Time in the Faery Realm and Ours

"Time runs differently in the mound." -The Moorchild, by Eloise McGraw

In an ancient Irish tale in the Fenian Cycle, Oisin traveled across the sea to Tir Na nOg (The Land of Eternal Youth). He lived there for a time then asked to go home to Ireland to see his father. His lover was loathe to let him go, yet she let him go bidding him stay on the horse. Once back in Ireland, he found that his father, Fin Mac Cool, and the Feanna were gone and it was years later. Then, in aiding some men move a boulder he fell off the horse onto the ground and was instantly transformed into an old man.

In The Moorchild, by Eloise McGraw, published in 1998, a similar circumstance is reported, or more like, she wisely drew upon the lore of yore. A fisherman named Fergus entered the Mound (the home of the Folk, as they are called in the book, basically mischievous little people in keeping with fairytales found in  The Book of Fairies and Elves, by Olcott). When Fergil was later sent forth from the mound he transformed into an old man and found that years had elapsed, "five-and-fifty years older" (The Moorchild).

Iceland and The Story of Rolf and the Viking Bow

The Story of Rolf and the Viking Bow has long been one of my favorite books. Allen French did a wonderful job when he wrote this book for just as The Secret of Kells really captures Irish history and lore, so this book captures many elements of Icelandic history, culture, and lore.

Just some notes on Icelandic letters that are not in our alphabet and on the Alþingi:

þ makes the "th" sound in "thing" (unvocalized "th").
ð makes the "th" sound in "that" (vocalized "th").
The Alþingi is the Icelandic parliament. It began in 930 A.D. and it was in session for many years until Iceland came under foreign powers. It was started again after WWII and is currently functioning, though it is now located in Reykjavik.
Þingvellir is a plain that is its historic location. 
 
Here is a list of common elements between the book and things I've learned about Iceland or experienced on my trip.

1. The Story of Rolf and the Viking Bow was written in a saga style. Iceland has a collection of sagas called Íslendingasögur, and I am guessing that Allen French read those for he mentions some of the characters in his book. Grettir the Strong, and Njal, namely.

2. The names of at least two of the characters are/have been used recently. In the flea market I saw the name "Einar" as an author's name on a book. "Snorri" appeared on a building from the 18 or 1900s.

Location of Snorri's booth. The wall remnants date from a later time.

3. Snorri the Priest from the book was a real man. I saw the ruins of his booth at Þingvellir (the location of the Alþingi at the time of the story.) In the story, Rolf goes to the Alþingi at Þingvellir, and also to Snorri's booth there.
(See my next post for more on the Alþingi and what Allen French has to say about it.)

Allen French's description of 
Þingvellir fits with what I saw there. 

4. Rolf's family owned sheep. Woolen goods are a hot commodity in Iceland these days. They are in every tourist shop and the Icelanders themselves frequently wear woolen sweaters.

5. In the story the sheep were marked by cuts on the ears, and had to be sorted when they were brought down from summer pastures for the winter. This is still done today. Their ears are marked, the sheep are brought down according to customs set by the Alþingi (Althingi) long ago, and they are sorted using a sheep sorter.

Icelandic cliffs

6.  We are told that there was a great number of birds and that Rolf climbed the craggy cliffs for eggs and young birds. He also shot the adults with his bow. Iceland is still known for its abundance of bird colonies.

7. "Heimskur" is the Icelandic word for stupid and contains the image of one who sits at home and doesn't travel. In the book it mentions that young men would travel abroad and that it was an important part of their passage into adulthood.

8. Ghosts were treated as real in the book. Many Icelanders are a bit into mysticism and believe in ghosts or elves (short, invisible beings).

9. According to French, it was customary for men to keep whatever wealth the sea washed ashore from ship wrecks off the rugged coast. The Icelanders in Rolf's day were delighted with the goods that washed ashore. The same was true in the 1800s. People were glad to get the timbers and things from the shipwrecks, even though it was too bad about the sailors who drowned in the wreck.

One man in Reykjavik collects odds and ends from the sea and has quite a stash of large metal contraptions. The large silver object looks like a space escape pod, other objects stick up like odd towers and are gray and rusty.

What the sea brought

10. Icelanders have traditionally been farmers. Rolf and his family were farmers. Characters in the sagas and folklore were farmers too, even if they were also great warriors.

11. Fishing is also important to Iceland. In addition to his other skills, Rolf knew how to fish. In current day Iceland, dried fish is sold at the flea market and the grocery store. The story speaks of racks for drying fish in the Orkneys and also Icelanders having dried fish on hand.  They still use wooden racks for drying fish.

12. In the book, Grettir cooked his food in the geysers. A tourism video showed some people cooking food in a geyser for amusement.

Geysir (the geyser from whose name the word "geyser" is from.)

All photos are my own except the photo of the book.

Volcanoes, Geysers, and Trolls, oh my!

