ELOQUENT DECEMBER

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LAND O Sometimes vulnerable, sometimes mystical,an fascinating culture and the most important Ic sagas, which help to hold up the tradition of s are mostly proud of is the heritage of sagas, pros The country of Iceland is also a land of contrasts; there is the modern capital city Reykjavik, the developed infrastructure, high living standard and on the other side Icelandic language, which has not changed very much since its beginnings. Icelanders are able to read and understand the sagas. The language is one of the things making Iceland still so remote and charming for travelers that visit. To master the language means opening up new gates introducing Icelandic culture, its history and traditions. “The Icelandic language creates a microcosm and a strange universe in some ways. It is self-sufficient and self-contained, but still very open for influence,” says Mr. Magnason, a novelist. Literature is probably the most enhanced term among arts operating in the cities of Iceland. In 2011 Reykjavik was declared a city of literature by UNES- CO. Fourteen selected benches throughout the capital now offer listenings to readings from authors of the Icelandic literature. The magic happens after scanning the QR-codes placed somewhere on the benches. A report from BBC states there are more books published and read per person than anywhere else in the world. “A city is so much more than just houses and streets. Not least, a city is the writings that have grown out of its soil.” 10 <strong>ELOQUENT</strong> - Pétur Gunnarsson – writer and former President of the Writer‘s Union of Iceland. Among all, let’s not forget about the magical stories about elves and trolls people still believe in. It is tought the stories of elves and trolls have roots in the times of settlers, Vikings, who invented them to double the population back then. Elves - Huldufólk - are hidden everywhere. Tiny wooden houses called álfhól are built for the elves to live in them. Road builders protect the elves; there is always a consultation with and elf expert before the builders embark on building a new rode, which could cross a way of an outcropping where the elves live. In Vík there are trolls “frozen in time in the shape of rock formation”. The folklore explains the trolls were dragging ships ashore. Unfortunately, the sunlight turned them into stone and they became a part of the shore. Dimmuborgir, in other words “Dark Cities” is another location of trolls being stoned by daylight. This time, however, the trolls partied too much for too long and well, parties can really get out of control sometimes. The trolls now form lava pillars. This is not the end of elves and trolls, indeed. 24th December is the day of celebrating Christmas and the celebrations go on for thirteen days. Instead of one Santa, there are thirteen! To be more specific, thirteen trolls, Yule Lads, coming one after another starting on 12th December. Each one of the trolls carries a small gift and puts it in the finest, coolest, best shoe ever a child has prepared and left in the window. The fun is not over yet whatsoever. Every member of a household must ensure to get a new piece of clothing. If not, there is no way out. They will be eaten by the malicious Christmas Cat. There was a man who visited many countries in the world. The man was once asked what he learned from his travels. One of his statements was:
F ICE d always wondrous land of ice and fire, with elandic literary works, about 1000-year-old torytelling. It is said what Icelandic people e epics, taking place in the age of settlements. “wherever you go, people are really exactly the same. Except in Iceland, those people are totally crazy.” Dark days, light nights, ponysized horses, volcanoes, happy people who convert the shadows of stones into stories that make kids fall asleep at night. This is all part of Iceland, yet there is much more to explore under the layers of ice covering the Icelanding ground. - Réka Tündöková HISTORY Irish monks came in the 8th century. A Viking man named Naddoddur got lost and found himself in Iceland so the monks were kicked out by Vikings in the 9th century. Floki Vilgeroason, a Norwegian settler gave the name to the land “Iceland”. Ingolfur Arnarson explored the island, named the place where he settled Reykjavik, meaning Smokey Bay. Althing, assembly of people, was created. The nation spread, there were about 600 000 people living by the year 930. In the 11th century missionaries were coming to Iceland, Christianity became the official religion, to worship gods in private was allowed. Norwegian archbishop became the authority of Iceland’s church, as a consequence, Iceland was under the Norwegian king’s crown. Denmark and Norway were united, therefore Iceland was ruled by Danish. There were land devastations because of a volcanic eruption in 1783. Althing was replaced by a new law court. Song O Guo vors was a display of nationalism in 1874. Fishing became more prosperous, rowing boats were switched to decked sailing ships. In 1918 Iceland gained sovereignty and shared the monarchy with Denmark. Icelandic women were allowed to vote in 1915, in 1922 first woman was elected to Althing. In 1944 Iceland became independent from Denmark. In1949 Iceland joined NATO. In 1980 Vigdís Finnbogadóttir was elected the first woman president in the world. In 2008 Iceland’s 3 main banks were “too-big-not-to-fail”, according to Matt O’Brien’s words. Eventually, everything turned out well for Iceland. <strong>ELOQUENT</strong> 11
Page 1: DECEMBER 7,2015 ISSUE NO. 1 ELOQUEN
Page 4 and 5: ELOQUENT THE MAGAZINE OF EVANJELICK
Page 6 and 7: TURKEY PARTY ´15 LÝCEUM LIFE W e
Page 8 and 9: LÝCEUM LIFE We sat down with Profe
Page 12 and 13: OFF TO THE LAND OF OPPORTUNITY Ever
Page 14 and 15: PERSONAL ESSAY High school seniors
Page 16 and 17: Top 5: SCANDINAVIAN UNIVERSITIES Wh
Page 18: Special Thanks to THE FREDELLS We d

ELOQUENT DECEMBER

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