Okay men ….. your special month of Þorri (Þorri) is over as of Sunday. It has been a fun month with celebrations such as Bun Day, Bursting Day, Ash Wednesday, Þorrablót celebrations, and the fun Bóndadagur (Husband’s Day).
Get ready for a new month which begins Sunday, Feb. 24th . The name of the month is Góa and the very first day is called Konudagur or Women’s Day. On this day, the man of the house is to bring his woman coffee in bed, flowers, candy, and treat her special during this day. So make your plans now, men!
Icelandic Bakers have started holding a competition for Cake of the Year. The winning entry goes on sale on Konudagur.
2011 Cake of the Year
Here are a few old Icelandic sayings about the month of Góa:
“To survive Þorri and Góa is to get over the hump of winter.”
“Góa is coming, kind and true; she´ll be warm enough. Þorri, you´ll be missed by few; you´ve been plenty rough.”
A great legend comes from the Orkneyinger’s Saga and is told in the Flatey Book: “It happened one winter at the time of the Þorrablót that Gói disappeared (this is the daughter of Þorri). A search was made for her, but she was not found. And when a month had gone by, Þorri had a sacrifice made for the purpose of gaining knowledge of Gói’s whereabouts. They called that a Góiblót.”
Legends claim that Gói’s brothers searched for her until finally one of them came to a place we call Heidmark in northern Germany. Here reigned King Hrólf who had kidnapped Gói from Kvenland, which is around the Bothnian Bay between Sweden and Finland. King Hrólf and Gói were married. Gói’s brother, Nórr, found his sister and had a great battle with King Hrólf where both men survived. Nórr ended up marrying Hrolf’s sister and they returned to Nórr’s kingdom named Norway. There is much more to the story …. Stay tuned for more Icelandic folklore, stories, history, travel, and Icelandic culture in North America.
Here is a story from Hálfdan.
Here is a link to more from The Orkneyinger’s Saga.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Til hamingju með konudaginn frá Sunna