Júniform design

Júniform is one of our best known in Iceland, espesially be the girls. The girl who designs names Birna Björnsdóttir. She is a Icelandic fashion disigner working under her current label Júniform. Her shop/studio is located on Hverfisgata 39 in Reykjavík, Iceland. She only designs one item of each garment so if you buy on garment so if you buy on e no one has the same as you.

The Icelandic woolsweater

The woolsweaters are very popular in Iceland. The wool that is used to do one of those are wool sheeps.

Festivals and Holidays

Christmas : We celebrate Christmas on the 24 th of December. That day is called Aðfangadagur. Christmas officially begins at six o´clock and at that time some people go to church and after that they eat their christmas dinner, that is normally something very fancy, for example pork with everything that goes with it. After dinner we open up our presents that have been waiting for us under the christmas tree the whole day. Then people just relax with their family admiring their presents and whatch television

New Years Eve : Icelandic people break a record every year in spending money to buy fireworks to blow up at midnight. At half past 10 there is an annual comic show on TV that almost everyone in Iceland watch were icelandic actors make fun of the things that have happened in the year that is coming to an end. After the show people go out to watch the beautiful fireworks that light up the dark winter sky. Afterwards people go back inside and have champagne and celebrate with their family. Most young people go out and party with their friends until the morning comes.

17. Júni / !7th of June : It’s our independence day here in Iceland. We are celibrating the birthday of the man who kept us alive in the struggle to get independance from Denmark. Every year at 17th of June there are parades all over the country, people have balloons, there are outside concerts and we eat cotton candy among other things.

Verslunarmannahelgin : It is a long weekend in the beginning of august. It is the biggest traveling weekend of the year. The most popular destination is Vestmannaeyjar, which is a island right outside of Iceland. There is a packed programme filled with music, dancing and joy. There is also a sport festival somewere in Iceland, the location is variable.

Sumardagurinn fyrsti – First day of summer
This day stands for the beginning of summer. We have a day off at school this day and it is always on Thursdays. It is a part of the old Icelandic calander. There is, in some places, a planned program, some times sport activities and more.
Some people exchange little presents called ”sumargjafir” or sommergifts but not everyone do that.

Páskar – Easter
We always have Easter-holiday and it is about 10 days, for people in school but often a little shorter for working people. There are a few days that are legal holidays when everyone have a day off. Icelanders eat easter eggs og easter day that are eggs made of chockolate. This is a very holy day in Iceland.

-Hjördís og Gréta

Jökulsárlón

Jökulsárlón is the largest glacial lake in Iceland. It is located at the south end of the glacier Vatnajökull which is the largest glacier in whole Europe. The lake is connected to the sea. Since the glacier is melting the lake is filled with large icebergs which are coming down from the Vatnajökull. You have to be carefull in the sumertine because lots of seagulls have their nests at the ground around the lake.

Kerið

Kerið is a volcanic crater lake in South Iceland. The land collapsed following a volcanic erruption which created several volcanic lakes in this area. It is quite a lot vegetation on its walls which are out of red volcanic rock. You can easily walk down to the lake which is depending on rainfall between seven and ten meters deep.

The Blue Lagoon

The Blue Lagoon is a geothermal spa which is one of the most visited attractions in Iceland. It is situated in a lava field in Grindavík in Reykjanes. The water is very warm on average 40°C and it is coming out of a nearby geothermal power plant. It is very healthy to have a bath in the Blue Lagoon because the water is rich of minerals which have an healing effect on the skin.

Þingvellir National Park

Þingvellir is in the sothwest of Iceland and one of the most important places in Icelandic history. In 930 the Alþingi, the first Icelandic parliament was founded there. People gathered there every year to discuss and decide about laws. In June 1944 the independence of the Republic of Iceland was proclaimed at this place.
There are a lot of earthquakes in this area because there is the continental drift of two tectonic plates (american and euroasian).
It is situated at Icelands largest lake called Þingvallavatn which has a lot of different kinds of fish in it and very clear water.

