Reykjavík Grapevine - 01.12.2006, Blaðsíða 17
RVK_GV_18_006_FESTIVITIES_10_REYKJAVÍK_GRAPEVINE_ISSUE18_006_FESTIVITIES
Even though most western nations are by
all accounts becoming more mind-numb-
ingly culturally uniform by the minute, there
are still some vast regional differences as to
how we go about living our lives and the
various customs and traditions that entails.
Take Christmas for instance. Most Christian
countries (and some non-Christian ones
as well) have their own special version of
the festivities that December brings, even
though themes of celebration, charity, love
towards mankind and consumerism are
widespread. Iceland is no different in this re-
spect and has many Christmas customs and
ceremonies you will not find anywhere else.
The following is an attempt to give outsiders
some insight into how the average Icelander
will experience and celebrate the holidays in
light of traditional folklore and long standing
customs, as well as some new ones.
The presents themselves and the various
traditions surrounding them (such as the me-
dian price-range) vary between households,
although there are some constants. Books,
expensive as they may be in Iceland, have for
long ranked as the most popular gift-items;
the publishing industry and book stores
virtually revolve around the holiday season
– the months leading up to it see the major-
ity of the year’s releases being published and
bought. Of course, condensing the book
market and literary discussion this way has
some strange effects on Icelandic literary
culture, as is discussed elsewhere in this is-
sue.
The Icelandic music industry faced similar
concerns a while back, with the majority of
each respective year’s releases and purchases
being made during its last quarter. Lately the
sales have become more constant, however,
although the gift of music is still a popular
one. Beside cultural products, other popular
gift items include decorative objects, board
games, electronic equipment and the like.
Calling All Shoppers!
Consumerism is just as rampant in Iceland as
the rest of the world. Thus it should come as
no surprise that each year, the first signs of
the impending holidays stem from Iceland’s
shopping malls and advertising agencies; as
early as October one may witness Santa or
one of his minions run amok in the media,
reminding shoppers that the Christmas sea-
son has indeed arrived and it is time to stock
up on gifts and pleasantries. Soon after, the
larger stores will start decorating in a Christ-
massy sort of style, giving nods to the festivi-
ties with the use of Christmas trees, blinking
light sets and inflatable Santas.
However, most of the shopping occurs in
the month of December itself, culminating at
December 23 – known here as Þorláksmes-
sa – when the stores stay open ‘til late and
midtown Reykjavík along with the shopping
malls experience their most crowded day of
the year. The large mass of people that con-
gregate downtown to do some last minute
shopping and drink cups of cocoa is truly a
sight to behold and is to some one of the
season’s high points.
Deck the Halls
Icelanders usually commence giving their
homes the holiday treatment in late No-
vember/early December, with the start of
Advent (which occurs the fourth Sunday
before Christmas) usually marking the of-
ficial ‘OK time’ for decorating. Decorations
are similar to what may be found in the rest
of the Christmas-celebrating world: pine
branches, light sets, Santa-related effigies
and various knick-knacks and doodads are
common in Icelandic households during the
month of December. A four-candle Advent
wreath, with one candle to be lit on each
Advent Sunday to mark its passing, may
be found in most homes, as may so-called
Christmas-calendars, boxes of chocolates to
be dispensed every day leading up to De-
cember 24.
A decorative object somewhat unique to
Iceland, although the phenomenon may be
found in some Nordic countries, is the so-
called Advent light, a seven-armed electric
candlestick found in at least one window
of almost every Icelandic house throughout
the holiday season. It is reportedly quite
common for those who visit Reykjavík in
December to get in touch with the National
Museum and inquire about the objects, and
as to whether Judaism is widespread in the
country.
The story behind the Advent lights’ pop-
ularity in Iceland is surprisingly mundane
and in most cases it is thought of as any
other decoration, even though the seven-
armed candlestick is laden with symbolism
elsewhere. The story goes that a certain
Reykjavík businessman encountered the ob-
ject on a standard shopping trip to Sweden
sometime in the mid-sixties. He thought
they’d make excellent gifts to his aunts back
home and bought several for that purpose.
