Saturday 20 January 2018

09:00 Lois and I go in the shower and get up. We have breakfast. The weather forecast does not look promising, to put it mildly.

10:00 I hop up on my exercise bike and cycle 6 miles. I watch old pop videos from the 1980s on my brand new DVD player for kids, while I'm cycling. I'm cycling down memory lane, ha ha ha.

11:00 It's still raining but not hard any longer. We walk into the village and swing by the local pharmacy. We pick up another package of Lois's statins: we popped into the pharmacy yesterday, but we could not get the pills because the doctor had forgotten to sign the prescription. What madness!

I take a little look online. I see that Scilla, the leader of our U3A Old Norse group, has sent me an email with details of the group's next project: Njáls saga, an Icelandic saga, written in approx. 1280. The story takes place in Rangárvellir in southern Iceland between approx. 950-1015 AD.

I see that Scilla has once again chosen an episode where an older woman scores with a younger man. My god - this is beginning to turn into a pattern, no doubt about that!

This episode is all about Gunnhild the Queen Mother, the widow of the Norwegian King Eric Bloodaxe. Gunnhild briefly became the mistress of Hrut Herjolfsson, an Icelandic chieftain who was on a visit to Norway during the reign of Gunnhild's son Harald.

This affair was all the more scandalous given the age difference: the fact that Gunnhild was a generation older than Hrut was considered remarkable in those days. Gunnhild did not shy away from showing her affection for Hrut in public, something that which was usually limited to married couples, for example by putting her arms around his neck and holding him tight in a close embrace.

Gunnhild insisted that Hrut slept alone with her in the upper chamber where there were unlimited amounts of alcohol. And every single night she made sure to lock their bedroom door from the inside - yikes, scary !!!!

Gunnhild the Queen Mother insists that the Icelandic visitor Hrut (left) 

sleep alone with her in an upper chamber, where there were 

unlimited amounts of alcohol - yikes!

In another version of the story, the Laxdaela Saga, there is a particular description of the extent to which she was enchanted by Hrut: "Queen Gunnhild loved [Hrut] so much that she thought there was nobody in the royal guard who came close to him, when it came to talking or "anything else".

Hrut finally had to say goodbye to her and go home to Iceland to marry Unna, his fiancee. Gunnhild gave Hrut a lot of farewell gifts, but at the same time she cursed Hrut with priapism, because Gunnhild wanted to ruin Hrut's marriage to Unna, which was a little mean-spirited and selfish in my opinion. What madness !!! Hrut and Unna had to separate in the end as a result of Hrut's condition: poor Hrut! And poor Unna !!!!

Well, joking aside, I'm quite sure that Scilla, our group leader, has chosen this episode because of its linguistic challenges, and not to satisfy any secret fantasies she might have. I am looking forward to taking a closer look at the text in due course.

12:00 I chat a little with Lois about Hrut and Gunnhild's affair in Njal's saga. The interesting question is, could a queen mother get away with behaving like that today?

We think the answer is no. It is true that Gunnhild proves to be relatively shameless by kissing and embracing Hrut in public, but she is careful to warn the men in the castle on pain of death not to tell anyone anything about the couple's 2-week unofficial "honeymoon" in her bedroom. But in today's world, the news would definitely have leaked out on the social media, no doubt about that !!!!

an excerpt from Njals saga: the Norwegian Queen Mother's unofficial "honeymoon" 

with Hrut, who was visiting from Iceland (my translations in red)

13:00 We have lunch. I turn on my smartphone and see a charming picture of Ed, our son-in-law in Copenhagen, and Isaac, our 7 year old grandchild.

Ed, our son-in-law in Copenhagen (right, in new hat),

and Isaac, our 7 year old grandson

14:00 We go to bed for three hours - my god, how lazy we are! But we really need it, no doubt about that !!!

17:00 I turn on my smartphone and I see that Ann, a member of the local U3A committee has sent me another email. She wrote me her first email a few days ago saying she wanted to sit in on one of our Danish group meetings as part of the committee's program to monitor local U3A groups and propose improvements. She has accepted my invitation to attend our next group meeting, which will take place on Thursday at our house.

Lois and I are a little nervous about her visit and we do not want her to tell us we are conducting the meetings in the wrong style for example, or that we are breaking the U3A rules in one way or another. If there is any trouble, we have planned to declare unilateral independence from the U3A committee and go it alone with our little group ha ha ha.

18:00 We have dinner and watch television. An interesting documentary is on, all about Michelangelo, the famous Italian artist.

This program is very nostalgic for Lois and me because it reminds us of our holiday to Italy in 1998. Alison, our daughter in Copenhagen, was then a student in Pisa, and Lois and I visited her for two weeks.

Flashback to March 1998: me (51) on the balcony

of our hotel room in Turin on the way to Pisa,

where our daughter Alison was a student

Alison (22) and Lois (51) on the balcony of

Alison's apartment in Pisa.

How young they look!

Alison and Lois in la Piazza della Signoria in Florence, where

Michelangelo's "David" can be seen. Happy days !!!!

