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Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Bollurdagur / BUN DAY




Bolludagur is the Monday in the beginning of lent and this year it came up on the 19th of February. Even though the name, bolludagur, is fairly young this day has been celebrated for over hundred years in Iceland.


It is believed that the custom of bun day came to Iceland from either Denmark or Norway in the second half of the nineteenth century, introduced by bakers from those countries. Nevertheless, bolludagur is celebrated quite differently in Iceland than in the mainland Scandinavian countries.


There are two important things related to the bun day. The first is to spank people with the so called bolludagsvöndur-and by people I mean parents-, which is a decorated stick, and today most kids make their own sticks in school, decorating it with all kinds of colored paper. The goal is to manage to spank people before they get out of bed, and for each time you manage to spank and scream "bolla" you receive a price, which in Iceland is always rjomabolla, a cream puffed bun; preferably with chocolate covering, if you were to ask me.


Now stay tuned, ´cause there are three special days in a row now, taken together, they afford you the opportunity to be a complete glutton!


next installment tomorrow: Bursting Day!

Labels:


Posted by Minka :: 12:32 am :: 21 Royal Subjects

21 Comments:

At 01:01, Blogger Doug The Una said...

Wow, three days of fat Tuesday. Why do I suspect there's no actual Lent involved?

How many rjomabollas did you earn, Minka? And shouldn't people who work at nursing homes have to sit this one out?

 
At 01:08, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Fascinating! Prizes for kids attacking their parents with sticks while they sleep. Sounds like fun and the the chocolate covered pastry looks yummy too!

 
At 01:11, Blogger Minka said...

Doug, you ask an intruiging question...but I did have 7 of those today, I didn´t hit anybody...not in reference to bun day at least ;) I am independent, I buy my own bollur ;)

Joel, Iceland knows how to party;)

 
At 12:53, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh! Cake! The spanking thing kinda threw me.

In Greenwich Village and Hoillywood, CA, "Bun Day" means something else entirely.

 
At 13:02, Blogger I Dive At Night said...

Hey Monika, great buns! I could sink my teeth in.

Enjoy spanking bun day!!!

 
At 13:08, Blogger Minka said...

al, yes? Care to elaborate...does it involve pastries that will send your colesterol off the charts, by any chance?!

Morgan,thanks...I might still get some on sale from yesterday! ;)

 
At 14:17, Anonymous Anonymous said...

You know, lent is a bit different in my part of the world. I may have been born in the wrong place (except for that snow and ice thing ...).

 
At 17:55, Blogger Doug The Una said...

Quilly, Lent starts Wednesday. I understand in Vegas, Carnival is the period from Ash Wednesday to Mardi Gras.

 
At 18:33, Anonymous Anonymous said...

"Fat Tuesday" takes on a whole new meaning with "Bun Day", doesn't it? perhaps down the road some pastry exec will have the brilliant idea of combining the two for -- "Fat Bun Tuesday"? (yes yes, i could have said Fat Ass Tuesday, but why would i do that? altho' it would be F.A.T., which is kind of funny... but, no, it's still wrong)

wonder if this tradition stems from the same ancient Christian origins as hot cross buns? (which were a carry over from a pagan fertility ritual, and that's all i'll say about the subject for now).

thank you for this fascinating and fun bit o' Icelandic Holiday Trivia, dear Penguin! i await with bated breath to learn what "bursts" out on Wednesday! xox

 
At 19:48, Blogger ~Mo'a~ said...

Hello Minka these were three favorite days for me when I was growing up.
Bolla, bolla, bolla.....that will be three cream puffs please :)
Today Sprengjidagur....mmmmmm!!! Saltkjot of baunir...Have you made your bags for Oskudagur?
Thanks for the memories :)

 
At 21:58, Blogger Minka said...

Quilly, we have a lot more to offer than bolludagur :) In the end it equals out the ice thing ;)

Doug, Lent does start Wednesday, that´s when we have a dress-up carnival kinda situation going, much as they did in biblical times :)

Neva, bursting we are doing today...singing and dressing up is on tomorrow!

Móa, indeed I have and a list of people I am gonna attach them to ;)
I can see our little ones and they are crazy these days :)

 
At 00:36, Blogger Nessa said...

Sounds very interesting. Any holiday with yummy pastry is a very good holiday. Can I eat a brownie in its honor?

 
At 04:29, Anonymous Anonymous said...

spanking and chocolate buns? Those 19th century bakers were a raucous bunch.

 
At 06:04, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Spanking and buns and pastries? I am SO in!

 
At 15:23, Blogger Doug The Una said...

I hear it's time for you to get off your ash.

 
At 18:50, Blogger Kyahgirl said...

bun day and beating day eh? you Icelanders really know how to stay warm in the winter. :-)

 
At 19:08, Blogger birdwoman said...

being a "person" (parent), I much prefer mardi gras to this spank mommy day. Though I wouldn't mind some cream puffs with chocolate!
(*)>

 
At 20:40, Blogger G said...

I love reading about these wonderful (long as I'm not being poked) traditions that you and Mo'a both write about. I might even endure being spanked for those buns...that sounded a little - colorful.

Hahaha - I'am laughing at Puppy's F.A.T.!

 
At 21:29, Blogger Tim Rice said...

As soon as I came to your blog, you made me hungry! Can you send me one of those rjomabollas over the internet to me? ;)

And I thought I might tell you that I and my girlfriend became engaged on Valentine's Day. We are planning a September wedding.

 
At 03:02, Anonymous Anonymous said...

You burst, which is why we never got Bursting Day, right?

 
At 06:02, Blogger tsduff said...

Minka, did you burst?

 

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