1.
Christmas
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In several countries, celebrating Christmas Eve on December 24 has the main focus rather than December 25, with gift-giving and sharing a traditional meal with the family. Although the month and date of Jesus birth are unknown, by the fourth century the Western Christian Church had placed Christmas on December 25. Today, most Christians celebrate on December 25 in the Gregorian calendar and this is not a disagreement over the date of Christmas as such, but rather a preference of which calendar should be used to determine the day that is December 25. Although it is not known why December 25 became a date of celebration, December 25 was the date the Romans marked as the winter solstice, the shortest, and therefore darkest day of the year. Jesus was identified with the Sun based on an Old Testament verse, the date is exactly nine months following Annunciation, when the conception of Jesus is celebrated. Finally, the Romans had a series of pagan festivals near the end of the year, so Christmas may have been scheduled at this time to appropriate, or compete with, one or more of these festivals. The celebratory customs associated in various countries with Christmas have a mix of pre-Christian, Christian, the economic impact of Christmas has grown steadily over the past few centuries in many regions of the world. Christmas is a form of Christs mass. It is derived from the Middle English Cristemasse, which is from Old English Crīstesmæsse, crīst is from Greek Khrīstos, a translation of Hebrew Māšîaḥ, Messiah, meaning anointed, and mæsse is from Latin missa, the celebration of the Eucharist. The form Christenmas was also used, but is now considered archaic and dialectal, it derives from Middle English Cristenmasse. In addition to Christmas, the holiday has been known by other names throughout its history. The Anglo-Saxons referred to the feast as midwinter, or, more rarely, Nativity, meaning birth, is from Latin nātīvitās. In Old English, Gēola referred to the corresponding to December and January. Noel entered English in the late 14th century and is from the Old French noël or naël, itself ultimately from the Latin nātālis, the canonical gospels of Luke and Matthew both describe Jesus as being born in Bethlehem in Judea, to a virgin mother. In the Gospel of Luke account, Joseph and Mary travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census and it says that angels proclaimed him a savior for all people, and shepherds came to adore him. In the Matthew account, magi follow a star to Bethlehem to bring gifts to Jesus, King Herod orders the massacre of all the boys less than two years old in Bethlehem, but the family flees to Egypt and later settles in Nazareth. The Nativity stories of Matthew and Luke are prominent in the gospels, the first recorded Christmas celebration was in Rome in 336. Christmas played a role in the Arian controversy of the fourth century, the feast regained prominence after 800, when Charlemagne was crowned emperor on Christmas Day
2.
Faroe Islands
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The Faroe Islands, also spelled the Faeroes, is an archipelago between the Norwegian Sea and the North Atlantic, about halfway between Norway and Iceland,320 kilometres north-northwest of Scotland. Its area is about 1,400 square kilometres with a population of 49,188 in 2016, the Faeroe Islands is an autonomous country within the Danish Realm. The land of the Faeroes is rugged, and these islands have an oceanic climate, windy, wet, cloudy. Despite this island groups northerly latitude, temperatures average above freezing throughout the year because of the Gulf Stream, between 1035 and 1814, the Faeroes were part of the Hereditary Kingdom of Norway. In 1814, the Treaty of Kiel granted Denmark control over the islands, the Faroe Islands have been a self-governing country within the Kingdom of Denmark since 1948. The Faroese have control of most domestic matters, areas that remain the responsibility of Denmark include military defence, the police department, the justice department, currency, and foreign affairs. However, as they are not part of the customs area as Denmark, the Faroe Islands have an independent trade policy. The islands also have representation in the Nordic Council as members of the Danish delegation, the people of the Faroe Islands also compete as national team in certain sports. In Danish, the name Færøerne may reflect an Old Norse word fær, the morpheme øerne represents a plural of ø in Danish. The Danish name thus translates as the islands of sheep, in Faroese, the name appears as Føroyar. Oyar represents the plural of oy, older Faroese for island, the modern Faeroese word for island is oyggj. In the English language, their name is sometimes spelled Faeroe, archaeological evidence shows settlers living on the Faroe Islands in two successive periods prior to the arrival of the Norse, the first between 400 and 600 and the second between 600 and 800. Scientists from the University of Aberdeen have also found early cereal pollen from domesticated plants, archaeologist Mike Church noted that Dicuil mentioned what may have been the Faroes. He also suggested that the living there might have been from Ireland, Scotland or Scandinavia. A Latin account of a made by Brendan, an Irish monastic saint who lived around 484–578. This association, however, is far from conclusive in its description, Dicuil, an Irish monk of the early 9th century, wrote a more definite account. 800, bringing Old West Norse, which evolved into the modern Faroese language, according to Icelandic sagas such as Færeyjar Saga, one of the best known men in the island was Tróndur í Gøtu, a descendant of Scandinavian chiefs who had settled in Dublin, Ireland. Tróndur led the battle against Sigmund Brestursson, the Norwegian monarchy, a traditional name for the islands in Irish, Na Scigirí, possibly refers to the Skeggjar Beards, a nickname given to island dwellers
3.
Old Norse
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Old Norse was a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during about the 9th to 13th centuries. These dates, however, are not absolute, since written Old Norse is found well into the 15th century, Old Norse was divided into three dialects, Old West Norse, Old East Norse and Old Gutnish. Old West and East Norse formed a continuum, with no clear geographical boundary between them. For example, Old East Norse traits were found in eastern Norway, although Old Norwegian is classified as Old West Norse, most speakers spoke Old East Norse in what is present day Denmark and Sweden. Old Gutnish, the more obscure dialectal branch, is included in the Old East Norse dialect due to geographical associations. It developed its own features and shared in changes to both other branches. The 12th century Icelandic Gray Goose Laws state that Swedes, Norwegians, Icelanders and Danes spoke the same language, another term used, used especially commonly with reference to West Norse, was norrœnt mál. In some instances the term Old Norse refers specifically to Old West Norse, the Old East Norse dialect was spoken in Denmark, Sweden, settlements in Kievan Rus, eastern England, and Danish settlements in Normandy. The Old Gutnish dialect was spoken in Gotland and in settlements in the East. In the 11th century, Old Norse was the most widely spoken European language, in Kievan Rus, it survived the longest in Veliky Novgorod, probably lasting into the 13th century there. Norwegian is descended from Old West Norse, but over the centuries it has heavily influenced by East Norse. Old Norse also had an influence on English dialects and Lowland Scots and it also influenced the development of the Norman language, and through it and to a smaller extent, that of modern French. Various other languages, which are not closely related, have heavily influenced by Norse, particularly the Norman dialects, Scottish Gaelic. The current Finnish and Estonian words for Sweden are Ruotsi and Rootsi, of the modern languages, Icelandic is the closest to Old Norse. Written modern Icelandic derives from the Old Norse phonemic writing system, contemporary Icelandic-speakers can read Old Norse, which varies slightly in spelling as well as semantics and word order. However, pronunciation, particularly of the phonemes, has changed at least as much as in the other North Germanic languages. Faroese retains many similarities but is influenced by Danish, Norwegian, although Swedish, Danish and the Norwegian languages have diverged the most, they still retain asymmetric mutual intelligibility. Speakers of modern Swedish, Norwegian and Danish can mostly understand each other without studying their neighboring languages, the languages are also sufficiently similar in writing that they can mostly be understood across borders
4.
Yule
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Yule or Yuletide is a festival observed by the historical Germanic peoples. Scholars have connected the celebration to the Wild Hunt, the god Odin, and it later underwent Christianised reformulation resulting in the term Christmastide. Terms with an equivalent to Yule are used in the Nordic countries for Christmas with its religious rites. Today Yule is also used to an extent in the English-speaking world as a synonym for Christmas. Present day Christmas customs such as the Yule log, Yule goat, Yule boar, Yule singing, today the event is celebrated in Heathenry and some other forms of Modern Paganism. Both words are thought to be derived from Common Germanic *jeχʷla-, and are cognate with Gothic jiuleis, Old Norse, Icelandic, and Faroese jól, Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian jul, jol and ýlir. The etymological pedigree of the word, however, remains uncertain, though numerous attempts have been made to find Indo-European cognates outside the Germanic group. The noun Yuletide is first attested from around 1475, the word is attested in an explicitly pre-Christian context primarily in Old Norse. Among many others, the long-bearded god Odin bears the names jólfaðr, in plural may refer to the Norse gods in general. In Old Norse poetry, the word is employed as a synonym for feast. Jolly may share the etymology, but was borrowed from Old French jolif. The word was first mentioned by the Anglo-Norman chronicler Geoffrey Gaimar in his Estoire des Engleis, or History of the English People, Yule was an indigenous midwinter festival celebrated by the Germanic peoples. While the Old Norse month name ýlir is similarly attested, the Old Norse corpus also contains references to an event by the Old Norse form of the name. In chapter 55 of the Prose Edda book Skáldskaparmál, different names for the gods are given, one of the names provided is Yule-beings. A work by the skald Eyvindr Skáldaspillir that uses the term is then quoted, in addition, one of the numerous names of Odin is Jólnir, referring to the event. The Saga of Hákon the Good credits King Haakon I of Norway with the Christianisation of Norway as well as rescheduling the date of Yule to coincide with Christian celebrations held at the time, Yule had previously been celebrated for three nights from midwinter night, according to the saga. Haakon planned that when he had established himself and held power over the whole country. According to the saga, the result was that his popularity caused many to allow themselves to be baptised, Haakon spent most of this time in Trondheim
5.
Church bell
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A church bell in the Christian tradition is a bell which is rung in a church for a variety of church purposes, and can be heard outside the building. Traditionally they were used to call worshippers to the church for a communal service and they are also rung on special occasions such as a wedding, or a funeral service. In some religious traditions they are used within the liturgy of the service to signify to people that a particular part of the service has been reached. The ringing of bells, in the Christian tradition, is also believed to drive out demons. It is hung within a steeple or belltower of a church or religious building, such bells are either fixed in position or hung from a pivoted beam so they can swing to and fro. A rope hangs from a lever or wheel attached to the headstock, and when the bell ringer pulls on the rope the bell back and forth. Bells that are hung dead are normally sounded by hitting the bow with a hammer or occasionally by a rope which pulls the internal clapper against the bell. A church may have a bell, or a collection of bells which are tuned to a common scale. They may be stationary and chimed, rung randomly by swinging through a small arc, before modern communications, church bells were a common way to call the community together for all purposes, both sacred and secular. The injunction to pray the Lords prayer thrice daily was given in Didache 8,2 f, as such, the Catechism of the Catholic Church states that the Early Church prayed the Lords Prayer thrice a day, supplanting the former Amidah predominant in the Hebrew tradition. The Christian tradition of the ringing of bells from a belltower is analogous to the Islamic tradition of the adhan from a minaret. Most Christian denominations ring church bells to call the faithful to worship, in the United Kingdom predominantly in the Anglican church, there is a strong tradition of change ringing on full-circle tower bells for about half an hour before a service. This originated from the early 17th century when bell ringers found that swinging a bell through a large arc gave more control over the time between successive strikes of the clapper. This culminated in ringing bells through a circle, which let ringers easily produce different striking sequences. In Christianity, the ringing of bells is traditionally believed to drive out demons. The ringing of a bell to announce a death is called a death knell. A more modern tradition where there are full-circle bells is to use half-muffles when sounding one bell as a tolled bell, or all the bells in change-ringing. This means a leather muffle is placed on the clapper of each bell so that there is a loud open strike followed by a muffled strike, which has a very sonorous and mournful effect
6.
