Impending doomImpending Doom is very possibly approaching Iceland:
I can't wait.
In the meantime, I have finished my first proper paper, with much relief-we got essentially an entire week off to work on various projects and this is pretty much the only thing anyone worked on. If I don't have some grasp of the Christianization of Scandinavia now, between this and my thesis, I never will. The last bit of the evening has been a desperate scramble to make sure I know my subjunctive paradigms, get the required distance through our current translation project, and at least start on the next batch of historical readings, Stephen Mitchell's brand spanking new monograph on witchcraft and magic, app 1100-1525. I haven't even reminded myself what the readings for Torfi's class are-some short saga and its adjacent scholarship, I think. And I don't even want to think about my Stand der Forschung on runology.
Went and saw David sing with the university choir on Friday night. Lovely, and there were two medieval folk groups, one of which, Voces Thules, was particularly amazing, so everyone with any taste in music ought to go out and buy their albums. Hurdy-gurdy and five part harmonies! Alas, I missed the last bus of the night afterwards, and got to enjoy a lovely three hour walk back into town, in hail and sleet. You appreciate how barren Iceland can be, walking around alone in it at night, thinking you're probably lost (though I was only actually going to the wrong direction once, towards the beginning, and lost about a half hour. Only in Reykjavik is the dark wooded footpath the right way to go to hook back up with the main road). And the lights of Hallgrímskirkja are beatiful when they are the first sight you recognize after wandering for long hours. And pear skyr tastes amazing when you're starving and tired. And I am assured my new coat and new boots are broken in.
The weeks of the term progress. I have one week to come up with a clear enough idea of what I want to say about Trojumanna saga to write an abstract. I am considering buying an ice pick and setting it beside my computer, so my brain may see it every day and know that I mean business.
Did you see any amazing trees on your long, lonely walk home?
ReplyDeleteThere was a lone tree on the side of the highway, where a little river or stream was running into the bay, that had a particular quality to it. Reminded me that the island isn't quite as empty and desolate as it seems. And that there are some things, small though they may be, that hold up well in the wind and sleet and short growing seasons.
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