Reykjavík Grapevine - 04.12.2015, Qupperneq 60

The Reykjavík Grapevine X-mas Special4
Aðfangadagur
(Ath-founga-dager)
December 24, Aðfangadagur, is the day Ice-
landers celebrate Christmas (as opposed to
December 25 in most countries). The first
half of the day usually goes towards finish-
ing off all of the last-minute preparations,
making food, wrapping presents, bathing and
putting on nice clothes. Children are often oc-
cupied by the television set, as most stations
broadcast a non-stop programme of cartoons
throughout the day.
Six o’ clock marks the official start of
Christmas in Iceland, marked by state radio
broadcasting the traditional “ringing of the
church bells.” This is when most households
sit down to enjoy a pleasant holiday meal.
After dinner (and the subsequent clean-up),
most people commence opening their pres-
ents. They then hang out and indulge until
bedtime.
Aðventa
(Ath-venta)
Aðventan, or the Advent, is the month lead-
ing up to Christmas. Icelanders celebrate
each Sunday of the Advent (starting on the
fourth Sunday prior to Christmas) by light-
ing candleson an Advent Wreath (“Aðven-
tukrans”), whichis usually a four-candle (one
for each Sunday of the Advent) evergreen
wreath. The first Sunday of Advent marks
the time most Icelanders start decorating for
the holidays and preparing in general.

Aðventukrans
(Ath-ventou-kraans)
See: Aðventa.
Aðventuljós
(Ath-vent-uh-lyows)
Aðventuljós, or Advent light, is a decorative
object somewhat unique to Iceland. This
seven armed electric candlestick is found in
at least
one window of almost every Icelandic home
throughout the holiday season. See our Xmas
guide for more info.
Annar í jólum
(Aann-arr ee yo!-luwm)
December 26, the second day of Christmas,
is the designated party day of the holiday
season (New Year’s notwithstanding). The
day itself usually entails heavy lounging and
attending a family Christmas party or two,
but the evening has most of the action, with
bars and clubs opening for business around
midnight. Revellers like to go out at that time,
decked in their fancy holiday attire and re-
connecting with friends and acquaintances
that they haven’t seen for all of three days.
Áramót
(our-a-mowt)
See: Gamlársdagur/Gamlárskvöld.
Áramótaskaupið
(our-a-mowt-a-skoj-pith)
Gathering around the TV on New Year’s Eve
to watch the Áramótaskaup comedy special
on RÚV is an old and honoured Icelandic trad
tion—in fact the streets fall completely silent
during its broadcast time of 22:30-23:30. The
show itself is a comedy revue, featuring many
of Iceland’s best-loved actors, which aims to
parody the year’s events in sketches and song.
The quality differs from year to year, but
Icelanders love even the especially bad ones
(because then they can complain to each other
about how much they sucked). Áramótaskaup
is not subtitled, so the fun is likely lost on non-
Icelandic speakers. It’s worth checking out,
though, you can always make fun of Icelandic
TV’s production standards.
Attire
Icelanders like to dress smart and snazzy
overthe holidays. Formal attire is usually ex-
pected in the parties of the 24th and 25th, on
other days go for neat casual outfits.
Áramótaannáll
(our-a-mowt-a-annoudl)
Icelanders are fond of watching television on
New Year’s Eve, with most of the day’s pro-
gramming dedicated to detailing the fast fad-
ing year’s events. Second to the Áramótas-
kaup in popularity is the Áramótaannáll on
RÚV, a collage of the year’s TV news stories
with commentary from the news team. An
international version and a local one run back
to back. Check newspapers’ TV listings for
more info.
Christmas music
Iceland doesn’t have a lot of original Xmas
songs, although there are a few to be found.
Mostly the tunes meant to get you into the
holiday spirit are translations of interna-
tional Xmas ones (some of them don’t have
anything whatsoever to do with Xmas), so
the stuff blaring from the radio in the knick-
knack shop should sound familiar. There are
some popular local songs, however, the most
infamous one being Sniglabandið’s "Jólahjól"
(“Christmas bike”).
Christmas stockings
See also: Jólasveinar, Santa Claus
The Christmas stockings tradition is cel-
ebrated in Iceland, although it differs
greatly from what you might be used to.
As explained elsewhere, there are thirteen
Yuletide Lads in Iceland, and each one comes
down from the mountains on a designated day
before Christmas bearing gifts for children to
be placed in their shoe or stocking left by an
open window. It should be noted that well-
behaved children receive something of value,
whereas ill behaved children usually receive a
rotten potato.
Commerce
See also: Þorláksmessa
Like elsewhere, Christmas and commerce
have very close ties in Iceland. Stores stay
open until 11 PM on Þorláksmessa, the 23rd
of December, and until noon on the day of
Christmas Eve . This arrangement is based
on an unspoken agreement between late
shoppers and greedy shop owners who want
to make sure that no króna is left behind.
