28th December

As my mother was arriving today in Keflavik I had to leave my Icelandic family again in the morning. Here some impressions from my trip back to Reykjavík.

27th December

After a big breakfast and a conversation with Dedda where I could practise my still rather poor Icelandic I took Krummi, the black labrador and set of for a hike in the mountains. On the way up at 11am I just managed to see the sunrise in the east.
It was not too cold and there was a complete quietness up in the mountains. No wild animal was to be seen - only Krummi and me. The view from the top of Ósarfjall was rewardinga as always. The farm lay quietly in the bay. On the way down at around 15h30 the sun was ready to set again. Knútur has just bought 4 new foals so he drove them over from the farm he bought them. As they were born in the wild they are not used to humans and we had quite a struggle to get them out of the trailer and get them into the boxes. After a good dinner Knútur, Siggi, Fannar, Isak and me played card games until late in the night. Very peaceful hours and a great atmosphere among the nicest people! They are like a second family to me.

26th December

Today I got up early to set of to the north! I was invited to Koosje and some exchange students who were spending Christmas at a cottage between Borgarnes and Reykholt. The landscape in winter is incredible! We had Icelandic Jólaöl and Pylsur before I continued up north to Ósar, my farm where I've seen Knútur and Dedda again! It was wonderful to be back. Guðmann, Knútur's brother and his 2 sons Fannar and Isak were there too and Siggi, who used to work on the farm.

25th December

Today I was invited to have dinner with Þórkatla who has come back from Amsterdam for the holidays. We had a huge dinner with the Icelandic traditional meal and black bird meat - very tasty! Kiddi, Þórkatla's boyfriend and Halli, Vala's boyfriend were also invited so we made up a bigh group. In addition Héðinn, Þórkatla's brother, who lives in New York and his German wife were there too. After dinner we played "Actionary" - in Icelandic, German and English. I can't remember when I last laughed so much!

24th December

I do admit that around the middle of December I started to regret my decision to stay over Christmas in Iceland - far away from my family. It was not the fear to stay alone over the holidays but more that it would have been nice to spend these special days around people I love. Soon tough I couldn't save myself from all the invitations of my Icelandic friends. There were twice as many invitations as holidays so unfortunately I had to turn some down. The 24th I've spent at Hanna's family. Hanna works with me at Hereford and she invited me to her mother's house to spend Christmas eve with her mother, sister and 2 brothers.
I easily found my way to her house in Hafnarfjörður. Although I was a complete stranger to the family they all welcomed me overwhealmingly warmly. The amazing thing here in Iceland is that Christmas starts at exactly 6pm. So just like on New Year's eve we had the TV turned on and waited for the clock to announce the beginning of Christmas. At 6pm all the Church bells started to ring and the lax (salmon) was brought on the table. Traditionally we all drank "Malt og Appelsín" with the food. After the fish the main course were sweet potatoes and hangikjöt (smoked lamb) - quite delicious! The desert was a creamy substance called "fromage". It has nothing to do with the "cheese". Untill now nobody was able to explain to me the ethymology of this word. After the food the presents were opened and I've spent a great time discussing Icelandic political matters with Hanna's mother. A great evening!

