Reykjavík Grapevine - 04.12.2009, Side 26

Most of the Western world is about to
celebrate a festival that’s usually referred
to as Christmas (or “jól” in Icelandic).
“Christmas” was originally known as
the winter solstice festival. It always been
an important heathen celebration and is
indeed much older than Christianity. In
Iceland, heathendom is still very much
alive. Case in point: the Ásatrú Associa-
tion was granted recognition as a regis-
tered religious organization in 1973 and
currently has 1.382 members (and count-
ing).
Ásatrú is a heathen religion that has
been practiced in Iceland since its settle-
ment and throughout it's periods of
Christianisation and Christendom. The
purpose of the Ásatrú Association today
is to keep alive the old traditions and be-
liefs of the Nordic folklore. The priests, or
goðar, conduct name-giving ceremonies,
weddings and funerals and the most im-
portant ritual, the communal blót. “Dur-
ing a blót we gather around a fire and call
for the gods and wights ["vættir" – super-
natural beings] to join us. We call to the
north, south, east and west. A horn filled
with any kind of drink goes around the
circle and you lift the horn and hail to
what ever is in your heart,” Alda Vala Ás-
dísardóttir from the Ásatrú Association
tells me as I pay her a visit.
Followers of Ásatrú believe in spirits,
gods and other beings from the Nor-
dic pantheism. "Believing in your own
might and power is also accepted," she
says. The Eddas, the poems and tales of
Norse Mythology written down in Ice-
land during the 13th century, are used as
a source of wisdom. The poem Hávamál
is used as a moral guide and the poem
Völuspá tells of the creation of the Earth.
An important part of ásatrú is being in
contact with earth and nature according
to Alda Vala. “We are a part of nature and
nature is a part of us. We interact. Many
religions don’t have that point of view;
in other religions the higher power only
comes from above. In heathendom, we
work together with nature.”
THe HeaTHens Were fIrsT!
“The winter solstice festival is the origi-
nal Christmas,” says Alda Vala. The
heathen festival was celebrated because
the days were getting brighter. It was
later absorbed into and equated with the
Christian festival of Christmas. Dur-
ing Christianisation, church leaders
hoped to replace the heathen customs
with Christian traditions by making the
winter solstice festival coincide with the
Christian celebrations held at the time.
The effort was never completely success-
ful, however, and eventually many winter
solstice customs were simply incorporat-
ed into Christmas observances.
In ásatrú, jól is recognized as last-
ing for 12 days. It begins on the date of
the winter solstice, which usually takes
place around December 21 to 22. At the
time of the solstice the members of the
Ásatrú Association get together and have
a blót. Afterwards they share a meal that
is preceded by welcoming the sun back.
“The children have a vital part of the cer-
emony. They are given candles to spiral
more light.”
Alda Vala explains that even the
modern Christmas tree is derived from
heathendom. “During jól you decorated
the tree of life. Decorating, or making of-
ferings to a tree during this time was a
prayer for fruitful times ahead.”
The ásatrú flock celebrate Christ-
mas just like anyone else after the win-
ter solstice ceremony has taken place.
They gather with friends and family and
exchange gifts. “All the days around jól
have always been a big festival for hea-
thens. It is the darkest time of year, so why
not fest when you need it the most?
Xmas | Ásatrú
LouIse PeTersson
The reykjavík grapevine Xmas special spectacular 2009
Issue 18
10
The History of Icelandic rock music | Part 13 four other non-obnoxious
Xmas records:
Christmas music is painful at best. Except
it is actually Christmas—plus/minus a
week. Hearing absolutely horrible songs
like the Icelandic version of Wizzard’s
I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday
sung by heavy metal Eurovision contest
dude Eiríkur Hauksson—say, in a crowd-
ed mall with red eyed people looking for
gifts, gifts, gifts all around you—is pure
hell. It makes you want to take out all the
fuckers in the mall with a machine gun.
OK, I’m slightly exaggerating, but you
get my drift. That said, this is the least
obnoxious Xmas music—ever: Alli Rúts
– Kátir voru krakkar – 4 barnalög (Kids
were merry - 4 children’s songs), a 7” EP
from 1972. For starters this masterpiece
only has four songs.
The record cover sets the tone. It
shows Alli in crude Santa costume with
two girls in early seventies surroundings.
Alli’s vocal stylings are weird and sound
similar, I think, to the Finnish legend
M.A.Numminen: shrill and rough, like the
sounds you might expect coming from a
strange recluse at a remote farm. Or an
old insane witch. The backing music was
recorded by few steady musicians in a
session at the old radio building. The ses-
sion took one day and Alli later said of it:
“We were all going nearly insane!”
The four tracks are the jolly Grýlugæ-
la, Ég er jólasveinn (“I’m a Santa Claus”),
and a sung version of the Hot But-
ter’s 1972 instrumental hit Popcorn—
“Grýlupopp”. Alli’s lyrics revolve around
the mystical figure of Grýla, the Icelandic
Yuletide lads’ mom who, according to
Icelandic legend, eats naughty kids after
boiling them in her cauldron. In Alli’s ver-
sion she eats popcorn though.
The EP starts with Alli’s version of the
Pippi Longstockings theme song. This
caused some controversy, as the main
record mogul in 1972, Svavar Gests with
his SG label, had gotten children’s star
Hanna Valdís to sing the same song for an
imminent EP (with different lyrics). With
help from the Swedish rights company
SG got Alli’s version banned from the ra-
dio.
Alli Rúts (Albert Rútsson) had a long
history in the entertainment biz when
he did this EP, his sole vinyl output. Son
of a famous accordion player, Alli was
young when he started to entertain with
comedy, mimicry and singing. His idol
was Ómar Ragnarsson and Alli took his
admiration way too far on few occasions
by simply copying routines from Ómar’s
program. Like Ómar (spoiler alert), Alli
worked as Santa during Christmas, often
doing up to 12 gigs a day. It’s been a long
time since Alli entertained but he kept his
name afloat by opening up a car dealer-
ship: Alli Rúts’ Car Dealership.
I don’t know about you: But nothing
rings in Christmas for me like hearing
Alli’s EP. - Dr. gunnI
By Dr. Gunni, based on his 2000 book Eru ekki
allir í stuði? (Rock in Iceland). A revised update
of the book is forthcoming in 2010.
HauKur morTHens – HáTíð í Bæ
a solid Xmas and children’s songs
LP from 1964 by Haukur morthens,
the gentle crooner all rightful Ice-
landers admire.
svanHILDur JaKoBsDóTTIr –
JóLIn JóLIn
a very well made Xmas LP from 1972.
nothing brings in Xmas like svanhil-
dur’s clear and merry voice. she sings
Xmas standards as well as songs
specially whittled into the Xmas song
tradition for this occasion.
KK & eLLen – JóLIn eru að Koma
Lovely siblings KK and ellen
Kristjánsdóttir sing Xmas standards
like they really mean it. Came out in
2005 but sounds about thirty years
older. Which is good when it comes
to Christmas songs. nothing ruins
the Xmas spirit faster than modern
technology.
ómar ragnarsson –
THe gáTTaÞefur TrILogy
Three LPs done in 1966, 1968 and
1971. genius ómar ragnarsson
stars as one of the Icelandic san-
tas, gáttaþefur (“Doorway smelly”),
having jolly Xmas fun with a group of
singing kids.
The least obnoxious
Xmas music – ever
The Original Christmas
The heathens were first!