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Þrettándinn
Christmas in Iceland (''Jól'') starts four weeks before proper Christmas, which begins on 24 December (''Aðfangadagur'') and ends thirteen days later on 6 January (''Þrettándinn'', coinciding with Epiphany). Traditionally, one candle is lit each Sunday, until four candles are lit on the 24th. At 6:00 p.m. church bells ring to start the Christmas celebration. The religiously observant and/or traditional Icelanders will attend mass at this time, while the secular Icelanders will begin their holiday meal immediately. After the meal is finished, they open gifts and spend the evening together. In Iceland people over the Yule holidays most often eat smoked lamb, ptarmigan, and turkey. Pork is also very popular. Thirteen days before 24 December, children will leave their shoes by a window so that the 13 Yule Lads ('' jólasveinarnir'') can leave small gifts in their shoes. The Yule Lads are the sons of two trolls, Grýla and Leppalúði, living in the Icelandic mountains. Each ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Iceland December 2014 (15816308610)
Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the region's westernmost and most list of countries and dependencies by population density, sparsely populated country. Its Capital city, capital and largest city is ReykjavÃk, which is home to about 36% of the country's roughly 380,000 residents (excluding nearby towns/suburbs, which are separate municipalities). The official language of the country is Icelandic language, Icelandic. Iceland is on a rift between Plate tectonics, tectonic plates, and its geologic activity includes geysers and frequent Types of volcanic eruptions, volcanic eruptions. The interior consists of a volcanic plateau with sand and lava fields, mountains and glaciers, and many Glacial stream, glacial rivers flow to the sea through the Upland and lowland, lowlands. Iceland i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christmas Cookie
Christmas cookies or Christmas biscuits are traditionally sugar cookies or biscuits (though other flavours may be used based on family traditions and individual preferences) cut into various shapes related to Christmas. History Modern Christmas cookies can trace their history to recipes from Medieval Europe biscuits, when many modern ingredients such as cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, almonds and dried fruit were introduced into the west. By the 16th century Christmas biscuits had become popular across Europe, with ''Lebkuchen'' being favoured in Germany and '' pepparkakor'' in Sweden, while in Norway '' krumkake'' were popular. The earliest examples of Christmas cookies in the United States were brought by the Dutch in the early 17th century. Due to a wide range of cheap imported products from Germany between 1871 and 1906 following a change to importation laws, cookie cutters became available in American markets. These imported cookie cutters often depicted highly stylised ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jul (Norway)
Jul or jol () is the term used for the Christmas holiday season in Scandinavia and parts of Scotland. Originally, was the name of a month in the old Germanic calendar. The concept of as a period of time rather than a specific event prevailed in Scandinavia; in modern times, is a period of time stretching from the fourth Sunday before Christmas Eve, December 24, to (traditionally) mid-January at the date of Epiphany with the month of December and Christmas, and the week up to the New Year, as its highlight. The modern English ''yule'' and '' yuletide'' are cognates with this term. The term ' is common throughout Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Iceland, Greenland, Scotland and the Faroe Islands. Whereas the start of proper is announced by the chiming of church bells throughout the country in the afternoon of 24 December, it is more accurate to describe the season as an eight-week event. It consists of five phases: Advent, , , , and The End of Christmas, very often with Epiphany, th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jul (Denmark)
Jul (), the Danish Jule and Christmas, is celebrated throughout December starting either at the beginning of Advent or on 1 December with a variety of traditions. Christmas Eve, ''Juleaften'', the main event of Jul, is celebrated on the evening of 24 December, the evening before the two Christmas holidays, 25 and 26 December. Celebrating on the eve before Christmas is also used for most other holidays in Denmark. Jul is originally an ancient old Norse tradition related to the Germanic Yule celebration of Northern Europe, but was mixed with the overlapping Christian tradition of Christmas when Denmark was Christianized during the 11th century. The traditions related to ''Jul'' have evolved through the centuries, still with many pagan traditions carried on today. In the 19th century, the tradition of bringing a Christmas tree inside the home was introduced gradually, inspired by Germany. Christmas Eve In the evening, an elaborate dinner is eaten with the family. It usually consis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yule
Yule is a winter festival historically observed by the Germanic peoples that was incorporated into Christmas during the Christianisation of the Germanic peoples. In present times adherents of some new religious movements (such as Modern Germanic paganism) celebrate Yule independently of the Christian festival. Scholars have connected the original celebrations of Yule to the Wild Hunt, the god Odin, and the heathen Anglo-Saxon ("Mothers' Night"). The term ''Yule'' and cognates are still used in English and the Scandinavian languages as well as in Finnish and Estonian to describe Christmas and other festivals occurring during the winter holiday season. Furthermore, some present-day Christmas customs and traditions such as the Yule log, Yule goat, Yule boar, Yule singing, and others may have connections to older pagan Yule traditions. Etymology The modern English noun ''Yule'' descends from Old English , earlier ''geoh(h)ol'', ''geh(h)ol'', and ''geóla'', sometime ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Icelandic Christmas Book Flood