Christmas Eve
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Christmas Eve is the day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation of Christmas Day, together, both days are considered one of the most culturally significant celebrations in Christendom and Western society. Many churches still ring their bells and hold prayers in the evening, for example. Since tradition holds that Jesus was born at night, Midnight Mass is celebrated on Christmas Eve, traditionally at midnight, roman Catholics and high church Anglicans traditionally celebrate Midnight Mass, which begins either at or sometime before midnight on Christmas Eve. This ceremony, which is held in churches throughout the world, celebrates the birth of Christ, Midnight Mass is popular in Poland. In recent years churches have scheduled their Midnight Mass as early as 7 pm. In Spanish-speaking areas, the Midnight Mass is sometimes referred to as Misa de Gallo, in the Philippines, the custom has expanded into the nine-day Simbang Gabi, when Filipinos attend dawn Masses from 16 December, continuing daily until Christmas Eve. In 2009 Vatican officials scheduled the Midnight Mass to start at 10 pm so that the 82-year-old Pope Benedict XVI would not have too late a night. Whilst it does not include any kind of Mass, the Church of Scotland has a service beginning just before midnight, the Church of Scotland no longer holds Hogmanay services on New Years Eve, however. The Christmas Eve Services are still very popular, on Christmas Eve, the Christ Candle in the center of the Advent wreath is traditionally lit in many church services. In candlelight services, while singing Silent Night, each member of the congregation receives a candle, lutherans traditionally practice Christmas Eve Eucharistic traditions typical of Germany and Scandinavia. Krippenspiele, special music for organ, vocal and brass choirs. A nativity scene may be erected indoors or outdoors, and is composed of figurines depicting the infant Jesus resting in a manger, Mary, other figures in the scene may include angels, shepherds, and various animals. The figures may be made of any material, and arranged in a stable or grotto, the Magi may also appear, and are sometimes not placed in the scene until the week following Christmas to account for their travel time to Bethlehem. While most home nativity scenes are packed away at Christmas or shortly thereafter, Christmas Vespers are popular in the early evening, and midnight services are also widespread in regions which are predominantly Lutheran. The old Lutheran tradition of a Christmas Vigil in the morning hours of Christmas Day can still be found in some regions. Methodists celebrate the evening in different ways, some, in the early evening, come to their church to celebrate Holy Communion with their families. The mood is very solemn, and the visible light is the Advent Wreath
7.
Yule Lads
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The Yuletide-lads, Yule Lads, or Yulemen, are figures from Icelandic folklore who in modern times have become the Icelandic version of Santa Claus. Their number has varied over time, but currently there are considered to be thirteen and they put rewards or punishments into shoes placed by children on window sills during the last thirteen nights before Christmas Eve. Every night, one Yuletide lad visits each child, leaving gifts or rotting potatoes, the Yuletide-lads originate from Icelandic folklore. Early on their number and depictions varied greatly depending on location, in 1932, the poem Jólasveinarnir was published as a part of the popular poetry book Jólin Koma by Icelandic poet Jóhannes úr Kötlum. The Yuletide-lads were originally portrayed as being mischievous, or even criminal, pranksters who would steal from and they all had descriptive names that conveyed their modus operandi. The Yuletide-lads are traditionally said to be the sons of the mountain-dwelling trolls Grýla and they would trek from the mountains to scare Icelandic children who misbehaved before Christmas. Additionally, the Yuletide-lads are often depicted with the Yule Cat, in modern times the Yuletide-lads have been depicted as taking on a more benevolent role comparable to Santa Claus and other related figures. They are occasionally depicted as wearing late medieval style Icelandic clothing, the Yuletide-lads are said to come to town during the last 13 nights before Christmas. Below are the official thirteen Yuletide-lads in the order they arrive, names in English are based on Hallberg Hallmundssons translation of the poem
8.
Icelandic cuisine
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Icelandic cuisine, the cuisine of Iceland, has a long history. Important parts of Icelandic cuisine are lamb, dairy, and fish, popular foods in Iceland include skyr, hangikjöt, kleinur, laufabrauð and bollur. Þorramatur is a traditional buffet served at midwinter festivals called Þorrablót, it includes a selection of traditionally cured meat and fish served with rúgbrauð. The flavors of this traditional country food originates in its methods, pickling in fermented whey or brine, drying. Modern Icelandic chefs usually emphasise the quality of available ingredients rather than age-old cooking traditions, numerous restaurants in Iceland specialise in seafood. At the annual Food and Fun chefs competition, competitors create innovative dishes with fresh ingredients produced in Iceland, points of pride are the quality of the lamb meat, seafood, and skyr. Because of the history of settlement in a climate, animal products dominate Icelandic cuisine. Popular taste has been developing, however, to closer to the European norm. As an example, consumption of vegetables has increased in recent decades while consumption of fish has diminished. Several events in the history of Iceland were of significance for its cuisine. With Christianisation in 1000 came the tradition of fasting and a ban on horse meat consumption, more significantly in terms of farming and food supply was the onset of the Little Ice Age in the 14th century. Farmers were not able to grow barley anymore and had to rely on imports for any kind of cereal grains and this type of dwelling was used well into the 20th century. Historians often use the Reformation in 1550 as the transition between the Middle Ages and the modern period in Icelandic history. Farming in Iceland continued with practices from the 14th century to the late 18th century. A trade monopoly instituted by the Danish king in 1602 had an effect on culinary traditions. But the cuisine of Denmark had the most influence in the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, preserved foods began to be replaced with greater emphasis on fresh ingredients. When Iceland was settled by immigrants from Scandinavia and Viking colonies in the British Isles, they brought their farming methods, research indicates that the climate of Iceland was much milder during the Middle Ages than it is now, and sources tell of cultivation of barley and oats. Most of this would have consumed as porridge or gruel or used for making beer
9.
Rock ptarmigan
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The rock ptarmigan is a medium-sized gamebird in the grouse family. In Japan, it is known as the raichō, which means thunder bird and it is the official bird of Gifu, Nagano, and Toyama Prefectures and is a protected species nationwide. The rock ptarmigan is 34–36 cm long with a wingspan of 54–60 cm and it is smaller than the willow ptarmigan by about 10%. The males song is a loud croaking, the rock ptarmigan is seasonally camouflaged, its feathers moult from white in winter to brown in spring or summer. The breeding male has upper parts with white wings and under parts. In winter, its plumage becomes completely white except for the black tail and it can be distinguished from the winter willow ptarmigan by habitat—the rock ptarmigan prefers higher elevations and more barren habitat, it is also smaller with a more delicate bill. The rock ptarmigan is a species which breeds across arctic and subarctic Eurasia and North America on rocky mountainsides. Because of the habitat in which it lives, it has only a few predators—such as golden eagles—and it can be surprisingly approachable. It has been introduced to New Zealand, South Georgia, the Kerguelen Islands, during the last ice age, the species was far more widespread in continental Europe. The rock ptarmigan feeds primarily on birch and willow buds and catkins when available and it also eats various seeds, leaves, flowers, and berries of other plant species. Insects are eaten by the developing young, apart from the comb, the male rock ptarmigan has no ornaments or displays that are typical for grouses in temperate regions. Studies on other grouses have shown that much variation in comb size, the males comb has been the focus of studies regarding sexual selection. The correlation to size disappeared after the first year, but the correlation to comb condition remained and this is consistent with another study of the same population of L. muta that showed that mating success overall is correlated to comb condition. Exceptions were first-time breeders, in which the size of the comb influenced mating success, the rock ptarmigan becomes sexually mature at six months of age and commonly has up to six chicks. Because of this high breeding rate, the size of the population is affected very little by factors such as hunting, the ptarmigans genus name, Lagopus, is derived from Ancient Greek lagos, meaning hare, + pous, foot, in reference to the birds feathered legs. The species name, muta, comes from New Latin and means mute and it was for a long time misspelt mutus, in the erroneous belief that the ending of Lagopus denotes masculine gender. However, as the Ancient Greek term λαγωπους is of feminine gender, and the name has to agree with that. The word ptarmigan comes from the Scottish Gaelic tàrmachan, literally croaker, the silent initial p was added in 1684 by Robert Sibbald through the influence of Greek, especially pteron, wing, feather, or pinion
10.
Reindeer
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This includes both sedentary and migratory populations. While overall widespread and numerous, some of its subspecies are rare, for this reason, it is considered to be vulnerable by the IUCN. Reindeer vary considerably in colour and size, both sexes can grow antlers annually, although the proportion of females that grow antlers varies greatly between population and season. Antlers are typically larger on males, hunting of wild reindeer and herding of semi-domesticated reindeer are important to several Arctic and Subarctic peoples. In traditional festive legend, Santa Clauss reindeer pull a sleigh through the sky to help Santa Claus deliver gifts to children on Christmas Eve. The name Rangifer, which Carl Linnaeus chose for the genus, was used by Albertus Magnus in his De animalibus. This word may go back to a Saami word raingo, for the origin of the word tarandus, which Linnaeus chose as the specific epithet, he made reference to Ulisse Aldrovandis Quadrupedum omnium bisulcorum historia fol. However, Aldrovandi – and before him Konrad Gesner – thought that rangifer, in any case, the tarandos name goes back to Aristotle and Theophrastus – see In history below. Because of its importance to many cultures, Rangifer tarandus and some of its subspecies have names in many languages, the name rein is of Norse origin. The Finnish name poro may also stem from the same, the word deer was originally broader in meaning, but became more specific over time. In Middle English, der meant a wild animal of any kind. Cognates of Old English dēor in other dead Germanic languages have the sense of animal, such as Old High German tior, Old Norse djúr or dýr, Gothic dius, Old Saxon dier. The name caribou comes, through French, from Mikmaq qalipu, meaning snow shoveler, in Inuktitut, spoken in eastern Arctic North America, the caribou is known by the name tuktu. In the western North American Arctic, the used by the Iñupiat is tuttu. Across the range of a species, individuals may display considerable morphological, genetic, COSEWIC developed Designated Unit attribution to add to classifications already in use. The species taxonomic name Rangifer tarandus was defined by Carl Linnaeus in 1758, the subspecies taxonomic name, Rangifer tarandus caribou was defined by Gmelin in 1788. Based on Banfields often-cited A Revision of the Reindeer and Caribou, Genus Rangifer, R. t. caboti, R. t. osborni and R. t. terraenovae were considered invalid and included in R. t. caribou. Some recent authorities have considered them all valid, even suggesting that they are quite distinct and he affirms that true woodland caribou is very rare, in very great difficulties and requires the most urgent of attention
11.
