Iceland review - 2012, Qupperneq 72

70 ICELAND REVIEW
“Maybe we will even have to go a third time to
collect missing sheep before winter strikes with full
force,” explains Arnór.
“It was very difficult this year,” says Þórdís
Jónsdóttir, a member of the göngur search party. “In
some areas the snow was so soft and wet [and deep]
that I sank up to my crotch. And the weather was
cold, too, just above freezing point with sleet and
rain. But the sheep didn’t seem to mind; they are
fashionably well-dressed in wool.”
The following Sunday morning welcomed the
farmers with cold rain. Réttir, the roundup day,
is the biggest event of the rural community’s
calendar. Arnór starts the day early, hoisting the
Icelandic flag before everyone arrives. At nine
sharp, the flock is driven into the pen. Three hours
later, once the farmers have sorted and collected
their sheep, every family in Fnjóskadalur and their
friends who came to help out with the roundup
gather at Arnór’s home at Þverá to have kjötsúpa,
meat soup made with lamb. Delicious.
After the soup, each family heads back out to
separate the lambs from their mothers. The ewes
will experience another mountain adventure next
summer but the lambs are sent to the slaughter-
house. They are the farmers’ livelihood. 

At 9 o’clock sharp, the first group of sheep
is chased into the Lokastaðarétt pen.
Close to 1,000 sheep fit into its center
compartment, where they are sorted
out by their owners, with a little
help from friends and family.
ROUNDUP