Lögberg-Heimskringla - 25.01.1980, Blaðsíða 4

Lögberg-Heimskringla, föstudagur 25. janúar, 1980
Högberg- ÍfrtmHkrittgla
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ÁÞORRÁ
Þorri hefst fyrsta föstudag eftir miðjan janúar, og upp
úr miðjum febrúar minnist fólk þess gjarna að kald,-
asti mánuður ársins er að baki þegar góa rennur í
hlað.
Töluvert hefur verið skrifað um uppruna þorrans.
I sjálfu nafninu þykir liggja einhver merking sem
rekja megi til sagnarinnar að þverra og þá liggur ef til
vill beinast við að eitt og annað hafi þorrið í kuldatíð
vetrarins. Að vísu er þorrinn misgóður eða misharður
frá ári til árs. Síðast liðið ár var hann grimmari víða
um lönd en.menn mundu dæmi til, og ekki var hún
góa öllu blíðlyndari heldur. Svipur þorrans í ár er með
miklu betra bragði. Hann heilsaði ljúft og lofar enn
góðu þegar þetta blað fer í prentun.
í fornum heimildum koma fyrir bæði Þorri og
Gói og eru ættir þeirra konungakyn. Orkneyinga saga
hefst á skemmtilegri frásögn af þeim og forföður þeirra
Fornjóti konungi sem sagður er hafa ráðið fyrir því
landi sem kallað er Finnmörk og Kvenland. Hér eru
því á ferðinni goðkynjaðar verur enda nefnir Orkn-
eyinga saga Þorrablót.
Afkomendur Fornjóts konungs bera heldur svelj-
andaleg nöfn. f þeim er gnýr veðra og báru. Þau eru
persónugervingar náttúruaflanna. í ætt við þorra eru
þeir Hlér, Ægir, Kári, Frosti og Snær, f þessum nöfn-
um býr norrænn kraftur. Fræðimenn hafa stungið upp
á að þessari fjölskyldu hafi verið teflt fram gegn Óðni
og öðrum ásum. í Ynglinga sögu Snorra Sturlusonar
verður för ása úr Suðaustanverðri Evrópu inn á Norð-
urlönd upphaf konungsættar. í Orkneyingasögu verða
goðmögn einnig upphaf slíkrar ættar, en eins og bent
hefur verið á, seilist sagan eins langt norður og unnt
er og inn á hin köldu lönd Fornjóts konungs. Þetta
norræna kyn kemur úr alveg andstæðri átt við Óðin og
félaga hans.
Fyrstu sagnir um þorra bera því vitni hvernig
norrænar þjóðir sóttu frumkraft sinn í kuldalegt um-
hverfi. Hér er að finna snjallar dæmisögur um það
hvernig mannfólkið getur aðlagast grimmlyndu um-
hverfi með því að berjast ekki gegn því heldur gera
frumkrafta þess að eigin afli.
Þenkingar um þorrann beinast því fyrst og fremst
að samskiptum feðra okkar og mæðra við móður nátt-
úru eins og hún er í nyrstu byggðum heimsins.
Eins og ráða má af síðurri þessa blaðs er nú þess
skammt að bíða að Vestur-íslendingar geri sér daga-
mun með því að blóta þorrann, þetta kalda en volduga
tákn norrænna erfða. Hér er um að ræða gamalgróna
hefð meðal afkomenda íslands í öðrum löndum.
Hrund Skúlason
Call Back Yesterday
I wonder how many of us have a longing to look back with
nostalgia to past yesterdays only to discover that nothing
ever stays the same and it is a useless effort to try and call
back the yesterdays.
Ever since I left Iceland I had a longing to live once again
through a winter in Iceland and especially the Christmas
season. That dream became a reality after fifty-nine years
when my daughter and son-in-law, Gudrun and Gordon
Mclnnis took me and their two youngest children, Gwen and
Neil to spend Christmas with their son Melvin and his fiance
Svava, who were both studying at the University of Iceland.
The Mclnnis family could only stay three weeks but had
given me an open ticket so that I could stay as long as I
wished.
Professor Bessason has asked me to relate the highlights
of my trip for the readers of Logberg - Heimskringla and my
impressions of a winter in Iceland after all these years.
