Christmas is coming - Idą święta

An exhibition of Tryggvi Magnússon's drawings in Christmas is coming by Jóhannes úr Kötlum on the occasion of a new Polish translation

Exhibition in the National Library

01.12.2023 - 07.01.2024

In 1932 poet Jóhannes úr Kötlum published his verses about Icelandic Christmas traditions, Christmas is coming. Jóhannes úr Kötlum used mostly the same names for the Yuletide- Lads as Reverend Páll Jónsson at Myrká (1812-1889) seventy years earlier in Jón Árnason's folklore collection. With this poem, it can be said that Jóhannes fixed the names of the Yuletide- Lads, their number and the order in which they go to the settlements. There are thirteen Yule Lads in the book, although it is said that there were many more. Tryggvi Magnússon illustrated the book. Griffla published the book in an English translation by Hallberg Hallmundsson in 2015 under the title Christmas is coming : verse for children and in 2022 Mál og menning published the book in Polish translated by Nina Słowińska under the title Idą święta : wiersze dla dzieci and for that reason this exhibition and catalog is partly in Polish. In 1989, the National and University Library of Iceland acquired the original copies of the drawings in Christmas is coming and they are preserved in the Library´s manuscript collection. The drawings of the Yuletide- Lads in Christmas is Coming have been Christmas cards of the National Library of Iceland - University Library in recent years.

Exhibitions

Previous exhibitions
Stríðsárin 1938-1945 (finished)

Stríðsárin 1938-1945 (finished)

Exhibition in the National Library

See more
Jón Vídalín - 300 years remembrance

Jón Vídalín - 300 years remembrance

Exhibition in the National Library

See more
16th Century Hymnbooks

16th Century Hymnbooks

Exhibition in the National Library

See more