Word of mouth popularity ensued, and soon
the businessman was importing boatloads
of the decorative lights, as no respectable
Icelandic home could bear to be without
them.
A Pretty Horrible Family
Iceland has some strange and violent folk-
lore connected to the month of Advent, and
Christmas in particular, although later years
have seen some of its harsher tales consider-
ably revised and edited to make them more
“child-friendly”. As with most Western na-
tions, Christmas in Iceland involves several
mythical creatures dating back to the middle
ages, but what may set ours apart is their
bleak nature and often-scary undertones.
In folk tales, Christmas Eve is a dangerous
night that should be approached with ex-
treme caution. It is the time when every
supernatural creature in Iceland’s collective
consciousness comes out to play, often lur-
ing innocent peasants into their dens, killing
them or trapping them forever. For instance,
elves will tempt with their riches and beauty,
trapping whoever falls for their shtick into an
eternity of living inside rocks, or worse. And
those who dare play cards or games of any
nature on Christmas Eve may expect horrible
things to come their way – a famous folk tale
speaks of a Church that was engulfed into
the earth by Satan himself after its patrons
partook in a midnight game of cards.
And then there are the gift-bringers: the
Jólasveinar (or Yuletide Lads), a motley group
of bogeymen descended from trolls. Origi-
nally used to scare children into submission,
it is only in later years that they have warmed
to the task of bringing them presents instead
of harassing their families with pranks and
misdemeanours. Little is known of the Jólas-
veinars’ origins, but they do get mentioned
in writing as early as the 17th century. Their
number and habits varied from region to re-
gion (the East Fjords even had some that lived
How to Conduct Your Icelandic Christmas
Text by Haukur Magnússon Photo by Reykjavík Museum of Photography
at sea as opposed to on mountains),
and there are as many as 80 record-
ed names for them. Jón Árnason,
Iceland’s answer to the Brothers
Grimm, published their names in
his widely read folklore collection in
1862 and thus contributed to a still
remaining consensus that there are
exactly 13 active Jólasveinar.
The Jólasveinar have come a
long way since their salad days of
terrifying young kids. As the cen-
turies passed, they seem to have
taken a shine to the little ones and
sometime around 1960 they found
a purpose in leaving small gifts in
kids’ shoes left on window sills (al-
though there are reports of this be-
haviour as early as 1930). The first
one, Stekkjarstaur (Gully Oaf) comes
to town on the eve of December 12.
They keep on coming leading up to
December 24, when the infamous
Kertasníkir (Candle Beggar – he
usually leaves the greatest presents
behind) makes his arrival. Some in-
teresting ones that show up in the
interim include Þvörusleikir (Spoon-
licker), Hurðaskellir (Door-slammer)
and Gluggagægir (Peeping Tom).
The gifts they leave behind range
from small toys and Christmas
decorations to books and CDs (that
would be Kertasníkir), but if a child
has behaved foully, he can count on
getting a potato in lieu of the com-
mon pleasantries.
As mentioned earlier, the Jólas-
veinar are descended from common
trolls, and in fact they come from a
pretty horrid family. Their mother is
the most infamous Icelandic troll of
all – the deadly Grýla. She is mainly
known for taking great pleasure in
devouring naughty children, some-
times cooked but often raw, and
it is believed that her sons’ origi-
nal purpose was to bring her fresh
meat when the hunger struck. Not
as devious but still pretty mean is
Grýla’s husband, Leppalúði, who
partakes in all the nastiness but is a
more passive figure.
However, the most vicious
and weird family member is in all
likelihood the deceivingly named
Jólaköttur (Christmas Cat). This
feline is said to be of gargantuan
proportions (for a cat), and he has
the sole purpose of eating disad-
vantaged children. Not necessar-
ily naughty ones, something that
would, in a way, be understandable;
rather, the Christmas Cat chooses
to feast on kids who fail to get a
new clothes for Christmas. Luckily,
Iceland’s trusty welfare system has
ensured that he rarely finds motive
to visit these days.
