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Kopijeger posted:Paganchat reminded me of this: British Odinist fired for using "multicultural prayer room", gets told that his faith is "not real", but is vindicated in court. I wonder how declaring yourself a follower of the Æsir would be received in those unenlightened countries where most people assume that people have to belong to an Abrahamic faith system. I know that in Greece, pagans dedicating themselves to the Olympian gods tend to be discriminated against in a society where the Orthodox church has disproportionate influence. In the US, the problem is that Odinist religions have been co-opted by white supremacists. It isn't fair, but that will color the reactions here.
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Feb 3, 2015 22:28
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Yeah, it's a real mixed bag in the US. I found a lot of white supremacists and faith-ey literalists while googling around about Asatru, which is a shame. I've only scratched the surface but as a source of myth, ritual and symbols, I think I'd be down if it weren't all shitted up by my fellow Americans.
Accretionist fucked around with this message at 06:06 on Feb 4, 2015 |
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Feb 3, 2015 22:54
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That "multicultural room" story is pretty amazing. Here is what happens when someone even farther down the "religion taken seriously" ladder tries to express his beliefs! I have worn Thor's Hammer pendants on and off in my life, and the only non-abstract one I ever wore led, within the span of the first week I wore it, to a cashier at a grocery store giving me a knowing look and saying something like "people like us have to keep America clean." Super-creepy enough that I stopped wearing that particular necklace forever. Sad, but apparently hardly uncommon here. I mean, I can see how it makes sense to draw the idiocy line directly from "NORDIC-BORN RELIGION = WHITE DUDES WOOO" but it is still too bad.
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Feb 4, 2015 01:31
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Haha, that's hilarious. It's like you discovered the hidden sign and accidentally stumbled upon a secret network.
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Feb 4, 2015 06:08
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Kopijeger posted:Paganchat reminded me of this: British Odinist fired for using "multicultural prayer room", gets told that his faith is "not real", but is vindicated in court. I wonder how declaring yourself a follower of the Æsir would be received in those unenlightened countries where most people assume that people have to belong to an Abrahamic faith system. I know that in Greece, pagans dedicating themselves to the Olympian gods tend to be discriminated against in a society where the Orthodox church has disproportionate influence. Accretionist posted:Did you see Iceland.jpg? There's a little tourism chat here and there. In any case tho, Freudian Slippers seems to be staying on case there and doing a good job. nm posted:In the US, the problem is that Odinist religions have been co-opted by white supremacists. It isn't fair, but that will color the reactions here. Quarex posted:That "multicultural room" story is pretty amazing. Here is what happens when someone even farther down the "religion taken seriously" ladder tries to express his beliefs! Deceitful Penguin fucked around with this message at 11:48 on Feb 4, 2015 |
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Feb 4, 2015 11:26
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A couple of weirdly specific questions - any idea on the best way to get to Iceland from Europe/Australia? I've never been anywhere overseas where I need to have a stopover, and if I'm going to be junking around weird Euroports on the way through at the tailend of 30+hours of transit I'd prefer a decent one  Icelandair is the best way to get into Iceland from Europe, right?Also, any idea of the local music scene? I'll likely be heading up to cover the ATP Festival and wouldn't mind taking in a bit of the local stuff outside of the international acts.
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Feb 5, 2015 04:53
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Deceitful Penguin posted:Awww man, that's sad/hilarious. From what I remembered the fastest growing splinter was in prisons in the US so it does focus a bit too much on certain facets of the faith. But I doubt they ever read anything about it, the closest is probably reading Thor comics and getting mad about them. Race is such a huge loving in us prisons, but that is for another thread.
