Wednesday November 27 2019

08:30 We roll out of bed - Lois has an appointment at 09:30 with James, the local hairdresser.

James, Lois' regular hairdresser

Lois has a good chemistry with James - he's good at doing gossip, she says, and Lois knows a lot about his private life - maybe a little more than she would like, but I’m going to let that one slide, because he's a warm-hearted guy  who sadly took a wrong turning somewhere along the way, no doubt about that.

Sometimes a hairdresser can play a very special role in women's lives, but it can also lead to jealousy among girlfriends - I know that for sure. Another local  hairdresser hit the headlines recently, after one of our near neighbours, Carrie Vance, told reporters of her despair over ever being able to patch up her shattered relationship with her hairdresser, after the truth about the man's "infidelity" with one of her girlfriends came into the public domain ( source: Onion News).

Still confused after noticing several eerie similarities during their chit-chat, local woman Carrie Vance reportedly felt a pang of betrayal Friday while sitting in the waiting room at her local salon watching her hairdresser chat with another customer.

"What the heck.....? And I thought we had something special!!!!”,  Vance had said to herself, watching with horror as she heard her hair stylist ask the other woman about her job and the weather, just as she and the man had discussed at their first appointment three months earlier.

"Now he's in full flow, asking her where she's from originally. Wow, that really hurt me. We had such a lovely conversation during my last haircut - I really thought he opened up for me - and now it’s obvious it was all just a show. God, I feel like such an idiot."

At press time, Vance reported being "completely shattered" after her hairdresser began their follow-up appointment by repeating exactly the same small talk as when they first met.

My goodness, what a crazy world we live in. But as I recall this news item, I warn Lois to be careful - James has not been unfaithful to her so far, she thinks, but life can be full of unpleasant surprises. And I advise her to be strong, in case something similar to Carrie’s experience happens sooner or later to her. Yikes – what a minefield!

09:30 I drive her over to James's shop. She has no desire to go there on foot because of her current back problems, the poor thing!

I kiss her goodbye, a little longer kiss than usual, and ask her to ask James if he has heard anything about the suggestion that the Burgage Stores next to James' shop may have offered to open a post office concession in-store, as Lois' friend Rose has heard. The village has had to manage without a post office for months now.

Flashback to May: the date of the post office closure

is revealed and the whole village goes into mourning – sob sob!!!

09:30 While Lois is out of the house, I start cleaning up and vacuuming all over, because Scilla's U3A Old Norse group is holding its regular group meeting here this afternoon, and I don't want group members to get the feeling that Lois and I live like pigs, which I'm afraid to admit is the unadorned truth ha ha ha!

10:00 Lois comes back from the hairdresser and we relax with a cup of coffee on the sofa. She says that according to James, it's just a rumour that the Burgage Stores could open a potential post office concession: the problem is, says James, that the village is packed full with old crows spreading and exaggerating rumours, he said (politely).

It is true, James said, that the convenience store owners already have a license to operate a post office franchise (from a store they previously owned), but the snag here is that Burgage Stores is quite small and it's not certain that there is space for another counter in there. So the jury is still out on that one - damn it!

Burgage Stores: maybe too small to house

a post office counter perhaps? But that's something the jury is still out on - damn it!

12:00 I rush into the kitchen and make lunch - one of my signature dishes: poached egg on toast yum yum! Lois has suffered from severe back problems for the past 2 days and it was me who made dinner last night (fish fingers, boiled potatoes and baked beans yum yum), and lunch today. Unfortunately, my culinary skills are quite limited, I have to admit.

Afterwards, I go to bed and take a short afternoon nap. I get up at 2 pm - and I feel a little dizzy and groggy - I must have slept very heavily for some reason. I get ready for Scilla's group meeting.

14:30  Scilla and the other group members ring at the door and we study Old Norse for an hour and a half. Our current project is Njal's saga, written in the 14th century in Iceland, although the saga itself and the events in it are much much older.

Njal's saga - the current project of our U3A Old Norse group

The big feud continues to ravage all of Iceland. And the feud has escalated, to put it mildly, and now the entire population of Iceland is out there, looking to kill one another. So in short - very exciting to put it mildly!