Epiphany (holiday)
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Epiphany, also Theophany or Three Kings Day, is a Christian feast day that celebrates the revelation of God incarnate as Jesus Christ. In Western Christianity, the feast commemorates principally the visit of the Magi to the Christ child, moreover, the feast of the Epiphany, in some Western Christian denominations, also initiates the liturgical season of Epiphanytide. Eastern Christians, on the hand, commemorate the baptism of Jesus on both sides of the Jordan River, seen as his manifestation to the world as the Son of God. Qasr el Yahud in the West Bank, and Al-Maghtas in Jordan on the east bank, Al-Maghtas is considered to be the site of the baptism of Jesus. The traditional date for the feast is January 6, however, since 1970, the celebration is held in some countries on the Sunday after January 1. In many Western Christian Churches, the eve of the feast is celebrated as Twelfth Night, the Monday after Epiphany is known as Plough Monday. Popular Epiphany customs include Epiphany singing, chalking the door, having ones house blessed, consuming Three Kings Cake, winter swimming, the word Epiphany is from Koine Greek ἐπιφάνεια, epiphaneia, meaning manifestation or appearance. It is derived from a meaning to appear. In classical Greek it was used of the appearance of dawn, of an enemy in war, in the Septuagint the word is used of a manifestation of the God of Israel. In the New Testament the word is used in 2 Timothy 1,10 to refer either to the birth of Christ or to his appearance after his resurrection, and five times to refer to his Second Coming. Epiphany may have originated in the Greek-speaking eastern half of the Roman Empire as a feast to honor the baptism of Jesus, around 200, Clement of Alexandria wrote that, But the followers of Basilides celebrate the day of His Baptism too, spending the previous night in readings. And they say that it was the 15th of the month Tybi of the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar, and some say that it was observed the 11th of the same month. The Egyptian dates given correspond to January 6 and 10, the Basilides were a Gnostic sect. The reference to readings suggests that the Basilides were reading the Gospels, in ancient gospel manuscripts, the text is arranged to indicate passages for liturgical readings. If a congregation began reading Mark at the beginning of the year, it might arrive at the story of the Baptism on January 6, If Christians read Mark in the same format the Basilides did, the two groups could have arrived at the January 6 date independently. The earliest reference to Epiphany as a Christian feast was in A. D.361, the holiday is listed twice, which suggests a double feast of baptism and birth. The Nativity was assigned to the date as the birth because Luke 3,23 was misread to mean that Jesus was exactly 30 when he was baptized. Epiphanius of Salamis says that January 6 is Christs Birthday, that is, His Epiphany and he also asserts that the Miracle at Cana occurred on the same calendar day
12.
Christmas traditions
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Christmas traditions vary from country to country. Christmas carols may be sung and stories told about such figures as the Baby Jesus, St Nicholas, Santa Claus, Father Christmas, Stephens Day, New Years, and the Feast of the Epiphany. Christmas Day is a holiday in Eritrea that is celebrated on January 7 or on 27 Tahsas of the Ethiopian calendar. Christmas is called Ledet in Eritrea or Gena in Ethiopia, many people who are Christian in the two countries fast for 40 days. They then head to church at dawn on Christmas morning, on Christmas Day, there will be colorful musical celebrations which involve the priests dressed in their best robes performing rituals, including dancing and playing drums and other instruments. Early in the morning at dawn, everyone dresses in white, Late in the afternoon there will be the traditional game of Gena, a kind of hockey. According to an Ethiopian legend, the game was being played by the shepherds who were tending their flocks on the night that Jesus was born, the game is attended by the leader of the community. A prize is awarded to the winner of the Gena game, as the towns and cities empty, people jam the West African markets to buy and transport live chickens, goats and cows that will be needed for the Christmas meals. On Christmas Eve, traditional meals are prepared according to the traditions of each region, rather than having candy and cakes, Nigerians as a whole tend to prepare various meats in large quantities. In the North several local desserts are made which is hardly ever found in other parts of Nigeria. An alternative in both regions is a soup with fish, goat, or beef which may also be served with Fufu. Gift giving in Nigeria often involves money and the flow of gifts from the more fortunate to the less fortunate, after the successful visitors have come from their towns, cities, and even overseas, they are given time to settle in. Afterwards, local relatives begin approaching them asking for assistance of some kind, religion in Nigeria is about equally divided between Christians and Muslims. There are occasional outbreaks of religious conflict, the Islamic sect Boko Haram has attacked Christian churches with bombings on Christmas 2011. Christmas in South Africa is a holiday celebrated on December 25. Many European traditions are maintained despite the distance from Europe, Christmas trees are set up in homes and the children are given presents in their stockings. Traditional fir Christmas trees are popular and children leave a stocking out for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve, the gift bearer is Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. The Christmas meal is mince pies, turkey, roast beef or a barbecue outdoors, the meal is finished with Christmas Pudding
13.
Jul (Denmark)
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Jul, the Danish Christmas, is celebrated throughout December starting either at the beginning of Advent or on December 1 with a variety of traditions. Christmas Eve, Juleaften, the event of Jul, is celebrated on evening of December 24. Celebrating on the eve before the holiday is used for most other holidays in Denmark. In the evening a dinner is eaten with the family. It usually consists of roast pork, roast duck, roast goose or stuffed turkey with potatoes, caramelized potatoes, red cabbage, for dessert, risalamande, a cold rice pudding dish is served with a hot cherry sauce, traditionally with a whole almond hidden inside. The lucky finder of this almond is entitled to a small gift and it is eaten warm with a fruit drink or sweet malt beer. After the meal is complete, the family dance around the Juletræ and sing Christmas carols and hymns like Nu er det jul igen. When the singing is complete, presents from under the tree are handed out by the children or in turn, after they have been opened, there are more snacks, candy, chips, and sometimes the traditional Gløgg. In Denmark there is a tradition to go to Church on the afternoon of Christmas Eve, the text is Luke 2, but since the 24th is not an official Christmas holiday, there was no official ritual for that day until recently. Most churches have Christmas services on both official Christmas holidays, 25th and 26 December, with well-defined rituals, going to church on Christmas Eve has become very popular. The services on 24 December are the most heavily frequented services of the year with around a third of the population attending, throughout the Yule period, a range of Yule dinners or lunches are arranged. Before December 24, most workplaces, unions, schools, football teams, or extended groups of friends arrange a Julefrokost and this typically involves plenty of food and alcohol, and often takes place on a Friday or Saturday night. After December 24, usually on Christmas Day and the Second Day of Christmas which are public holidays and this usually involves more food, and takes place from noon until evening. An average Dane usually attends three to four julefrokoster and one or two familiejulefrokoster during Jul, a typical Yule Lunch involves lots of beer and snaps. It begins with a variety of dishes, open face sandwiches with pickled herring, shrimps. Sometimes gravlax or smoked salmon and smoked eel are offered as well, next will be a variety of warm and cold meats, such as fried sausages, fried meatballs, boiled ham, liver pâté and fried pork, served with red or green braised cabbage dishes. Desserts are usually cheeses, fruit and risalamande, a special rice dessert associated with Christmas, from time to time, someone calls out Skål to make a toast, and everyone stops eating to take a drink. Normally, everyone takes public transportation to the event, to avoid alcohol related traffic accidents on the way home from these parties, Denmark has adopted and expanded the German tradition of Advent calendars
14.
