Saturday, December 13, 2014

Yule Lad Giljagaur - the Milk Stealer

Gully Gawk

On 13 December it is Gully Gawk's turn. Before milking machines were invented he had a habit of stealing into the cowshed and slurping the foam off the milk in the buckets.
The second was Gully Gawk,
gray his head and mien.
He snuck into the cow barn
from his craggy ravine.
Hiding in the stalls,
he would steal the milk, while
the milkmaid gave the cowherd
a meaningful smile.



Now I do wonder about this.  If you read it another way, old Gully Gawk might be less stealing milk from the cow than, you know, trying to get lucky with the milkmaid.

One of the very few Icelandic words used in English is geiser.  This one is from the area of Geiser in Iceland.  It erupts every 10 minutes or so.