The Legend of the Yule Cat
The Yule Cat (Jólakötturinn or Jólaköttur) is a monster from Icelandic folklore, a huge and vicious cat said to lurk about the snowy countryside during Christmastime and eat people who had not received new clothes to wear before Christmas Eve.
The threat of being eaten by the Yule Cat was used by farmers as an incentive for their workers to finish processing the autumn wool before Christmas. The ones who took part in the work would be rewarded with new clothes, but the others would get nothing and thus be preyed upon by the monstrous cat.
