By Natalie Guttormsson & Jason Doctor
Editor Note: Welcome to an Icelandic tradition explored by Folklore expert and author, Natalie Guttormsson, who joins Jason Doctor. They discuss this event from years past and how it is celebrated today in Iceland. Additionally, they also created a very informative webinar on YouTube with the same title, A Bonfire and Elf Dances, in 1875. Please take the time to watch the webinar, see the images and listen to the discussion of the celebration. IR members will be invited to join Samtal Hour on Monday, 16 December, where Natalie and Jason will be the special guests.
From "Icelandic Pioneers of 1874"; excerpt of the diary of Simon Simonarson:
Between Christmas and New Year we carried dry wood out on the lake [at Willow Point, MB], to build a huge pyre for the burning out of the Old Year. On New Year's Eve the night was still and extremely frosty. The fire was lit and as soon as the blaze gave sufficient, men and women, as many as were able to, thronged on the scene. Everybody enjoyed himself greatly. William Taylor, who was then about sixty years of age, was dressed up to impersonate the Old Year. He was a sight to behold in his apparel. He wore a tar paper hat, two feet high or better, a beard of hair of rabbit fur, and a whiter smock so voluminous as to make him a giant. He had a walking stick and carried a bottle and a wine glass. The latter he passed around freely, but there was a rub: the bottle was empty. He was very witty and his entertainment was good. Finally, he carried away and disappeared from the story. Then the twelve New Year's elves appeared on the scene clad in white and decked in rose-red ribbons. They acted in their various comic scenes. Then the people returned to their homes, thinking the entertainment was a success. None had far to go, and there was plenty of wood for heating the shacks, which was all to the good, for the frost was very severe.
The year 2024 marks the 150th Anniversary of the Kinmount group landing in North America. Some families had also left Iceland between 1873 and 1875. Many of these people met up with the Kinmount group in Toronto, traveling with them to Manitoba in late October of 1875. The total size of those who first made the trip to Manitoba was around 223 persons. As quoted in the diary of one of the travelers (see above), New Year’s Eve 1875 at Willow Point, Manitoba involved a bonfire and elf dances. These traditions continue to this day in Iceland. While some of our emigrating ancestors were with these 223 new arrivals and likely attended this 1875 event, we knew little about it or its meaning. Our webinar explores these traditions and reflects the meaning of them.
In Iceland, two holidays involve bonfires New Year’s Eve (December 31st) and Þrettándinn (January 6th). Within a week of each other, both are considered New Year events. Þrettándinn or “The Thirteenth” is the Christian holiday “The Epiphany”. On the Epiphany, Christians celebrate how a star led the Magi to visit the baby Jesus after he had been born. Icelanders add magical folklore to this holiday and call it “The Thirteenth”, as in the thirteenth day of Christmas.
Þrettándinn may have been embellished with folklore in 1700 AD when Christmas was
pushed forward ten days after Iceland adopted the Gregorian calendar to replace the
Julian calendar. At this time, January 5th became known as "Old Christmas”. It stands
to reason that the end of “Old Christmas” might be celebrated as a magical time. Epiphany also is a day when Christians believe God stepped into our realm of nature and made Himself accessible to us. Like the biblical story, Þrettándinn is a “pulling back of the curtain” separating the ethereal and material worlds. Epiphany, though, is lawful and steadied, whereas, like other Icelandic folklore, Þrettándinn is chaotic and wild. There are unique aspects to Þrettándinn including talking cows and shape-shifting seals. Dreams become particularly potent, holding clues to the future. Hidden knowledge may be revealed, but sometimes at a cost.
To this day, Þrettándinn bonfires held across Iceland serve as a farewell to departing
elves and fairies and mark the closing of the spirit world during Christmas time. Celebrations often involve electing a Fairy King and Queen who lead "elf dances" around the fire.
The origins of the tradition of bonfires and elves is unclear. New Year’s bonfires are first
mentioned in 1791. By 1840 they were commonplace. The first recorded incidence in
Iceland of a bonfire with elf dances was among a group of Reykjavík schoolboys in
1872. Yet, it is doubtful the Kinmount group, mostly from North Iceland just three years
later in 1875, had picked this up as a trend. It is more likely that elf dances around a bonfire pre-dated written history of them and that the Kinmount group and fellow travelers had long grown up with this tradition.
Bonfires were widely practiced around the New Year for centuries to add light and
warmth to the cold winter night. More importantly bonfires served to get rid of all the
items people had collected throughout the year that were no longer of use: tattered
fishing nets, broken furniture, old clothes. There was no garbage service to speak of.
Bonfires and elf dances no longer are a part of the Western Icelandic tradition. There
are at least two possible reasons for this. First, Western Icelanders may have been
motivated to fit into an Anglo world that had different traditions. No longer isolated, their beliefs about elves and talking seals may have seemed strange to others. Second,
folklore peaked in Iceland in the 19th century. With weaker connections to Iceland,
folklore practice may have receded more quickly and fully in the 20th Century in North American Icelandic communities.
Folklore requires we remove layers of skepticism that guard against having to think
about all the things we don’t understand. On Þrettándinn the spirit world is closing, for
now. It is time to hunker down for winter. The door will open next year though. In
Iceland, the elves will be back. And if we let a little more magic into our lives, perhaps
the elves will be back here in North America too.