Á baðkari til Betlehem is an Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

ic television series that first aired on Icelandic public television channel Sjónvarpið

Sjónvarpið

RÚV is the television channel of RÚV, the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service, launched in 1966. The channel broadcasts primarily news, sports, cultural programs, children's material, American, British & Nordic films and entertainment programming...

 in December 1990. The show was one of the first televised advent calendar

Advent calendar

An Advent calendar is a special calendar which is used to count or celebrate the days of Advent in anticipation of Christmas. Some calendars are strictly religious, whereas others are secular in content...

s produced in Iceland, and is a part of Jóladagatal Sjónvarpsins

Jóladagatal Sjónvarpsins

Jóladagatal Sjónvarpsins is an ongoing Icelandic Christmas calendar television series, produced by public television channel Sjónvarpið.-List of series:...

, an ongoing series of televised Advent calendars.

The show follows two eight-year-old children, Hafliði and Stína, who embark on an adventurous journey to Bethlehem

Bethlehem

Bethlehem is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank of the Jordan River, near Israel and approximately south of Jerusalem, with a population of about 30,000 people. It is the capital of the Bethlehem Governorate of the Palestinian National Authority and a hub of Palestinian culture and tourism...

, in order to bring Baby Jesus

Child Jesus

The Child Jesus represents Jesus from his Nativity to age 12. At 13 he was considered to be adult, in accordance with the Jewish custom of his time, and that of most Christian cultures until recent centuries.The Child Jesus is frequently depicted in art, from around the third or fourth century...

 the gifts of gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and an atomic number of 79. Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable and ductile metal. Pure gold has a bright yellow color and luster traditionally considered attractive, which it maintains without oxidizing in air or water. Chemically, gold is a...

, frankincense

Frankincense

Frankincense, also called olibanum , is an aromatic resin obtained from trees of the genus Boswellia, particularly Boswellia sacra, B. carteri, B. thurifera, B. frereana, and B. bhaw-dajiana...

 and myrrh

Myrrh

Myrrh is the aromatic oleoresin of a number of small, thorny tree species of the genus Commiphora, which grow in dry, stony soil. An oleoresin is a natural blend of an essential oil and a resin. Myrrh resin is a natural gum....

. Their form of transport is a magical flying bathtub

Bathtub

A bath , bathtub , or tub is a large container for holding water in which a person may bathe . Most modern bathtubs are made of acrylic or fiberglass, but alternatives are available in enamel over steel or cast iron, and occasionally waterproof finished wood...

 lent to them by the concertmistress Dagbjört, who the children suspect of being an actual angel

Angel

Angels are mythical beings often depicted as messengers of God in the Hebrew and Christian Bibles along with the Quran. The English word angel is derived from the Greek ἄγγελος, a translation of in the Hebrew Bible ; a similar term, ملائكة , is used in the Qur'an...

. On their way to Bethlehem, the children face numerous challenges and obstructions, most notable being their repeated encounters with the evil bird Klemmi, who is the main antagonist

Antagonist

An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...

 of the show.

Hafliði and Stína were both played by adults; Kjartan Bjargmundsson and Sigrún Waage respectively. All the other characters, both male and female, were portrayed by actress Inga Hildur Haraldsdóttir, in numerous guises.

Having been rerun in 1995 and 2004, the show has gained a cult following in Iceland, especially among teenagers and young adults who grew up watching the show in its early runs.

A novella bearing the same name, and following the same storyline, was published at the time of the show's first run in 1990. The novella was illustrated by Brian Pilkington

Brian Pilkington (illustrator)

Brian Charles Pilkington is an English-Icelandic illustrator and artist, best known for his illustrations of many Icelandic children's books since the 1980s...

.

