The first of the Icelandic Yule Lads (Íslensku jólasveinarnir), Stekkjarstaur, arrives December 12th 🙂 The following is a short description of him as given by Jóhannes úr Kötlum:
Stekkjarstaur kom fyrstur,
stinnur eins og tré.
Hann laumaðist í fjárhúsin
og lék á bóndans fé.
Hann vildi sjúga ærnar,
—þá varð þeim ekki um sel,
því greyið hafði staurfætur,
—það gekk nú ekki vel.
First comes Stekkjarstaur,
stiff as a tree.
He sneaks into the stables
and tricks the farmer’s sheep.
He wanted to suckle the ewes,
-which they didn’t like at all,
as the wretch had peg-legs,
-it didn’t go so well.
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If I understood the Wikipedia article correctly, a stekkur was a specially made sheep fold, which is where his name comes from.
I’m glad the dictionary gave the meaning of the phrase varð þeim ekki um sel, that would be a tough one to figure out. Yeah, that’s the word for seal – selur – but the expression has a unique meaning 🙂
stinnur adj stiff, rigid laumast sneak leika á play a trick on sjúga v suck ær f ewe grey n pitiful person, wretch staur m post, pole