Vestmannaeyjar

The Westman Islands are a group of small islands in the South of Iceland. Only the largest one called Heimaey is inhabited. About 4100 people live there. On these islands there is a lot of fishing industry and bird hunting. It is the largest puffin colony in the world. Over 10.000 000 puffins live there. The Westman Islands are a true volcano world, with three volcano eruptions, first to mention is Helgafell or Holy mountain then Surtsey and the famous volcano Eldfell. There are a lot of people coming to Vestmannaeyjar to play golf. On the first weekend in august there is a famous music festival where a lot of people gather to enjoy the incredible atmosphere.

Icelandic movies

The first official movie, made in Iceland by Icelandic people was “Milli fjalls og fjöru” wich means “Between the mountain and the shore”. It premiered January 14th 1949 and was directed by Loftur Guðmundsson. Since then over a hundred Icelandic full-length movies have been made and distributed along with numbrous tv shows, short films, documentaries and so on.
Icelandic people love to go to the movies and get excited when a new Icelandic film comes out. The most popular film in theatres in 2006 vas “Mýrin” or “The swamp” wich is based on Arnaldur Indriðason’s novel. He is known world wide for his detective stories. 81.580 people saw the film, that is about 25 % of all the people in the country.

Info about icelandic directors and actors if you are interested:

Baltasar Kormákur (director) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0466349/
Dagur Kári (director) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0477597/
Ingvar E. Sigurðsson (actor) http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0797614/



On www.cduniverse.com you can buy Icelandic movies such as 101 Reykjavik and Sea by Baltasar Kormákur, Noi by Dagur Kári and many more.


-Arna Lara

Hekla

Hekla

Hekla is a stratovolcano located in the south of Iceland. The height of it is 1488 m. It is the most active volcano in Iceland. Since 874 there has been over 20 outbreaks in the volcano. Hekla is part og a volcanic ridge which is 40 km long. However, the most active part of this ridge, about 5,5 km long is considered to be the volcano Hekla proper. Hekla looks like an overturned boat, with its keel being in fact a series of craters, two of which are generallt the most active.

Sheep gathering

When the sheep have lambs in the spring the farmer put special marks in the ear on the lamb. They also cut in the ears so they can recognise their livestock again. When the lambs are big enough they are put outside with their mothers. There they can be a part of the summer. In they later part of the summer the sheep are tout in the stable again so the farmer can choose the fattest and the healthiest to be send to the highlands. There can they get some fresh grass, because the grass grows slower in the highlands. But it can be tough to be in the highlands. So when the people go there in the autumn, to get their sheep back, there are always some sheep missing.
To go in the highlands to get the sheep is lot of fun but very hard. You can get all kind of weather and you are on a horse the whole day. The people who go longest are ten days and are very tired when they come back. Many of the people who go have a dog with them to help with the touting.
After the sheep are back from the mountains the farmers have to find their own sheep again, because there can be thousand of sheep from all the farmers in the area. That day is called “Réttir” in Icelandic.
That day all the sheep are put inside a big fence. Out from the big fence there are many small fences. Every farmer has their own fence to put their sheep in when they have got them back.
Then the farmers tout their sheep home. After the day everybody is very hungry so a delicious soup is made. It is called “kjötsúpa” or meat soup. All night long the people sing and have lot of fun.

Andrea

Name: My name is Andrea Guðmundsdóttir.

Age: I am born in 30’th of may 1991 so I’m 17 years old.

Home: I live in Nauthólar, in Selfoss.

Family: I live with my mother(Ingibjörg), father (Guðmundur) and my sister (María Dögg), I also have I little dog who’s name is Nala.

Work: I’m in school so I work in Bónus every other weekend.

Interests/hobbies: I love music, language, travelling, meeting new people and more.

Chinese symbol: Goat.

Interested in China because it’s so much more different than Iceland. I want to learn the language and I’m very curious about the country and the people.

