In translation...
Apr. 17th, 2005 04:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lillibetIt´s kind of fun to be LiveJournaling from here...all the LJ commands are in Icelandic. I really like 'dagbok' for 'journal', my fine vinir!
After breakfast in the hotel, we bundled up and headed out into the light rain to visit some of Reykjavik´s museums. We started at the National Gallery, which has rotating exhibits, rather than exhibiting a permanent collection. Today´s offerings included an installation about waterfalls (a rack of pull-out transparent photographs of some of the country´s spectactular cataracts and each time you pull one out it triggers a recording of that waterfall) and Icelandic art 1930-1944. That had some very lovely works, but sadly there was no postcard of our favorite and none of the other prints really captured the depth of the originals at all. Compared with what we saw in Norway and Bergen, I was particularly struck by how much the Icelandic painters use bright color.
From there we walked up to the Municipal Museum, which had a very good exhibit on the history of the country from settlement to the present day, spread out over two floors.
We made a brief stop back at the hotel, grabbed a tasty hot dog--like the Scandinavians, these people really know from hot dogs--and then wandered through the fleamarket down by the harbor and bought a hat for me, mostly to keep my hair from flying in the heavy wind. The rain has been intermittant and in the dry spells the sun has almost come out from behind the clouds, so it wasn´t unpleasant to wander around.
Our last museum of the day was the Culture House, which had a wonderful exhibit about the eddas and sagas, including some beautiful original manuscripts. The most surprising thing was an off-hand comment in one of the curatorial notes claiming that the Aesir were originally humans from Asia, deified by the Norse. I´m a fan of Norse mythology from way back and I´ve never heard that one before. Will have to do some research and see if I can turn up any corroboration, because it´s a very interesting allegation.
We strolled back down the main shopping street and paused at the Tourist Information office to check out their postcard selection, but didn´t find anything we wanted. So we came back to the hotel for a rest before our evening tour to the Blue Lagoon. After all the walking and sitting and standing of the past few days, I´m really looking forward to a relaxing soak.
By the way, congratulations to all the cast & crew of You´re a Good Man, Charlie Brown on a successful closing weekend and strike!
After breakfast in the hotel, we bundled up and headed out into the light rain to visit some of Reykjavik´s museums. We started at the National Gallery, which has rotating exhibits, rather than exhibiting a permanent collection. Today´s offerings included an installation about waterfalls (a rack of pull-out transparent photographs of some of the country´s spectactular cataracts and each time you pull one out it triggers a recording of that waterfall) and Icelandic art 1930-1944. That had some very lovely works, but sadly there was no postcard of our favorite and none of the other prints really captured the depth of the originals at all. Compared with what we saw in Norway and Bergen, I was particularly struck by how much the Icelandic painters use bright color.
From there we walked up to the Municipal Museum, which had a very good exhibit on the history of the country from settlement to the present day, spread out over two floors.
We made a brief stop back at the hotel, grabbed a tasty hot dog--like the Scandinavians, these people really know from hot dogs--and then wandered through the fleamarket down by the harbor and bought a hat for me, mostly to keep my hair from flying in the heavy wind. The rain has been intermittant and in the dry spells the sun has almost come out from behind the clouds, so it wasn´t unpleasant to wander around.
Our last museum of the day was the Culture House, which had a wonderful exhibit about the eddas and sagas, including some beautiful original manuscripts. The most surprising thing was an off-hand comment in one of the curatorial notes claiming that the Aesir were originally humans from Asia, deified by the Norse. I´m a fan of Norse mythology from way back and I´ve never heard that one before. Will have to do some research and see if I can turn up any corroboration, because it´s a very interesting allegation.
We strolled back down the main shopping street and paused at the Tourist Information office to check out their postcard selection, but didn´t find anything we wanted. So we came back to the hotel for a rest before our evening tour to the Blue Lagoon. After all the walking and sitting and standing of the past few days, I´m really looking forward to a relaxing soak.
By the way, congratulations to all the cast & crew of You´re a Good Man, Charlie Brown on a successful closing weekend and strike!
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Date: 2005-04-17 05:23 pm (UTC)btw, since i'm coming from an indian IP address, google news optimizes for indian news.
(which appears to be CRICKET CRICKET CRICKET at the moment. and i'm in the same hotel as both teams, so there are moments of chaos around here relating to it too)
for whatever it is worth I found this.
Date: 2005-04-17 10:18 pm (UTC)In the Eddas the aesir are in perpetual opposition to the jotunn (giants; Icelandic jotnar), as energy is opposed to inertia. When the gods withdraw at Ragnarok, the universe ceases to be. The aesir's reign or life was preceded by a period of quiescence, during which nothing existed. This was Ymir, the frostgiant, the transformed Bargalmer (Icelandic Bergelmir), fruitage of a previous cycle of universal life, who was "saved on a boatkeel" or "ground on the mill" to furnish substance for the succeeding world. This was to be created by All-father Odin and his two brothers, Vile and Vi (or Ve). The frost giant is killed -- transformed -- by the three gods, and from his substance (Orgalmer) the worlds are created. They are sustained by Trudgalmer until the gods again withdraw. In his capacity of creator Odin is named Ofner (opener), energic counterpart of Orgalmer, while at the end of a cosmic life he becomes Svafner (closer) and paired with Bargalmer.
The aesir are not the highest gods, even though cosmic Odin in his capacity of Allfather is the father of gods and men by virtue of being descended from a previous era of evolution. "All the creative gods, or personal Deities, begin at the secondary stage of Cosmic evolution" (SD 1:427). The aesir were ousted from Asgard by the vaner, superior gods who remain in their high realms while the aesir dwell in living spheres. Nevertheless even the aesir receive a "hostage" (in one interpretation an avatara) from the vaner and in exchange furnish the mind and matter which enable these exalted beings to evolve.
"The brew of the as," "Odin's brew," or the "bardic mead" is inspired poetry, the runes of ancient wisdom sought by Odin in the giant worlds. The "driving of the as" or Tordon (Thor's din) is thunder