In Icelandic folklore, Grýla is a monstrous entity who lives in the wilderness of Iceland.
The name Grýla is first attested in medieval sources. However, the earliest unambiguous references to Grýla's gender and her association with Christmas date only from the seventeenth century.
In seventeenth-century poems about Grýla, she is generally represented as a hideous and greedy troll-like crone who wanders between human settlements and demands charity from those she encounters, often asking for naughty children.
Modern depictions of Grýla tend to focus more strongly on her role as the mother of the Yule Lads (Icelandic: jólasveinar).
Today, the most monstrous aspects of her character and appearance (such as her appetite for children) are generally toned down for younger audiences.
In seventeenth-century poems about Grýla, she is generally represented as a hideous and greedy troll-like crone who wanders between human settlements and demands charity from those she encounters, often asking for naughty children.
Current-day Grýla can detect children who are misbehaving year-round. She comes from the mountains during Christmas time to search nearby towns for her meal. She leaves her cave, hunts children, and carries them home in her giant sack. She devours children as her favourite snack.
Grýla and Leppalúði have (at least) 13 children, all boys, bearing names relating to their behaviour. To mention a few there are Stubby, Sausage stealer, Candle beggar, Sky gobbler, Door slammer, Spoon licker, Window peeper (def. not popular #metoo) and Doorway sniffer
Gryla is an Ogress who lives in the mountains of Iceland. Like Krampus and Mari Lwyd, she is a Christmas monster, and only appears around Christmas time. The stories about her in Iceland vary. Some say she is just a kind of bogeyman, who enjoys scarring people.