Archive for 'Icelandic culture'
Buns, explosions and ash. Posted by hulda on Feb 18, 2015
There are three days in February that are far more important than Valentine’s Day, at least if Icelanders are asked: the Bun Day, the Explosion Day and the Ash Day (also known as Ash Wednesday but with some Iceland-specific traditions and nowadays almost no religious meaning). Originally they were the days right before the Lent and…
How to romance a viking. Posted by hulda on Feb 11, 2015
You know what day is just around the corner, so let’s get prepared with some relevant vocabulary! The important days Valentínusardagur = Valentine’s Day. The tradition caught on in Iceland perhaps a little earlier than the rest of the Nordics, but since the country was occupied by the USA since the WW2 it may not be too surprising…
An Icelander walked past a bar. Posted by hulda on Jan 29, 2015
It happened years ago on an evening in May. I had just met my SO and we were sitting together in a garden swing talking of this and that, and eventually started telling each other jokes. This was the first one he told me. (To understand the following you’ll have to know that reipi means rope, and…
Keeping that Icelandic-learning resolution. Posted by hulda on Jan 7, 2015
Hello again, dear readers, and welcome to the year 2015! It’s time to make some resolutions for the year – or maybe you’ve already made some? Any language learning -related ones? Anyone up to studying a rare Nordic language that’s about as close to Old Norse as can get? 😉 A new year’s resolution, nýársheit…
Elves, fire, explosions: New Year in Iceland Posted by hulda on Dec 30, 2014
New Year is fast approaching. For Icelanders it begins tomorrow, or perhaps right after Christmas, depending on whether you use the official definition or the start of the partying. Officially we’re beginning tomorrow, however, the party is already on. We’ve had fireworks every day, some quite flashy since that’s the way the fireworks sellers here…
Christmas is almost here. Posted by hulda on Dec 19, 2014
Iceland is expecting Christmas completely decked in white. We had even more snow yesterday and cars were stuck throughout the country, so in case you saw people clad in red pushing them out of the banks (link) those were not Jólasveinar but Björgunarsveitinn, the voluntary rescue units. They don’t give you presents but I bet…
Icelandic Christmas calendar Posted by hulda on Dec 11, 2014
Welcome to count the days with the Icelandic blog, dear readers – I’m going to follow the Icelandic tradition of Christmas calendar in which the count-down does not begin on the 1st Dec but the night before the 12th. There will be a new part added to this post every day, so stay tuned! Today it’s… Kertasníkir (= Candle-Stealer)…