Jul (Norway)
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Jul or jol is the term used for the Christmas holiday season in Scandinavia and parts of Scotland. Originally, jul was the name of a month in the old Germanic calendar, the concept of jul was a period of time rather than a specific event prevailing in Scandinavia. In modern times, Jul is a general time stretching from mid-November to mid-January, with Christmas, the modern English yule and yuletide derive from this term. The term Jul is common throughout Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Greenland, Denmark, Scotland and the Faroe Islands. Whereas the start of jul 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, Julaften, Romjul, Nyttår, and The End of Christmas, very often with Epiphany, the thirteenth day of Christmas, as the final day of the season. From the original beginning on Christmas Day, the custom of Julebord has spread to the season and beyond. The modern day celebration is based on the Church year and has retained several pre-Reformation. The central event in Scandinavia is Christmas Eve, when the main Christmas meal is served, Jul or Jol are cognates of Norse Jòlnir or Ýlir, which are alternate names of Odin, although the root itself is debated. Jul was celebrated during the moon of the winter half of the year – roughly from the new moon of November to the new moon of December. At this time, the animals for slaughter were the fattest, flour had been processed, all the work of autumn was completed, the time of celebration has varied. According to written sources such as the legislation of Gulaþing, it was mandatory for farmers to have a drinking party with at least three farmers attending. If a farmer was so far away from his neighbours that this was difficult, the beer should be ready by November 1. By the wording of the legislation, there are two celebrations where beer drinking was mandatory, the first was a form of thanksgiving, while the second was a smaller party for the family. Like the cookies left for Santa Claus today, it was customary to leave a bowl of rice porridge with butter for the Jul spirit. The food represented a sacramental meal, sacramental meals were formally called a blót—in this particular instance, yuleblót or winterblót. As usual in the world, Christmas features Christmas Dinner, decorated Christmas trees. Remnants of customs from the agrarian society include decoration with boughs of green from spruce or fir, e. g. on the doormat
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Jul (Sweden)
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Jul, the Swedish Christmas holiday, is celebrated throughout December and traditionally until St. Knuts Day on January 13. The main celebration and the exchange of gifts takes place on Christmas Eve, the Lucia Day is celebrated during Advent, on December 13. Christmas in Sweden is a blend of domestic and foreign customs that have been re-interpreted, refined and commercialised on their way from agrarian society to the modern age, the origin of the Germanic word Jul is somewhat unclear. Around the year 600, it is mentioned in the Gothic calendar together with Christian religious texts, around the year 900, the word Jul can be found in a tribute to king Harald Fairhair, in which someone is said to Dricka Jul. The pretext for the Jul celebration was to mark the winter solstice when the start to get longer. The people sacrificed cattle and perhaps humans to win the blessing on the germinating crop. The ás who was hailed at this time was Odin. The Jul was Christianized, while the rites were forbidden. The celebration of Christmas at the end of December is an old tradition with many origins. Among these is the Old Norse Christmas celebration - which was prevailing in Scandinavia in the 11th century - and was celebrated in connection with the mid-winter offering celebration, moreover, we have the Christian celebration in memory of the birth of Jesus Christ. The earliest records of celebrations are from year 333. Eight hundred years later this is merged with the Old Norse Christmas celebration, in the Old Norse sources the pagan celebration of Jul in the Nordic countries is often described as to drink jul/yule. The central aspect of the pagan Germanic celebration of midwinter was to eat, to bake and to produce ale and mead were important preparations for the celebration. In medieval wooden calendars and pre-Christian picture stones, this celebration is still symbolised by a barrel of ale, so the emphasis on food and drink traditions was originally a pagan trait of the Christmas celebration. The story of the Christmas tree begins in Germany in the 16th century, during the 17th and 18th centuries the Christmas tree started being dressed with candles. The first Swedish Christmas trees were decorated with live candles and treats such as fruit. Apples were often hung on the branches where the candles were located to make them more parallel to the ground and it soon became more common for families to make their own decorations with paper and straw. Some families preferred to build a Ljuskrona decorated with cut paper, from around 1880, commercial Christmas tree decorations were readily available in larger Swedish cities, the finest of which were imported from Germany
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Iceland
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Iceland is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean. It has a population of 332,529 and an area of 103,000 km2, the capital and largest city is Reykjavík. Reykjavík and the areas in the southwest of the country are home to over two-thirds of the population. Iceland is volcanically and geologically active, the interior consists of a plateau characterised by sand and lava fields, mountains and glaciers, while many glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands. Iceland is warmed by the Gulf Stream and has a climate, despite a high latitude just outside the Arctic Circle. Its high latitude and marine influence still keeps summers chilly, with most of the archipelago having a tundra climate. According to the ancient manuscript Landnámabók, the settlement of Iceland began in the year 874 AD when the Norwegian chieftain Ingólfr Arnarson became the first permanent settler on the island. In the following centuries, Norwegians, and to a lesser extent other Scandinavians, emigrated to Iceland, the island was governed as an independent commonwealth under the Althing, one of the worlds oldest functioning legislative assemblies. Following a period of strife, Iceland acceded to Norwegian rule in the 13th century. The establishment of the Kalmar Union in 1397 united the kingdoms of Norway, Denmark, Iceland thus followed Norways integration to that Union and came under Danish rule after Swedens secession from that union in 1523. In the wake of the French revolution and the Napoleonic wars, Icelands struggle for independence took form and culminated in independence in 1918, until the 20th century, Iceland relied largely on subsistence fishing and agriculture, and was among the poorest in Europe. Industrialisation of the fisheries and Marshall Plan aid following World War II brought prosperity, in 1994, it became a part of the European Economic Area, which further diversified the economy into sectors such as finance, biotechnology, and manufacturing. Iceland has an economy with relatively low taxes compared to other OECD countries. It maintains a Nordic social welfare system that provides health care. Iceland ranks high in economic, political and social stability and equality, in 2013, it was ranked as the 13th most-developed country in the world by the United Nations Human Development Index. Iceland runs almost completely on renewable energy, some bankers were jailed, and the economy has made a significant recovery, in large part due to a surge in tourism. Icelandic culture is founded upon the nations Scandinavian heritage, most Icelanders are descendants of Germanic and Gaelic settlers. Icelandic, a North Germanic language, is descended from Old Norse and is related to Faroese
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History of Iceland
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The recorded history of Iceland began with the settlement by Viking explorers and their slaves from the east, particularly Norway and the British Isles, in the late ninth century. Iceland was still uninhabited long after the rest of Western Europe had been settled, recorded settlement has conventionally been dated back to 874, although archaeological evidence indicates Gaelic monks had settled Iceland before that date. The land was settled quickly, mainly by Norwegians who may have been fleeing conflict or seeking new land to farm, by 930, the chieftains had established a form of governance, the Althing, making it one of the worlds oldest parliaments. Towards the end of the tenth century Christianity came to Iceland through the influence of the Norwegian king Olaf Tryggvason. During this time Iceland remained independent, a known as the Old Commonwealth. Norway, in turn, was united with Sweden and then Denmark, eventually all of the Nordic states were united in one alliance, the Kalmar Union, but on its dissolution, Iceland fell under Danish rule. The subsequent strict Danish–Icelandic Trade Monopoly in the 17th and 18th centuries was very detrimental to the economy, Icelands subsequent poverty was aggravated by severe natural disasters like the Móðuharðindin or Mist Hardships. During this time the population declined, Iceland remained part of Denmark, but in keeping with the rise of nationalism around Europe in the nineteenth century an independence movement emerged. The Althing, which had suspended in 1799, was restored in 1844. However Iceland shared the Danish Monarchy until World War II, although Iceland was neutral in the Second World War, the United Kingdom peacefully occupied it in 1940 to forestall a Nazi occupation, after Denmark itself was overrun by the German Wehrmacht. Because of the strategic position in the North Atlantic, the allies occupied the island until the end of the war. In 1944, and declared itself an independent nation. Following the Second World War Iceland was a member of both the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Its economy grew rapidly due to fishing, although this was marred by conflicts with other nations like the Cod Wars. Following rapid financial growth, the 2008–11 Icelandic financial crisis occurred, Iceland continues to remain outside the European Union. Icelands history has also marked by a number of natural disasters. Iceland is also a young country in the geological sense. The oldest stone specimens found in Iceland date back to ca.16 million years ago, in geological terms, Iceland is a young island
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Outline of Iceland
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The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Iceland, Iceland – sovereign island nation located in the North Atlantic Ocean between continental Europe and Greenland. It is considered part of Northern Europe and it is the least populous of the Nordic countries, having a population of about 329,000. Iceland is volcanically and geologically active on a scale, this defines the landscape in various ways. The interior mainly consists of a plateau characterized by fields, mountains and glaciers. Warmed by the Gulf Stream, Iceland has a temperate climate relative to its latitude and provides a habitable environment and nature
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Military history of Iceland
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This is a brief overview of historical warfare and recent developments in what today constitutes the Republic of Iceland. The armies being divided into units by the quality the warriors, at the end of this period the number of chieftains had diminished and their power had grown to the detriment of their followers. This resulted in a series of major feuds known as Age of the Sturlungs in the 13th century. During and before the war more than 21 fortresses were built, the battle consisted of little less than 1000 men with the average casualty rate of 15%. This low casualty rate has been attributed to the mentality that permeated Icelandic society. As well as the requirements of Christianity to get a pardon from a cleric for each fiend smitten, while executions after battle were uncommon, they were extensive when they happened. Amphibious operations were important part of warfare in Iceland in this time, especially in the Westfjords, the largest of these was an engagement of a few dozen ships in Húnaflói known as Flóabardagi. One side employing smaller longships as well as boats and the other large Knaars, other larger merchant ships, at the end most of the chieftains had been slain and only one of the original chieftains who started the war remained. It had nonetheless become evident that no one chieftain was powerful enough to all the others. This led the Icelandic betri bændur of the South, North and Western Iceland to submit to the Norwegian crown, all inhabitants of a sýslumaður´s fief were obligated to follow them in battle against invaders. The king rarely asked for expeditionary forces to help defend Norway, there are however a few documented occasions of Icelandic expeditionary armies coming to the kings aid. As the church became more powerful its bishops and priests became more militant, the Bishops own sveinar could expect to become priests after their military service. The two bishops became de facto Ecclesiastical Counts or Kirkjugreifar, responsible for law enforcement and overall command of military defences, Icelandic noblemen became wary of the Bishops powers in the late 15th century and protested. Other firearms, such as the hand gonne, known as haki or hakbyssa in Iceland, since the king of Denmark had embraced Lutheranism in the early 16th century he had campaigned to convert his realms from Catholicism to Lutheranism. In the 1540s it was Icelands turn, Lutheran bishop was elected as the bishop of Skálholt diocese and bitter conflict ensued. Although the bloodshed didnt come close to that in the Civil War fought in the 13th century it was considerable as the bishops fielded armies of thousands. In a bid to isolate Skálholt, Icelands last Catholic bishop, Jón Arason of Hólar, although initially successful in capturing Sauðafell he was later defeated by Daðis army and captured with his sons. Jón Arason and his sons were then transported to Skálholt and beheaded there in 1550, a year later a Danish mercenary force mostly consisting of Landsknechts arrived to support the policy of conversion
