Edward Hancox's Blog, page 13

Merry Christmas / Gleðileg jól!

Iceland’s (Lego) Yule Lads – Kertasníkir

Kertasníkir (Candle-Stealer) The last to arrive, Kertasníkir used to follow children in order to steal their candles, back in the days when children had playing cards and candles for Christmas, and when candles were made from tallow. These days, candles are made from wax, and can make Kertasníkir ill if he eats them. Now, he just looks at their flickering flames, and occasionally forgets, meaning you may still find teeth marks in your candles. Kertasníkir arrives on December 24 and leaves on January 6.

Music Review: Lay Low – Talking About The Weather

If there is something that Icelanders and the English have in common, it’s talking about the weather. Both countries have changeable weather, to say the least, so maybe that’s it. But its come to be a lazy form of small talk; not sure what to talk about? Talk about the weather.

Lay Low, now well established on the Icelandic music scene, surely didn’t mean to invoke this connotation with her latest album, Talking About The Weather, which certainly isn’t lazy or inarticulate.

Lay Low is actually singer/songwriter Lovísa Elísabet Sigrúnardóttir. She has a distinctive, rich voice, and a penchant for blues or country style music. It’s this combination that makes her music stand out of the crowd.

The album opens with the eponymous ‘Talking about the Weather’; a slinky, sexy song, banishing all previous accusations of Lay Low being just another acoustic singer/songwriter. ‘I Would if I could’ has a deep south feel to it replete with twanging guitars. The pace slows for ‘In the dead of winter’ and ‘I remember’ both of which are slow an gentle, but not without merit. ‘One of those nights’ is Lay Low in mournful mode, whereas ‘Our Conversations’ sounds fresh, and just skips along like walking through autumn leaves.

‘I Don’t Mind’ is soft and soulful and must have sounded wonderful a her recent concert at Fríkirkjan, as the wind hurried around the old church, pushing the snow against the windows. Maybe this album is about the weather after all.

Originally published on Iceland Review online.

Iceland’s (Lego) Yule Lads – Ketkrókur

Ketkrókur (Meat-Hook) This Yule lad, the twelfth, uses a metal hook to grab meat, especially lamb hanging to be smoked. He then eats the meat, causing him to grow big and strong. Less and less meat is being hung these days, so he could use the hook to open plastic packets I suppose. Vegetarianism doesn’t mean anything to this lad. Ketkrókur arrives on December 23 and leaves on January 5.

Iceland’s (Lego) Yule Lads – Gáttaþefur

Gáttaþefur (Doorway-Sniffer) This Yule lad has whopping nose and and a superb sense of smell which he uses to locate food, especially his favourite laufabrauð. Bad smells can seem really strong to him though, and even make his eyes water. He just can’t turn off that nose of his. Gáttaþefur arrives on December 22 and leaves on January 4.

13 Icelandic Yule Lads!

The Yule lads, of which there are thirteen in Icelandic folklore, come from the mountains to visit every Christmas. They arrive one by one, and leave again fourteen days later. The Yule lads used to have a bit of a reputation, and whilst they are still mainly naughty, they now leave presents in children’s shoes left on window sills. Unless you have been naughty, of course, then you will receive nothing, or worse, a rotten potato.

Unlike Santa Claus, they do have this mischievous side. Each Yule lad has specialised in one sort of trickery or another, such as licking spoons, slamming doors and stealing sausages. The idea of Santa and the Yule lads has been confused over recent years, with the Yule lads now often seen adopting the red and white costume of Santa himself. This is either an image thing, or the cheeky little scamps might have just been at Santas wardrobe.

The Yule lads are the sons of Grýla and Leppalúði, both mountain dwelling trolls. Grýla is particularly fearsome, and is said to come looking for naughty children at Christmas to put in her pot. A newspaper even blamed Grýla for the Eyjafjallajökull eruption in 2010, although this has never been proven. Leppalúði is a lazy, idle oaf. It’s no wonder that the lads turned out as they did.

Icelandic folklore states that everyone has to get one new piece of clothing at Christmas. Anyone who was left out is in danger of being eaten by a gruesome feline called the Christmas Cat. The Christmas Cat is Grýla’s cat, so thats where it gets its terrible manners, and every effort is made to ensure that no-one in the family gets caught by it. Cat flaps are not popular in Iceland for this reason.

I’ll introduce you to a Yule lad day by day, as they arrive.

Life On The Line

Life on the Line is a portrait project connecting and celebrating the people of the Arctic circle. The photographs are all taken within 35 miles of the actual circle ( 66.33 degrees North ) and covers all eight countries through which the line dissects. Christian Barnett has been drawn to both the ordinary and the extraordinary, the wilderness and the urban. This project is the culmination of 13 visits to the Arctic spanning a 7 year period. Christian is now trying to raise funds on Kickstarter to have the book beautifully designed and printed.

Here is what Christian has to say about his trip to Grímsey in Iceland, and a couple of photographs – ‘In terms of Iceland, I only have pictures from my first shoot in Grimsey, the film from NE Iceland hasn’t been processed yet. Grimsey, as I’m sure you know, is the only part of Iceland actually on the Arctic Circle. My pictures are taken no further than 35 miles from the Arctic Circle and I always try to shoot as close to the circle as possible. It was interesting to spend about 4 days on the island as most visitors seem to stay for an hour – they fly in on a tour plane, cross the circle and then fly out again.

My second trip to NE Iceland last month was incredible. I hadn’t been to that part of Iceland before and along with the steely grey skies, bleak coastline and snow covered mountains ( as well as blizzards ) I thought it was enormously atmospheric.’

Both photos courtesy of Christian Burnett

For further details please see the Kickstarter campaign here.

Iceland’s (Lego) Yule Lads – Gluggagægir

Gluggagægir (Window-Peeper) hmmm. This one is a bit naughty. The word ‘voyeur’ might be a bit strong, but he does peer through windows. Is he looking for things to steal? Is he spying on you? It would sure give you a fright though to see Gluggagægir pressing his funny face against the window of your house. Gluggagægir arrives on December 21 and leaves on January 3.

The Christmas Cat

Icelandic folklore states that everyone has to get one new piece of clothing at Christmas. Anyone who was left out is in danger of being eaten by a gruesome feline called the Christmas Cat.

The Christmas Cat belongs to Grýla – the terrible mother of the Yule Lads – so that is where it gets its terrible manners, and every effort is made to ensure that no-one in the family gets caught by it. Cat flaps are not popular in Iceland for this reason.

This cheeky Christmas Cat was shared with me by Deborah Willot.

Iceland’s (Lego) Yule Lads – Bjúgnakrækir

Bjúgnakrækir (Sausage-Swiper) – In the olden days, Bjúgnakrækir hid in the rafters of turf houses and snatched sausages that were being smoked. These are called Bjúga and were thick sausages made out of horsemeat or lamb. Nowadays, Bjúgnakrækir eats any sausage he can get his hands on, especially the delicious ones in Plysur. Bjúgnakrækir arrives on December 20 and leaves on January 2.