H is for Heðin Brú

Heðin Brú was a Faroese writer, translator and spectacular wearer of glasses and tweed suits. I love his hair. He looks like such a gentleman!

I've picked him for my letter 'H' today because it's rare that I get to write about anything Faroese since, like Greenland, it's one of the Nordic countries I'm less familiar with. Which is odd considering I spent a year learning the language. But anyways... 

Heðin Brú is a really important figure in Faroese literature. He started out as a fisherman, then turned to agriculture and spent some time studying in Denmark. When he returned to the Faroe Islands he travelled around meeting people and gaining inspiration for his novels. 

He is considered important because of his extensive work as a translator, translating works of world literature into Faroese. Examples are the tales of Brothers Grimm, Emily Brontë, William Shakespeare and Henrik Ibsen. 

Have you read anything from the Faroe Islands? Have you been there? Are you one of those people who heard "Faroe Islands" and immediately thought "pharaoh" and mentally placed the islands somewhere near Egypt? ;)

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G is for Grýla

I'm getting a little behind with these posts, aren't I? I'm having one of those crazy weeks full of sleeping and essay writing and marshmallows and reading and more writing and sleeping and lollipops. I've hit that stage where I'm not sure whether I've had too much coffee, or not enough. 

I've decided to take a little break from it all to tell you about a certain horrid Icelandic giantess, Grýla.

Believe it or not, this terrifying witch of a woman is a Christmas character from Icelandic mythology. If I was an Icelandic child, I think Christmas would be a horrifying time of year for me. Grýla's favourite food is naughty children and she is never full. During the Christmas period she leaves her home in the mountains and hunts for naughty children, which she likes to boil into stew. She became linked to Christmas in the 17th century but her character dates back to at least the 13th century. During the 17th century it actually became prohibited to tell tales of Grýla because it was just too scary for the children. 

Here is a folksong about her, it's a nice example of the beautiful Icelandic language, just be thankful you can't understand it or you might not be able to sleep tonight!

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F is for Filifjonkan

Filifjonkan, (Fillyjonk in English) is a character from the Moomin tales, created by Tove Jansson. The Fillyjonk looks like a sort of cross between a rodent and a human and has a desire for freedom from worries and to not have to be tied down to anything. We meet Filifjonkan when she accompanies Snorkmaiden on a trip to a wishing well, where we learn of her preoccupation with disaster. She believes strongly in tradition and due to the fact that she clings to these sorts of thoughts, she is unable to experience the freedom or happiness that the Moomin family have. 

I've loved this character ever since I heard my boyfriend's sister in law call her tiny little daughter (the cutest little girl in the world) 'Filifjonkan' whilst affectionately tickling her. The name always reminds me of that little girls delightful squeals :)

Whilst Filifjonkan is a relatively minor character, I think that in terms of psychology she is one that many of us can relate to. The ties we have to our own minds and the thoughts that prevent true freedom are something that is explored within this character. I think we're all secretly striving for the happiness and freedom of thought found within the Moomin family. 

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E is for Erik the Red

Good evening my dears, how are you all? I quite miss talking directly to you, rather than just typing information here! I'm sorry I've been slow with commenting, I have deadlines coming up at the end of April so I'm feeling a little frantic! 

Anyways, lets talk about Erik the Red, the guy who founded the first settlement in Greenland!

We know about Erik the Red from the Icelandic Sagas, texts that were passed down from oral tradition during the viking age. It is said that Erik had to leave Norway because he had committed manslaughter there. He moved to Iceland but then he killed a bunch of people and ended up getting himself outlawed. Smart, huh? 

I've always liked the story that when Iceland was discovered, the explorers named it Iceland because it was so cold, but on discovering Greenland afterwards, realised that they should have reserved the name for that place instead. However, according to the sagas (/wikipedia, where I've just learned this) it was Erik who named it Greenland, having returned to Iceland after he'd served his time away, because he wanted to give it a more appealing name than Iceland had. Either way, I've always thought how the names Iceland and Greenland were kind of mixed up :)

Have you ever read any of the Icelandic sagas? I really do recommend them - I find it really fascinating that they had been passed down orally for so long before finally being written. I love the Chinese Whispers effect that they got, since they began as historical tales but as they were passed on, certain details were changed, leaving us with stories of beserkers and witches and magic. They're wonderful!

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D is for Danny the Champion of the World

Did you guys know that Roald Dahl was Norwegian? I didn't know that until I began my degree four years ago. He moved to Cardiff when he was young, but he loved Norway and spent many of his summer holidays there with his Grandmother. 

Last year I did a project on Roald Dahl and gave a presentation on how his Norwegian heritage influenced his work. You might have noticed the huge Norwegian influence in his book, The Witches, for example. There are lots of hidden clues to his love of Norway throughout his books, the funniest of which is how all his mean characters are typically English farmers, whilst the sweet grandmothers, teachers and little children are the positive (and, sometimes Norwegian characters). 

Danny the Champion of the World isn't one of my favourite books, but is an example of the negative, sterotypical English character. Danny and his father poach pheasants from a rich man's estate and are threatened by him. Danny is labeled champion of the world when he comes up with a plan to trick the antagonist, by drugging all the pheasants and stealing them whilst they're sleeping!

I like the fact that the stories of Roald Dahl are English, written in the English language and read by English children who have no idea about Roald Dahl's heritage. If it wasn't for Norway and the magic that the country gave to him in terms of imagination, I doubt we'd have these wonderful stories today. 

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C is for Captain Longstocking

Ok, so fun fact about the Nordic languages: They don't really have the letter "C". Swedish does, but after searching my brainbox all day, I couldn't come up with anyone. So please forgive my cheating, "captain" begins with a "k" in Swedish, but we're speaking English over here, so I think it's ok :)

Captain Longstocking is Pippi Longstocking's father. He is the only person who is as strong as Pippi and it is from him that she inherited her knowledge and sense. He went missing and was feared dead, but actually he had washed up on an island and became a chief there. Despite Pippi's love for life aboard ship, when her father returned she decided to stay in the house he gave her as the stable life that he had intended for her was something that she had become attached to. On one trip to the island where her father was chief, Pippi was renamed Princess Pippilotta. She had always imagined that while he was missing he had become king of the land somewhere, so it is fitting that Captain Longstocking's little daughter should become 'princess'. 

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B is for Bjartur

Bjartur of Summerhouses is the protagonist of Icelandic Author, Halldor Laxness' book Sjálfstætt Fólk (Independent People). This was the first novel I've ever read by a Nordic author and if I wasn't already in love enough with Iceland, this pushed my obsession over the edge. 

His daughter, Asta Sollilja describes him better than I ever could: “She peeped out from under the blanket, and there he was, still sitting on the edge of his bed, when all the others had gone to sleep, mending some implement or other. No one stirred any longer, the living-room fast asleep; he alone was awake, alone was chanting, sitting there in his shirt, thickset and high-shouldered, with strong arms and tangled hair. His eyebrows were shaggy, steep and beetling like the crags in the mountain, but on his thick throat there was a soft place under the roots of his beard. She watched him awhile without his knowing: the strongest man in the world and the greatest poet, knew the answer to everything, understood all ballads, was afraid of nothing and nobody, fought all of them on a distant strand, independent and free, one against all.”

I highly recommend Independent People, the rich landscape and cultural descriptions begin on the very first page and there is nobody more equipped to introduce you to this magical country than Bjartur himself. 

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