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Feb 5, 2015 05:04
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I, Butthole posted:A couple of weirdly specific questions - any idea on the best way to get to Iceland from Europe/Australia? I've never been anywhere overseas where I need to have a stopover, and if I'm going to be junking around weird Euroports on the way through at the tailend of 30+hours of transit I'd prefer a decent one Honest recommendation actually is to have a significant stopover at some of the places to break up the flights, but that can be complicated. Paris, Stuttgart, Frankfurt, heck even Copenhagen or Madrid are all great places I'd recommend for a few days. And Icelandair is the simplest one to get there, but not necessarily the cheapest for some of those flights. I'd shop around and see if some of the mainland flight companies might be cheaper. It shames me to admit it, but I only listen to dead music. What parts of the Icelandic music scene I listen to, is usually online and shared there, not in live venues. As ever, I suggest the Grapevine, which has a big section on upcoming events and ongoing ones, as well as reviews and whatnot, all in English and online, for free. Man, I should get a sponsorship from those guys at some point. nm posted:Race is such a huge loving in us prisons, but that is for another thread.
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Feb 5, 2015 13:13
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Deceitful Penguin posted:I only listen to dead music. https://www.dead.is
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Feb 5, 2015 20:53
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Deceitful Penguin posted:It is, and it's pretty interesting when you come from a nation so homogeneous that it made Japan look multicultural for the longest time.
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Feb 5, 2015 20:57
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neiiiiiiiiiiiinm posted:Now you have a generically asian soup place and like 3 thai places. Shitload of thai yeah. Is good. Now, if only we could get some good Mexican I could be happy... Also here is the sorta music I listen to: https://soundcloud.com/pallivan3/lommi-faru-heim
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Feb 6, 2015 00:13
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Deceitful Penguin posted:Also here is the sorta music I listen to: https://soundcloud.com/pallivan3/lommi-faru-heim That's not bad. What do you mean by 'dead' music then? I thought you meant some long gone 60's and 70's bands.
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Feb 6, 2015 11:21
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Doctor Malaver posted:That's not bad. What do you mean by 'dead' music then? I thought you meant some long gone 60's and 70's bands. also lol: http://www.rajanzed.org/hindus-welcome-raising-of-norse-pagan-temple-in-iceland/ that's uh, that's a nice gesture I suppose?
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Feb 6, 2015 17:15
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I'm slightly disappointed that the neo-norse (nýásatrú?) don't practice the blood-sacrifice of livestock. It's probably the redneck farmer in me, but I think people are losing their connection to earth and nature, and it would behoove us to see that our current lives owe just as much to the animals we keep for food and clothing, as we do to intellectual and cultural accomplishments; IMO, offering an animal to the gods would reinforce that, as well as remind folks that faith is not a frivolous subject to be chosen or discarded at a whim. I might not believe in the old gods, but they are a part of my cultural DNA, and I respect them greatly.
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Feb 6, 2015 19:00
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What's the thing that a foreigner should definately not do in front of an Icelander? (or Icelandic I don't know how to spell it sorry) Is there something that you guys are really proud of and that would offend you if someone would denigrate it?
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Feb 6, 2015 19:31
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inscrutable horse posted:I'm slightly disappointed that the neo-norse (nýásatrú?) don't practice the blood-sacrifice of livestock. It's probably the redneck farmer in me, but I think people are losing their connection to earth and nature, and it would behoove us to see that our current lives owe just as much to the animals we keep for food and clothing, as we do to intellectual and cultural accomplishments; IMO, offering an animal to the gods would reinforce that, as well as remind folks that faith is not a frivolous subject to be chosen or discarded at a whim. I might not believe in the old gods, but they are a part of my cultural DNA, and I respect them greatly. Iceland is small enough folks might even recognize him from that description, hah! But you can do sacrifices if you want. I might, though I'd want someone to eat it later. NyxBiker posted:What's the thing that a foreigner should definately not do in front of an Icelander? (or Icelandic I don't know how to spell it sorry) If you are non-western uhh, I dunno. Smoking inside? Streetspitting? Nyeh. Uhhh, I dunno. The Icelandic HORSE (not pony drat you), the Sagas maybe. Strongmen and purdy ladies also maybe. I mostly just pretend to be nationalistic in places to rile people up because the only crimes Iceland has ever committed as a nation was a massacre of Basques, who don't even remember it methinks. Like, some people are sore about the "lol ur inbred" but I sure ain't. Then again, I originate from "The Congo" of Iceland. Also Icelanders are very offended if you visit the country and don't bring them booze, yes. This is a true thing. 