By the way, Lois and I don’t much care for the updated version of Michelangelo's "David" (2008). Call us old-fashioned, but we think the new version lacks some of the original's subtlety. But Lois calms me down by interpreting the statue as a comment on global warming, which seems fair enough.

Michelangelo's "David", updated version (2008)

Source: Onion News in Photos

21:00 We continue to watch television, an interesting documentary about the career of Barack Obama, the former US president.

Lois and I learned a lot, especially about Obama's childhood and youth. It was amusing to see again Obama's speech at the annual White House journalists' dinner in April 2011, where Obama was making fun of Trump, who was sitting in the audience, after the state of Hawaii had published Obama's birth certificate.

Obama claimed that Trump had been relieved because he could now focus on the more important issues, such as whether the US faked the land landing or not ha ha. 

The evening must have been deeply humiliating for Trump - maybe it was there and then he decided to become president and humiliate the press as his revenge, but that's something Lois and I are not entirely sure about. Trump later denied this idea anyway, so it can't be true.

Headline in the Washington Post (February 2017)

Obama had some other examples, besides the fake month landing, "What really happened in Roswell? And where is Biggie and Tupac?" but Lois and I do not understand these references, so the jury is still out on those, as far as we're concerned.

It was nice to have a president with a good sense of humor, whether you liked his ideas or not. I'm absolutely sure that Trump has a sense of humor, but we do not see it that much. He seems to hide his light under a bushel, but probably Americans see it more often than we do.

22:00 We go to bed - zzzzzzzz !!!!!

Danish translation

09:00 Lois og jeg går I bad og står op. Vi spiser morgenmad. Vejrudsigten ser ikke lovende ud, for at sige mildt.

10:00 Jeg hopper op på min kondicykel og cykler 6 miles. Jeg ser på gamle popvideoer fra 1980’erne på min spritnye dvd-afspiller for børn, mens jeg cykler. Jeg cykler en tur på mindernes vej ha ha ha.

11:00 Det regner stadig men ikke kraftigt længere. Vi går hen ind i landsbyen og smutter ind hos det lokale apotek. Vi henter endnu en pakke af Lois’ statiner: vi kiggede ind i apoteket i går, men vi kunne ikke få pillerne på grund af, at lægen havde glemt at underskrive recepten. Sikke et vanvid!!!!

Jeg kigger lidt på nettet. Jeg ser, at Scilla, lederen af vores U3A oldnorske gruppe, har sendt mig en mail med detaljerne om gruppens næste projekt: Njáls saga, som er en islændingesaga, som er skrevet ca. 1280. Historien foregår i Rangárvellir på det sydlige Island ca. år 950-1015.

Jeg ser, at Scilla endnu engang har valgt en episode, hvor en ældre kvinde scorer en ung mand. Du godeste – dette begynder at blive til et mønster, ingen tvivl om det!

Episoden handler om Gunnhild Kongemor, enken af den norske kong Erik Blodøkse. Gunnhild blev elskerinden af Hrut Herjolfsson, en islandsk høvding, der var på besøg til Norge under Gunnhilds søn Haralds regering.

Denne affære var jo mere skandaløst i betragtning af alderforskellen: det, at Gunnhild var en generation ældre end Hrut, blev betragtet som bemærkelsesværdig. Gunnhild kviede ikke ved at vise  sin hengivenhed for Hrut for åbent tæppe, hvilket normalt var begrænset til ægtepar, såsom at lægge armene om halsen på ham og holder ham i en tæt omfavnelse.

Gunnhild havde desuden insisteret på, at Hrut sover alene med hende i det øverste kammer, hvor der var ubegrænsede mængder af alkohol. Og øven i købet sørgede hun hver eneste aften for at låse deres soveværelsesdør indenfra – yikes, skræmmende!!!!

Gunnhild Kongemor insisterer på, at Hrut (til venstre) sover alene med hende

i en øverst kammer, hvor der var ubegrænsede mængder af alkohol – yikes!

I en anden saga, Laxdaela Sagaen, beskriver man især, i hvilken grad hun blev fortryllet af Hrut:

”Dronning Gunnhild elskede [Hrut] så meget, at hun syntes, at der ikke var hans lig i livvagten, når det kom til at tale eller alt andet.”

Gunnhild hjalp Hrut med at få fat i en arv ved at arrangere døden af en mand ved navn Soti. Hrut måtte endlig sige hende farvel og rejse hjem til Island for at gifte sig med Unna, sin forlovede. Gunnhild gav Gunnhild ham mange farvelgaver, men hun forbandede Hrut med priapisme, fordi Gunnhild havde lyst til at at ødelægge Hruts ægteskab med Unna, hvilket var lidt fej og egoistisk efter min mening. Sikke et vanvid!!! Hrut og Unna skiltes til sidste som resultat: stakkels Hrut! Og stakkels Unna!!!!

Nå, spøg' til side, jeg er helt sikker på, at Scilla, vores gruppes leder, har valgt denne episode på grund af dens sproglige udfordringer, og ikke for at tilfredsstille nogle hemmelige fantasier. Jeg glæder mig meget til at se nærmere på teksten lidt senere.