List of episodes

No.	Title	Synopsis	Featured characters
1.	"Engill í sama húsi" (English: Angel in the Same Building)	Hafliði and Stína argue if Dagbjört, the woman across the hallway, is an angel. They enter her mysterious apartment.	Hafliði, Stína, Dagbjört
2.	"Fljúgandi furðuhlutur" (English: UFO)	Hafliði and Stína get introduced to Dagbjört, who offers to take them to see Baby Jesus in Bethlehem on her flying bathtub. She gives them gold, frankincense and myrrh to bring Jesus as birthday presents, but while she is getting ready to go, the children accidentally fly off on their own with the gifts.	Hafliði, Stína, Dagbjört
3.	"Illfyglið" (English: The Bird of Prey)		Hafliði, Stína, Klemmi the evil bird
4.	"Hrúturinn ógurlegi" (English: The Terrible Ram)		Hafliði, Stína, Elli the farm boy
5.	"Ísbirnan Ólafía" (English: Ólafía the Polar Bear)		Hafliði, Stína, Ólafía the polar bear Polar Bear The polar bear is a bear native largely within the Arctic Circle encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the world's largest land carnivore and also the largest bear, together with the omnivorous Kodiak Bear, which is approximately the same size...  sow
6.	"Hvað kostar vel upp alið barn?" (English: How Much for a Well-Behaved Child?)		Hafliði, Stína, Tómas Ragnar the dromedary Dromedary The dromedary or Arabian camel is a large, even-toed ungulate with one hump on its back. Its native range is unclear, but it was probably the Arabian Peninsula. The domesticated form occurs widely in North Africa and the Middle East...
7.	"Draugagangur í dúkkuhúsi" (English: The Haunted Doll House)		Hafliði, Stína, Barbie Barbie Barbie is a fashion doll manufactured by the American toy-company Mattel, Inc. and launched in March 1959. American businesswoman Ruth Handler is credited with the creation of the doll using a German doll called Bild Lilli as her inspiration....
8.	"Hættur í háloftunum" (English: Dangers in the Skies)		Hafliði, Stína, Klemmi (disguised as salesman Sölvi Sölvason)
9.	"Kvöldstund með engli" (English: An Evening with an Angel)		Hafliði, Stína, Dagbjört
10.	"Litla leikkonan" (English: The Little Actress)		Hafliði, Stína, Louisa the orphaned child actress
11.	"Litli leikfangaprinsinn" (English: The Little Prince of Toys)		Hafliði, Stína, Bill Stockefeller the rich boy
12.	"Afdrifarík mistök" (English: A Momentous Mistake)	Klemmi tricks Stína into handing over the gold.	Stína, Klemmi (diguised as The Good Wise Man Biblical Magi The Magi Greek: μάγοι, magoi), also referred to as the Wise Men, Kings, Astrologers, or Kings from the East, were a group of distinguished foreigners who were said to have visited Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh... )
13.	"Hafliði í háska" (English: Hafliði in Peril)	At Bill Stockefeller's mansion, Hafliði is abused and treated as any other toy. Stína rescues him.	Hafliði, Stína, Bill Stockefeller
14.	[?]	Hafliði and Stína, now reunited, fly up to Klemmi's cave on Háafjall mountain to get back the gold.	Hafliði, Stína, Klemmi
15.	"Söngelski jólasveinninn" (English: The Musical Yule Lad)		Hafliði, Stína, Stúfur the Yule Lad Yule Lads The Yule Lads, or Yulemen, are figures from Icelandic folklore who in modern times have become the Icelandic version of Santa Claus. Their number has varied throughout the ages, but currentlythere are considered to be thirteen.- Origins :...
16.	[?]	Hafliði and Stína help a lonely old inventor at a remote airport recapture the Christmas spirit.	Hafliði, Stína, [?] inventor/airport manager
17.	"Eldsneytislaus á elleftu stundu" (English: Out of Fuel at the Eleventh Hour)		Hafliði, Stína, Dagbjört
18.	"Óvæntir endurfundir" (English: An Unexpected Reunion)		Hafliði, Stína, Klemmi (disguised as old woman, storm scientist and Kertasníkir the Yule Lad)
19.	"Jól í tjaldi" (English: Christmas in a Tent)		Hafliði, Stína, Harun the injured war victim
20.	"Óvini bjargað" (English: An Enemy Rescued)		Hafliði, Stína, Klemmi
21.	"Vitringur á villigötum" (English: A Lost Wise Man)		Hafliði, Stína, Tölvi Skjalfells the computer scientist Computer scientist A computer scientist is a scientist who has acquired knowledge of computer science, the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and their application in computer systems.... and self-proclaimed wise man
22.	"Alein í eyðimörkinni" (English: All Alone in the Desert)		Hafliði, Stína, Tölvi Skjalfells
23.	"Svarta skýið" (English: The Black Cloud)		Hafliði, Stína, Klemmi
24.	"Baðkar í Betlehem" (English: A Bathtub in Bethlehem)		Hafliði, Stína, Dagbjört