Unforgettable Fire

When it comes to Christmas, they do things a little differently in Iceland. From candlelit graveside vigils to juvenile delinquent trolls, it’s a magical celebration of this world and the next.

The gravestones are covered with candles and lights as far as the eye can see. It’s a magical sight and, some might say, a little eerie too. And yet this scene will be played out across the graveyards of Iceland throughout the festive season.

On Christmas Eve, the people of Iceland make a pilgrimage to visit the graves of loved ones and adorn their resting places with illuminating and uplifting decorations.

‘The dead are part of us. So it’s only natural we’d want to celebrate Christmas with them,’ explains fisherman Thorfinnur Stefansson, 28, from Vestmannaeyjar on the island of Heimaey, just off the Icelandic mainland, which hosts particularly fiery festivities. Although we’re officially Christian and so aren’t likely to admit it, deep in our hearts we all think the dead are still with us. Nobody in Iceland really dies; they just move to Hulduheimar.’

Hulduheimar – Icelandic for ‘The Hidden World’ – is said to be a mystical land inhabited by the spirits of deceased family and friends, along with trolls, dwarves, elves, fairies and giants, collectively known as ‘The Hidden Folk’.

‘For Icelanders, Christmas is about being together. We involve our dead ancestors by lighting up their graves and thinking about them. They’re a part of our lives, too – if only because we know that we’ll see them again in Hulduheimar,’ explains Kristin Olafsdottir, 26, a make-up artist from Reykjavik. ‘I didn’t realise the Icelandic Christmas tradition was that special until I started living in the United States as an exchange student,’ says Kristin. ‘The American way of celebrating Christmas seemed so superficial and commercial. To me it wasn’t Christmas at all.’

The world of Hulduheimar, say the Icelanders, is invisible to the human eye and is located in the volcanic lava landscapes that lie underneath Iceland’s rugged terrain.

Indeed, Iceland is one of the most volcanically active countries in the world. Hekla, in the south of Iceland, has erupted no fewer than 16 times. And the fact that the island is also full of waterfalls and green valleys only adds to its fantastical atmosphere.

‘The weather has a tremendous influence on us, because it’s so extreme and powerful,’ says Thorfinnur. ‘The continuous threat of storms, the special light, the long, vicious winters – there’s no escaping a belief in the powers of nature.’

In December and January, the sun rises at around 10am and starts setting at 4pm. But since Iceland’s northern coast is just below the Arctic Circle, its winters aren’t just dark, they’re bitterly cold too, forcing people to stay at home much of the time.

Traditionally storytelling is how people passed the time and, as a result, Icelandic people have become masters at it.

Modern Icelanders are mostly descendants of pagan Norwegian Vikings, who emigrated in the ninth century to avoid overpopulation in Norway, as well as its tyrannical ruler, Harold the Fair-Haired. One belief that’s been passed down through the centuries is in Gryla, which literally means ‘monster’, and her 13 sons, the jolasveinarnir, all of whom live in Hulduheimar. Gryla is a child-eating, which-like mother troll. The jolasveinarnir, which translates as ‘Christmas boys’, descend into towns and villages one by one for the 13 days before Christmas Eve to haul naughty children back to Hulduheimar to be eaten by their evil mother.

Arni Bjornsson, the former head of the ethnological department of the National Museum in Reykjavik, says: ‘Until the Middle Ages in Iceland, some babies were left outside to die, because people just didn’t have any food for them. Perhaps that’s where the idea of taking the children to Hulduheimar comes from. It is, after all, a kind of underworld.’

The myth of Gryla retains a powerful influence today. From 12 December each year, Icelandic children put one of their shoes on a windowsill in the early evening. If they’ve been good, one of the jolasveinarnir will leave a little present inside – usually sweets. Naughty children will find only a potato or even a small replica of Gryla’s cauldron to remind them where they could end up.

Traditionally, her jolasveinarnir sons were believed to be dressed in rags, but nowadays they’re often seen in fancy dress, such as the red and white Santa costume, a custom the Icelanders have inherited from America. With names like Kertasnikir (Candle-stealer), Pottasleikir (Pot-licker) and Bjugnakraekir (Sausage-grabber), they’re each named for their particular vice. So whenever something goes wrong during Christmas, it’s thought to be down to one of Gryla’s troublesome sons.

Only young Icelandic children believe in Gryla and her children, until doubt creeps in around the age of eight. Yet recent surveys have shown that as many as 80 per cent of Icelanders believe in elves. Even today, roads have been re-routed and building plans redesigned or abandoned to avoid disturbing the rocks where elves are said to live. Erla Stefansdottir, renowned as an elf expert because she claims to be able to see and talk to elves, says: ‘Iceland has a special relationship with elves. It’s a particular place where magic is bound up in the volcanic landscape.’

And once the biting cold of winter descends, Iceland becomes even more magical. Icelandic children don’t just get presents from the 13 sons of Gryla – their friends and family place gifts around the tree for them, too. And it’s very important that at least one of those presents is some new clothes. Tradition states that people who don’t receive any new clothes may be eaten by Gryla’s cat. On Christmas Eve she prowls across the snow and steals any children who’ve not had a present of clothing that year, regardless of how well the poor things might have behaved. British children should thank their lucky stars!

From Spirit & Destiny magazine

~ by M on December 12, 2009.