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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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Norwegian Wood – a Christmas Tree from Oslo. Posted by on Dec 4, 2012

Even though I’ve been totally caught in the busy busy busy time of exam weeks I decided to take a small break from university assignments last Sunday and head downtown to Austurvellir where the Óslóartré’s Christmas lights were lit. Óslóartré means what it sounds like, it’s a Christmas tree that is sent from Oslo, Norway…

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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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Survive a storm in Iceland. Posted by on Nov 4, 2012

Hello dear readers, I hope that everyone around the areas that Sandy hit are safe! Over here we had some stormy weather over the weekend as well, although it really couldn’t compare to Sandy. Storms are typical autumn weather for Iceland and with winds over 25m/s they can, however, still cause a lot of damage…

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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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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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