Dancing
See also: Jólaboð, jólaball, jólatré
Once a prominent feature of every Icelandic
holiday gathering, dancing around the Christ-
mas tree is still widely practiced at Christ-
mas parties in children’s schools around the
country. It entails joining hands around the
tree and walking repeatedly in circles whilst
singing Christmas carols. Hours of fun.
Decorating
See also: Aðventa, Aðventuljós
Icelanders like to decorate their houses a lot
in time for Christmas, with the start of Ad-
vent usually marking the official ‘OK time’
for decking the halls. Decorations are simi-
lar 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. American style
lighting monstrosities are uncommon, but not
unheard of.
Drinking
See also: Annar í jólum, Gamlársdagur/
Gamlárskvöld
Heavy drinking is generally not condoned
on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day—al-
though indulging in a glass of wine or two
isn't frowned upon—as the days’ festivities
are generally reserved for family activities.
The 26th, 31st and New Year’s Day are popu-
lar for binge drinking and partying, however,
as are any weekend days that fall on the holi-
day season.
Eating out
See also: Christmas buffets
Icelanders generally don’t like to eat out dur-
ing the holiday season. If you are visiting, and
you plan on dining at a restaurant during the
holidays (see our special Xmas listings for de-
tails), chances are you’ll be dining with some
fellow tourists. However, attending special
Xmas buffets is a popular activity over the
advent.
Family
Icelandic Christmas is all about one’s family,
extended and otherwise. Generally speak-
ing, most Icelanders will be busy spending
time with their families from December 24th
until the eve of the 26th, so don’t expect that
hot boy (or girl) you hook up with on the 23rd
to be available for any immediate follow-up
sessions (you should still try, though. Who
knows?).
Flugeldar
(fluuhg-oeld-arrrrr)
See also: Gamlársdagur/Gamlárskvöld
are an essential part of the Icelandic New
Year’s Eve experience; in fact, the sale and
deployment of fireworks is only legal in Ice-
land between December 28—January 6.
Icelanders take their fireworks seri-
ously—most of those who have witnessed the
mass employment of fireworks at New Year’s
will agree that the act is far beyond over-the-
top. But most will also attest that the display
can be striking and beautiful.
An added bonus is that most of the places
selling them are doing so for charity, or to
fund rescue teams (avoid the for-profit ones).
Expect small blasts here and there as
of December 27th, culminating in an all-out
orgy of explosions around midnight of New
Year’s Eve (and then followed by sporadic, re-
ally annoying blasts throughout the month of
January).
Gamlársdagur /
Gamlárskvöld
(gahml-ouwrs-daager / kvoeld)
See also: Fireworks, drinking, Áramótas-
kaup, Áramótaannáll, Áramótabrenna
[Note: Gamlársdagur refers to New Year’s
Eve’s Day, and Gamlárskvöld refers to New
Year’s Eve itself]
The coming of the New Year is celebrated
pretty heavily in Iceland. Drinks are drunk,
fireworks are lit and vomit is, eventually,
spewed. Although there is no rule, most folks
like to gather for a nice dinner feast with fami-
ly and/or friends at the start of the evening (or
late in the afternoon). They hang out, drink
drinks, play board games and watch the TV
recap of the preceding year. Many head out to
their local New Year’s bonfire, a complete list
of which is published in local newspapers on
the days leading up to the 31st.
After watching the Áramótaskaup com-
edy revue and lighting some fireworks, most
will head to rowdier, less family oriented
gatherings and stay there ‘til dawn.
A note about the word “áramót”: like
many Icelandic words, it is impressively and
descri tively sensible, and it does not
have a counterpart in the English language.
Quite literally, “áramót” translates as “the
meeting of years.” Makes sense, doesn’t it?
Hangikjöt
(Howen-geh-kjoet)
See also: Jólamatur
Hangikjöt—literally “hung meat”— is
smoked Icelandic lamb which takes its name
from the old tradition of smoking food in order
to preserve it by hanging it from the rafters
of a smoking shed. Hangikjöt is a traditional
Christmas dish, often served with potatoes
in a béchamel and pickled red cabbage. It’s
pretty awesome.
Hamborgarhryggur
(Haam-bouwrgahr-hreggurrrr)
See also: Dining
A traditional Christmas food eaten on the
24th at six o'clock. It is pork, usually with
a honey glazing and pineapple, cooked in
an oven for a few hours. This is a pretty
heavy meal, and its consumption report-
edly results in the number of heart attacks
increasing around Xmas, when people
who really shouldn’t eat fatty meats gorge
themselves almost to death.
Heitt súkkulaði
(hate sooqou-laethi)
Indulging in a cup of freshly made heitt
súkkulaði (“hot chocolate”) is an essential
part of the Icelandic holiday experience.
The classic recipe is thus: melt one plate
of ‘Suðusúkkulaði’ (available everywhere
The Encyclopædia of
Icelandic Holidays
WORDS BY H AUK UR S. M AGNÚSSON
ILLUSTR ATIONS BY INGA M A RÍ A BRY NJA RSDÓTTIR