Archive for 'Icelandic history'
The moon is shining, the dead man’s riding. Posted by hulda on Oct 7, 2012
Djákninn á Myrká (= The deacon of the Darkriver) is one of the most famous ghost stories of Iceland. Versions of it are known throughout Europe where the story’s often told with almost an identical plot. The main figure’s occupation and the way his love interest manages to save herself in the end vary – often…
The mystery of shieldmaidens. Posted by hulda on Oct 3, 2012
“…no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Éowyn I am, Éomund’s daughter. You stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone, if you be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him.” ~Éowyn, battle of Pelennor fields, J.R.R. Tolkien It’s perhaps hard to say…
Our pools are hotter than yours. Posted by hulda on Sep 25, 2012
“I would like to point out one aspect of our trip which left us (the majority of our party) feeling… well… a bit violated. It is the practice of having your guests strip nude in front of other people in order to swim in the geo-thermal pools. …I am a clean person, who bathes regularly…
Autumn is here and so are the ravens. Posted by hulda on Sep 19, 2012
Every year, as if heralding the oncoming autumn, ravens fly into towns in Iceland. They’ve lived all summer far away from humans but as the air grows cold they come back to live with us for the whole dark season. (A quick warning to begin with: this post will be full of raven photos.) There…
Ready, steady, recite! Posted by hulda on Sep 5, 2012
Did you know that the world tungl (= moon)* has been said to be the hardest word of Icelandic to rhyme? According to a story by Jón Árnason there’s only ever been one man capable of finding a rhyme for it, a famous skáld (= poet) called Kolbeinn Jöklaskáld (= Kolbeinn glacier poet). One time…
Brimstone Mountain earthquake. Posted by hulda on Aug 31, 2012
Originally I was going to write more about the roadtrip next but Iceland itself decided otherwise. It habitually throws surprises at the people living here and one such happened yesterday: a larger than usual earthquake very near the Capital City area. As most earthquakes here stay below the level of 3 they’re hardly noticeable at…
These roads were not always here. Posted by hulda on Aug 23, 2012
When looking at the map of Iceland there’s one unusual thing that easily catches the eye: there don’t seem to be many, if any, roads in the middle of the country. Most of them go around Iceland along the main road called Þjóðvegur 1 or Hringvegurinn (= Ring Road), and the few that venture inlands…