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Prohibition in Iceland
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Prohibition in Iceland went into effect in 1915 and lasted, to some extent, until 1 March 1989. The ban had originally prohibited all alcohol, but from 1935 onward only applied to strong beer, in a 1908 referendum, Icelanders voted in favour of a ban on all alcoholic drinks, going into effect 1 January 1915. Strong beer, however, was not included in the 1935 vote in order to please the temperance lobby—which argued that because beer is cheaper than spirits, it would lead to more depravity. As international travel brought Icelanders back in touch with beer, bills to legalise it were moved in the Icelandic parliament. Soon after, beer approached legalisation in parliament—a full turnout of the house of Icelands parliament voted 13 to 8 to permit the sales. Following the end of prohibition, some Icelanders have celebrated Beer Day on 1 March, some people may take part in a rúntur, with a few bars staying open until 4,00 a. m. the next day. The legalisation of beer remains a significant cultural event in Iceland as beer has become the most popular alcoholic beverage, international Beer Day Brennivín Beer in Iceland Vínbúð Icelandic Tourist Board
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Monarchy of Iceland
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The Monarchy of Iceland, was the system of government in which an hereditary monarch was the sovereign of the Kingdom of Iceland from 1918 to 1944. Under a personal union, due to the Act of Union, the monarchy lasted until 17 June 1944, when a national referendum established a constitutional republic in its place. The monarchy of Iceland was created by the Act of Union of 1918 which transformed the former Danish overseas possession of Iceland into an independent sovereign constitutional monarchy, Iceland adopted a new constitution following the referendum in 1944 which abolished the monarchy. Although many Danes felt offended that Iceland should take such a step at that time, by the Grace of God, King of Iceland, Denmark, the Wends and the Goths, Duke of Schleswig, Holstein, Stormarn, Dithmarschen, Lauenburg and Oldenburg. Nobility in Iceland List of rulers of Iceland Iceland, Home Rule and Sovereignty at Encyclopædia Britannica
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Settlement of Iceland
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The settlement of Iceland is generally believed to have begun in the second half of the 9th century, when Norse settlers migrated across the North Atlantic. The reasons for the migration may be traced to a shortage of land in Scandinavia. Unlike the British Isles, Iceland was unsettled land and could be claimed without conflict with existing inhabitants, on the basis of Íslendingabók by Ari Thorgilsson, and Landnámabók, the years 870 and 874 have traditionally been considered the first years of settlement. Historian Gunnar Karlsson notes that these sources are unreliable in terms of dating settlement. Almost everything known about the first settlers comes from Íslendingabók, and Landnámabók, estimates of the number of initial settlers range between 311 and 436. The Íslendingabók of Ari Thorgilsson claims that the Norse settlers encountered Gaelic monks from a Hiberno-Scottish mission when they arrived in Iceland, there is some archaeological evidence for a monastic settlement from the British Isles at Kverkarhellir cave, on the Seljaland farm in southern Iceland. Sediment deposits indicate people lived there around 800, and crosses consistent with the Hiberno-Scottish style were carved in the wall of a nearby cave. The oldest known source which mentions the name Iceland is an 11th-century Gothic rune carving, the first written source to mention the existence of Iceland is a book by the Goidelic monk Dicuil, De mensura orbis terrae, which dates back to 825. Dicuilus claimed to have met some monks who had lived on the island of Thule and they said that darkness reigned during winter but that the summers were bright enough to pick lice from ones clothing. While the veracity of this source may be questioned, there is doubt that the inhabitants of the British Isles were aware of a sizeable land mass far up north. Additionally, Iceland is only about 450 kilometres from the Faroes which had visited by Irish monks in the 6th century. A cabin in Hafnir was abandoned between 770 and 880, showing that it was well before the traditional settlement date of 874. It is thought to have been an outpost only inhabited part of the year, the Landnámabók claims that the first Norseman to rest his feet on Icelandic soil was a viking by the name of Naddoddr. Naddoddr stayed for only a period of time, but gave the country a name. He was followed by the Swede Garðar Svavarsson, who was the first to stay over winter, at some time around 860, a storm pushed his ship far to the north until he reached the eastern coast of Iceland. Garðar approached the island from the east, sailed westward along the coast and then up north and he completed a full circle, circumnavigating the island and establishing that the landmass in question was indeed an island. He departed the following summer, never to return but not before giving the island a new name -- Garðarshólmur, one of his men, Náttfari, decided to stay behind with two slaves. Náttfari settled in what is now known as Náttfaravík, close to Skjálfandi, Landnámabók maintains that Náttfari was not a permanent settler
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Icelandic Commonwealth
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With the probable exception of Papar, Iceland was an uninhabited island until around 870. The medieval Icelandic state had a unique judicial structure, the first settlers of Iceland were greatly influenced by their Norwegian roots when creating their own form of government. The most powerful and elite leaders in Iceland were the chieftains, the office of the goði was called the goðorð. The goðorð was not delimited by strict geographical boundaries, thus, a free man could choose to support any of the goðar of his district. The supporters of the goðar were called Þingmenn, in exchange for the goði protecting his interests, the Þingmaðr would provide armed support to his goði during feuds or conflicts. The Þingmenn were also required to attend regional and national assemblies, on a regional level, the goðar of the thirteen district assemblies convened meetings every spring to settle local disputes. The goðar also served as the leaders of the Alþingi, the assembly of Iceland. Today, the Alþingi is the oldest parliamentary institution in existence and it began with the regional assembly at Kjalarness established by Þorsteinn Ingólfsson, son of the first settler. The leaders of the Kjalarnessþing appointed a man named Úlfljótr to study the laws in Norway and he spent three years in Norway and returned with the foundation of Úlfljótr’s Law, which would form the basis for Icelands national assembly. Sections of his law code are preserved in the Landnámabók, the first Alþingi assembly convened around the year 930 at Þingvellir. The Alþingi served as a gathering at which people from all over the country met for two weeks every June. The Alþingi revolved around the Lögrétta, the council of the assembly. The Lögrétta comprised the 39 goðar and their advisors and they also appointed a Lawspeaker once every three years. The Lawspeaker recited and clarified laws at Lögberg, located at the center of Þingvellir, the descendants of Ingólfr Arnarson, the first settler of Iceland, held the ceremonial position of allsherjargoði and had the role of sanctifying the Alþingi each year. Iceland was divided into four administrative regions called fjörðungar, each of these was ruled by nine goðar. The Alþingi was made up of the four Quarter Courts and this judicial body of Iceland consisted of 36 judges, each appointed by one of the goðar. These courts tried individual cases and served as a judicial authority to the regional courts. The rulings of the judges had to be virtually unanimous
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Christianization of Iceland
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Iceland was Christianized in the year 1000 AD, when Christianity became the religion by law. In Icelandic, this event is known as the kristnitaka, the vast majority of the initial settlers of Iceland during the settlement of Iceland in the 9th and 10th centuries AD were pagan, worshipping the Æsir. Icelands adoption of Christianity is traditionally ascribed to the year 1000, aris account of the events surrounding the conversion seems to be reliable, although he was born 67 years after the conversion, he cites first-hand sources. Beginning in 980, Iceland was visited by several missionaries, the first of these seems to have been an Icelander returning from abroad, one Thorvald Konradsson. Accompanying Thorvald was a German bishop named Fridrek, about whom little is known, thorvaldurs attempt to convert Icelanders met with limited success. He was the subject of ridicule and was forced to flee the country after a conflict in which two men were killed by Thorvald. When Olaf Tryggvason ascended the throne of Norway, the effort to Christianize Iceland intensified, King Olaf sent an Icelander named Stefnir Thorgilsson back to his homeland to convert his fellow countrymen. Stefnir violently destroyed sanctuaries and images of the heathen gods – this made him so unpopular that he was declared an outlaw. After Stefnirs failure, Olaf sent a priest named Thangbrand, Thangbrand was an experienced missionary, having proselytized in Norway and the Faroe Islands. His mission in Iceland from c and he managed to convert several prominent Icelandic chieftains, but killed two or three men in the process. Thangbrand returned to Norway in 999 and reported his failure to King Olaf and he refused Icelandic seafarers access to Norwegian ports and took as hostages several Icelanders then dwelling in Norway. This cut off all trade between Iceland and its trading partner. Some of the hostages taken by King Olaf were the sons of prominent Icelandic chieftains, in the 11th century, three Armenian bishops, Petros, Abraham and Stephannos are recorded by Icelandic sources as Christian missionaries in Iceland. Their presence has been explained in terms of the service of King Harald Hardrada of Norway as a Varangian in Constantinople, the Icelandic Commonwealths limited foreign policy consisted almost entirely of maintaining good relations with Norway. The Christians in Iceland used the Kings pressure to step up efforts at conversion, the two rival religions soon divided the country and threatened civil war. This state of affairs reached a point the next summer during the meeting of the Althing. Fighting between adherents of the rival religions seemed likely until mediators intervened and the matter was submitted to arbitration, the law speaker of the Althing, Thorgeir Thorkelsson, the gothi of Ljósavatn, was acceptable to both sides as mediator, being known as a moderate and reasonable man. Thorgeir accepted responsibility for deciding whether Iceland should become Christian, with the condition that both parties abide by his decision, when this was agreed, he spent a day and a night resting under a fur blanket, contemplating
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Nobility in Iceland
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Nobility in Iceland may refer to the following, Icelandics who belonged to the aristocracy of the Icelandic Republic. Icelandics who belonged to the Norwegian nobility, Icelandics who belonged to the Danish nobility. During the Norse settlement of Iceland, beginning in ca.874,930, chieftains and aristocratic families from Western and Northern Norway arrived to the island. They had refused to accept Harald I Halfdanson as their king, instead abandoning their chieftain seats and petty kingdoms. One of these seats was Borg in Lofoten, during this time a rich amount of poetry and literature was created, among others by poet Sighvatr Sturluson and by poet and historian Snorri Sturluson. The aforementioned families are extensively described in literature, for example in the Sturlunga saga. Between 1262 and 1814 Iceland was a part of the Kingdom of Norway, the process that turned Iceland into a province had begun already in the 12th century. In the 12th and the 13th centuries several Icelandic men travelled to and were included at the Royal Court in Norway, illustrating the growing connection between Iceland and Norway, Jón’s mother was Þóra Magnúsdóttir, a daughter of King Magnus III Olafson of Norway. In 1220 Snorri Sturluson, an son of Jón and a member of the Sturlunga family. In 1235 Snorri’s nephew Sturla Sighvatsson also accepted vassalage under the King of Norway, unlike his uncle, Sturla worked actively for bringing Iceland under the Norwegian Crown, warring on chieftains who refused to accept the King’s demands. In 1262, following the Old Covenant, the independent republic became an earldom under the Kingdom of Norway, gissur Þorvaldsson of the Haukdælir was created Earl of Iceland in 1262, indicating and imposing that he should rule Iceland on behalf of Norway’s king. It is known that approximately 20–30 Icelandic men had the title of knight in the following centuries, the first noble titles are known since 1277. These titles were not inherited, but rather expressed each person’s function. The medieval aristocracy to which some Icelandics belonged was originally known as the hird and this was divided into three classes, of which the first had three ranks. The first class was hirdmann with lendmann as the 1st rank, skutilsvein as the 2nd rank, below them were the classes gjest and kjertesvein. The hird’s organisation is described in the King’s Mirror and the Codex of the Hird, during the second half of the 13th century continental European court culture began to gain influence in Norway. In 1277 King Magnus VI Haakonson of Norway introduced continental titles in the hird, lendmen were now called barons and it is difficult to determinate exactly how many knights and squires there were in the 14th and the early 15th century in Norway. When King Haakon V signed a treaty with the Danish king in 1309, it was sealed by 29 Norwegian knights
