Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.2005, Page 63

GREAT NORTHERN DIVER (GAVIA IMMER) IN CIRCUMPOLAR FOLK ORNITHOLOGY gj
days noted as imbredagar and in the Ice-
landic calendar as well, called imbruda-
gar, imbrudagavikur or imbruvikur. Both
meaning Emberdays or Emberweeks
(Bjórnsson, 1993: 115-122). They are a
recollection from the Catholic time, their
full name in Latin being jejunia quattuor
temporum or quattuor tempora (Magnús-
son, 1989: 420; Bjórnsson, 1993: 119-
122). They usually fall three days in the
week before Christmas, Easter, Midsum-
mer Day and Michaelmas. In many places
the fourth Sunday of Advent is still called
imbresundagen (Ember Sunday). In some
places in northern Norway, the so-called
Imbredagar have been connected with the
arrivals of the northern diver. The diver
usually appears along the northern coast
before Christmas (Pontoppidan, 1753:
131; Ægisson, 1996: 51). In Germany it
was called Adventsvogel, for the same rea-
son (Ægisson, 1996: 51). According to a
Norwegian dictionary from 1646 the Im-
mervecka ‘Ember Week’ comes the week
before Christmas (Jensøn, 1646: 58).
However, this is probably a kind of folk
etymology, since the names of these days
have nothing to do with the great northern
diver, according to Falk and Torp (Falk
and Torp, 1960: 462). The word imbre is
most likely derived from an old English
word ymbryne, meaning ‘period’, as the
Latin name for the days there became ym-
brendagas or ymbrenedagas (Magnússon,
1989: 420; Bjórnsson, 1993: 119-122).
Weather forecast
It seems to be a common view in Eur-
asia and North America that the call of
various diver species can be interpreted
as ominous. Also their flight can be read
as a kind of weather forecast (Hammarin,
1987: 16; Svanberg, in press). For in-
stance, the red-throated diver has been
known as rain goose in the Shetlands
(Spence, 1899: 113).
The belief that the behaviour or call
indicates the forthcoming weather is also
known about the great northern diver. The
Thompson Indians of western Canada
think that the calling of the great northern
diver foretells rain (Armstrong, 1958: 63),
and moreover that the bird could actually
cause it, and even a human being imitat-
ing the cry could do likewise (Greenoak,
1997: 14).
This belief seems to be common among
settlers as well as natives in many places
in North America (Bergen, 1899: 46, 51;
Lee, 1976: 61). On west Greenland the
Eskimos said that if the great northern
diver was crying this was a sign of ap-
proaching rain (Rasmussen, 1970: 9).
We have some specific evidence from
north-western Europe also. In Iceland
- and this was mentioned already by Ole
Worm in 1654 - a flying great northern
diver was viewed as forecasting long-last-
ing bad weather and storms (Bernstrðm,
1965: 689; Anonymous,1961: 625; Jónas-
son, 1961: 142; Sigfússon, 1982: 249).
“When you hear its voice, bad weather is
on its way, that’s what the old people said
and truly believed and is surely as true
nowadays as it was then”, writes Guðmun-
dur Friðjónsson (Friðjónsson, 1938: 202).
Several oral and unpublished hand-writ-
ten records from various places in Iceland