Icelandic Yulemen

Thirteen days before Christmas the Yulemen begin to arrive at farms and in towns. These 13 brothers are strange creatures, part troll and part prankster in human form. Actually, they are much meeker today than they were in former times, when according to Icelandic lore, they could be quite dangerous. Their father and mother, Grýla and Leppalúði, were terrible trolls who caught and ate disobedient children. Even the family cat was a monster. On Christmas Day it searched out any child that didn't get a new piece of clothing for Christmas and ate, if not the child, at least his ration of Christmas food. The Yulemen played pranks on people and stole from them. Each had his special Christmas preference--food, or candles for example - and a distinctive way of getting his hands on it which was reflected in his name. Today's prosperity has softened the lads a bit and now they are good-natured boys who come bearing gifts. They used to dress in warm woolen clothes in tones of black white gray and brown. These days they sometimes put on red suits, which they claim are their best clothes. The night before the first Yuleman arrives (December 12th) there are suddenly little shoes on the windowsills of the bedrooms of all Icelandic children. The reason for the shoes is that the children know that if they have behaved well, they can expect the Yuleman to sneak a little treat into the shoe while they are asleep. If they have not behaved well, however, they may find only a potato or nothing at all in the shoe when they wake up. Sometimes the children leave a little something in the shoe for the Yuleman to find - a sausage for "Sausage Snatcher" or maybe a candle for "Candle Beggar".
Nobody knows exactly how the Icelandic Yulemen came into being. They seem to have always been a part of Icelandic tradition. Stories of these trolls and their brood were so horrible that in 1746 the Danes, who governed Iceland at the time, issued a law to put a stop to the frightening of children with them. Nevertheless, the stories lived on with the people as they have probably done since the time of the Settlement.

The Yulemen come from the mountains in this order:

1. Stiff Legs, (Stekkjarstaur): He loves to suck milk from the sheep, but his stiff legs make that very difficult.

2. Gully Gawk, (Giljagaur): Has a taste for the froth on the milk and keeps close to the cows.

3. Shorty (Stúfur): Small and nimble and smacks his lips over the leftovers in the cooking pans, especially if they are burnt.

4. Ladle Licker, (Þvörusleikir): So thin he resembles the ladles which he licks the food from.

5. Pot Scraper (Pottaskefill): Snatches the unwashed pots from the kitchen and scrapes the insides with his fingers and tongue and leaves them quite clean.

6. Bowl Licker (Askasleikir): Very cunningly finds bowls that have been left unattended and finishes all food from them.

7. Door Slammer (Hurðaskellir): Gets his kicks from slamming doors, using every chance to disturb peoples sleep.

8. Curd Glutton (Skyrgámur): The dairy product is his favorite and if stored in closed containers he simply breaks through the lid with his fist.

9. Sausage Snatcher (Bjúgnakrækir): Very nimble when it comes to climbing up into the rafters where the sausages are hung to smoke.

10. Window Peeper (Gluggagægir): Flattens his nose against every window to glimpse something to steal.

11. Sniffer (Gáttaþefur): Has a very big nose and sniffes out his favorite food, fried bread, wherever it is being made.

12. Meat Hook (Ketkrókur): Has a long pole with a hook on the end to put down the chimneys and into the meat hung on the rafters.

13. Candle Beggar (Kertasníkir): Loves tallowcandles and can't make up his mind whether to eat them or watch their lovely light.

Christmas in Iceland

The Icelanders are very big on Christmas. Because of the island's global position, days are very short here at the winter solstice. Perhaps that explains the enthusiasm with which Icelanders decorate and light up their houses during the holidays. All sorts of Christmas lights appear in windows, along with a festive horde of snowmen, Santas and other holiday figures who occupy windows, roofs, balconies, and lawns starting on the first Sunday of Advent in the beginning of December. Advent lights (electric candlesticks with seven lights) shine from one or more windows in virtually every home in Iceland. The crowning glory, the Christmas tree, is only decorated on St. Thorlakur's Day (December 23rd). Traditionally, the lights are lit for the first time on the decorated tree when Christmas is "chimed in" by every church bell in the land at six o'clock on Christmas Eve.
The first two weeks of December are the busiest time. Most families bake special, spiced cookies, not unlike gingersnaps, and every home also has up to ten other varieties of cookie to offer guests. Also part of the festivities is the making of "laufabraud" (leaf bread), a very old Icelandic tradition. These are flat cakes made of flour and water and fried in oil or mutton-fat. The cakes are decorated by cutting a special pattern or "leaves" in them. In earlier times Iceland did not produce grain of any kind and flour was an imported luxury. Therefore, the laufabraud was rolled out paper thin to get as many cakes as possible from the dough. Each cake was carefully decorated as a small work of art. This tradition is still very much a part of Icelandic Christmas custom and often serves as an opportunity for the extended family to gather during the Christmas season.
Most Icelanders eat pork/ham or ptarmigan on Christmas Eve. Pork/ham is relatively new to Iceland, having been imported from Denmark. The ptarmigan, on the other hand, is a strictly Icelandic dish. Originally, only the poorest families, those who didn't have a lamb to slaughter, ate ptarmigan at Christmas. It was a wild bird and easy to hunt. On Christmas Day, "hangikjöt" (Icelandic smoked lamb) is the traditional dinner. Dessert is an ordinary rice-pudding which changes its name for the occasion and is called "almond pudding". An almond is put into the pudding before it is served and whoever is lucky enough to get the portion with the almond gets a prize.