Personal website/blog: www.myspace.com/andreagudmunds

Icelandic art

Icelandic art

Erró is one of the best known artist in Iceland. His real name is Gudmundur Gudmundsson, he‘s born on 19 July 1932 in Olafsvik, in north-western Iceland. For his artwork he uses characters from cartoons. For example:

http://www.gkm.se/erro/

Ólafur Elíasson was born in Copenhagen, Denmark in 1967. He is a Danish/Icelandic artist, noted for his exhibition exhibition The Weather Project at the Tate Modern, London, in 2003. That same year, he also represented Denmark at the Venice Biennale. His artwork is very modern. For example:

http://www.olafureliasson.net/selected_works.html

Ásgrímur Jónsson (1876 - 1958) is one of the progenitor in Icelandic artwork and was the first of the artist to do visual art to primary occupation. Ásgrímur was born on 4. March in 1876 in Suðurkot, Rútsstaðarhverfi in Flóa. Here you can see his art:

http://www.listasafn.is/?i=91

Kjarval (1885 - 1972) is one of the most famous artist in Icelandic art history. His real name is Jóhannes Sveinsson Kjarval and was born on Efti-Ey in Meðallandi. Kjarval was with his own style and portrayted landscapes pictures.

The vikings

The vikings traveled around the sea from Norway, Denmark and Sweden. They lived on the viking century from 800-1100 and most of them where farmers and had a family. They lived on farming and had cows and sheep and hunted fish with a net and harpoon. They had many hobbies like chess, singing ,saying poems and entertaining others with magic tricks.
on summer the swam in springs and lakes and on winter the went skiing.

They sailed to different countries and rob women mostly from The Great Brittan and money, fought and fond new countries .

Naddoddur went to Iceland and was the first to stay over winter and when he left he saw snow in the mountains and named the country Snowland.

Garðar Svavarson was from Sweden and he was looking for Snowland he arrived to east Iceland and sailed around it and found out it was an island so he named it Garðar's island.

Raven-Flóki went to Iceland after Garðar he didn't made any hay so his sheep died in the winter. He was very pissed off and when he left was much ice in the sea so he named the country Iceland.

Ingólfur Arnarsson was the first man to move to Iceland to live there , his farm was Reykjavík and there is the capital now.

-Aðalbjörg

More stories

Story about exposed child

Long time ago woman had a child in secret, she carried it away and put it some clothing and left it
in a middle of nowhere. That woman loved to go to dances and dress up in fine clothing. Once she
invited to very fine dance but she didn´t have anything to wear so she decided not to go. The night before the dance she was alone milking the sheep then she heard small baby voice saying.
My mother who is milking
don´t worry because
you can have my clothing
to wear at the dance
The woman was very shocked and didn't recover so she was crazy the rest of her life.


Story about the hidden people

In November 1906 was a man on the way from Reykjavík to Ólafsvík, then he saw a woman
right in front of him, she had brown hair and her clothing was old but very beautiful, he kept on
walking and she too. He tried to talk to her but she said nothing but suddenly she began to run and stopped in front of cliff and disappeared, the man kept on walking and when he arrived in Ólafsvík he asked about that girl but he got no answers.

-Aðalbjörg

Folk belief

On long, cold and dark winter nights didn´t people in the old times had much light but lot of dark. It had good times on the evening telling stories about ghosts, hidden people and other creatures


Ghosts are souls of dead people who died in anger, had secret or was hiding something like money.

The hidden people live in rock and hills, they look like humans in apperance and clothing but they have magic power. Sometimes the fell in love with humans and the usually go very bad

Exposed child, if woman was pregnant and wasn´t able to have the baby was it put on some clothing and carryed away to die.

Nykur is some kind of horse, they are usually black and their hoof turn backwards. The try to deceive people on back and then run to the lake with them on back.

One of Iceland most famous ghost stories.

Long time ago was young man who was deacon and lived in place called Dark-river and there was a church. He had a horse called Faxi and girlfriend named Guðrún who lived across the river. Two weeks before chirstmas was he going to invite her to a Christmas celebration. The weather was very bad when he was leaving and he went on his horse.When deacon was on the bridge was Faxi scared and the deacon felt in the river. A man from next farm found Faxi and he got worried because he saw the deacon leaving last night and the same day the deacon was found dead on ice in the river and was very indjured in the head and he was burryed in the week before christmas. Because the weather was so bad nobody across the river heard about his death. On chistmaseve Guðrún got dressed up for the celebration, then was knock on the door and the maid open it but she saw nobody but Faxi and said Guðrún that the deacon was there. Guðrún hurried up got her coat but was in one sleeve . On the way to Dark- rive they didn´t talk together but when his hat went off him. Then he said
The moon is shining
the death is riding
can't you see the with spot
on my head Garún Garún
(Because god is in the name Guðrún ,he couldn´t say her name)
Guðrún was shocked but she said nothing, and when arrived they went in the cemetery and there saw Guðrún open grave and deacon took her loose sleeve and Guðrún ran to the church and rang the bells. The deacon was coming to her the evening so she slept with light and someone was awake in her room while she was sleeping.



