Reykjavík Grapevine - jan. 2020, Blaðsíða 8

Reykjavík Grapevine - jan. 2020, Blaðsíða 8
Few Icelandic cultural constructs have undergone as much change as the Völvuspá. Which stands to reason, given that it’s a concept that’s been around since at least the 10th century. While Icelandic might have changed very little over this period of time, what a Völvuspá is has changed so much that today’s version is essentially a completely different thing from what it was in the Settlement Period. The original Völvuspá is the first poem of the Poetic Edda. Its name can be loosely translated as “the predic- tion of the seeress,” and is for very good reason probably the most popu- lar poem in the Poetic Eddas. In it, an unnamed seeress reveals how the world came into being, and how the pantheon of the Icelandic deities were formed. Things take a dark turn later on, as she predicts how the twilight of the gods— Ragnarök—will come into being. Pretty heavy stuff, to be sure, but today’s Völvuspá is anything but. As each year draws to a close, various media outlets will release their own Völvuspá, wherein a usually unnamed author makes predictions about what major events will come to pass in the year to come. While no one seems to take them very seriously, they are nonetheless very popular. You can think of today’s Völvuspá as pop astrology: entertainment that no one admits to believing in yet everyone pays attention to. The phenomenon of the modern Völvuspá is a true Icelandic supersti- tion. Völvuspá From doom prophet of yore to fortune teller of next year's #ossip 8 The Reykjavík Grapevine Issue 01— 2020 Sunna Margrét - Art Of History This song is like turn- ing on a radiator in an old house a&er hours spent in the cold. It starts o" sparse, with some sounds to let you know it’s on, and those sounds get progressively faster. Then the melody kicks in, and you feel that warmth. Much like an old radiator, though, this song only gets so warm before it shuts o". That seems to be the point in this unhappy tune. SPO Keelrider - Sun I’m not gonna lie, this is a great headbanger. This is a melodic and angry good old rock/ Metal tune; a great one to listen to with your dad so he can remember the times when he was cool. You know, before he had you and had to go corporate. IP Bjarki - Psychotic_ Window Bjarki is truly a busy guy. He released the EP ‘Psychotic_Win- dow’ in December 2019, following up on the success of his brilliant album, ‘Happy Earthday,‘ which dropped in February. The new album is as diverse as its predecessor, perhaps skewing a little bit darker. The soundscape is as unique as ever, giving listeners the sense that this guy hasn’t just evolved as a musician, he is close to achieving some kind of an Electro Nirvana. VG Prins Póló/FM Belfast - Ekki Nokku! “Ekki nokku$” (Not a thing), is a hilarious sarcastic take on a famous and silly quote from an Icelan- dic alt-right advocate and a professor at the University of Iceland scared of Greta Thunberg and, of course, scepti- cal about global warming. It was written for the an- nual Áramótaskaupi$ sketch comedy revue, it's an instant classic like everything Prins Póló produces. VG K.óla - Plastprinsesan Vaknar K.óla burst onto the scene with a bang last year with “N'ir draumar’’ o" her excellent album, ‘Allt ver$ur alltílæ’. With her new song, “Plast- prinsessan vaknar” (Awakening of the Plastic Princess), K.óla sings about sadness in her oddly retro style that reminds of the magic of The Sugarcubes. Sprinkle some heavy violins and you have a mel- ancholic weirdness of a plastic princess. VG JóiPé x Króli - Geim- vera “Geimvera” the Ice- landic word for “Alien” is a great addition to this new stoner wave of Icelandic pc hip- hop, with a dash of R&B sexiness. I know, I know, it sounds like these words were randomly selected but I can only make sense of how good it sounds by adjectiviz- ing with all the words I like. IP GRAPEVINE PLAYLIST JUST SAYINGS COMIC ICELANDIC SUPERSTITIONS Words: Andie Fontaine Photo: Adobe Stock First ARTISAN BAKERY & COFFEE HOUSE OPEN EVERYDAY 6.30 - 21.00 LAUGAVEGUR 36 · 101 REYKJAVIK Grapevine's own Völva has foresight on fleek „Varla upp í nös á ketti“ "Its name can be loosely translated as 'the prediction of the seeress,' and is for very good reason probably the most popular poem in the Poetic Eddas." When it comes to cats, historically, Iceland- ers are not fans. We have the brutal Yule Cat that eats poor children around Christmas and the monster Skuggabaldur ( y o u c o u l d translate it as “the burden o f t h e shadow”), the nasry spawn of a cat nd a fox that cannot be killed with a gun. The saying “varla upp í nös á ketti” translates to “This is hardly enough to fit it in the nose of a cat,” and means that you have such a limited amount of something, you couldn’t stuff the freak- ing cat with it. It’s a negative thing to say and often used in Icelandic when you’re unhappy with portion sizes. But, keep in mind, anything you have will probably fit up the snout of Skuggabaldur, and that “it” is probably you. So, run! VG

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