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Tag Archives: viking era

Snæfellsness, Iceland in miniature. Posted by on Nov 30, 2012

If you look over Faxaflói (= Horse mane bay) on a clear day you can see the white peak of Snæfellsjökull (= Snow mountain glacier) on Snæfellsnes (= Snow mountain cape) over a hundred kilometres away. It’s the tallest mountain of the peninsula, rising over 1400 m from the sea, and considered the most beautiful glacier…

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A long time ago on an island far far away… Posted by on Nov 14, 2012

Jóði hét maðr, sonr Gormóar. Jóði var maðr lítill, en svá sterkr, at eigi váru hans jafningjar. En er hann var á unga aldri, lá hann í víkingu ok herjaði. “The man’s name was Yoda, he was Gormo’s son. Yoda was a small man but so strong that no one was his match. When he…

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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 mystery of shieldmaidens. Posted by on Oct 3, 2012

“…no living man am I! You look upon a woman. Éowyn I am, Éomund’s daughter. You stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone, if you be not deathless! For living or dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him.” ~Éowyn, battle of Pelennor fields, J.R.R. Tolkien It’s perhaps hard to say…

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Autumn is here and so are the ravens. Posted by on Sep 19, 2012

Every year, as if heralding the oncoming autumn, ravens fly into towns in Iceland. They’ve lived all summer far away from humans but as the air grows cold they come back to live with us for the whole dark season. (A quick warning to begin with: this post will be full of raven photos.) There…

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Ready, steady, recite! Posted by on Sep 5, 2012

Did you know that the world tungl (= moon)* has been said to be the hardest word of Icelandic to rhyme? According to a story by Jón Árnason there’s only ever been one man capable of finding a rhyme for it, a famous skáld (= poet) called Kolbeinn Jöklaskáld (= Kolbeinn glacier poet). One time…

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