- Aðalbjörg

The belive in pagans

In the early times the vikings where heathen and they belive in pagan gods.

Óðinn was the most powerful of the pagan gods and he was desicriped as king. He had two ravens named Huginn and Muginn witch sat on his shoulders and a horse called Sleipnir witch had eight feet. Óðinn only had one eye because he gave it away to get more wisdom. His wife was Frigg and he lived in Valhöll and if someone died in fight went they to Óðinn's home.


Óðinn and Sleipnir


Þór was son of Óðinn and he was the thunderpagan , he was the strongest of them.He protected the pagans for the giants and he used his hammer Mjölni for that. His wife was Sif and his children where Þuríður, Móður and Magni.



Baldur was son of Óðinn, he lived in Breiðablik with his wife Nanna og his son Forseti. He was beautiful, good and paceful but he knew how to fight.

Njörður lived in Nóatún he was pagan of the sea and sailing his children where Freyja and Freyr.

Frigg was the pagan of love and marriage, like many goddness she was moody and she lived in place called Fensalir and three women served her named Fulla, Gná and Hlín.

Frigg

Hel is the goddness of the underworld, if someone died from old age or illness went to her. Hel was half blue and half skin colored .




Freyja is daughter og Njörður, her hoseband was Óður he left long time ago and never returned ,Freyja was alone and cryed tears of gold and she was Óðinn's mistress. She travelt in vehicle witch was dragged by cats.




Iðunn kept the apples witch pagans ate when they where getting old and got young again.


The giants was the oldest of living creatures. The communications between the giants and pagans was always very bad. The giants was decicriped that they where stronger than humans, stronger and much uglier.

Valkyrjur followed Óðinn, they decided who died in battle and they where waitress in Valhöll




Worship pagans gods was before battle or when oath was sworn and animal blood was put on pagan icons.


- Aðalbjörg

The Icelandic fox

The Icelandic fox
Alopex lagopus

It is believed that the fox came to Iceland on sea ice about 10.000 years ago. Wich means that it was here before the first men came and settled in. The Icelandic fox is considered a part of a species called the pole-fox. The male fox is called cock (in Icelandi: steggur), the female is called fox (Icelandic: tófa) and the youngster is called fox cub (Icelandic: yrðilingur). Today the stock in Iceland is considered to be about 3000 to 4000 animals.
There are two main variations on the Icelandic fox, wich serve as a kind of cloak device. They are: on the one hand they are rust brown the whole year and on the other hand they are white in winter but gray-brownish in the summer. The white variation is most likely to live in the highland, but the rust red mostly lives in lowland, often by the coast.
The fox´s mating season is usually in the period between March and April. The fox usually pregnancy is usually about 52 days, and the average number of cubs is 6,5. It´s favourite food is eiderduck, the eiderduck´s eggs and youngs.

Previously the chicken farms and the sheep off Icelandic farmers were in danger for the fox. But with increased supervisionn and healthier sheep the sheep eater, as the fox was called, gave up, and today it´s very rare that a fox killes domestic animals, like sheep or hens.
The fox´s coat has gotten well ajusted to the Icelandic weather and conditions. It´s coat is one of the best coat that are know in the animal kingdom. It´s very tolerant to cold. The Icelandic fox´s coat is very special because its hairs are hollow on the inside, and because of that they isolate the animal very well. The fox´s tail is very thick, and to save energy while it´s sleeping the fox curls itself up, drags its feet under itself and lais its tail over its legs and snout.

Each fox sanctifies a freehold, for itself and its family. Other foxes are supposed to respect their freehold, and are not allowed to enter. The fox marks marks the freehold borders with its urine, and it marks the nest especially well. The fox is a family animal, and pairs stick together for the rest of their lifes. The fox always collects supplies of food for the winter, and digs it into the ground.

