Tirsdag den 29. august 2017 kl 16:30 indtil onsdag den 30. august 2017 kl 16:29

17:00 Jeg hopper op på min kondicykel og tilbagelægger endnu 6 miles (10km), mens jeg gentager mit mantra: det er vigtigere at være rask, end at være tynd – ommmmmmmm ha ha ha.

At cykle er meget kedeligt, så derfor tænder jeg for min smartphone og hører gamle sange på YouTube, mens jeg cykler. Hver gang jeg cykler, stiller jeg året ét år tilbage, og i aften hører jeg 1943s 30 bedste sange.

Årets hitlisten var domineret af eskapisme (musicalen Oklahoma) og romantiske ballader. Ikke overraskende – det går pludselig op for mig, at unge menneskers kærlighedsliv i den engelsktalende verden dengang var domineret af adskillelse, hvor manden ofte var udstationeret på et andet kontinent: amerikanere, kanadiere, australiere i Storbritannien, og britere, amerikanere, australiere osv i Nord-Afrika, Mellemosten og Asien.

Tværtimod var oplevelsen af krigen anderledes i de fleste europæiske lande: domineret af rædslerne af udenlandsk militær okkupation, men for det meste var kærestepar og ægtepar ikke adskilte.

17:30 Jeg hopper ned fra kondicyklen og graver mine forældres foto-album frem. I 1943 var de kærester, men ikke gifte endnu. Jeg finder et foto af min mor, sandsynligvis taget i baghaven af hendes mors hus i byen Oxford.

Også jeg finder et foto af min far, der var skolelærer, sammen med sin klasse på en lille privatskole i grevskabet Somerset (tror jeg). Fotoet blev taget mandag den 26. juli 1943. Jeg gætter, at det var slutningen af skolens sommersemester, og at min far dengang var ved at sige op og træde ind i den britiske hær. Som skolelærer var der ingen tvang til at træde ind i de våbnede styrker, men han fortalte mig engang, at han dengang følte sig mere og mere skyldig over for, at han ikke bidrog til krigsindsatsen. Men jeg spekulerer om, præcis hvilke tanker kørte rundt og rundt i hans hoved, da han poserede for skolens officielle fotograf: begejstring, eller usikkerhed og bekymringer?

Min far døde i marts 2000, og han aldrig vidste, at han ville have 3 barnebarnsbørn, der ville have fødselsdag den 26. juli (Isaac i 2010, og Lily og Jessica i 2013 – nøjagtig 70 år efter fotoet var taget). Men undskyld – det var et lille sidespring ha ha ha.

Min mor i 1943

Min far i 1943

18:00 Lois og jeg spiser aftensmad i stuen. Hun er meget træt, fordi hun i dag har arbejdet hårdt i køkkenet: hun har lavet 4 pund courgette/zucchini chutney, også en kage og andre ting. Vi har i år haft et stort overskud af cougetter/zucchinier, og det har været lidt af et problem, at beslutte, hvordan vi bedst kan bruger dem alle.

20:00 Jeg træder ind i spisestuen og sætter mig foran min bærebare. Jeg udfærdiger en dansk ordforrådliste, jeg vil have vores U3A danske gruppes medlemmer til at lære udenad før gruppens næste møde, der finder sted den 5. oktober.

21:00 Lois og jeg sætter os til rette i sofaen og smækker benene op foran fjernsynet. De viser en interessant dokumentarfilm, der handler om ”industriel kunst”. Programmets vært er den charmerende  skotske kunstkritik, Lachlan Goudie.

Ikke virkelig min type program, men jeg er meget interesseret i historie. Storbritanniens industrielle revolution var så banebrydende og selvfølgelig helt uden fortilfælde i hele verden, men det hele skete, før udviklingen af fotografi, så derfor har vi kun malerier at kigge på, hvis vi gerne vil forestille os, hvordan livet var dengang.

Jeg kan godt lide især Joseph Wrights ”Jernsmedjen” (1772), med smedens begejstrede familie, og Henry Hawkins’s ”Penrhyn Skiferbrud” (1832).

Joseph Wrights ”Jernsmedjen” (1772)

Henry Hawkins’s “Penrhyn Skiferbrud” (1832)

Disse er de slags arbejdspladser, som jeg måske kunne måtte arbejde i, hvis jeg havde været født i ”de gamle gode dage”. Du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!!!

22:00 Vi går i seng. Lois faldt faktisk i søvn, mens vi sad og så dokumentarfilmen. Jeg er lidt bekymret over, hvor hårdt hun arbejder. Hun har indvilliget i, at hjælpe med at bemande sin kirkes pop-up shop i morgen formiddag, fordi ingen kirkemedlem tilbød at hjælpe stakkels Angie. Og Lois skal arbejde der igen på torsdag formiddag. Hun er utrolig samvittighedsfuld – ingen tvivl om det.

04:00 Jeg står tidligt op og laver en af mine rutinemæssige danske ordforrådtest.

07:30 Jeg hopper op i sengen til Lois og vi drikker vores morgenté. Vi står op og spiser morgenmad.