If you lived in Iceland during this period, some of your neighbours would be your friends and others your enemies, so building alliances was important. And one of the most useful ways to build an alliance was for one's daughter to marry someone who was good in a fight, or had a bunch of violent and vicious friends or relatives.

So a little romance between a young man and a young woman was often the prelude not just for a round of "sheet gymnastics", as the Danes say, but also for a armed mass brawl with your neighbours. And the woman's role was often to egg her husband on not to be a wimp – my god, what madness !!!

Today we read about Mord traveling with some of his friends and relatives to Mossfell to ask Gissur the White to let him marry Gissur's daughter, the lovely Thorkatla, which was nice.

After the wedding reception, according to the saga poet, Thorkatla immediately took charge of her husband Mord's household.

Mord and Thorkatla (nos. 3 and 4 from the left), from the "Erik the Viking" movie

Thorkatla - after her wedding she was in charge of Mord’s household,

and had many opportunities to relax and enjoy herself during

the day while her servants did all the hard work:

life could often be good for some Icelandic women, no doubt about that !!

Women were pretty powerful figures in medieval Icelandic society. They did not always have the right to choose their husband - it was usually her father's choice - but after that, married women played a powerful role in managing the household on a daily basis. And they had the right to divorce their husband if they got tired of him.

They also had the right to own homes, etc., and to run businesses. Lois comments that a woman's situation in medieval Iceland was similar to that of Anglo-Saxon England. It was the arrival of Normans in 1066 that ruined things for English women, she says. Yikes! But I see her point.

16:00 Scilla's group meeting ends and members leave. Lois and I relax with a cup of tea and a piece of bread with home-grown greengage marmalade - yum yum! We feel all washed up, as always, after an "Old Norse day". Yikes - we're getting old, no doubt about that.

18:00 We have dinner and spend the rest of the evening watching some television, the 2nd episode of Alice Roberts' interesting series "Digging for Britain", which gives an overview of the archaeological discoveries that have come to light during the last 12 months. Last week's episode revolved around excavations in Wales and south-west England. This episode deals with archaeological news from Scotland, Northern Ireland and Northern England.

Archaeologists have dug up traces of a large Viking Age long-house in Rousay, one of the Orkney Islands, including the long benches that stood along the walls of the house.

It is very interesting for Lois and me because we have often read in the Icelandic sagas about how crucial chairs and benches were at that time - where you sat showed how important you were.

Fighting over table plans and seating plans were common. And it famously led to many violent feuds, such as the brawl that broke out between the two women, Hallgerd and Bergthora in the Njala saga, our U3A Old Nordic group's current project, which escalated to being a violent nationwide feud.

Hallgerd and Bergthoras feud originally stemmed

from an unexpected brawl that broke over the seating plan at a wedding reception

Lois comments if only those stone benches could talk - what exciting stories they could tell us - yikes!

And it is very strange to think about how quiet the area is today, in contrast to the Viking era, when the islands were a central point in the Viking world.

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

Danish translation: onsdag den 27. november 2019

08:30 Lois og jeg vælter ud af sengen – hun har aftale kl 09:30 hos James, den lokale damefrisør.

James, Lois’ regelmæssige damefrisør

Lois har en god kemi med James – han er god til at sludre, siger hun, og Lois ved en masse om hans privatliv – måske lidt mere, end hun gerne vil det, men det springer jeg over, fordi han er en varmhjertet fyr, ingen tvivl om det.

Nogle gange spiller deres damefrisør en helt speciel rolle i kvinders liv, men det kan føre til jalousier blandt veninder – det ved jeg med sikkerhed. En anden damefrisør ramte overskrifterne for nylig, efter en lokal kvinde, Carrie Vance, fortalte journalister om hendes fortvivlesle over, at nogensinde blive i stand til at lappe på sit ødelagte forhold til sin damefrisør, efter mandens ”utroskab” med en af hendes veninder (kilde: Onion News).

Stadig forvirret efter at have bemærket adskillige uhyggelige ligheder i løbet af deres snik-snak, følte den lokale kvinde Carrie Vance angiveligt  en kval af forræderi fredag, mens hun sad i venteværelset på sin lokale salon og så sin frisør småsnakke med en anden kunde.

