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Tag Archives: culture

Happy anniversary, Icelandic! Posted by on Nov 16, 2012

Today, on the 16th of November, Icelanders celebrate Dagur íslenskrar tungu, the Icelandic Language Day. Icelanders have celebrated their language since the year 1995. The date was chosen to coincide with the birthday of Jónas Hallgrímsson, an Icelandic poet often called “the most influential Icelandic poet of all times”. He was also a prominent figure…

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Icelandic proverbs Posted by on Nov 8, 2012

What taught the naked woman to spin thread? Or why does one become happy twice when one sits on a stone? Icelandic proverbs show how the people here think and view the world around them, and besides that they’re often very sharp and accurate to their point. Let’s look at some of my favourites! A…

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The winter is here. Posted by on Oct 27, 2012

Happy New Year to all of you who use the old Nordic calendar! Today’s the first day of Gormánuður (= the month of half-digested hay) which is the first month of winter, and at the same time the first month of the year. This is when in times of old animals were slaughtered for the…

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The heartbroken girl who became a legend. Posted by on Oct 23, 2012

As far as obsessive love that goes on to death and beyond, the Djákninn á myrká isn’t actually even close to being the worst of his kind. The crown of Iceland’s most horrifying ghost goes instead to a young lady called Solveig, who used to live in a place called Míklabæ, giving the name to…

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Don’t let them see you. Posted by on Oct 18, 2012

By now you may have noticed that the October posts follow a certain… theme. Let’s now continue with more scary creatures fit for the season – Icelandic cat-fox monsters skuggabaldur (= shadowbaldur: the origin of the name seems to be a mystery) and skoffín. Of these the skoffín had a fox as its father and…

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Tilberi. Posted by on Oct 15, 2012

A notable thing about witchcraft in Iceland is that it used to be more common for men to practice it than women. Yet there is one Icelandic magical creature that could only be created by a woman – the tilberi. To make one she would have to dig up a dead body in secret and…

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The moon is shining, the dead man’s riding. Posted by 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…

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