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Tag Archives: supernatural

The two great sorcerers of Iceland. Posted by on Oct 24, 2014

Last week’s entry about witchcraft in Iceland mentioned one interesting man, Galdra-Loftur (= Loftur the Magician), who’s definitely worth a closer look. The legend does not paint a very flattering image of him: he’s shown as an egoistical, cruel person who uses his talent and skills for his own profit only and does not care who he…

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Witchcraft in Iceland. Posted by on Oct 17, 2014

As October is halfway done what better time to write a little about witches? Icelandic ones that is, so alas the pretty ladies riding brooms won’t come into picture. The grand majority of Icelandic witches were male and though female ones did exist and were even punished for witchcraft, fact is that of all of…

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Hiding in plain sight: Snæfellsnes. Posted by on Jun 30, 2014

On a clear day you can see Snæfellsnes all the way to Reykjavík. This is not because the clean Icelandic air or the brightness of the midnight sun allowing you to see forever, it’s just really close to the capital city! I’m not even joking here, one day is all you need to drive to Snæfellsnes, go all…

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Hiding in plain sight: Hvalfjörður. Posted by on Jun 16, 2014

When you hear of Hvalfjörður from the locals it’s often spoken of as how to avoid it. This time you should not listen to the advice: there’s clear logic behind wanting to avoid going there but it’s definitely not because the place wasn’t worth a visit! No, what Icelanders usually think of when Hvalfjörður is…

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Nightless nights, dayless days. Posted by on May 26, 2014

Like A hundred names for snow might show, Icelandic has quite a rich vocabulary when it comes to nature and the seasons. An obvious example besides snow is light and darkness and the change from one to other, because the time during which day and night are about the same length is very, extremely short. Due…

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Summer house adventure! Posted by on May 21, 2014

Big news! I have handed in my BA thesis! After four years of work and a very harsh thesis-writing spring this called for a celebration so gathering up a group of friends we did what Icelanders would do – we went to a summer house. When you travel in Iceland you’ll soon train your eye…

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Staving off a disaster; magical tattoos. Posted by on Apr 16, 2014

I’ve noticed a growing trend of people having Icelandic magical staves tattooed on them lately. Some of the choices, alas, range from weird to unintentionally funny and inappropriate. On its own having such a stave tattooed is not a bad thing at all. Icelanders themselves often get them as tattoos and it’s not considered insulting…

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