We left Winnipeg on a
cold sunny morning on
December 18, 1978 and
arrived in Keflavik at 8:00
a.m., December 19th. The
weather was calm and mild
(-2C). When we drove from
Keflavik to Reykjavik the
stars gleamed in the deep
blue sky and the moon shone
brightly, its beams dancing
on the gently billowing
ocean waves. To us this was
a unique phenomena but in
December the sun does not
rise until nearly noon in
Iceland.
We stayed ten days in
Reykjavik this time. A time
of keen enjoyment amongst
^the many relatives and
friends.
On my first evening there
I was lucky enough to get in
on the making of the
“Laufabraud” at my
cousin’s place where I was
staying. That old tradition is
still observed among those
that come from the north of
Iceland. The method has
changed somewhat because
now you can make dozens of
cookies from suppertime to
midnight whereas in the old
days it took from dawn to
midnight. Now you buy the
cookies and just have to
make the designs with a
gadget especially made for
the purpose and just have to
turn up the design and then
fry the cookie. Calling back
yesterday my recollections
were from Laufabraud
making at Einarsstodum,
Reykjadal in 1918 when the
women started early in the
morning to mix, knead and
roll out the cookies and
when the day’s chores had
been done everyone sat
down to cut out the designs
with a pocket knife, each
one competing to have the
most original designs. This
1978 version of the old
tradition made a very en-
joyable evening of work and
play as the families all got
together to observe the old
custom as “Laufabraud” is
only made at Christmas
time. The lady of the house
also made “Sigtibraud”
which we in Canada call
“Partar” butno way do they
resemble the genuine ar-
ticle, which I had not tasted
since grandmother made
them for us years ago. When
the workwas finished we all
sat around drinking coffee
and eating “Sigtibraud”,
spread with butter and
“kaefa.”
behold. At Skalholt one is
filled with reverence for the
past and present when one
gazes at Nina Saemundson’s
work of art, the altar pic-
ture and stained glass
windows. We stopped at the
lovely little town of Selfoss
for a late lunch and in the
evening at Hveragerdi to
visit relatives. This was a
delightful day.
On Christmas Eve at 6:00
p.m. I was taken to “Af-
tansongur” the service at
the State Church in Reyk-
javik (Domkirkja). The
sermon was preached by the,
Rev. Hjalti Gudmundsson,
who at one time served the
ícelandic congregations at
North Dakota. This was my
first service in Iceland at
Christmas. It was an im-
pressive service with the
church gleaming with
decorations and electric
lights. My early memories of
Christmas Eve were of
• A L.HTlbLmaö TiVC VVCIC U1
On December 21, Gordon/ “Huslestur” (family service)
rented a car and Melvin
drove us the round trip from
Reykjavik to Pingvellir,
Geysir, Gullfoss, Skalholt
in the largest room at
<Einarsstodum with )on
Haraldsson reading the
Christmas message and all
Hrund with friends and relatives at Gullfoss in Dec. ia /»
etc. The weather was clear
and the temperature only
-6C but a cool stiff breeze
was blowing from the north-
west. It was a lovely drive,
the road was clear and only
a light layer of snow on the
ground. We walked up to
Logberg and through
Almannagja. There is of
course quite a difference
between the summer green
and the grey dullness of
winter but it has a beauty all
of its own. The greatest
difference was at Gullfoss.
When we got there the sun
had sunk too low to reach
the falls and some parts of
them were frozen over. The
enclosed picture will show a
different Gullfoss than we
familiar with. We
are
stopped
Strokkur
at Geysir, and
was a joy to
of us holding hands and
walking around the candle-
litChristmas tree singing the
familiar Christmas hymns.
They were the only
recollections that time had
not changed.
After the service we all
gathered at Melvin and
Svava’s for the traditional
Christmas Eve dinner of
“hangikjot, uppstu” and all
the usual trimmings and
then the opening of the gifts.
My memory called back
yesterday when the last
Christmas gifts I recalled
were a six inch long cradle,
gold in color, with a picture
of an angel at the headboard
and a four inch doll in a
white dress inside it. I also
got a red candle and a
frilled apron. Some wearing
apparel was always a must.