news.vanderbilt.edu/2017/11/29/grumpy-cat-study-dogs/.

* The full article will appear soon in the open-access journal Frontiers in Neuroanatomy.