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Age of the Sturlungs
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The Age of the Sturlungs or the Sturlung Era was a 42–44 year period of internal strife in mid-13th century Iceland. It may have been the bloodiest and most violent period in Icelandic history and it is documented in the Sturlunga saga. This period is marked by the conflicts of powerful chieftains, goðar, who amassed followers and did battle, and is named for the Sturlungs, at the end of the era, the Icelandic Commonwealth ceased to exist and Iceland became a vassal of Norway. Historians generally regard the year 1220 as the first year of the Age of the Sturlungs, Power in the country had consolidated within the grasp of a few family clans. Many Icelandic chieftains became his vassals and were obliged to do his bidding—in exchange they received gifts, followers, consequently, the greatest Icelandic chieftains were soon affiliated with the King of Norway in one way or the other. In the Icelandic Commonwealth, power was mostly in the hands of the goðar, Iceland was effectively divided into farthings. Within each farthing were nine Goði-dominions, the North farthing had an additional three dominions due to its size. The Goði-chieftains protected the farmers in their territory, and exacted compensation or vengeance if their followers rights were violated, in exchange, the farmers pledged their support to the Goði, both by voting in his favor in the Alþingi parliament and by taking up arms against his enemies. The powers of the Goði-chieftains, however, were neither permanent nor inherited and this status came about by a combination of respect, honour, influence and wealth. The chieftains constantly had to demonstrate their qualities as leaders, either by giving gifts to their followers or by holding great feasts, if the chieftain was seen as failing in any respect, his followers could simply choose another, more qualified Goði to support. The greatest chieftains of the 12th and 13th century started amassing great wealth and this may be one of the causes of the civil war. The Age of Sturlungs began in 1220, when Snorri Sturluson, chieftain of the Sturlung clan and one of the great Icelandic saga writers, the king insisted that Snorri help him bring Iceland under the sovereignty of Norway. Snorri returned home, and although he became the countrys most powerful chieftain. According to one historian, we do not know whether inactivity was due to lack of will or his conviction that the case was hopeless, in 1235, Snorris nephew Sturla Sighvatsson also accepted vassalage under the king. Sturla was more aggressive, He sent his back to Norway. However, Sturla and his father Sighvatur were soundly defeated by Gissur Þorvaldsson, the chief of the Haukdælir, the Battle of Örlygsstaðir was the largest armed conflict in the history of Iceland—the Sturlungs had 1000 armed men and the Ásbirningar had 1200 armed men. More than 50 people were killed, after this crushing defeat, Gissur and Kolbeinn became the most powerful chieftains in the country. Snorri Sturluson returned home to Iceland, having fallen out of favor with the due to his support for Earl Skúli in an attempted coup
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Icelandic Reformation
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The Icelandic Reformation took place in the middle of the 16th century. Iceland was at time a territory ruled by Denmark. The Icelandic Reformation ended with the execution of Jón Arason, Catholic bishop of Hólar, Christian III became king of Denmark in 1535. That same year, on October 30,1536, he established the Danish Lutheran Church. The Catholic bishops in Iceland at the time were Ögmundur Pálsson of Skálholt and they were both powerful leaders who had originally been bitter enemies, but with the approaching threat of Lutheranism, they found common cause as allies against religious reform. Denmark had been embroiled in war during the dissolution of the Kalmar Union. Luthers influence had already reached Iceland before King Christians decree, the Germans fished near Icelands coast, and the Hanseatic League engaged in commerce with the Icelanders. These Germans raised a Lutheran church in Hafnarfjörður as early as 1533, through German trade connections, many young Icelanders studied in Hamburg. Ögmundur Pálsson, bishop of Skálholt, was at this point old and he had in his service several young men who had been educated in Germany and introduced to Protestantism. Many of them were in favour of reform, although they kept such views from the bishop. In 1538, when the decree of the new Church ordinance reached Iceland, bishop Ögmundur and his clergy denounced it. In 1539, the King sent a new governor to Iceland, Klaus von Mervitz, with a mandate to introduce reform, von Mervitz seized a monastery in Viðey with the help of his sheriff, Dietrich of Minden, and his soldiers. They drove the monks out and seized all their possessions, for which they were excommunicated by Ögmundur. Later, that summer, the sheriff and his men stopped in Skálholt. His supporters then gathered forces and attacked Dietrich, killing him, one of the young men in the service of bishop Ögmundur was Oddur Gottskálksson, son of Gottskálk Nikulásson, a former bishop of Hólar. Oddur returned to Iceland from his studies in Germany in 1535, aged 20 and he is said to have done the bulk of the translation in the barn of the farm adjoining the Skálholt see. Oddurs New Testament was printed in Roskilde in 1540, and is the oldest preserved printed work in the Icelandic language, another of these German-educated young men was Gissur Einarsson, who was secretly in favour of religious reformation. In 1539, bishop Ögmundur, who was almost blind now, made him his successor, the old bishop came to regret his decision when his protégés Lutheran views surfaced
28.
Icelandic independence movement
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The Icelandic Independence movement was the collective effort made by Icelanders to achieve self-determination and independence from the Kingdom of Denmark throughout the 19th and early 20th century. Iceland received a constitution and limited home rule in 1874, a minister for Icelandic affairs was appointed to the Danish cabinet in 1904. Full independence was granted in 1918 through the Danish-Icelandic Act of Union and this was followed by the severance of all ties to Denmark with the declaration of the republic in 1944. Through the signing of the Old Covenant in 1262, following the strife of the Age of the Sturlungs, Icelanders had relinquished sovereignty to Haakon IV. Iceland remained under Norwegian kingship until 1380, when the death of Olav IV of Norway extinguished the Norwegian male royal line, Norway then became part of the Kalmar Union with Sweden and Denmark, in which Denmark was the dominant power. Unlike Norway, Denmark did not need Icelands fish and homespun wool and this created a dramatic deficit in Icelands trade, and as a result, no new ships for continental trading were built. In the ensuing centuries, Iceland became one of the poorest countries of Europe, while attempts have been made to find evidence of pre-19th century nationalist sentiments, not much comprehensive evidence has been found of nationalism as we understand it today. The most notable of these were the so-called Fjölnismenn—poets and writers for the journal Fjölnir— Brynjólfur Pétursson, Jónas Hallgrímsson, Konráð Gíslason, meanwhile, an independence movement developed under Jón Sigurðsson. In 1843, a royal decree re-established a national parliament, the Althing and it claimed continuity with the Althing of the Icelandic Commonwealth, which had remained for centuries as a judicial body and had been abolished in 1800. The advocates of Icelandic independence pursued their aims peacefully, soliciting Danish officials via legal means, the struggle for independence reached its height in 1851 when the Danes tried to pass new legislation, the requests of which the Icelanders ignored. The Icelandic delegates, under the leadership of Jón Sigurðsson, passed their own proposal, much to the displeasure of the Kings agent and this caused Sigurðsson to rise up with his fellow delegates and utter the phrase Vér mótmælum allir. Icelandic farmers worried that various social restrictions in Icelandic society would be abolished, the Icelandic independence movement was peaceful from its start in the post-Napoleonic period to the accomplishment of independence in 1944. Common explanations for the nature of Icelands independence struggle include. The accommodating responses of Denmark to Icelandic demands, the unwillingness of Denmark to respond violently, in part due to a respect for Icelandic culture but also an unwillingness to shoulder the costs of quelling the Icelandic independence movement. The peaceful trends in the Nordic region after the Napoleonic Wars, in 1874, a thousand years after the first acknowledged settlement, Denmark granted Iceland home rule. By the end of the 19th century, the efforts made on behalf of Iceland had their desired result. The constitution, written in 1874, was revised in 1903, hannes Hafstein served as the first Minister of Iceland from 31 January 1904 until 31 March 1909. The Act of Union, signed on 1 December 1918 by Icelandic and Danish authorities, recognized Iceland as a sovereign state
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Kingdom of Iceland
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The Kingdom of Iceland was a constitutional monarchy that existed through the Act of Union with Denmark signed on 1 December 1918. It lasted until 17 June 1944 when a referendum established the Republic of Iceland in its place. Iceland had been under the control of the Crown of Denmark since 1380, in 1874, one thousand years after the first acknowledged settlement, Denmark granted Iceland home rule. The constitution, written the year, was revised in 1903. A minister for Icelandic affairs, residing in Reykjavík, was responsible to the Althing. On 1 December 1918, the Act of Union, an agreement with Denmark, the Kingdom of Iceland established its own flag and coat of arms and asked that Denmark represent its foreign affairs and defence interests. The Act would be reviewed in 1940 and could be revoked three years later if agreement to continue it could not be reached, the German occupation of Denmark on 9 April 1940 severed communications between Iceland and Denmark. A year later, on 15 May 1941 the Althing adopted a law creating the position of regent for Sveinn Björnsson in order to represent the monarchy. During the first year of World War II, Iceland strictly enforced a position of neutrality, on 10 May 1940, Operation Fork was launched by the United Kingdom when military forces sailed into Reykjavík harbour and began an invasion of Iceland. The government of Iceland issued a protest against what it called a flagrant violation of Icelandic neutrality, on the day of the invasion, Prime Minister Hermann Jónasson read a radio announcement instructing Icelanders to treat the British troops as guests. The Allied occupation of Iceland would last throughout the war, at its peak, Britain had approximately 25,000 troops stationed in Iceland, all but eliminating unemployment in Reykjavík and other strategically important places. In July 1941, it coerced the Althing into accepting an American–Icelandic defence agreement, as many as 40,000 American soldiers were then stationed on the island, outnumbering the native population of adult men. Following a constitutional referendum in May 1944, Iceland formally became an independent republic on 17 June 1944, many Danes felt offended at its timing, as Denmark was still occupied by Germany. The deposed king in Copenhagen, Christian X, nonetheless sent a message of congratulations to the Icelandic people, nobility in Iceland Icelandic independence movement Danish realm Constitution of Denmark Greenlandic independence Faroese independence Iceland, Home Rule and Sovereignty at Encyclopædia Britannica
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Iceland in World War II