Deceitful Penguin fucked around with this message at 19:42 on Feb 6, 2015 |
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Feb 6, 2015 19:38
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Deceitful Penguin posted:There's nothing really stopping you from doing that, in fact I knew a guy that did that. He was a bit of a, well, gently caress-up though. Viking re-enactor with a suspended drivers license who drank to much and took the faith a bit too seriously on the "battle" part and not enough on the "don't be a dick part". Ends up married to a yank and moving to Arizona or some such place to be a security guard before he disconnects from facebook. Ugh, at least he had the sense to exile himself to the US. But yeah, eating the animal (and preferably using the hide as well) is totally implicit to the whole "respect the animal that clothes and feeds you" kinda thing. Just killing some animal, and then discarding it is wasteful and cruel. As I said, I don't believe in the gods, so it's not as if this will ever be an issue for me. My attitude probably comes from growing up in the sticks, and taking part in killing and preparing sheep for consumption - it annoys the hell out of me to see some city-dwelling fool "embracing their pagan roots", and "living with nature" from the comforts of their rented flat, and then start crying and/or fainting when they get confronted with the process of how their dinner came to be on their plate. Deceitful Penguin posted:Then again, I originate from "The Congo" of Iceland. This you gotta elaborate on! 
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Feb 6, 2015 20:03
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inscrutable horse posted:Ugh, at least he had the sense to exile himself to the US. But yeah, eating the animal (and preferably using the hide as well) is totally implicit to the whole "respect the animal that clothes and feeds you" kinda thing. Just killing some animal, and then discarding it is wasteful and cruel. As I said, I don't believe in the gods, so it's not as if this will ever be an issue for me. My attitude probably comes from growing up in the sticks, and taking part in killing and preparing sheep for consumption - it annoys the hell out of me to see some city-dwelling fool "embracing their pagan roots", and "living with nature" from the comforts of their rented flat, and then start crying and/or fainting when they get confronted with the process of how their dinner came to be on their plate. inscrutable horse posted:This you gotta elaborate on! So, the east and Djúpivogur especially, got called "The Congo", for being full of black folks. My old man tans very well and the sun is actually quite strong here, if not warm, so when he was working back in the day he once engaged in shenanigans, for which he was described as "that friend of the family", to give you an idea of how backwards folks were then. To this day people often ask me where I'm from though, and if I answer them politely, where my parents are from. After which I usually go with some mockery or whatever, because clearly this swarthy fellow can't be a pure-bred Icelander. Then if I mention the east they nod sagely, he was from the Congo after all and not a furrner at all. This seems very hard for some folks to grasp. And is part of the reason my lovely red text is as it is. Because while I might count as "white" in the US and even the mainland, I sure as poo poo ain't in the Nordics.
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Feb 6, 2015 20:25
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Deceitful Penguin posted:There's nothing really stopping you from doing that, in fact I knew a guy that did that. He was a bit of a, well, gently caress-up though. Viking re-enactor with a suspended drivers license who drank to much and took the faith a bit too seriously on the "battle" part and not enough on the "don't be a dick part". Ends up married to a yank and moving to Arizona or some such place to be a security guard before he disconnects from facebook. It's fitting that he moved to Arizona of all places. It's full of nuts on both ends of the political spectrum--home to extreme Conservatives that form citizen militias to patrol the US-Mexico border, and at the same time home to hippies that try to use their psychic powers to commune with dolphins. A security guard who participates in pagan animal sacrifice might as well be King of the Crazy (or at least the white supremacists).
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Feb 6, 2015 21:07
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TunaSpleen posted:It's fitting that he moved to Arizona of all places. It's full of nuts on both ends of the political spectrum--home to extreme Conservatives that form citizen militias to patrol the US-Mexico border, and at the same time home to hippies that try to use their psychic powers to commune with dolphins. A security guard who participates in pagan animal sacrifice might as well be King of the Crazy (or at least the white supremacists). About the last part though, there's actually a shitload of animosity between the "Volkisch" fuckers who bring race into Ásatrú (a thing supported in absolutely no goddamn way by the Sagas, the Writs or any oral legacy) and mainstream Ástatrú as we mostly agree about it in the Nordics. There's been several people coming over who have had to be gently informed that racist poo poo is not tolerated and that if they continue to espouse such views, they cannot be members of the covenant. As for him, I dunno. Casual racist? Yea sure, thoughtless poo poo and not understanding white privilege or the gravity of certain words and vocabulary, I can see that happening. White supremacism? Not unless they're the only game in town and he gets desperate to reconnect. This idea of Ásatrú as a racist thing makes almost every who's a member genuinely furious or/and very sad. The christians are various types of annoying a lot of the time, and atheists as well (other polytheists are actually mostly cool about it, but I've never met a fundie one of them). It's poo poo it's like all racisms up in the US but I'll be damned if I'm gonna let racists stop me from following the faith I no longer believe in because I'm an atheist.