Hrafndís Brá Heimisdóttir

The puffin

The Puffin
Fratercula arctica

The puffin is a small bird of guillemot race, and it´s pretty common. Normally puffins are about 26-29 cm at length and their wingspread is about 47-65 cm. It´s a bit stubby and has got a rather large head based on its body. It mostly feeds on fish (such as; baitfish, capelin and spawn), krill and squid.
In summer the puffin stays on shallow waters. It lays eggs in grassy islands, promontories and hillsides above rock ledges or in rocky slopes beneath them. Each puffin only lays one egg a year, wich is very big. It´s nesting season is from the middle of May to the beginning of September.
The puffin is a bird of passage, and it usually stays in Iceland between April to the beginning of September. It´s most common habitaion in Iceland is in the Westman Islands, or Vestmannaeyjar (like it´s called in Icelandic), wich is a litle island by the south coast of Iceland.
In June or July the the puffin youngs crawl out of their eggs. Then the puffins start feeding their youngsters, wich can be a bit hard, because the youngsters are gready. In the middle of August, or beginning of September, the youngsters start collecting their own foods from the sea. Their favourite things to eat are: baitfish, shrimp and all kinds of krill.

A puffin young

When the youngsters begin their journey to the sea, they are unable to fly. They often get lost, and it´s very popular among children in the Vestman Islands to catch the youngsters who wonder around the island looking for the sea. To safe the youngsters the children take them to the coast, where the let them go free. The youngsters can only fly when they see the sea.

Hrafndís Brá Heimisdóttir

Icelandic History

The Christianisation in Iceland
There were Two men called Gissur hvíti Teitsson and Hjalti Skeggjason who brought Christianity to Iceland in the year 1000. Before they brought Christianity belief to iceland we believed that the old Nordic gods was our religion, but then we were vikings. The Heathen Vikings didn't worship in the same sense as Christians.They respected their Gods and honored them. Perhaps they made sacrifice to give thanks or ask favor in times of danger. The Gods were more powerful then men. But they were not all-powerful, or all-knowing, or entirely good. Like men, they ate, fought, played jokes, were deceived on occasion, and eventually would die. They were themselves bound by their fates, and doomed to die at the end of the world. After which, they and the world, are to be reborn and the cycle continued.
It isn't totaly extinct here now, it is still the religion of a small group of people. The first bishop who was here in Iceland was Ísleifur Gissurarson, he was the son of Gissur hvíti Teitsson.
Iceland was independent for many years but then our parliament decided that we should become subjects of the King of Norway in 1262. Then after that Denmark took over Norway and us. We didn't get our independence back until 1944, thanks to Jón Sigurðsson, our Icelandic hero.

Eva

Name: Eva Arnarsdóttir Age: 17, turning 18.Home: I live in a small town called HellaFamily: My mother‘s name is Arna, my fathers name is Arnar and i have two older siblings, Elísu and Ragnar Inga.Hobbies: In my freetime i like to hang out with my friends and my boyfriend, listen to music, travel and loads more.Chinese symbol: My Chinese symbol is the Horse.Work: I work on weekends as a waitress in a pizza place.I‘m interested in China because i think it‘s facinating and a very beautiful country.

Climate and Capital

(The Gulf Stream)

Climate

- As its name suggests, Iceland is cold, but not as cold as you might expect because of the passing warm waters of the Gulf stream.
- The average summer temperature in Reykjavík is 5°C (41°F) at night as high as 25°C (77°F) during the nice summer days.
- The average January temperature is -0.5°C (31°F)
- The southern part of the country is the wettest but snow is rare.
- Reykjavík is a very wet city, having on average 213 rainy days a year. In exchange they get slightly more sunny days in the spring.
- From the end of May to the beginning of August there is daylight during all 24 hours of the day while in the northen part of the country the sun rarely sets at all during summer.
- The Northen Lights are often visible in autumn and early winter.
- The weather in Iceland can change very fast. There would be snowing very hard for one hour but the next hour it could be rainy and sunny.

