Christmas in Iceland | Your Ultimate Guide to Christmas Traditions, Food, and More!

Christmas Eve in Iceland

The day before Christmas Eve is Mass of St. Thorlac, a traditional holiday that celebrates the patron saint of Iceland, Thorlak Thorhallsson, despite Iceland not being Catholic anymore. People attend family gatherings and feast on fermented skate and oat porridge. Sometimes an almond is hidden somewhere in the batch of porridge, so whoever gets the almond wins a prize.

So what does Christmas Eve look like in Iceland? Most Icelanders celebrate Christmas Eve with an impressive home-cooked, multi-course dinner with family. After dinner, people open their presents.

After opening the presents, some people go to a midnight Mass, where they meet their neighbors and friends. Others stay at home and perhaps use their gifts. They might read a book they were given or play cards while eating chocolate and snacks.

Candles and playing cards are common traditional Icelandic Christmas gifts. It's almost certain you'll receive at least one book as well. Icelanders are obsessed with books, especially during the Christmas holidays! 

Christmas Day and Boxing Day in Iceland

People in Iceland spend Christmas Day with their families. They relax, eat, play games, or watch Christmas films. Many attend big family gatherings wearing their best Christmas clothes, bringing savory roll cakes and Icelandic Christmas cookies. December 26th (Boxing Day) is called the "second day of Christmas" in Iceland (Annar i Jolum) and is a public holiday. It tends to have a more casual feel and is less traditional than the previous three days. People go out and meet their friends and attend parties and late-night gatherings.

• See also: Nightlife in Reykjavik

Christmas Traditions in Iceland

Icelanders love the Christmas season, and there are plenty of Christmas holiday traditions in Iceland! Most people feel that the holiday season starts four Sundays before Christmas Eve – on the first day of Advent. Lighting the Advent candles is an old Christmas tradition in Iceland, and it involves these simple steps:

• Make a wreath out of fir tree branches, leaves, berries, and pine cones (or anything you want, really – there are no rules when it comes to this).
• Place four candles in the wreath.
• On the first Sunday in Advent, light the first candle. On the second Sunday, light the first and second candles, and so on. You'll end up with four different-sized candles.

Photo from Wikmedia, Creative Commons, by Surya Mjöll. No edits made.

Another Christmas tradition in Iceland is to cut patterns into a thin crispy bread called "laufabraud" or "leaf bread." The bread gets its name not because it's made with leaves, but because the shape of the patterns in the bread resembles leaves.

The dough of this bread is extremely thin and circular shaped, like a pancake. After cutting the bread into a lovely pattern, you fry it and serve it with butter. The texture is similar to a papadam, though it tastes different.

Why does Iceland celebrate Christmas on the 24th?

When Icelanders speak about "jol," they generally are referring to December 24th. The name for this day is "Adfangadagur" in Icelandic. The reason Icelanders celebrate Christmas on the 24th is because, in the old Icelandic calendar, the start of a new day was at sunset. Therefore, when the sun sets on December 24th, around 6 PM, that's when Christmas Day starts according to the old calendar, and the Yule celebration begins.

On December 23rd, the shops are open until late, usually until 10 PM or midnight. Bars are open until 1 AM (as they generally are), and people like to dress up in nice clothes and go downtown to meet friends.

Some people buy last-minute presents, even intentionally leaving the final gift until this night. Many people go to the center of town to meet friends. If you're a local, you're bound to spend most of the evening greeting friends and perhaps stopping in a bar or café for a pint or a cup of hot chocolate. The Yule Lads are walking around greeting (and pranking) people, and their terrible mother, Gryla might even make an appearance. The 23rd of December is for many Icelanders the most anticipated day of the Christmas buildup.

Christmas Food in Iceland

Photo from Wikimedia, Creative Commons, by Janet Hudson. No edits were made.

Food connects with many Icelandic Christmas traditions. You can explore Iceland cuisine on the many available food tours in Reykjavik.

Sweets are a meaningful Christmas food in Iceland. One of the most popular Christmas desserts in Iceland is the "Sara" – it takes quite an effort to make. This treat is named after Sarah Bernhardt, the famous French actress. It's a biscuit-based cream-filled almond macaroon that's dipped in chocolate.

These cookies are actually Danish. They were created in 1911 by a Danish pastry chef named Johannes Steen. He made the cookies to commemorate Sarah's arrival in Denmark to mark the publication of her memoirs in Danish. What matters most is that they are delicious and best served slightly frozen.

You'll find several other sweet treats in bakeries, shops, and local homes. People make gingerbread, chocolate cookies, licorice tops, and various other confections.

