Gnomes for sale at a Christmas market in Pergine Valsugana, Italy
© Flavia Morlachetti/Moment/Getty Images
Gnomes for sale at a Christmas market in Pergine Valsugana, Italy
These charming figures are on display at a Christmas market in Pergine Valsugana, a destination in northern Italy that embraces its legends of gnomes, dwarves and elves who descend from the mountains bearing holiday treats. Italy isn’t the only region where mountain dwellers are incorporated into festive folklore. In Iceland, it’s trolls who take the spotlight. Today’s date marks the first of the Yule Lad visits, an Icelandic tradition involving 13 trolls who deliver presents – or punishments – each night before Christmas Eve. Tonight’s call is from Sheep-Cote Clod, who harasses sheep. Other lads include Spoon-Licker, Door-Slammer and Sausage-Swiper. Look out!
Related Images
Farmers collecting the water lilies in the Satla marshland near Bagdha, Barishal, Bangladesh
Atlantic puffin pair billing, Shetland Islands
Rainbow flag
Lavender fields on the Valensole Plateau in Provence, France
Southern cassowary father with chicks, Kuranda, Queensland, Australia
Misool Island, one of the four major islands in the Raja Ampat Islands in West Papua, Indonesia
Coral reef in Marovo Lagoon in the Solomon Islands
Scarlet macaw in Costa Rica
Today on Bing
Wicker fields in Cañamares, Spain
Dec 12, 2021
Poinsettia leaf close-up
Dec 12, 2020
Icelandic sheep for the first night of the Yule Lads
Dec 12, 2019
Poinsettia flower buds
Dec 12, 2018
