Published December 13, 2018

In Iceland, Christmas is a little wacky. Instead of one Santa, we have thirteen. And rather than being a jolly old white-bearded fellow who lets children sit on his on his lap in a shopping mall and showers them with presents, our Jólasveinar—or “Yule Lads,” in English—are a tribe of mischievous little weirdos.

Starting on December 12th, the Yule Lads come down from the mountains one by one, each day until Christmas. If you’ve behaved well, they’ll put a gift in your shoe; if not, you get a potato. In honour of this harrowing game of cat and mouse, we present: the Thirteen Days Of Grapemas, where every day, a Yule Lads will deliver one of you—our beloved readers—a special Icelandic gift.

So what’s a girl gotta do to get some cool stuff in her shoe? Just tag the friends or loved ones you think are most deserving on this Facebook status, along with a damn good reason that they should win. Remember: If you don’t enter in this life, you sure won’t win. #JÓLÓ

What’s In The Shoe Today?

If you noticed your leftover holiday sandwich mysteriously missing from the work fridge, it wasn’t your thieving coworker Guðrún. No, today, Reykvíkingar around the city were horrified to watch their snacks disappearing before their very eyes. The culprit? Stúfur—’Stubby’ in English.

This short Yule Lad—often denied entry to bars due to his petite stature—does, however, have a gift for one well-behaved reader. He has a voucher for a special Whiskey School at Dillon Whiskey Bar. You can go along, learn about whiskey with the experts, and drink away the memories of that stolen sandwich. Guðrún, you hellion.  

So, dear reader, we’re praying for you. Get tagging here—and if you don’t win today, check out our page tomorrow for the next gift.

And remember: If anything is missing tomorrow, go straight to HR. You’re going down, Guðrún.

A note: the winner of yesterday’s Handprjónasambandið contest was Carol H. Scott, who was suggested by Robin Sankowski Grenier for Carol’s spectacular abilities as an ice hockey Grandma. We genuinely cannot think of something more badass than a Granny that plays ice hockey, so continue slaying, Carol. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s winner!