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At the beginning of World War II, Iceland was a sovereign kingdom in personal union with Denmark, with King Christian X as head of state. Iceland officially remained neutral throughout World War II, however, the British invaded Iceland on 10 May 1940. On 7 July 1941, the defence of Iceland was transferred from Britain to the United States, on 17 June 1944, Iceland dissolved its union with Denmark and the Danish monarchy and declared itself a republic, which it remains to this day. German interest in Iceland in the 1930s grew from nothing at all to proportions found by the British government to be alarming, the Third Reichs overtures began with friendly competition between German and Icelandic football teams. When war began, Denmark and Iceland declared neutrality and limited visits to the island by military vessels, during the German occupation of Denmark, contact between the countries was disrupted. Initially, the Kingdom of Iceland declared itself to be neutral, following the invasion of Denmark on 9 April 1940 Iceland opened a legation in New York City. Iceland, however, unlike Norway, did not closely enforce limitations within its territorial waters, many Axis merchant vessels seeking shelter within the neutral waters around Iceland were sunk by Allied warships. The Chief of the Capital Police Forces, Agnar Kofoed-Hansen, started to train the National Defence forces in early 1940, the British imposed strict export controls on Icelandic goods, preventing profitable shipments to Germany, as part of its naval blockade. London offered assistance to Iceland, seeking cooperation as a belligerent and an ally, the German diplomatic presence in Iceland, along with the islands strategic importance, alarmed the British. The initial force of 746 British Royal Marines commanded by Colonel Robert Sturges was replaced on 17 May by two regular army brigades, in June the first elements of Z Force arrived from Canada to relieve the British, who immediately returned to the defence of the UK. On 7 July 1941, the defence of Iceland was transferred from Britain to the United States, by agreement with Iceland, icelands strategic position along the North Atlantic sea-lanes, perfect for air and naval bases, could bring new importance to the island. Iceland cooperated with the British and then the Americans, but officially remained neutral throughout World War II, during the war, drifting mines became a serious problem for Icelanders, as well as the Allied forces. The first Icelandic Explosive Ordnance Disposal personnel were trained in 1942 by the British Royal Navy to help deal with the problem, the British forces also supplied the Icelandic Coast Guard with weapons and ammunition, such as depth-charges against Axis U-boats. During the war, drifting mines and German U-boats damaged and sank a number of Icelandic vessels, icelands reliance on the sea, to provide nourishment and for trade, resulted in significant loss of life. In 1944, British Naval Intelligence built a group of five Marconi wireless direction-finding stations on the coast west of Reykjavík, the stations were part of a ring of similar groups located around the North Atlantic to locate wireless transmissions from U-boats. On 10 February 1944, German Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor from the I. /KG40, stationed in Norway, on 17 June 1944, Iceland dissolved its union with Denmark and the Danish monarchy and declared itself a republic. Approximately 230 Icelanders lives were lost in World War II hostilities, most were killed on cargo and fishing vessels sunk by German aircraft, U-boats or mines. The presence of British and American troops in Iceland had a impact on the country
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Invasion of Iceland
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The invasion of Iceland, codenamed Operation Fork, was a British military operation conducted by the Royal Navy and Royal Marines during World War II to occupy and deny Iceland to Germany. At the start of the war, Britain imposed strict controls on Icelandic goods, preventing profitable shipments to Germany. Britain offered assistance to Iceland, seeking cooperation as a belligerent and an ally, the German diplomatic presence in Iceland, along with the islands strategic importance, alarmed the British. After failing to persuade the Icelandic government to join the Allies, the initial force of 746 British Royal Marines commanded by Colonel Robert Sturges disembarked at the capital Reykjavík. Meeting no resistance, the troops moved quickly to disable communication networks, secure strategic locations, requisitioning local transport, the troops moved to Hvalfjörður, Kaldaðarnes, Sandskeið, and Akranes to secure landing areas against the possibility of a German counterattack. In 1918, after a period of Danish rule, Iceland had become an independent state in personal union with Denmark. The newly born Kingdom of Iceland declared itself a country without a defence force. The treaty of union allowed for a revision to begin in 1941, by 1928, all Icelandic political parties were in agreement that the union treaty would be terminated as soon as possible. On 9 April 1940, German forces launched Operation Weserübung, invading both Norway and Denmark, Denmark was subdued within a day and occupied. Iceland was invited to join Britain in the war as a belligerent, the Icelandic government rejected the offer. On 12 April, in Operation Valentine, the British took over the Faroe Islands, following the German invasion of Denmark and Norway, the British government became increasingly concerned that Germany would soon try to establish a military presence in Iceland. They felt that this would constitute a threat to British control of the North Atlantic. Just as importantly, the British were eager to obtain bases in Iceland for themselves to strengthen their Northern Patrol, planning conquest of Iceland for next week. As the military situation in Norway deteriorated, the Admiralty came to the conclusion that Britain could no longer do without bases in Iceland, on 6 May, Winston Churchill presented the case to the War Cabinet. Churchill maintained that if negotiations with the Icelandic government were attempted. A surer and more effective solution was to land troops unannounced, the War Cabinet approved the plan. The expedition was organized hastily and haphazardly, much of the operational planning was conducted en route. The force was supplied with few maps, most of poor quality, no one in the expedition was fully fluent in the Icelandic language
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Iceland in the Cold War
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In 1986, Iceland hosted a summit in Reykjavík between United States President Ronald Reagan and Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev, during which they took significant steps toward nuclear disarmament. Five years later, in 1991, Iceland became the first country to recognize the independence of Estonia, Latvia. Early in World War II, the neutral Kingdom of Iceland had declined an offer of British protection. A month after the occupation of Denmark by Nazi Germany in 1940, in 1941, the British arranged for the United States to take over occupation of the country so that British troops could be used in other arenas of the war. After pressure from the British, the Icelandic government eventually agreed to US occupation, the United States supported the founding of the Republic of Iceland in 1944 and promised to withdraw its troops once the war ended, but failed to do so when Nazi Germany was defeated in 1945. As World War II was winding down, the United States tried to persuade Icelandic statesmen to agree to permanent American military basing in Iceland, the pro-Western Icelandic Prime Minister Ólafur Thors considered such an agreement impossible at the time due to public opposition. When the Americans made a formal basing request in October 1945, in September 1946, the United States and Iceland negotiated over a more moderate basing agreement. These negotiation concluded on 7 October 1946, as the so-called Keflavík Agreement was signed, the US would be allowed to keep civilian staff in the country to oversee military shipping to mainland Europe. The agreement was passed into law by the Althing with 32 votes against 19, all 20 MPs from the Independence Party supported the agreement along with six each from the Progressive Party and the Social Democratic Party. These latter two also had MPs who voted against the agreement. Every MP from the Socialist Party voted against the agreement,500 people protested against this agreement. The headquarters for the Independence Party was attacked with rocks and protesters tried to storm the building while the Independence Party held a meeting indoors, in the wake of this rift, the Cold War shaped Icelandic politics for the next decades. A sense of global turmoil and internal threat led Icelandic statesmen to reconsider Icelands security arrangements. The Czechoslovak coup détat in February 1948 made the world seem less peaceful, the Icelandic coalition government of the Independence Party, the centrist Progressive Party and the Social Democrats began to look for security guarantees for Iceland. Basing US military on Icelandic soil was domestically unfeasible at the time, when negotiations for a Scandinavian Defense Union fell apart, Iceland followed Denmark and Norway into NATO. The Althing approved Icelands NATO membership on 30 March 1949 with 37 votes against 13, the Socialist Party was the only Icelandic political party opposed to NATO membership. Large protests occurred outside of Parliament on Lækjartorg and Austurvöllur in downtown Reykjavík, fighting broke out and soon escalated into a riot, police assaulted dispersed them with tear gas. 12 persons needed medical care, including six seriously injured policeman,20 individuals were sentenced for their part in the riots but none of them sentenced to prison
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Cod Wars
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The Cod Wars were a series of confrontations between the United Kingdom and Iceland regarding fishing rights in the North Atlantic. Each of the disputes ended with Icelands victory, as a result, British fishing communities lost access to rich areas and were devastated, with thousands of jobs lost. Since 1982, a 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone has been the United Nations standard, the term cod war was coined by a British journalist in early September 1958. None of the Cod Wars meets any of the thresholds for a conventional war, though. There is only one confirmed death during the Cod Wars, an Icelandic engineer accidentally killed in the Second Cod War while repairing damage on an Icelandic gunboat, a variety of explanations for the occurrence of the Cod Wars have been put forward. Lessons drawn from the Cod Wars have been applied to international relations theory, fishermen from the British Isles began to fish in international waters near Iceland in and around 1400. From the early 16th century onwards, English sailors and fishermen were a presence in the waters off Iceland. Some Icelandic historians view the history of Icelands struggle for control of its resources in ten episodes. The first of these Cod Wars was a dispute between Norway and England in 1415–1425 over the trading with Iceland, which was in violation of Norways monopoly on the Icelandic trade. This dispute ended when the English arrested Eric of Pomeranias officials in Iceland, the agreement reached in 1976 is considered the final and tenth Cod War. With increases in range of fishing enabled by steam power in the part of the 19th century. Their large catches in Icelandic waters attracted more regular voyages across the North Atlantic, in 1893, the Danish Government, which had governed Iceland and the Faroe Islands, claimed a fishing limit of 50 nmi around their shores. British trawler owners disputed this claim and continued to send their ships to the waters near Iceland, in 1896 the United Kingdom made an agreement with Denmark which allowed for British vessels to use any Icelandic port for shelter, provided they stowed their gear and trawl nets. In return, British vessels were not to fish in Faxa Bay east of a line from Ílunýpa, in April 1899 the steam trawler Caspian was fishing off the Faroe Islands when a Danish gunboat tried to arrest her for allegedly fishing illegally inside the limits. The trawler refused to stop and was fired upon, eventually the trawler was caught but, before the skipper left his ship to go aboard the Danish gunboat, he ordered the mate to make a dash for it after he went on to the Danish ship. The Caspian set off at full speed, the gunboat fired several shots at the unarmed boat but could not catch up with the trawler, which returned heavily damaged to Grimsby, England. On board the Danish gunboat, the skipper of the Caspian was lashed to the mast, a court held at Thorshavn convicted him on several counts, including illegal fishing and attempted assault, and he was jailed for thirty days. The issue was left largely unresolved, the reduction in fishing activity brought about by the hostilities of the First World War effectively ended the dispute for a time
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Geography of Iceland