Devouring Christmas
Food plays a large part in Icelandic
Christmas festivities and there are
several local culinary traditions to
be honoured over the holidays. The
fun starts in early December, when
families congregate to bake several
types of Christmas-cookies to be
eaten over the course of the coming
month. An average household will
usually produce around three to ten
different sorts of cookies, although
later years have seen an increase
in the circulation of store-bought
ones. More productive households
will also bake and freeze layer cakes
and raisin-laced Christmas cakes.
From the northern parts of Ice-
land comes the December tradition
of baking Laufabrauð (Leaf-bread),
a very thin, deep-fried sort of bread
that has decorations carved in it and
goes tremendously well with but-
ter. Another regional delicacy that
has in later years spread throughout
Iceland is the annual devouring of
kæst skata (rotten skate) on Þor-
láksmessa (December 23). Originat-
ing in the West Fjords, the skate-
feast generally takes place at noon.
The skate has at this point been rot-
ting by itself at room temperature
for about three weeks, giving it a
harsh and cleansing taste. By most
accounts, cooking skate will really
stink up a house, although many
profess a great love for the dish and
its accompanying tallow, cooked
rye bread and whole milk. Certainly
an acquired taste, but one that’s
well worth exploring.
There aren’t many specifically
Icelandic Christmas-style drinks to
speak of. The Scandinavian custom
of gathering to drink the so-called
Jólaglögg (Christmas-drops) in the
weekends leading up to Christmas
is often practiced, although its
popularity has waned somewhat
in recent years. Jólaglögg is a sickly
sweet sort of drink that’s usually
made by heating red wine spiced
with cinnamon, ginger, raisins and
lemon peel – and some will add
spirits for added bite.
Alcohol consumption around
Christmas itself is less popular than
one would assume from Icelanders’
usual drinking habits – folks would
rather stay warm with a cup of
hot chocolate or a combination of
alcohol-free Malt ale (Maltöl) and
Icelandic orange soda (Appelsín).
Combined, the two drinks form
what’s commonly referred to as
Jólaöl (Christmas ale). The blending
of the two has been common prac-
tice in Iceland since around 1960
and most families have their own
special ways of determining the
correct proportions between them
(some even go as far as adding cola
to the mix).
(Nothing to Fear But)
Christmas Itself
The first thing you should know
about the actual celebrating of
Christmas in Iceland is that it culmi-
nates on December 24 rather than
the 25th, which is the common
Western date to celebrate the birth
of Christ. This is in keeping with the
original Christian chronology, taken
up from Judaism, which deems that
a new day starts at sunset, or six
p.m. outside of the original Jew-
ish areas. Thus it is deemed that
Christmas day starts at six p.m. in
Iceland, signalled in by National Ra-
dio’s broadcasting of church bells.
This is followed by a traditionally
extravagant Christmas meal, often
comprised of smoked pork or wild
game such as ptarmigan or rein-
deer. Large families like to gather
for this occasion and there will of-
ten be as many as 20 people eating
at the same table. Many families
will conclude the meal by eating a
Christmas porridge in which an al-
mond has been hidden – whoever
gets the almond wins a fun prize.
Leading up to this is an always-un-
bearable wait, at least if you’re a
kid. While parents spend the day
putting last-minute touches on dec-
orations, preparing the meals and
wrapping up presents, children will
watch some of the local TV stations
all-day broadcasts of Christmas-
themed cartoons. Many will suffer
uncontrollable sugar-induced tem-
per tantrums throughout the day.
What they are looking forward
to is of course the much-coveted
opening of presents, an activity
that reigns supreme over the rest of
the evening. A family member will
often take the task upon himself of
fetching the presents from under
the Christmas tree and distributing
them according to their tags. This
can go on for hours in large fami-
lies, and it’s usually not until well af-
ter midnight that people make their
way to bed, often reading newly
acquired books well into the small
hours of Christmas Day.
“In folk tales, Christmas Eve is a dangerous night
that should be approached with extreme caution.”
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