09:00 Jeg kører Lois over til Tewkesbury, fordi hun har indvilliget i, at arbejde i sin kirkes pop-up shop i formiddag. Jeg sætter hende af bag shoppen og kører hjem. Jeg slapper af med en kop kaffe i sofaen.

10:30 Jeg blader igennem den 12. kapitel af Gunnlaugs saga, en 1000-årig islandsk saga, fordi Scillas U3A oldnorske gruppe holder dens næste møde i eftermiddag kl 14 på biblioteket i bymidten.

Jeg læser om duellen mellem to islandske skjalde, Gunnlaug og Hrafn. De har aftalt at kæmpe en duel for at beslutte, hvem der få retten til at have Helga, Islands smukkeste kvinde. Helga er for tiden giftet med Hrafn, men det er Gunnlaug, hun er forelsket i, og hun afviser stadig at have sex med Hrafn på grund af sine følelser for Gunnlaug. Hvor spændende livet var i Island i det 11. århundrede - ingen tvivl om det!

Gunnlaug og Hrafn, to islandske skjalde, kæmper en duel,

for at beslutte, hvem af dem får retten til at have Helga, Islands smukkeste kvinde

Jeg forventede oprindeligt, at duellen ville være en hurtig affære, men nej, det tager faktisk en helvedes tid – flere år, som det viser sig. Den første omgang, der finder sted i Island, ender uden en klar vinder, og så bare deres held: det islandske folketing beslutter at forbyde dueller i fremtiden.

Men de to mænd beslutter sig stadig for at dræbe hinanden. Hrafn sejler til Norge, hvor dueller stadig er lovlige, og tilbringer to vintre derovre.

Lidt senere sejler Gunnlaug også fra Island, men ankommer først til Orkneyøerne, hvor den lokale viking-jarl, Sigurd, inviterer ham til at tilbringe vinteren hos ham. Det følgende år rejser de to mænd på kryds og tværs mellem Skotland og Hebriderne, og kæmper mange slag der. Til sidst beslutter Gunnlaug at sejle videre til Norge, og han tilbringer den næste vinter med den lokale norske jarl, Erik.

Gunnlaug og hans stor rival, Hrafn, mødes endeligt det følgende forår, og duellen finder sted. Det er interessant, at, selvom det lykkes Gunnlaug at skære Hrafns ben af, insisterer Hrafn på at fortsætte duellen.

Det minder mig om den berømte scene i Monty-Python-filmen ”Den hellige gral”, hvor en lignende duel finder sted. En af de to mænd mister både ben og både arme, men insisterede på at fortsætte duellen på samme måde. Jeg synes, at nutidens unge mennesker er for friske på at opgive – det er en lektion her, vi kan gavne fra måske.

ridderen der aldrig giver op

12:00 Jeg spiser frokost og bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage mig en kort eftermiddagslur – zzzzz!!!

13:30 Jeg står op og kører ind i byen. Scillas U3A oldnorske gruppe har sin regelmæssige møde i eftermiddag kl 14 i byens bibliotek. Jeg parkerer bilen på den store parkeringsplads bag museet.

Scillas gruppe har for tiden 4 medlemmer: mig, Kath, Margaret og Joy, men desværre er det for det meste kun Kath og mig, der gør hele arbejdet under møden. Vi har hidtil været de eneste, der har  haft mod til at prøve at læse teksten op og oversætte den til engelsk. I dag er jeg glad for, at kunne se, at både Margaret og Joy gør deres bedste for at læse og oversætte lidt for en gangs skyld, hvilket er lidt af en lettelse.

16:00 Jeg kører hjem og går i gang med at slå græsplænen foran huset, der er blevet lidt af en jungle. Bagefter slapper Lois og jeg af med en kop te i sofaen.

English translation

17:00 I jump up on my exercise bike and notch up another 6 miles (10km) while repeating my mantra: it's more important to be fit than to be thin - ommmmmmmm ha ha ha.

Cycling is very boring, so I turn on my smartphone and listen to old songs on YouTube while cycling. Every time I cycle, I set the year one year back, and tonight I hear 1943's 30 best songs.

The year's chart was dominated by escapism (the musical Oklahoma) and by romantic ballads. Not surprising - it suddenly occurs to me that young people's love life in the English-speaking world was dominated by separation, with the man often stationed on another continent:  Americans, Canadians, Australians in Britain, and Brits, Americans, Australians, etc. in North Africa, Middle East and Asia.

Contrarywise, the experience of the war was different in most European countries: dominated by the horrors of foreign military occupation, but for the most part, lovers and married couples were not separated.

17:30 I jump down from the fitness bike and dig out my parents' photo album. In 1943 they were sweethearts, but not yet married. I find a photo of my mother, probably taken in the backyard of her mother's house in the city of Oxford.

I also find a photo of my father, who was a school teacher, along with his class at a small private school in the county of Somerset (I think). The photo was taken on Monday, July 26, 1943. I am guessing it was the end of the school summer term and that my father was about to quit and join the British army. As a school teacher, there was no compulsion to enter the armed forces, but he once told me that he was feeling more and more guilty about not contributing to the war effort. But I wonder exactly what thoughts were going round and round in his head when he was posing here for the school's official photographer: excitement, or uncertainty and anxiety?