How much effort people put into baking differs from house to house. Some people go all-in and start baking cookies at the beginning of December or even earlier. Others take it easy and buy cookies from shops or bakeries.

Christmas Dinner in Iceland

There are quite a few traditional dishes in Iceland, such as the aforementioned laufabraud, skate, and rice pudding. Some are eaten on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and New Year's Eve, and most people will have one, two, or three of them.

Smoked lamb called "hangikjot," (literally "hung meat") is the most common. It's smoked with horse dung and has a robust, salty flavor. It can be served hot or cold, often accompanied by laufabraud, peas, red cabbage, and a white potato sauce similar to bechamel sauce called "uppstufur". It's served with a non-alcoholic Christmas drink called "jolaol" ("Christmas ale"), which is a mixture of malt and a fizzy orange soda called "Appelsin."

Photo from Wikimedia, Creative Commons, by Martin Sønderlev Christensen. No edits made.

"Hamborgarhryggur" is another typical dish. Essentially, it's a hog roast. It has a sweet glaze and sauce contrasting pleasantly with the meat's salt. Icelanders serve hamborgarhryggur with caramelized potatoes, pickled red onion, and vegetables.

Game meat, such as reindeer and ptarmigan, are also popular. Reindeer only reside in the east of Iceland, but ptarmigan can be found all over Iceland. It's the most popular game meat. Hunters may take only a certain number of ptarmigan each year. For some people, Christmas doesn't come unless they get this dish.

Less common – but still popular – dishes include turkey, premium cuts of beef, and geese. Expensive seafood like langoustine or salmon is also served. Seafood or lobster soup is popular as a starter or main course.

If you go to a Christmas buffet in Iceland, you can taste hangikjot, gravlax, laufabraud, flatkokur (flatbread), and herring.

The 13 Icelandic Yule Lads

Illustration by Haukur Valdimar Pálsson

What is Santa Claus called in Iceland? The short answer is: There is no Santa Claus, but there are 13 Yule Lads! They're called "Jolasveinar" in Icelandic and named after their characteristics. The Icelandic Yule Lads live in the highlands with their troll parents, Gryla and Leppaludi. They have a big, black cat called Jolakotturinn (the Christmas Cat).

Their mother, Gryla, is a giant, frightening troll who eats naughty children and cooks them in a large pot.

Their father, Leppaludi, is a lazy troll who's not too keen on eating children. He's a rather useless chap and does whatever Gryla tells him to do, so he often picks up the naughty kids for her.

The Icelandic Christmas Cat also loves the taste of humans, whether they've been naughty or nice. However, the only people the cat gets to eat are those who didn't get a new item of clothing before Christmas. So if you don't want a giant troll cat to eat your loved ones in Iceland, you'd better give them at least one pair of socks!

Every year, a huge sculpture of the Christmas Cat is displayed on Laekjartorg square in downtown Reykjavik, seen in the picture below, which is worth seeing in person.

Photo from Wikimedia, Creative Commons, by ProcrastinatingHistorian.

Gryla and Leppaludi have 13 sons – the Yule Lads! They're all a bit naughty, although they've softened up a bit in recent years. Children leave their shoe on their window sill for the Yule Lads to give them presents every morning for all 13 days before Christmas. However, if you've been naughty, you'll just get a rotten potato.

Why are there 13 days of Christmas in Iceland instead of 12? What are the 13 days of Christmas in Iceland?

The first Yule Lad, Sheep-Cote Clod, comes to town 13 days before Christmas Eve, on the night of December 11. He has a wooden leg and likes to frighten farmer's sheep.

The following night, Gully Gawk shows up, known for stealing milk right from the cow's udders!

Illustration by Haukur Valdimar Pálsson

The next night, Stubby arrives, the shortest of them all. And on it goes every night. Spoonlicker comes next, then Pot Scraper, Bowl Licker, Door Slammer, and Skyr Gobbler. Sausage Swiper follows, then Window Peeker, Door Sniffer, Meat Hook, and – finally – Candle Beggar.

After December 24th, the Yule Lads head back to their home. The first one to arrive, Sheep-Cote Clod, leaves on Christmas Day, and one by one, they head to the highlands until the holiday season is officially over. When Candle Beggar finally heads home on the 6th of January, the day is called "the Thirteenth" or "Threttandinn."

On that day, bonfires are lit around the country, and sometimes, a parade of trolls, elves, and other creatures stroll down the main street. Many people also use up the leftovers of their New Year's Eve fireworks to "blow away" the Christmas season until next December.

We hope you've enjoyed learning about Christmas in Iceland. Merry Christmas and a happy New Year – Gleðileg jól og farsælt komandi ár!