Tag Archives: holidays
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)…
Jólin að koma! Posted by hulda on Dec 4, 2014
Christmas is on its way! Without further ado, let’s get into the spirit of Icelandic Christmas 2014 – but first some sad news. The present that was blown away “Góður hluti af efri hluta trésins brotnaði af og stjarnan hékk í miðju trénu.” (= A large part of the lower part of the tree was broken off…
Come all you sailors (and others as well)! Posted by hulda on Jun 6, 2014
It gives life, it takes life, the Icelandic attitude towards the sea is divided in two. On one hand the local artists will adore it in their works and declare it the height of all things mysterious and wonderful, on another are the people who put their lives at risk on it. The difference is…
New Year’s party in Iceland Posted by hulda on Dec 30, 2013
The year is almost over and we’re all heading for a new one, so let’s take a moment to have a look at the past, present and future of Iceland and this particular Icelandic blog shall we? 😉 PAST Well, that sounds dramatic but in fact I just wanted to take a quick look back…
A Yule story Posted by hulda on Dec 21, 2013
Many Icelandic stories of Christmas time are about elves visiting humans, for one reason or another. They’re not always evil after all, many times they may be in need of help instead or just generally curious, even well-meaning if they like their human neighbours. Elves often gave gifts to people they liked in particular and…