Jeepsafari on Langjökull

Along with a group of exchange students we all met in complete darkness at 8h30 outside the university campus for our jeep safari to an Icelandic glacier. We mounted our 4 Landrovers and 1 Jeep and left smoky town behind.
Finally the light was enough to observe our powerful engines. Each jeep was equipped with the newest navigation system, GPS, satellite, you name it... Really impressive technique! They had the exact topography of the glacier with the information of dangerous places etc.
At the lake of Þingvellir we saw the faint light of dawn.
At around 10h30 the sun was slowly rising giving sight to a magical winter landscape where no life seems possible. It very hard to imagine how people were able to survive the long winters in the last centuries when no goretex protection was guaranteed.

Jeepsafari on Langjökull II

Two of the bigger highland tracks are leading alongside the Langjökull glacier: Kaldidalur Highland road and Kjölur Highland road. Kaldidalur is between Langjökull and the glacier Ok in the west, whereas Kjölur lies between Langjökull and Hofsjökull in the east. We took the Kaldidalur road.
To be able to drive on the glacier, the tyres of the jeeps have to be flattened, so the jeep can "float" on the snow!
And with flat tyres, nothing could stop us of racing up the glacier in these powerful machines of modern technology!

Jeepsafari on Langjökull III

On the top of the glacier we had a short break. The temperature: -15°C (without the chill factor of the wind!) Langjökull is, after the Vatnajökull, the second-largest of the glaciers of Iceland (1.021 km2). It is situated in the west of the Icelandic Interior or Highlands of Iceland. Its highest peak reaches 1360 metres.
The view from the top of the glacier was absolutely rewarding! It felt as if being part of some alien sort of landscape - hostile but fascinating and beautiful!
Under the glacier we had a short stop to pump up our tyres again. We were surprised by a light snowstorm. If you left the hidden place behind the jeep the wind chilled your body warmth away in seconds!

Reykjavik by night

Due to my exam period I haven't had the time to write anything about Reykjavík. Soon I will add photos from my glacier jeep tour.
Untill then enjoy some photos from the darkness here in the capitol of Iceland. Whether you like the Christmas decoration is up to you - I must admit that I'm rather disappointed. I expected much more from the otherwise so artistic city.
The famous Christmas tree at Austurvellir.
The Biochemistry building on the campus. A very interesting architecture.
Outside a beautiful villa close to Tjörnin.

Jeepsafari on Langjökull IV

Driving through wild nature we also had to cross certain rivers. To make the adventure perfect some of the jeeps got stuck in the ice and they had to pull each other out - entirely to the excitement of us "tourists"!
Our last stop, shortly before dark was Hraunfossar, a series of beautiful "magic waterfalls" where a substantial river mysteriously emerges from beneath a lava flow. Because of the freezing temperatures the atmosphere was fairy-tale-like :o)
Further up the path was another waterfall called Barnafoss (Children's Waterfall) where the constricted Hvítá roars through a narrow gorge. The name derived from a legend that two children fell into the river from a natural bridge. To prevent similar accidents in the future, the main span was destroyed, but amid the rapids a second natural bridge is visible.

Nýr Geisladiskur frá Vox Feminae

The new CD of my choir Vox Feminae has been released!