Disclaimer: I’m writing this after a long, relaxing soak in our hotel’s geothermal hot tubs and after the Farewell Dinner, including two (or more) glasses of Champaign, a glass of red wine, and a dinner of celery soup, Arctic Char and chocolate cake, so anything I say should be taken with more than the usual grain of salt.
Thor pointed out that I quite erroneously implied in my early posting that modern-day worshipers of the Viking gods practiced animal sacrifice. He said that nothing could be further from the truth. He is friends with a number of such practitioners, including high priests, and they would be horrified to think that we were going away with that impression.
Here’s a googled reference to what is really going on ) https://www.thorsoak.info/p/asatru.html#:~:text=Ásatrú%20is%20a%20modern%20religion,%2C%20goddesses%2C%20and%20land%20spirits):
Today’s beliefs and practices span a range from humanism to reconstructionism, from viewing the gods as metaphorical constructs to approaching them as distinct beings. Deities venerated in Ásatrú include Odin, Thor, and Freya, but respect is paid to a large number of figures. Ásatrú is a world-accepting religion; emphasis is placed on right action in this life rather than on expectation of an otherworldly afterlife. Practitioners assert that “we are our deeds,” meaning that the sum of one’s actions is of primary importance.
Offerings are typically done in the form of alcohol. The religion is recognized officially by the Icelandic government as well as the U.S. government.
The highlight of the day, expedition wise, was a trip up into the highlands of Iceland. Iceland is a country where people live on the periphery with the interior being ice-covered glaciers and volcano-generated mountains. Hardly anyone lives there. Thor drove our 30-passenger bus, disguised as a four-wheel drive all-terrain jeep, over mountainous dirt roads to the Pakgil campground at the end of maybe a 15-mile road. The scenery was spectacular, reminiscent of the Game of Thrones, since the area was used to film that series. Check out the pictures. The day was cold, windy and rainy, which made the driving challenging but added to the feeling of mystery and wonder of the glacial features.
The cultural highlight of the day was a visit to the home of Valborg Őlafsdóttir in her country house just off the Ring Road on our way westbound from Vik. Valborg’s home is the former parsonage of a Lutheran church, actually two churches that were located next door. One burned down and the other blew down in a strong wind. All that’s left is her home, a fixer-upper barn and a small cemetery in the yard.
Valborg grew up in the big city of Reykjavik, finds herself today a sheep farmer with a herd of 120 animals (three times that number in lambing season), an accomplished singer-song writer and the mother of two adorable kids. She teaches music, as does her husband, who is also the local sheep shearer. And she makes some pretty amazing cakes too, which we enjoyed while she entertained us with stories of her life and played some of her music on guitar and piano.
In the fall, all the sheep farmers, their border collies and a drone or two go up into the hills to shepherd the sheep back to the barn for the winter. The lambs, less than six months old, are destined to become various cuts of meat and their parents are sheared to keep them cool for the long winter cooped up in the barn. In the spring, the lambs are born, the parents are sheared again and off they go for the summer in the highlands.
Yet another volcano was visible on our travels: Hekla, which in the medieval days was called the Gateway to Hell, ranking right up there with Mt Vesuvius in Italy. Thor says he’s climbed Hekla maybe 15 times. But he wouldn’t go up it today because it’s overdue for another eruption. It’s one of the most active of Iceland’s volcanoes and frequently erupts with violent outbursts of large quantities of lava. The last eruption was in 2000.
Thor is a bottomless storehouse of stories. Today, Sage’s daughter Beatrice called out, “Tell us another story!” So Thor told us about Christmas in Iceland. It’s the biggest holiday of the year and, being Lutherans, they celebrate on Christmas Eve, as is the case of many of our Minnesota friends.
In Iceland, the Nordic traditional holiday of Yule, celebrated on the winter solstice, predates Christian Christmas and has merged with it. In the Yule tradition, thirteen characters drawn from Nordic tradition, appear one day at a time leading up to Christmas Day, leaving each day gifts for children in the shoes they have left on their window sills. Thor frequently performs as one of the characters for the kiddos, usually Þvörusleikir (Spoon-Licker) who steals spoons to lick them. Knowing Thor, the kids have a real treat.
Our hotel tonight is the 360 Boutique Hotel, so named because it has a panoramic view of 360 degrees. We can clearly see Hekla and the other big glacier I mentioned the other day, Eyeforgetmyyogurt. They have a series of geothermal-fed hot tubs outdoors that we all used to sooth our weary bones from a week of really great experiences in Iceland.
Tomorrow it’s the Blue Lagoon, volcanic conditions permitting. Then it’s home for some and for us, the rental car and on to the north country. Without Thor, I don’t know how we’ll manage. One things for sure, I won’t have as many neat stories to tell!
