This week on Myths and Legends, it's a Christmas story from 11th century Iceland, where, yeah,

your holidays might be tense, but they probably don't include giant zombies. So, maybe that's a win.

On the creature of the week, there are multiple Christmas creatures, and you'll see why you'll want

to add a bucket of fish heads to your holiday shopping list.

This is Myths and Legends, episode 94, a very Viking Christmas.

This is a podcast right now stories from mythology and folklore. Some are incredibly popular stories

you think you know, but with surprising origins. Other stories you might not have heard, but

really should. This week's episode is brought to you by Spotify. Whether you're in a podcast

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Spotify are streaming now, so go check them out. Today's story is about a Christmas in the Middle Ages,

and it comes from Gretae or Saga. One of the sagas of the Icelanders. You might be wondering

about the title and no, it's not really a Viking Christmas. This is set in the 11th century

Scandinavia, so portions of the region had converted to Christianity as long as 100 years before

today's story starts. Even though it's well past the Viking age, there were still people

raiding here and there, though the protagonist of today's story very much did not like them.

Anyway, all that aside, we'll start a story on Christmas Eve, with a legendary Norse warrior

nestled into bed. It was the night before Christmas, and all through the house,

and our creature was stirring, except that the entire house itself was stirring. The

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