”Hvad pokker? Jeg troede, at vi havde noget specielt, ” sagde Vance for sig selv, og så til med forskrækkelse, da hun hørte sin hårstylist spørge den anden kvinde om sit job og vejret, ligesom hun og manden havde drøftet ved deres første aftale tre måneder tidligere. ”

"Nu er han i fuld gang med at spørge hende, hvor hun oprindeligt kommer fra? Wow, det sår mig virkelig. Vi havde en sådan dejlig samtale under min sidste klipning - jeg troede virkelig, at han åbnede op for mig - og nu er det klart, det hele bare var et show. Gud, jeg følermig som en sådan idiot. ”

På pressetid rapporterede Vance at være” helt sønderknust ”, efter at hendes frisør begyndte deres opfølgningsaftale ved at gentage nøjagtigt den samme småsnak, som da de mødte første gang.

Du godeste, sikke en skør verden vi lever i. Men da jeg minder om nyheden, advarer jeg Lois at være forsigtigt – James har ikke hidtil været hende utro, men livet kan være fuldt af ubehagelige overaskelser. Og jeg råder hende om at være stærk, for det tilfæde, at noget lignende sker før eller senere. Yikes!

09:30 Jeg kører Lois over til James’ forretningen. Lois har ikke lyst til at gå til fods på grund af sine nuværende rygproblemer, staklen!

Jeg kysser hende farvel, et lidt længere kys, end normalt, og beder hende om at spørge James, om han har hørt noget om muligheden for, at Burgage Stores- nærbutikken, der ligger ved siden af James’ forretning, har tilbudt at genåbne en postkontor-koncession inde i butikken, som Lois’ veninde Rose har hørt. Landsbyen er måttet klare sig uden et postkontor i flere måneder.

Tilbageblik til maj: datoen af postkontorets lukning

bliver afsløret, og hele landsbyen anlægger sorg – hulk hulk!!!

09:30 Mens Lois er ude af huset, går jeg i gang med at rydde op og støvsuge overalt i huset, fordi Scillas U3A oldnordisk gruppe holder sit regelmæssige gruppemøde i eftermiddag hos os, og jeg vil ikke have, at gruppemedlemmer får fornemmelsen, at Lois og jeg lever ligesom svin, hvilket jeg er bange for at indrømme er den usminkede sandhed ha ha ha!

10:00 Lois kommer tilbage fra damefrisøren og vi slapper af med en kop kaffe i sofaen. Hun siger, at ifølge James er det bare et rygte om, at Burgage Stores-nærbutikken kunne åbne en potentiel postkontorkoncesssion:  problemet er, at landsbyen er propfyldt af gamle krager der spreder, og overdriver rygter, sagde han (høfligt).

Det er sandt, sagde James, at nærbutikkens ejere allerede har en licens til at drive et postkontorkoncession (fra en forretning, de ejede før i tiden), men problemet er, at Burgage Stores er ganske lille og det er ikke helt sikkert, at der er plads til en øvrige skranke derinde. Så er juryen stadig ude om det – pokkers!

Burgage Stores-nærbutikken: måske for lille til at huse

en postkontor-skranke måske? Men det er juryen stadig ude om – pokkers!

12:00 Jeg skynder mig ind i køkkenet og laver frokost – én af mine signaturretter: pochet æg på toast yum yum! Lois har lidt af alvorige rygproblemer de seneste 2 dage og det var mig, der lavede aftensmad i går aftes (fiskepinder, kogte kartofler og baked beans), og frokost i dag. Desværre er mine kulinariske færdigheder helt begrænsede, det må jeg indrømme.

Bagefter går jeg i seng for at tage en kort eftermiddagslur. Jeg står op kl 14 – og jeg føler mig lidt svimmel og omtåget – jeg må have sovet meget tungt af en eller anden grund. Jeg forbereder mig på Scillas gruppemøde.

14:30 Scilla og den andre gruppemedlemmer ringer på døren og vi studerer oldnordisk i en time og en halv. Vores nuværende projekt er Njals saga, skrevet i det 14. århundrede i Island, selvom selve sagaen og begivenhederne derinde er meget meget ældre.

Njals saga – vores U3A oldnordiske gruppes nuværende projekt

Den store fejde fortsætter med at hærge hele Island over. Og fejden har eskaleret, for at sige mildt, og nu er hele Islands befolkning i fuld gang med at dræbe hinanden. Så kort sagt – meget spændende for at sige mildt!