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Feb 7, 2015 01:07
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No, you're right, Arizona is a very landlocked state. But hippies don't let the vast desert in all directions stop them from channeling their inner dolphin: http://youtu.be/nag2s1HDrMI?t=10m23s I don't mean to imply that the serious practitioners of Ásatrú share any beliefs in common with racists in the US. Realistically, though, if anyone has a Mjolnir tattoo or anything like that in Arizona, they're probably prisoners.
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Feb 7, 2015 12:01
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Deceitful Penguin posted:To this day people often ask me where I'm from though, and if I answer them politely, where my parents are from. After which I usually go with some mockery or whatever, because clearly this swarthy fellow can't be a pure-bred Icelander. Then if I mention the east they nod sagely, he was from the Congo after all and not a furrner at all. It is actually pretty ignorant to assume that because someone would be called "white" in the USA that it means that person is part of the privileged sector in some other primarily-European-ancestry country. People laughed off the stories the Italian dude I went to Iceland with told about not feeling like he fit in, but as someone who has spent years living in Southeast Asia I promise that your feelings of white privilege start to disappear (or at the very least develop a lot more nuance) the moment literally every person you encounter stares at you and makes it clear you do not really belong (even if they are friendly about it). I would challenge any racially intolerant person from the USA to live in a non-white country for a year and not have that bullshit wiped out of their mind posthaste (I suppose it could just make that person double-down and start to hate everyone though). It goes both ways, too, of course--the Argentinian in my doctoral program was confused that he was not seen as white in the USA given that he was Italian-descended and therefore "white" back home. Though given the scary racist stuff I just found after wondering how prevalent his views are I hope I never have to talk to him about this again.
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Feb 7, 2015 20:42
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TunaSpleen posted:No, you're right, Arizona is a very landlocked state. But hippies don't let the vast desert in all directions stop them from channeling their inner dolphin: http://youtu.be/nag2s1HDrMI?t=10m23s And yea, I get it, different social reality. Still makes me irritated when people warn me that symbols I grew up with are objects of hate abroad. I wonder if this is how Buddhists feel about the Swastika. Quarex posted:Thanks for this explanation, as I had always wondered what was going on in your red text, and this explains much of the most confusing part. To further wax anecdotal, there was this moment, I think it was in my first year of junior college, don't remember what prompted it, when I actually took a second to think and take a look around and see how, you know, I'm not actually part of the majority phenotype. I was the only man in a class of 30 people with brown hair.It was an odd kinda realization, when you realize that, kinda, you don't belong. Afterwards a bunch of things that had vaguely puzzled me became easier to understand; how people always knew who I was based on my relatives, why I always got, like you said, these looks and other things, that are a bit too revealing to post on an open forum where people have already threatened to dox me. When you return to Iceland, I'll tell you and the wife the story over some cider and eats, maybe. Or maybe some actually funny and good stories, heh.
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Feb 8, 2015 04:47
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Going to necro the gently caress out of this thread. It's too cool to die out. Is "Hallgrimskírkja" pronounced as (roughly) hat-grim-skerk-ya? Please say yes. I hope I finally got pronunciation down  .
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Apr 19, 2015 22:26
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Noctis Horrendae posted:Going to necro the gently caress out of this thread. It's too cool to die out. No. But then the double ll sound is the most awful sound after the Hj sound for most English speakers to learn so it's a close approximation.
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Apr 20, 2015 03:41
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Deceitful Penguin posted:Hahaha. Icelandic is the only language I've ever seen that's literally impossible to spell out pronunciations with phonetically.
