June, 17th, is Iceland’s national day, Þjóðhátíðardagurinn. The day was established after Iceland’s independence from Denmark in 1944, on the independentist Jón Sigurðsson’s birthday.
The day is marked by parades, with marching bands and flag-bearing troops from the national scout movement. After the parades, it’s time for the town’s elected ‘lady of the mountain’ to recite a poem. Her identity is however secret until the ceremony. Before that, authorities and freshman students in Reykjavík have laid wreaths to honour Jón Sigurðsson. You can see the program for 17 júní in Reykjavík.
The woman representing the fjallkona, literally ‘lady/maid of the Mountain’, wears the skautbúningur, dark dress with golden embroidery and a sort of horn-shaped headgear, inspired by the ancient krókfaldur with a veil. The first time a woman represented the fjallkona with a skautbúningur was actually in Winnipeg, Canada in 1924, where many Icelanders migrated in the 1870s.
skautbúningur and kyrtill dresses are worn by the fjallkona, both designed by Sigurður Guðmundsson in the 19th century
Icelanders are encouraged to wear a folk costume on the national day, Þjóðbúningur. There are officially several types among which the Upphlutur for women and Hátíðarbúningur for men, not too different from other Nordic folk costumes as Norwegian Bunads and Swedish Folkdräkter, often black but also in colours as red or blue. part of the outfit is a tail cap.
Icelandic national day feels to me kind of a mix between Norway’s 17 (!) mai, with national dresses, parades and marching bands, and Lucia, with its elected Lucia/Fjallkona!
Where does the Fjallkona come from?
the Fjallkona is the female personification of Iceland. She represents Iceland’s spirit and its nature. Its name appears in the poem Eldgamla Ísafold a.k.a. Íslands minni by Bjarni Thorarensen in the early 19th century. Its most popular depiction is the painting by German painter Johann Baptist Zwecker in 1866.
Eldgamla Ísafold/ ástkæra fósturmold/ fjallkonan fríð!/ mögum þín muntu kær/ meðan lönd gyrðir sær og gumar girnast mær/ gljár sól á hlíð.
(Ancient land of ice / beloved nurturing soil / fair mountain woman. /May you love your sons, while countries barricade their waters / and men yearn for maidens / the sun glistens on a hillside.)
Bjarni Thorarensen , ‘Íslands minni’/ Eldgamla Ísafold
In Zwecker’s painting, made for the last volume of a collection of Icelandic folk tales, Icelandic Legends, the fjallkona has a crown of ice from which fires erupt, representing Icelandic nature with its glaciers and geysers. On her shoulder is a raven, symbol for the god Odin and norse mythology, and runes on a parchment, representing Icelandic culture.
It then gained popularity as symbol for the motherland, sometimes opposed to the Danish King as father under the Danish rule.
Icelandic patriotic poems
On the occasion of the institution of the Republic in 1944, a poem contest was held. Hver á sér fegra föðurland (who has a lovelier fatherland) and Land Míns Föður (My father’s land) were the winning poems. An extract from the two follows:
Hver á sér fegra föðurland / með fjöll og dal og bláan sand / með norðurljósa bjarmaband / Og björk og lind í hlíð? […]
Við heita brunna, hreinan blæ / og hátign jökla, bláan sæ / hún uni grandvör, farsæl, fróð / Og frjáls – við ysta haf.
Hulda (Unnur Bedediktsdóttir Bjarklind), ‘Hver á sér fegra föðurland’
Who has a lovelier fatherland / with fells and dales and bluest sand, with northern lights up aloft, and birch and lime on hilltops? […] With hot springs of a pure hue / majestic glaciers, a sea of blue / she remains thoughtful, peaceful, sage / and free, in the farthest sea.
Hvíslað var um hulduland / hinst í vestanblænum / hvítan jökul, svartan sand / söng í hlíðum grænum. / Ýttu þá á unnarslóð / Austmenn, vermdir frelsisglóð / fundu ey og urðu þjóð / úti´í gullnum sænum. […]
Hvort sem krýnist þessi þjóð / þyrnum eða rósum / hennar sögur, hennar ljóð / hennar líf vér kjósum. / Ein á hörpu íss og báls / aldaslag síns guðamáls / æ hún leiki,ung og frjáls / undir norðurljósum.
Jóhannes úr Kötlum, ‘Land Míns Föður’
There were whispers of a hidden land / hinst in the western blues / white glacier, black sand / singing on green slopes. / Push them on a path of success / Men of the East, warmed by the embers of freedom / found an island and became a nation / out in the golden seas. […] Whether this nation is crowned / with thorns or roses / its stories, its poetry / its life we choose. / Alone on the land of ice and fire / the eternal sound of her divine language / forever she moves, young and free / under the northern lights.
Gleðilegan Þjóðhátíðardag! (Happy national day!)
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