The Icelandic Canadian - 01.05.2008, Page 37

Vol. 61 #2
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
127
Why not visit Iceland during the
month of Thorri?
by Kristjon
Do you want to know something won-
derful about Iceland if you come in the
wintertime (besides shiploads of snow and
blizzards on regular basis)?
This is written after the annual
Thorrablot which is a common traditional
midwinter festival in Iceland here in Fljot. I
had so much fun that I couldn't turn on the
computer yesterday, I just did some chores
like mucking out, milking etc., that doesn't
need much brain-energy. In the old times
we didn't use the regular months such as
January, February, etc. but there were
other names like Skerpla, Gormanudur,
Goa.
The month Thorri starts on the 13th
week of winter, 19-25 January. This is
often the hardest winter month. So in the
last decades it has been traditional to have
celebrations, Thorrablot (blot is the name
of the old heathen “masses” in honour of
the old gods), where people mix up old tra-
ditions and new traditions, and generally
have a good time.
Individual traditions can be different in
details between neighbourhoods or groups
that are having the Thorrablot, but the blot
here was wonderful as always. All day long
the women at Langhus were preparing the
food that our group was going to eat in the
evening.
Each farm has it's table in the house
where the Thorrablot is held, and we just
say in advance how many we will be as this
is an invitation only celebration. Guests
come from all over the country, relatives
and people that once lived in the Fljot
stream to the fun evening. We end up being
around 130 people where everyone knows
everyone else. It all begins about 8 pm at
our farm's table.
Two farm families came on snow-
scooters and changed clothes once here, as
there is so much snow. The food is pre-
pared in a 3 foot long wooden trough. Each
farm family brings their trough to the
house where we meet in advance, in the
afternoon. That is the easiest as the food is
served cold anyway.
So what do we eat? We are eating what
was normal day-to-day food for the people
in the beginning of the century and for ages
before that. We are thinking back to the
time where people had no refrigerators or
freezers, and everything had to be either
smoked, laid in mysa (a sour milk-prod-
uct), salted, dried or kaestur (allowed to rot
and defragment to a certain extent, until the
process stopped), and wheat was scarsity.
The Thorra-food is thus very strong-
tasting. A typical menu is:
Svid. Lamb-heads, black because they
I>j6draeknisfelag Islendinga f Vesturheimi
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