Capital

- Laugavegur is one of the oldest shopping streets in Reykjavík. The name means Pool Road. Multiple stores and clubs are located on this street. The nightlife never ends.
- Perlan (The Pearl) is a landmark building in Reykjavík. It is 25.7 meters (84.3 ft) high. It is situated on a big hill so that you can see it wherever you are in the city.
- Hallgrímskirkja (literally, the church of Hallgrímur Pétursson) is the fourth tallest building in
Iceland. It is 74.5 meters (244 ft) high.
- There are more than 113.000 inhabitants (2005) in Reykjavík or nearly 40 % of the country´s total population.
- It´s the most northern national capital in the whole world.
- Ingólfur Arnarson is said to have established the first permanent settlement in Iceland 874

Facts about Selfoss

- It‘s in the southern Iceland.
- The river Ölfusá runs through it.
- It‘s a part of the municipality Árborg.

- F.Su. is located there.
- It has over 6000 inhabitants.
- It has three primary schools.
- One college –F.Su.
- In 1891 the first suspension bridge was built over Ölfusá.

- It has a lot of sports car.
- It has one swimming pool.
- One cinema.
- It’s very flat.
- It’s very green, has a lot of trees and flowers.
- It has one church.

Geysir

Geysir is located in Haukadalur valley and it is sometimes known as The Great Geysir.

It is the oldest know geyser and one of the world‘s most impressive examples of the phenomenon. Geysir lies on the slopes of Laugarfjall hill which is also the home to Strokkur which is another geyser who erupts frequently.

Strokkur

Eruptions at Geysir are very infrequent but when it does it can hurl boiling water up to 60 metres in the air.

The Icelandic sheepdog

The Icelandic sheepdog

The sheepdog came to Iceland in the years 870 to 930, in Iceland’s period of settlement, with nordic vikings. Over the years it became more adapt to Icelandic landscape and weather, and struggled for existence besides icelanders. At the end of the 18th century there raged a disease among dogs in Iceland, wich brought down about ¾ of all dogs in Iceland. Many of the dogs who died from this disease were Icelandic sheepdogs, and when the disease had been exterminated the Icelandic sheepdog was very desirable among Icelanders. It had almost been extinct because of the disease, but today the stock has gotten bigger an it´s not considered to be in danger of extinction any more.

Furry

Short haired

The Icelandic sheepdog is an avarage sized dog, with medium-sized ears and a curled tail. Its coat can both be furry and short haired, but it´s always thight and water rejective. The Icelandic sheepdog has a lot of color variations. The Icelandic sheepdog has a very strong character, and it is also very curious. It´s very playful and gentle with children, it´s also very smart and hard-working. It´s very careful about its home, and watches over the house and it´s owners. He often gets very excited when guests arrive, though, without being agressive. The Icelandic sheepdog is very independent by nature, and some even say it often thinks it is human.

Hrafndís Brá Heimisdóttir

The Icelandic horse

-Centuries ago-
For many centuries the horse was man’s most loyal servant. The horse made it possible for the people to live on this raw island, with this cold and nasty variable weather and the rough landscape. In a storm your horse could find the right way home although the jockey couldn’t see anything! The special ability of the horse to walk in a rocky slope is amazing. It can struggle for hours to safe their master.
Before the car came to Iceland the horse was used to do all the hard work. They had to carry hay home from the fields, tout sheep etc. It’s hard to find a job which the horse and the human didn’t do together

-The horse today-

The horse became less important on the farms, because of the cars and the tractors, it became more as a hobby. Family and friends have stables together and enjoy being in the nature on the horses.
But it also became a serious job for some people. People started to emphasize on the gaits. Because of the fact that the Icelandic horses have five gaits they started to gaze on the special gaits, like pass and tolt. There are big competitions where they contend in which horse runs or walks the best. Many people have a job exporting horses. The Icelandic horse is very popular for example in Sweden, Germany and in the Netherlands.

- The colures of the horse-

The Icelandic horses have many different colours.

Stjörnóttur- Bald with a star on the forehead

Rauður- Red

Leirljós- light clay- brown

Jarpur- Chestnut

Grár- Gray

Glófextur- Bright-maned

Skjóttur- Piebald

Brúnn- Brown

Blesóttur- With a blaze

Bleikur- Cream-colored

Jóhanna Höeg Sigurðardóttir