The Creepiest European Christmas Legends

According to folklore, kids in Europe have it WAY worse than us.

Everyone loves the jolly Santa who brought us awesome presents as children:

Source: eatmorebrooktrout.com

On bad years, we might have gotten lumps of coal.

Source: allspammedup.com

But in Europe, naughty children get PUNISHED and BEATEN.

Source: domythicbliss.blogspot.com

1. Yule Lads, or Icelandic trolls, would come from the mountains to steal things and scare children.

Source: myvatn.is  /  via: en.wikipedia.org

2. Germany’s Knecht Ruprecht (Farmhand Rupert) beats naughty children with a bag of ashes!

Source: ibeatyou.com  /  via: en.wikipedia.org

3. Lazy young’uns in Iceland might be sacrificed to the hungry Yule Cat, Jólakötturinn.

Source: gumma  /  via: is.wikipedia.org

4. And then there’s Krampus of Austria, who kidnaps children to EAT them later.

Source: kontrapunktus.blogspot.com  /  via: en.wikipedia.org

5. Krampus’s counterpart, Perchta, actually DISEMBOWELS misbehaving kids.

Source: halloween.de  /  via: en.wikipedia.org

6. Mari Lwyd, a weird Welsh horse, goes door to door to peddle!

Source: giveawayboy  /  via: folkwales.org.uk

7. Alsace, France’s Hans Trapp threatens children with a stick.

Source: culture.gouv.fr  /  via: guesthouse-alsace.blogspot.com

8. Swiss Santa’s alter ego, Schmultzi, beats naughty children with a broom of twigs.

Source: zurichexpats.com

9. La Befana, Italy’s Christmas witch, also smacks devious children with a broom!

Source: ricksteves.com  /  via: spiegel.de

10. The Dutch Zwarte Piet (Black Pete) threatens to take bad children to Spain.

Apparently that’s a punishment.

Source: commons.wikimedia.org  /  via: en.wikipedia.org

11. And of course there’s Grýla, the monstrous Icelandic woman who eats children raw.

Source: imgur.com  /  via: en.wikipedia.org