I was restless and then this opportunity came up for me to go to Iceland. So, I went. And what an adventure it was. I was excited to go and see the natural wonders there, but what I did not realize was how much it would embody my favorite books and movies and how much the land is steeped in lore.

I believe it will take me several posts before I'm finished. I'll try to stick to one topic per post, but I may get a little carried away.

The bay in Reykjavik.

Hmm, I think I will start with the trolls. I went on two excursions with different companies, yet both guides spoke of the trolls. Now I knew trolls were a part of Icelandic lore from reading The Story of Grettir the Strong, by Allen French, but I was surprised and delighted when the guides started talking about them.

The first guide told us that trolls were big, strong, stupid, and turned to stone when the light comes up. Check, check, check, check. Exactly how they are in The Hobbit.

Troll Couple with Boat

The next day, on the other excursion I had the opportunity to actually see some trolls, turned to stone off course.  The first two are located near Vík, a small coastal town (the southernmost town in Iceland). From the place where we stopped for lunch we could see them standing in the surf, frozen as they struggled to drag their three masted boat to shore before day dawned. There were two, a husband and wife troll. The interesting thing is that the bigger, wider one is the wife and the tall skinny one is the husband. The guide said this was so because just as women tend to outlive men, so this wider lump of rock would outlive the tall thin one as the elements beat upon them.

Lone Troll

As we stood on the outcropping near the third troll, we could see the two trolls with their boat in the distance. That's were I took the photo above.

 The third troll was located at the cape of Dyrhólaey. Here is a photo of him standing on the sand, the waves lapping at his feet. He's huge, over one story tall.



Here is another picture for size and location's sake.

Lone Troll

More on Iceland soon.

All photos are my own.

The Secret of Kells

Brendan and Aisling, picture from Matthew Sernett, Fantasty Film Review

 The Secret of Kells is a 2009 film about The Book of Kells and its creation.

This film is unbelievably rich for those who have learned a bit about Irish history and culture. The creators blend Irish history and legend together in a way that is befitting. In an Anglo-Irish literature class, I was told that it's hard to know what is true about Irish history because history and myth are thoroughly mixed together.
Can you separate the ingredients of a cake after it is baked? No, but the cake sure is delicious. So it is with Irish history.

Just like the history of Ireland, myth and reality intermingle in the film.The boy, Brendan, befriends a fairy girl in the woods.  Cromm Crúaich, a monster Brendan believes to be a myth is very real and dangerous.  Brendan's knowledge of Irish lore helps him find "the eye of Columkille," which is also the eye of the monster that the monks use as a crystal magnifying glass.

Brother Aiden tells a tale about St. Columkille, also known as St. Columba, the man attributed with bringing Christianity to Scotland. He was also a trouble maker, and was in fact sent to Scotland by his superiors because he got involved with a war between Irish chieftains.  As Aiden speaks, the tale is told in pictures. These pictures are comical and frank. When Columkille dies, his tongue slides out of his mouth and his eyes turn into Xs. Seems irreverent, but in this situation it works because it fits with the persona of Columkille as portrayed in lore: an ambiguous legendary figure, a Saint who was hot-headed and got into trouble.

This scene also demonstrates how tall tales are created. Brother Aiden says that St. Columkille was given "a third eye" to help him create the intricate designs in The Book of Kells.  The other monks chime in, saying he had a third hand, or a whole host of hands.  Aiden continues with his story about the third eye and St. Columkille.  It turns out the "eye" is actually a crystal that is quite simply used to magnify the images. It isn't magical and it isn't a third eyeball in Columkille's head. 

That said, the crystal is the eye of Cromm Crúaich. This monster apparently has crystals for eyes. Brendan needs a crystal, so he takes the monster's eye. And so, the legend of St. Columkille is mixed with the lore of Cromm Crúaich. Both are real in the film, not parts of alternate realities.

Aisling, the fairy, uses a famous Irish saying in a scene. Brendan provides the English translation for us.  This is symbolic: Aisling uses the native language and represents the old ways of Ireland before St. Patrick, the time when fairies and Celtic gods walked the land. Brendan represents life post-Patrick. Not a complete loss of the old way of life, but a new outlook. (By the way, this is NOT how English became the dominate language of Ireland. Here the use of the two languages is symbolic). When St. Patrick came, the worship of Celtic gods was diminished and they were relegated to the realm of stories. The Irish monks wrote down the ancient Irish legends (heretofore only in oral form) and thus preserved Irish "history." They tweaked some, adapting them to the Christianity, but not altogether discarding them because Patrick recognized the beauty and value of these colorful tales.

The Giant's Causeway

The beauty of nature is a backdrop for many scenes of the movie. This too is an important ingredient because the nature of Ireland is celebrated by Irish poets and people around the world.  Through the iconic and stylized designs the wonder of the forest is portrayed. Additionally, there is a quick scene with the Giant's Causeway, a distinctly Irish landmark.




Play around on: 
The Secret of Kells website

Full movie available here:
IMBd review