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Iceland has extensive volcanic and geothermal activity. The rift associated with the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which marks the division between the Eurasian Plate and North American tectonic plates, runs across Iceland from the southwest to the northeast and this geographic feature is prominent at the Þingvellir National Park, where the promontory creates an extraordinary natural amphitheatre. The site was the home of Icelands parliament, the Alþing and it is a common misconception that Þingvellir are at the juncture between the North American and Eurasian continental plates. However, they are in fact at the juncture of the North American continental plate, about half of Icelands land area, which is of recent volcanic origin, consists of a mountainous lava desert and other wasteland. Around 10.2 per cent of the land area is covered by glaciers. Twenty per cent of the land is used for grazing, while only 1 per cent is cultivated, Iceland has lost most of the woodland that previously covered large areas of the country, but an ambitious reforestation programme is currently underway. Today, however, there are small patches of the original birch forests left. The inhabited areas are on the coast, particularly in the southwest, while the highlands are all. Because of the Gulf Streams moderating influence, the climate is characterized by damp, cool summers and relatively mild, reykjavík has an average temperature of 12 °C in July and 1 °C in January. The closest are the Balleny Islands off Antarctica, claimed by New Zealand, the antipodes of the northernmost of these, Young Island, lie between Flatey and Grímsey Islands off the north central Icelandic coast, about 10 km from either. A geologically young land, Iceland is located on both the Iceland hotspot and the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, which runs right through it, the island is composed primarily of basalt, a low-silica lava associated with effusive volcanism as has occurred also in Hawaii. Iceland, however, has a variety of types, many producing more evolved lavas such as rhyolite and andesite. Iceland has hundreds of volcanoes with approx, media related to Geography of Iceland at Wikimedia Commons
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Climate of Iceland
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The climate of Iceland is subarctic near the southern coastal area and tundra inland in the highlands. The island lies in the path of the North Atlantic Current and this effect is aided by the Irminger Current, which also helps to moderate the island’s temperature. The weather in Iceland can be notoriously variable, the aurora borealis is often visible at night time during the winter. The Icelandic winter is mild for its latitude. The southerly lowlands of the average around 0 °C in winter. The lowest temperatures in the part of the island range from around −25 to −30 °C. The lowest temperature on record is −39.7 °C, the average July temperature in the southern part of the island is 10–13 °C. Warm summer days can reach 20–25 °C, the highest temperature recorded was 30.5 °C at the Eastern fjords in 1939. Annual average sunshine hours in Reykjavík are around 1300, which is similar to towns in Scotland and Ireland, the prevailing wind direction is easterly. Generally speaking, wind speeds tend to be higher in the highlands, wind speed in the lowlands reaches 18 m/s on 10-20 days per year but upwards of 50 days per year at places in the highlands. The strongest measured 10 minute sustained wind speed is 62.5 m/s, heavy dust storms can be generated by strong glacial winds, and can be very strong. Up to 10 t of material can be in motion per transect per hour and these storms are very frequent in the early summer in the arid highland areas north of the Vatnajökull glacier. Thunderstorms are extremely rare in Iceland, with fewer than five storms per year in the part of the island. They are most common in early or late summertime and they can be caused by warm air masses coming up from the continent, or deep lows from the southwest in wintertime. Lightning can usually be observed in connection with ash plumes erupting from the island’s volcanoes, there is a persistent area of low pressure near Iceland known as the Icelandic Low, found between Iceland and Greenland. This area affects the amount of air brought into the Arctic to the east, and it is part of a greater pressure system known as the North Atlantic Oscillation
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Geology of Iceland
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The geology of Iceland is unique and of particular interest to geologists. Iceland lies on the divergent boundary between the Eurasian plate and the North American plate. It also lies above a hotspot, the Iceland plume, which is believed to have caused the formation of Iceland itself, the result is an island characterised by repeated volcanism and geothermal phenomena such as geysers. This caused crop failures in Europe and may have caused droughts in India, the eruption has been estimated to have killed over six million people globally, making it one of the deadliest volcanoes, with Tambora being number one. In the period 1965 to 1969 the new island of Surtsey was created on the southwest coast by a volcanic eruption and these Pliocene and late Pleistocene deposits are composed of silt and sandstones, with fossils preserved in the lower layers. The primary fossil types found in the Tjörnes beds are marine mollusc shells, vegetational changes Past climate Origin of the strata Fossil preservation The tectonic structure of Iceland is characterized by various seismically and volcanically active centers. Iceland is bordered to the south by the Reykjanes Ridge segment of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, rifting in the southern part of Iceland is focused in two main parallel rift zones. The Reykjanes Peninsula Rift in SW Iceland is the continuation of the Reykjanes Ridge that connects to the Western Volcanic Zone. The more active Eastern Volcanic Zone represents a rift jump, although it is unclear how the propagation of the main rifting activity has occurred. The offset between the WVZ and the EVZ is accommodated by the South Iceland Seismic Zone, a characterized by high earthquake activity. The EVZ transitions northward into the Northern Volcanic Zone, which contains Krafla volcano, the NVZ is connected to the Kolbeinsey Ridge by the Tjörnes Fracture Zone, another major center of seismicity and deformation. Glaciers cover approximately 11% of Iceland, the largest of which is Vatnajökull, as many glaciers overlie active volcanoes, subglacial eruptions can pose hazards due to sudden floods produced by glacial meltwater, known as jökulhlaups. Icelandic glaciers have generally been retreating over the past 100 years, with Vatnajökull having lost as much as 10% of its volume. G
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Highlands of Iceland
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The Highlands of Iceland cover most of the interior of Iceland. This results largely in a surface of grey, black or brown earth, lava, a few oasis-like areas, such as Herðubreiðarlindir near Askja, are found only in proximity to rivers. Most of the glaciers, such as Vatnajökull, Langjökull and Hofsjökull, are also part of the Icelandic Highlands. Vegetation is only found on the shores of the glacier rivers, there is also the danger of glacier runs. Some of the most interesting parts of Iceland with volcanic activity are to be found in the Highlands, such as Landmannalaugar, the Highlands can be crossed only during the Icelandic summer). For the rest of the year the roads are closed. The best known highland roads are Kaldidalur, Kjölur and Sprengisandur, most highland roads require four-wheel drive vehicles, because it is necessary to ford rivers. However, the Kjölur route can easily be traversed in a car and is therefore one of the more popular highland roads. Off-road driving is forbidden entirely in Iceland where there is no snow, including the Highlands, volcanology of Iceland Media related to Highlands of Iceland at Wikimedia Commons Photos from www. islandsmyndir. is Photos and information Actual road conditions
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Regions of Iceland
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The regions of Iceland are mainly used for statistical purposes. The district court jurisdictions also follow these divisions, the postal code system follows the regions as well, with a few exceptions. Prior to 2003, the regions were used as overall constituencies in certain parliamentary elections. Excluding its usage in collecting statistics, particularly census data. Other major changes have also included, such as the redistribution of over twenty subdivisions. These regions are not defined by law and have no standing or administrative function. The countrys healthcare program is divided into seven districts and these regions mostly correspond to those detailed below, although a few updates have yet to be fully implemented. For example, settlements in the Norðurland have suffered minor effects from the merger of the Northwest and Northeast into a single group, farthings of Iceland Municipalities of Iceland Constituencies of Iceland Subdivisions of the Nordic countries
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Volcanology of Iceland
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The volcano system in Iceland that started activity on August 17,2014, and ended on February 27,2015, is Bárðarbunga. The volcano in Iceland that erupted in May 2011 is Grímsvötn, Iceland has a high concentration of active volcanoes due to its location on the mid-Atlantic Ridge, a divergent tectonic plate boundary, and also due to its location over a hot spot. The island has 30 active volcanic systems, of which 13 have erupted since the settlement of Iceland in AD874, of these 30 active volcanic systems, the most active/volatile is Grímsvötn. Over the past 500 years, Icelands volcanoes have erupted a third of the total global lava output, the most fatal volcanic eruption of Icelands history was the so-called Skaftáreldar in 1783-84. The eruption was in the crater row Lakagígar southwest of Vatnajökull glacier, the craters are a part of a larger volcanic system with the subglacial Grímsvötn as a central volcano. Roughly a quarter of the Icelandic nation died because of the eruption, the 1783 eruption in Lakagígar is thought to have erupted the largest quantity of lava from a single eruption in historic times. The eruption under Eyjafjallajökull in 2010 was notable because the ash plume disrupted air travel in northern Europe for several weeks. In the past, eruptions of Eyjafjallajökull have been followed by eruption of the larger volcano Katla and this resulted in multiple lava fountain eruptions in Holuhraun. Lava flow was between 250 and 350 cubic meters per second and came from a dyke over 40 km long, there was very limited ash output from this eruption unlike numerous glacial eruptions which are common in Iceland. The primary concern with this eruption was the large plumes of sulphur dioxide in the atmosphere which adversely affected breathing conditions across Iceland, the smooth flowing basaltic lava pāhoehoe is in Iceland called helluhraun. It forms rather flat surfaces that are easy to pass. On the other hand, there is less flowing lava, ʻaʻā, the loose, broken, sharp, spiny surface of an ʻaʻā flow makes hiking difficult and slow
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Politics of Iceland
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Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and parliament, the Althingi, the Judiciary is independent of the executive and the legislature. It is arguably the worlds oldest assembly democracy, elected to a four-year term, the president has limited powers and is poised in a largely ceremonial office that serves as a diplomat and figurehead. The prime minister and cabinet exercise most executive functions, the head of government is the prime minister, who, together with the cabinet, takes care of the executive part of government. Only when the party leaders are unable to reach a conclusion by themselves in time does the president exercise this power. This has never happened since the republic was founded in 1944, the regent had, for all practical purposes, the position of a president, and Sveinn in fact became the countrys first president in 1944. The president is elected every four years, the cabinet is elected every four years, the modern parliament, called Althing or Alþingi, was founded in 1845 as an advisory body to the Danish king. It was widely seen as a reestablishment of the founded in 930 in the Commonwealth period. The Althing is composed of 63 members, elected every 4 years unless it is dissolved sooner, suffrage for presidential and parliamentary elections is 18 years of age and is universal. Members of the Althing are elected on the basis of representation from six constituencies. Until 1991, membership of the Althing was divided between a lower and upper house but this was changed to a unicameral system. Ólafur Ragnar successfully has used his largely ceremonial office to promote Icelandic trade abroad, the next presidential elections will be held in June 2020. The last parliamentary elections took place on April 27,2013, the ruling government was the first majority left-wing government. The ruling coalition parties, the Social Democrats and the Left-Green Movement lost 18 seats in Alþingi, the Progressive party was the largest party after the election and formed a coalition with the Independence Party. A total of 193,792 votes were cast constituting 81. 4% of the 237,957 electorate, in losing four seats in the April 1995 parliamentary elections, the IP and SDP mustered a simple majority in the 63-seat Althing. However, Prime Minister and IP leader Davíð Oddsson chose the resurgent Progressive Party as a more conservative partner to form a stronger and more stable majority with 40 seats. Splintered by factionalism over the economy and Icelands role in the European Union, the beginning of the millennium saw a merger of all the left parties to form the Social Democratic Alliance. Some members chose to join another new left party instead, the Left-Green Movement, after the PPs loss in the 2007 elections its longstanding alliance with the IP ended despite still being able to form a majority
