The Spoon-Licker: Iceland’s 4th Yule Lad, The Strange Christmas Legend of Þvörusleikir

Introduction

Deep in the snow-blanketed heart of Icelandic winter folklore lies one of the most peculiar and memorable figures of the yuletide season: Þvörusleikir, the “Spoon-Licker.” He is one of the famed 13 Yule Lads (Icelandic: Jólasveinar), each with his own arrival date and mischievous trait. Iceland with a View+3Arctic Adventures+3Nordic Visitor+3

In the canonical sequence, Spoon-Licker arrives on the night before December 15 (i.e., December 14 night) and departs after about thirteen days (often December 28). Arctic Portal+2Jólabókaflóð+2

In this blog we’ll look at his origins, his character, and how his legend is celebrated and adapted today, especially for storytellers like you, writing imaginative winter tales.

Origins & Character of Spoon-Licker

• The name in Icelandic, Þvörusleikir, translates fairly literally as “Spoon-Licker.” The root þvörur means “wooden stirring spoons” and sleikir means “licker”. Medium+1

• According to tradition, this Yule Lad is tall and exceedingly thin, some sources attribute his gauntness to constant spoon-licking, or even to malnutrition. Medium+1

• His trick: he sneaks into kitchens and steals the long wooden spoons used for cooking or stirring, then licks them thoroughly, particularly those spoons that have been used for sweets, cakes or mixing the crême. Center Hotels+1

• One folk-story element: as a child he sucked his thumb; his mother (the trolless Grýla) scolded him, so he turned his habit onto wooden spoons instead. Iceland with a View

• Like many of the Yule Lads, Spoon-Licker belongs in a family of mis‐behaving characters who come from mountain caves and roam farms in the winter nights. Their mother Grýla and father Leppalúði loom in the older traditions as frameworks of warning and folklore. Wikipedia+1

  
  

Symbolism & Cultural Meaning

• On one level, Spoon-Licker’s behavior, sneaking spoons and licking their lingering sweet residue, symbolizes the themes of hunger, scarcity, and resourcefulness in harsh winter landscapes. In old rural Iceland, every tool, every remnant, every drop of food mattered.

• The wooden spoon, a humble household implement, becomes an icon in his folklore, highlighting how everyday objects carried significance in isolated, snowbound lives.

• His slender, ghost-like figure may evoke the lean winter months, long nights, and the feeling of something slipping unseen through kitchens and homes.

• For your mythic storytelling context: Spoon-Licker can represent the boundary between domestic warmth (the kitchen, the hearth, food) and the wild cold of winter nights; he might serve as a transitional figure from the mundane (spoons, kitchens) to the magical (winter forest, reindeer, candle-light).

  
  

How Spoon-Licker is Celebrated Today

• In modern Iceland, the Yule Lads have been transformed from frightening mischief-makers into more playful, gift-bringing characters, albeit with a mischievous edge. Arctic Adventures+1

• On or around December 15, children may expect the Spoon-Licker’s visit: the tradition is that children place a shoe on the windowsill each night in the run-up to Christmas; a well-behaved child may find a small gift (candy, a toy) the next morning; a misbehaved child may find a raw potato instead. Nordic Visitor+1

• Spoon-Licker has become part of tourist folklore and festive decorations in Iceland: you’ll find him featured in Christmas markets, illustrated guides to the Yule Lads, and cultural presentations. Center Hotels

• For international storytellers and those adopting the Yule Lad theme: one could mark December 15 as the “Day of the Spoon-Licker” — telling his story, reading a short tale, or even leaving a wooden spoon by the windowsill as a playful nod to the tradition.

The spoon-licker caught red handed

In the Saga of Belsnickel Series

In The Saga of Belsnickel, Ulvie and the Advent of the Yule Lads, young Ulf encounters each one of these bad behaving guests:

• On December 15 Ulvie awakens to find a figure in the glow of the firelight, a long wooden spoon in his hand. The figure licks its furrowed surface, then turns to greet the forest boy.

• Ulvie understands he is not a bad troll, but he is a troll that has not been taught good manners.

• During Christmas we may encounter people who are rude, but it is because they don't know any better. So do we allow the bad behavior or do we have the courage like Ulvie to help change their ways.

Conclusion

Þvörusleikir, the Spoon-Licker, is a delightful and strange figure in the winter-folklore of Iceland, an embodiment of kitchen mischief, hunger, and the turning of simple tools into myth. His arrival each December 15 invites us to pause by the hearth, consider the small spoons and spoons of memory, and to remember that even the quietest trickster may carry a story worth telling. In the Saga of Belsnickel universe, he offers a rich line of connection: kitchen to forest, mischief to meaning, old nights to new dawns.