The Christmas book flood or Yule book flood () is a term used in Iceland for the annual release of new books occurring in the months before Christmas. These books are then purchased as presents to be gifted on Christmas Eve. This tradition makes books the most popular Christmas gift in the country. The tradition extends into the night, when Icelanders will often read their new books and drink hot chocolate. Newly published books are listed in an annual catalogue called the ''Journal of Books'' () that is distributed to all households for free. The release of the Journal is the beginning of the book flood, signifying the start of the holiday season. The tradition comes from both Iceland's centuries-long literary history and the state of the economy during WWII, when strict currency restrictions limited the amount of imported giftware. Given that restrictions on imported paper were more lenient than on other products, books became and stayed the Christmas gift of choice. History I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Christmas Worldwide
The observance of Christmas around the world varies by country and by religion. The day of Christmas, and in some cases the day before and the day after, are recognized by many national governments and cultures worldwide, including in areas where Christianity is a minority religion which are usually found in Africa and Asia. In some non-Christian areas, periods of former colonial rule introduced the celebration (e.g. Hong Kong); in others, Christian minorities or foreign cultural influences have led populations to observe the holiday. Christmas traditions for many nations include the installing and lighting of Christmas trees, the hanging of Advent wreaths, Christmas stockings, candy canes, setting out cookies and milk, the creation of Nativity scenes depicting the birth of Jesus Christ and giving gifts to others. Christmas carols may be sung and stories told about such figures as the Baby Jesus, Saint Nicholas, Santa Claus, Father Christmas, Christkind or Grandfather Fro ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Icelandic Christmas Folklore
Icelandic Christmas folklore depicts mountain-dwelling characters and monsters who come to town during Christmas. The stories are directed at children and are used to scare them into good behavior. The folklore includes mischievous pranksters who leave gifts at night and monsters who eat disobedient children. The figures are depicted as living together as a family in a cave and include: * Grýla, an ogress with an appetite for the flesh of mischievous children, whom she cooks in a large pot. Her husband, Leppalúði, is lazy and mostly stays at home in their cave. * The Yule Cat is a huge and vicious cat who lurks about the snowy countryside during Christmas time (Yule) and eats people who have not received any new clothes to wear before Christmas Eve. * The Yule Lads are the sons of Grýla and Leppalúði. They are a group of 13 mischievous pranksters who steal from or harass the population, and all have descriptive names that convey their favorite way of harassing. They come ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bonfires
A bonfire is a large and controlled outdoor fire, used for waste disposal or as part of a religious feast, such as Saint John's Eve. Etymology The earliest attestations date to the late 15th century, with the Catholicon Anglicum spelling it as ''banefyre'' and John Mirk's ''Book of Festivals'' speaking of a communal fire in celebrations of Saint John's Eve that "was clene bones & no wode & that is callid a bone fyre". The word is thus a compound of "bone" and "fire." Samuel Johnson's 1755 ''Dictionary'' incorrectly analyzed "bon" as the French ''bon'' 'good'. Regional traditions In many regions of continental Europe, bonfires are made traditionally on 24 June, the solemnity of John the Baptist, as well as on Saturday night before Easter. Bonfires are also a feature of Walpurgis Night in central and northern Europe, and the celebrations on the eve of St. John's Day in Spain. In Sweden bonfires are lit on Walpurgis Night celebrations on the last day of April. In Fin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elves
An elf (: elves) is a type of humanoid supernatural being in Germanic folklore. Elves appear especially in North Germanic mythology, being mentioned in the Icelandic ''Poetic Edda'' and the ''Prose Edda''. In medieval Germanic-speaking cultures, elves were thought of as beings with magical powers and supernatural beauty, ambivalent towards everyday people and capable of either helping or hindering them. Beliefs varied considerably over time and space and flourished in both pre-Christian and Christian cultures. The word ''elf'' is found throughout the Germanic languages. It seems originally to have meant 'white being'. However, reconstructing the early concept depends largely on texts written by Christians, in Old and Middle English, medieval German, and Old Norse. These associate elves variously with the gods of Norse mythology, with causing illness, with magic, and with beauty and seduction. After the medieval period, the word ''elf'' became less common throughout t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fireworks
Fireworks are Explosive, low explosive Pyrotechnics, pyrotechnic devices used for aesthetic and entertainment purposes. They are most commonly used in fireworks displays (also called a fireworks show or pyrotechnics), combining a large number of devices in an outdoor setting. Such displays are the focal point of many cultural and religious Celebration (party), celebrations, though mismanagement could lead to List of fireworks accidents and incidents, fireworks accidents. Fireworks take many forms to produce four primary effects: noise, light, smoke, and floating materials (confetti most notably). They may be designed to burn with colored flames and sparks including red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and silver. They are generally classified by where they perform, either 'ground' or 'aerial'. Aerial fireworks may have their own Air propulsion, propulsion (skyrocket) or be shot into the air by a Mortar (weapon), mortar (aerial shell). Most fireworks consist of a paper or ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