I denne periode var nogle af dine naboer dine venner og andre dine fjender, så det var vigtigt at bygge alliancer. Og én af de mest nyttige måde at bygge en alliance på var at ens datter gifter sig med én, der var god i et slagsmål, eller havde en bandt voldsomme  og ondskabsfulde venner eller slægtninge.

Så blev lidt romantik mellem en ung mand og en ung kvinde ofte forspillet ikke bare til en omgang ”lagengymnastik”, som danskerne siger, men også til et masseslagsmål med dine naboer. Og kvindens rolle var ofte at ægge sin mand ikke at være en tøsedreng – du godeste, sikke et vanvid!!! 

I dag læser vi om Mord, der rejser med nogle af sine venner og slægtninge til Mossfell for at bede Gissur den Hvide om at lade ham gifte sig med Gissurs datter, den dejlige Thorkatla, hvilket var rart.

Efter bryllupsreceptionen, ifølge sagadigteren, stod Thorkatla straks for sin mand Mords husholdning.

Mord og Thorkatla (nr 3 og 4 fra venstre) i ”Erik the Viking”-filmen

Thorkatla – efter sit bryllup stod hun for Mords husholdning,

og kunne få mange muligheder for at slappe af og hygge sig

hele dagen, mens hendes tjenestefolk klarede alt det hårdt arbejde:

livet kunne ofte være godt for islandske kvinder, ingen tvivl om det!!

Kvinder var temmelig kraftfulde figurer i det gamle islandske samfund. De havde ikke altid retten til af vælge deres mand – det var sædvanligt hendes fars valg – men derefter spillede de en kraftfuld rolle i at styre husholdningen i det daglige. Og de havde retten til at lade sig skille fra deres mand, hvis de ville gå fra ham.

De havde også retten til at eje boliger osv, og at drive forretninger. Lois kommenterer, at en kvindes situation i det gamle Island lignede dén i det angelsaksiske England. Det var ankomst af normannere i 1066, der ødelagte tingene for engelske kvinder, siger hun. Yikes! Men jeg ser hendes point.

16:00 Scillas gruppemødet slutter og medlemmerne skal af sted. Lois og jeg slapper af med en kop te og et stykke brød med hjemmedyrket reineclaudemarmelade – yum yum! Vi et helt slåede ud, som altid, efter en ”oldnordisk dag”. Yikes – vi bliver gamle, ingen tvivl om det.

18:00 Vi spiser aftensmad og bruger resten af aftenen på at se lidt fjernsyn, det 2. afsnit af Alice Roberts’ interessante serie ”Digging for Britain”, der give en oversigt at de arkæologiske opdagelser, der er blevet afsløret i løbet af de seneste 12 måneder. Sidste uges afsnit kredsede om udgravninger i Wales og de sydvestlige England. Dette afsnit handler om arkæologiske nyheder fra Skotland, Nord-Irland og det nordlige England.

Arkæologer har udgravnet spor af et langhus fra vikingetiden i Rousay, én af orkneyøerne, inklusive de lange bænke, der stod langs væggene af huset.

Det er meget interessant for Lois og mig, fordi vi ofte har læst i den islandske sagaer om, hvor afgørende stole og bænke var dengang - hvor du sad, viste, hvor vigtig du var.

Slagsmål om bordplaner og sædeplaner var hyppige. Og det førte berømt til mange voldsomme fejder, som det slagsmål, der brød ud mellem de to kvinder, Hallgerd og Bergthora i Njala saga, vores U3A oldnordiske gruppes nuværende projekt.

Hallgerd og Bergthoras fejde stammede oprindeligt

fra en uforventet slagsmål, der brød ud over bordplanen til en bryllupsreception

(troet at være en skitse lavet af en af bryllupsgæsterne)

Lois kommenterer, hvis bare de der stenbænke kunne tale – sådanne spændende fortællinger de kunne snakke med os om – yikes!

Og det er meget underligt at tænke på, hvor stille og roligt området er i dag, i modsætning til vikingetiden, da øerne var sikke et centralt punkt i vikingernes verden.

22:00 Vi går i seng – zzzzzzzz!!!!