Monday Ice: Dinner and Song

I am constantly amazed how many Icelanders sing...maybe that is their secret to happiness.

Edward Getley is entertained after dinner by his hosts on Westman Island.

Cellphone Vid- Westman Island, Iceland - June 2014 from Edward Getley on Vimeo.

Monday Ice: Mottu Mars

It is Mottumars, the time when facial hair on men is exalted,  known as movember elsewhere, money here is raised for cancer research...and in Iceland of course you must have singing!

Hraustir menn from Purkur on Vimeo.

Monday Ice: Sing, sing a song, all day long.

For your viewing pleasure, an Icelandic male choir in action, very enjoyable.

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http://plusfilm.is/

Singing Icelanders

Singing in Iceland is a big thing and I have talked about it before here, everyone seems to give it a go and most seem to have great voices.

So it is no surprise that these three lads Steini, Pétur and Bjarni from Iceland were so well received by the crowd in Berlin at the Bearpit Karaoke.

A horse is a horse of course of course!

The horse still plays a big part in Icelandic life and is very much a revered part of Icelandic culture, so to pay tribute to the horse on Saturday night we attended a Hrossablót.  This was a meal where every course served was horse...it was amazing and so delicious, the horse/foal so tender that it pretty much just melted in the mouth.

First course was  Marinerað hross með salati og kryddjurtum frá Jónínu

Translation: Marinated horse with salad and herbs from Jónínu (a lady's garden)

Second course was Heitreykt folaldafille með rauðrófum og sveppaseyði

 

Translation: Smoked foal fillet with beetroot and a mushroom sauce

This was absolutely delicious...I loved the smoked flavour.

Third course was Reykt folalatunga með piparrótarfroðu og stökku rúgbrauði

 

Translation: Smoked foal tongue with horseradish and rye crisp bread

Main meal was Hægeldaðar hrossalundir og rusty vafnar folaldalundir með grænmeti og timíansósu

 

Translation: Slow cooked horse (meat from under the spine) and woven rosti (potato) around the foal (meat from under the spine) with vegetable and thyme sauce

Dessert was Kaplamjólkur þrenna, ís, brulleé og mousse

 

Translation: Mares milk trio,  Icecream, Brulleé and mousse

all superb!

In between each course we were provided entertainment Icelandic style which consisted of funny speeches with libations to the horse, silly joke songs and group singing of traditional Icelandic folk songs.  

A fun evening had by all who attended even those who could not understand a word of what was going on.  Horse is pretty much now my favourite meat.

P.S. I have decided to not continue on with Monday Ice as all my blogs from now on will be pretty much Iceland related.

Monday Ice: Everyday life singing

Singing is a national past time in Iceland, people break out in song on a regular basis especially at social gatherings such as the community celebration of Þorrablót and most towns no matter how small seem to have a choir of some description. Of course at Christmas time these choirs come out in force and last year I was able to witness the beautiful melodic voices of one in Sauðárkrókur.  I also fondly remember a group of guests at Ross and Olga's wedding breaking into song at Reykir in the evening after the barbecue. 

Apparently there are approximately 87 music schools scattered around Iceland, for such a small country this is quite a number.

This first video is one I found on Google videos and I know people tell me that Iceland's population is small and everybody is related somehow and that there is much less than 6 degrees of separation in Iceland.  Well imagine my surprise when I recognised most of the participants in this video of a family reunion singing old Icelandic songs in a tent on a mountain...my daughter inlaw Olga is front and centre surrounded by her family, many of whom I met earlier this year.

Sigga please let me know where and when this was...I spied Anja there also!

The next one is of a group of horsemen and women singing and drinking, before they saddle up for the final stage of the horse roundup in Skagafjördur. 

Horses riding must stimulate some music nerve endings... so here are a couple more.

And to finish off here is an old icelandic song played on a traditional Icelandic instrument.

Another Þorrablót

Well on Saturday night I attended the town's Þorrablót. Besides the traditional Icelandic food which you have all read about in a previous blog, this also had lots of singing, jokes, music and dancing, plus big screen with a slideshow of historic and contemporary photographs of the town and its residents. Also on TV that night was the final voting selection of the Icelandic entrant in the 2010 Eurovision song contest and there was even a live cross to this Saudarkroker Þorrablót on the show.

The event was held in the sports arena and was packed with over 500 of the towns folk. This year the organization committee were those born in 1957, next year it is the 1958ers turn...as this is my year who knows I may end up on the committee if I am here. The food and alcohol were BYO.

Every Icelandic household has at least one of these wooden trays which the BYO food was brought to the event on. I have seen heaps of these at the local supermarket and had wondered why they would have a big market for such an item...now I know!

The entertainment was provided in the form of speeches and comedy send ups of local personalities and events that happened during the previous year. The jokes must have been good as everyone laughed continuously.

This is a picture shown on the big screen of Olga's amma's (Kristin) house that I am staying in at the moment...it originally belonged to her husband's parents....since this photo there has been a small extension to the right. The little white house in the picture that heads this blog is what it looks like today. (Sorry about the headshot)
This is a photo of the main street that I am staying on back around the early 1900's, many of the houses are still standing today.

Here are a of short, poor quality videos from my little camera....but it will give you the idea what the whole evening was like....there was lots of singing like this throughout the event. The tune is very familiar on the first video but the words are different....I think our version maybe A Bicycle Built for Two.

Here is one of the finalists for the Icelandic entrant in the Eurovision song festival. This young man lives in the area and we were requested to vote for him with the promise that if he won he would come to the town and sing for free. Unfortunately that won't happen as he was the runner up.

The evening finished off with several hours of dancing till around 3am.