Reykjavík Grapevine - 21.09.2012, Page 37

The round-up goes like this: after sheep have
spent the summer grazing in the mountains they
are rounded up and guided down to the valley.
The actual event called “réttir” takes place the
following day, when the sheep are driven into a
large sheepfold—a round inner circle with small
gates leading to a number of partitioned off areas
around it that allows farmers to sort the sheep ac-
cording to their markings.
Get those sheep down
On a crisp Saturday evening, some friends and I
head to ‘Tungnaréttir’ near Geysir. The arrival of
the sheep had been delayed for a day due to bad
weather conditions. For the past week, fifteen to
twenty people on horseback had been busy look-
ing for sheep, collecting them in the surrounding
mountain area. The evening before they chased
the roughly 6,000 sheep down to the valley where
they were greeted by farmers, families, friends and
others who want to be part of the spectacle.
The air is filled with the sound of sheep buck-
ing, bleating and making noise. They run in a
seemingly endless trail along the river, followed
by a large number of horses and riders. While the
field is slowly being taken over by sheep that are
grazing eagerly after their long march, my friends
and I are surrounded by horses and Icelanders
in lopapeysur (the traditional Icelandic woollen
jumper that seems to be de rigueur at a round up).
Lopapeysur and beer
The mood at the sheep roundup is cheerful, as the
arrival of the sheep is accompanied by a decent
amount of beer, much deserved after all of the
hard work. Once the sheep are securely fenced
off in the field, the farmers call it a night and head
home or to the local bar for a bowl of traditional
meat soup and further beer consumption.
We spend the night at a nearby summer cot-
tage. After a delicious meal of lamb-leg we head
down for a couple of pints at the local bar for a
couple of pints, where a group of elderly Iceland-
ers have gathered around a guitar to sing the night
away.
Sheep, sheep, sheep
Réttir is already in full swing when we finally
make it down to the sheepfold around ten the
next morning. Parked cars block roads and fields
everywhere, the atmosphere is lively and the res-
cue team seems ready and alert with their quads
standing nearby—just in case.
The sheep had been chased into the middle
of the sheepfold where people await to grab them
by their horns and shove them into the designated
partitions. The sheep’s ears are marked, but we get
told that many farmers know their sheep without
these aids
By noon it seems that the end is in sight, as
people start singing and more and more cans of
beer make the rounds. Horses stand very relaxed
in their partitions, while children run around trying
to catch or mount the sheep, which in turn run
rather frantically from one end of the enclosure to
the other.
We stand among the sheep, listening to the
singing that grows gradually louder. All we see is a
sea of wool—sheep and lopapeysur in various pat-
terns. While the atmosphere is full of bleating, talk-
ing and an increasingly intoxicated mood, some
of the sheep are already being loaded into small
trailers. They are to be taken to their home farms
where they will await their fate—contributing to the
ever-growing demand for lopapeysur and delicious
legs of lamb.
Unlike the unfortunate sheep in the northeast
Iceland that were pummelled by early snow this
year, this réttir turned out to be a smooth affair.
Joining in on the sheep action was fun, the day
was bright and sunny and the cold beer kept us
running.
37 The Reykjavík GrapevineIssue 15 — 2012TRAVEL
Réttir Went Smooth As Beer
Grapevine’s annual visit to the annual sheep roundup
1,000 HORSES, 1,000,000 SHEEP Yup, it's réttir! Réttir1
Words and photos by Melanie Franz
Fall means it’s time for the annual gathering of sheep, the “réttir”—an im-
portant event for rural Icelanders that has been growing in popularity with
tourists as of late. That’s no wonder—it is a unique and interesting ritual.
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