My father died in March 2000, and he never knew that he would have 3 great-grandchildren with a birthday on July 26th (Isaac in 2010, and Lily and Jessica in 2013 - exactly 70 years after the photo was taken). Sorry - that was a bit of a digression ha ha ha.

My mother in 1943

My father in 1943

18:00 Lois and I have dinner. She is very tired because she has been working hard in the kitchen today: she has made 4 pounds of courgette / zucchini chutney, also a cake and other things. We have had a large surplus of courgettes / zucchinis this year and it has been a bit of a problem to decide how best to use them all.

20:00 I step into the dining room and sit down in front of my laptop. I draw up a Danish vocabulary list that I want our U3A Danish group members to learn by heart before the next meeting of the group, which will take place on October 5th.

21:00 Lois and I settle down on the couch and stick our feet up in front of the television. An interesting documentary is on, all about "industrial art". The host of the programme is the charming Scottish art critic, Lachlan Goudie.

Not really my type of program, but I'm very interested in history. Britain's industrial revolution was so groundbreaking and of course completely unprecedented throughout the world, but it all happened before the development of photography, so we only have paintings to look at if we want to imagine how life was then.

I especially like Joseph Wright's "Iron Forge" (1772), with the smith's enthusiastic family, and Henry Hawkins's "Penrhyn Slate Quarry" (1832).

 Joseph Wrights "Iron Forge" (1772)

Henry Hawkins's "Penrhyn Slate Quarry" (1832)

These are the kind of places that I might have had to work in if I had been born in "the old good days". Good grief, what madness !!!!

22:00 We go to bed. Lois actually fell asleep while we sat and watched the documentary. I'm a little worried about how hard she works. She has volunteered to help man her church's pop-up shop tomorrow morning because no member of the church has offered to help poor Angie. And Lois is going to be working there again on Thursday morning. She is incredibly conscientious - there's no doubt about that.

04:00 I get up early and do one of my routine Danish vocabulary tests.

07:30 I hop into bed with Lois and we drink our morning tea. We get up and have breakfast.

09:00 I drive Lois over to Tewkesbury because she has volunteered to work in her church's pop-up shop this morning. I drop her off behind the shop and drive home. I relax with a cup of coffee on the couch.

10:30 I browse through the 12th chapter of Gunnlaug's saga, a 1000-year Icelandic saga, because Scilla's U3A Old Norse group is holding its next meeting this afternoon at 2pm in the library in the town centre.

I read about the duel between two Icelandic bards, Gunnlaug and Raven. They have agreed to fight a duel to decide who will have the right to have Helga, Iceland's most beautiful woman. Helga is currently married to Hrafn, but it is Gunnlaug she is in love with, and she still refuses to have sex with Hrafn because of her feelings for Gunnlaug. How exciting life was in Iceland in the 11th century - no doubt about that!

Gunnlaug and Raven, two Icelandic bards, fight a duel

to decide who gets the right to have Helga, the most beautiful woman in Iceland

I initially expected that the duel would be a quick affair, but no, it actually takes a hell of time - several years as it turns out. The first round, which takes place in Iceland, ends without a clear winner, and then just their bad luck: the Icelandic parliament decides to ban duels in the future.

But the two men are still determined to kill each other. Hrafn sails to Norway, where duels are still legal, and spends two winters over there.

A little later, Gunnlaug also sails from Iceland, but arrives first in the Orkney Islands, where the local Viking earl, Sigurd, invites him to spend the winter with him. The following year, the two men travel and raid here and there between Scotland and the Hebrides and fight many battles there. Finally, Gunnlaug decides to sail on to Norway, and he spends the next winter with the local Norwegian earl, Erik.

Gunnlaug and his big rival, Hrafn, finally meet the following spring and the duel takes place. It is interesting that, although Gunnlaug manages to cut Hrafn's leg off, Hrafn insists on continuing the with the duel.

It reminds me of the famous scene in the Monty Python movie "The Holy Grail", where a similar duel takes place. One of the two men lost both legs and both arms, but insisted on continuing the duel in the same way. I think that today's young people are too quick to give up - there's a lesson here we can benefit from maybe.

the knight who never gives up

12:00 I eat lunch and afterwards I go to bed and take a short afternoon nap - zzzzz !!!

13:30 I get up and drive into town. Scilla's U3A Old Norse Group has its regular meeting this afternoon at 2pm in the town's library. I park the car in the large car park behind the museum.

Scilla's group currently has 4 members: me, Kath, Margaret and Joy, but unfortunately, it is mostly Kath and I who have been doing all the work during the meetings. So far, we have been the only ones who have had the courage to try to read the text and translate it into English. Today, I'm pleased to see that both Margaret and Joy do their best to read and translate a little for once, which is a bit of a relief.

16:00 I drive home and start mowing the lawn in front of the house, which has become a bit of a jungle. Afterwards Lois and I relax with a cup of tea on the couch.