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Tag Archives: culture

Loki’s children. Posted by on Feb 20, 2013

“You can choose any text you like, except for poems or song lyrics.” The first translation course that the University of Iceland offers is typically on the first semester of the third year. It takes two years of studying Icelandic before we have gathered enough vocabulary and knowledge on Iceland and its culture to be…

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Dawn of the bolla. Posted by on Feb 13, 2013

I will probably live, I think, fighting against the rising panic in the back of my throat. I sharpen my ears: the lady is trying to ask me something and it’s vital that I understand it now or I may not get another chance. I shout my answer to her, hoping to be heard above…

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Getting understood in Iceland, part 2. Posted by on Jan 16, 2013

“It didn’t sound anything like Icelandic.” “What didn’t?” “Well, for example Thorin’s name isn’t really pronounced like that.” Roughly a week ago we went to see Hobbit, or There and Back Again and the discussion above happened right after the movie was over. We agreed that the movie itself was awesome, but the Icelandic viewers…

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Gleðilegt nýtt ár! Happy New Year! Posted by on Dec 31, 2012

New Year is called  áramót, or nýár, in Icelandic. Whereas the latter needs no specific translation the former is rather poetic and means “years meeting” or “the meeting of the years”. New Year’s Eve is gamlárskvöld, “old year’s evening”, and New Year’s day nýársdagur, “day of the new year”. New Year’s celebrations in Iceland are…

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Gleðileg jól! Posted by on Dec 24, 2012

It’s the 24th and I’m glad to say we’re all still alive. Some door slamming activity has been noted and I’ve had to make piparkökur, gingerbread twice because they keep randomly disappearing, but other than that we may have managed to avoid luring in any of the local “Santas“. Let’s celebrate this by reading more…

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Jólasveinar, the Icelandic Yule lads. Posted by on Dec 12, 2012

What if there was no Santa Claus but thirteen trolls instead? What if your main task for the Christmas season was not to be good so that you’d get presents but to be good so that you might live through it? What if talk of the Christmas trolls was once officially banned due to their…

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Star signs, Christmas preparations. Posted by on Nov 26, 2012

Today, according to the old Norse calendar, begins Ýlir, the second month of winter. It’s the month of Jól (= Yule) and some scholars have suggested that the month either gets its name from the holiday or possibly from old English month names Ærra Géola (= December) and Æfterra Géola (= January). Ýlir always begins on…

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