Thorrablot

As I’m lead to understand it “Thorrablot” is an Icelandic word meaning “to break the back of winter” and we did just that, well maybe we just sprained its ankle a little. My wife and I were very graciously invited to this annual event by our noble Icelandic friends Len & Karen pictured here with family members. We sat with them at the very large round table and were submitted to some pretty serious nosh. Roast Beef, Corned Beef, Ham this and Ham that, sausages made from things that I don’t think we even have here in Canada, little swirly flat things that look like cinnamon but no, it was some sort of ham again. There were pickled herrings floating in lemons and lettuce, along with all other colors of the veggie garden all spiced up for an evening of seasoned abandonment, of course I couldn’t move afterwards and I suspect that I won’t need to eat for the next few days either. Forget the dancing, although I was able to spin my beautiful lass around half the dance floor before running out of the wild, untamed and restless.

I am compelled to write this article because of the way this auspicious event made me feel, like I was sitting down with my own kind of people, and as an immigrant to Canada myself, I felt a real kinship to these hearty Vikings. Their stories of goodbyes to the auld motherland, and being told “don’t look back” for fear that her mournful mountains and valleys would prevent them, now remembered as much taller and a deeper green in the hearts and minds of today. This all touched a singular chord with me, their old nautical passages to the North American shores were not unlike my own crossing of the Atlantic, where I endured upwards of force ten gales to reach the land of opportunity, vowing never to step foot on any floating vessel again although you know I did, as time would reveal two more Atlantic crossings. These days, seeing as man has developed wings, I’m quite happy to fly.

This story is far greater than the few words I have conjured up here, so feel free to add your own Thorrablot tale, into "comments" down below.

Posted By: John Ellis
www.musicborders.com