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Tag Archives: supernatural

The end is nigh (again). Posted by on Feb 13, 2014

Bad news first, the end of the world has been announced for the 22nd of February. Then for the good ones, this time it will be Ragnarök so no need to repent your sins, just strap yourself in and enjoy the ride! To be expected: earthquakes, volcanic activity, possible sightings of a massive sea serpent…

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A Yule story Posted by 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…

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The Christmas Cat is coming to town! Posted by on Dec 12, 2013

You better watch out, you better not cry… and you better receive at least one item of clothing for Christmas. This is how you’ll live to see the New Year, at least according to an Icelandic tradition. As a typical Christmas time scare for children, Urðarkötturinn (= the cliff cat) is actually so frightening that…

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Thor son of Odin wears it best. Posted by on Nov 30, 2013

“What’s the most typical syllable that names begin in Medieval, Norwegian sagas?” our professor asked on our this week’s Medieval literature lesson. People guessed immediately Þór/Þor, which was actually not correct for Norway but rather Iceland. If you’ve ever read Icelandic sagas you’ll totally understand this one… it’s almost comical to try to follow the…

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Draugasetrið, the haunted ghost-museum. Posted by on Oct 29, 2013

“The man whose voice you heard on the tape died a while ago. Ingólfur, who made the ghost movie also died recently, of cancer. Then I died too but they started me up again.” It’s a little bit difficult to take our ghost museum guide 100% seriously but as he is one of the specialists…

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The legend of Lagarfljót. Posted by on Oct 23, 2013

It’s not long now until Halloween so let’s get in the mood of it and have a look at more Icelandic monsters. This time I’ll be concentrating on one particular monster that, unlike the others, has been seen on regular intervals up to our day: the Lagarfljótsormurinn (= the worm of Lagarfljót). What’s known of…

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Traveling in Iceland – ghosts and hidden people. Posted by on Jul 31, 2013

Near the Valahnúkur cliffs is a hot spring area called Gunnuhver, Gunna’s hot spring. It’s easily accessible so if you’re visiting the lighthouse you should definitely go see this place as well. There are two roads that lead there, one from the main road and one from the lighthouse. Something has once been built here…

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