12:00 Jeg snakker lidt med Lois om Hrut og Gunnhilds affære i Njals saga. Det interessante spørgsmål er, kunne en kongemor slippe af sted med at opføre sig sådan i dag?

Vi synes, svaret er nej. Det er sandt, at Gunnhild viser sig relativt skamløs ved at kysse og omfavne Hrut for åbent skue, men hun passer på, at advare mændene i slottet under dødsstraf mod at fortælle nogen noget om parrets 2-uges uofficielle ”hvedebrødsdage” i hendes soveværelse. Men i nutidens verden ville nyhederne helt bestemt har lækket ud på de sociale medier, ingen tvivl om det!!!!

et uddrag fra Njals saga: den norske kongemors uofficielle ”hvedebrødsdage”

sammen med Hrut, der er på besøg fra Island (mine oversættelser i rød)

13:00 Vi spiser frokost. Jeg tænder på min smartphone, og ser et charmerende billede af Ed, vores svigersøn i København, og af Isaac, vores 7-årige barnebarn.

Ed, vores svigersøn i København (til højre, i ny hat),

 og Isaac, vores 7-årige barnebarn

14:00 Vi går i seng i tre timer – du godeste, hvor er vi dog dovne. Men vi trænger til den, ingen tvivl om det!!!

17:00 Jeg tænder for min smartphone, og jeg ser at Ann, et medlem af det lokale U3A-udvalg har sendt mig endnu en email. Hun skrev mig sin første mail for nogle dage siden, og sagde, at hun ønskede at komme og overvære et af vores danske gruppes møder, som del af udvalgets program for at overvåge lokale U3A grupper og forslå forbedringer. Hun har accepteret min invitation til at deltage i vores næste gruppemøde, der finder sted på torsdag hos os.

Lois og jeg er lidt nervøse for hendes besøg, og vi vil ikke have hende til at fortælle os, vi styrer vores møder på den forkerte måde, eller noget lignende, eller at vi bryder U3A-reglerne på en eller anden måde. Hvis der er noget ballade, har vi planlagt at erklære ensidig uafhængighed fra U3A-udvalget, og gå den alene med vores lille gruppe ha ha ha.

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og ser lidt fjernsyn. De viser en interessant dokumentarfilm, der handler om Michelangelo, den berømte italienske kunstner.

Dette program er meget nostaligisk for Lois og mig, fordi det minder os om vores ferie i Italien i 1998. Alison, vores datter i København, var dengang studerende i Pisa, og Lois og jeg besøgte hende i to uger.

Tilbageblik til marts 1998: mig (på 51 år) på altanen

af vores hotelværelse i Turin på vej til Pisa,

hvor vores datter Alison var studerende

Alison (22) og Lois (51) på altanen af

Alisons lejlighed i Pisa.

Hvor ser de dog unge ud!!!!

Alison og Lois på la Piazza della Signoria i Firenze, hvor

Michelangelos ”David” kan ses. Lykkelige dage!!!!

I øvrigt kan Lois og jeg ikke lide den opdaterede version af Michelangelos ”David” (2008). Kald os gammeldags, men vi synes, den nye version mangler noget af den oprindeliges subtilitet. Lois beroliger mig ikke desto mindre, ved at fortolke statuen som en kommentar til global opvarming, hvilket virker fair nok.

Michelangelos ”David”, opdaterede version (2008)

kilde: Onion News in Photos

21:00 Vi fortsætter med at se lidt fjernsyn, en interessant dokumentarfilm, der handler om karrieren af Barack Obama, den tidligere US-præsident.

Lois og jeg lærte meget, i sær om Obamas barndom og ungdom. Det var morsomt at se igen, Obamas tale på den årlige middag for Det Hvide Hus' journalister i april 2011, hvor Obama lavede sjov med Trump, der sad i publikummet, efter delstaten Hawaii havde publiseret Obamas fødselsattest.

Obama påslog, at Trump var blevet lettet, fordi han nu kunne fokusere på de vigtigere spørgsmål, som for eksempel, om USA fakede månelandingen eller ej ha ha ha. 

Aftenen må have været meget meget dybt ydmygende for Trump – måske besluttede sig der og da for at blive præsident og ydmyge pressen som sin hævn, men det er Lois og jeg ikke helt sikre på. Trump benægtede denne idé i hvert fald, så derfor er det helt bestemt ikke sandt.

Overskrift i Washington Post (februar 2017)

Obama havde nogle andre eksempler, udover den fakede månedlanding, nemlig ” Hvad er der virkelig sket i Roswell? Og hvor er Biggie og Tupac? ", men Lois og jeg forstår ikke disse referencer, så disse er juryen stadig ude om, hvad angår os.

Det var rart at have en præsident med en god sans for humor, hvad enten man kunne lide hans idéer eller ej. Jeg er helt sikker på, at Trump har en humoristisk sans, men den ser vi ikke ret meget. Han virker at stikke den under stolen, men sandsynligvis ser amerikanerne den mere ofte, end os.

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzz!!!!!