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Apr 20, 2015 13:26
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There are many languages like that (all languages are like that) and it's why IPA was invented.
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Apr 20, 2015 14:50
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Speaking of pronunciation, is the double-l always pronounced "dl", or are there exceptions, like in Faroese? For example, we have "bolli", which can mean either bun [bɔl'lɛ], or bowl [bɔdli]
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Apr 20, 2015 17:51
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Bloodnose posted:There are many languages like that (all languages are like that) and it's why IPA was invented. True. English is pretty limited with its sounds, too, so that makes it even harder to spell things out phonetically.
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Apr 20, 2015 20:39
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Noctis Horrendae posted:Icelandic is the only language I've ever seen that's literally impossible to spell out pronunciations with phonetically. inscrutable horse posted:Speaking of pronunciation, is the double-l always pronounced "dl", or are there exceptions, like in Faroese? For example, we have "bolli", which can mean either bun [bɔl'lɛ], or bowl [bɔdli]
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Apr 23, 2015 20:34
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Are there any notable regional accents or dialects of Icelandic?
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Apr 23, 2015 20:39
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Noctis Horrendae posted:Are there any notable regional accents or dialects of Icelandic?
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Apr 23, 2015 21:49
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Deceitful Penguin posted:Only one; Norðlenska, the others were pretty well eradicated in during the Romantic period, same as with most of the more direct Danish influence. There's remnants of them in the east and west but nothing close to Norðlenska and even that is more of an accent than a dialect, with only a few words different. Very cool. Was there some sort of orthographic standardisation - like German had - to get rid of the other dialects, or was it a natural process?
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Apr 24, 2015 23:17
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Noctis Horrendae posted:Very cool. Was there some sort of orthographic standardisation - like German had - to get rid of the other dialects, or was it a natural process?
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Apr 25, 2015 02:16
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Here's an annoying tourist question: My wife and I will be visiting Iceland at the beginning of August for about a week's long vacation. We've booked a place with free parking, but how essential is it to have a car to get around for day trips? Is it possible to just handle that via bus? We weren't thinking of doing any overnight trips outside of Reykjavik.
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Jun 15, 2015 03:25
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Max posted:Here's an annoying tourist question: My wife and I will be visiting Iceland at the beginning of August for about a week's long vacation. We've booked a place with free parking, but how essential is it to have a car to get around for day trips? Is it possible to just handle that via bus? We weren't thinking of doing any overnight trips outside of Reykjavik. Reykjavik doesn't really need a car for tourist stuff if you're staying very centrally. Outside or Reykjavik, I strongly recommend one unless you're doing only the golden circle stuff.
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Jun 15, 2015 04:20
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nm posted:Reykjavik doesn't really need a car for tourist stuff if you're staying very centrally. Ditto. Having a car is incredibly freeing, and if you plan even half-rear end, you can easily see 3-5x worth the value of the rental car in tours. I suggest driving to Stykkishólmur, around the Snæfelsnes peninsula, and then on another day do the golden circle and then keep going and see Jökursálon (the glacier bay) and take a dip in Seljavallalaug.
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Jun 15, 2015 10:25
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Max posted:Here's an annoying tourist question: My wife and I will be visiting Iceland at the beginning of August for about a week's long vacation. We've booked a place with free parking, but how essential is it to have a car to get around for day trips? Is it possible to just handle that via bus? We weren't thinking of doing any overnight trips outside of Reykjavik. Tbh, I'm so inured to the Icelandic landscape I have no idea what impresses folks or not at times. As for within Reykjavík: Not really needed as the bus system works well and if anything, trying to get parking in central Reykjavík is a huge pain these days thinks to the dumb construction. When the date gets closer we can try and get in contact; I may be working but I can at least get you some examples of stuff to do, places to eat and whatnot. nm and poopinmymouth are right too; the west part in particular is a good close drive, though I do think the east route that goes to Seljalandsfoss and Skógar with maybe a visit to Flúðir for some geothermal strawberries is worth a visit of its own. Jökulsárlón is fairly far off from Reykjavík too; but most of the cool landmarks on the way make up for it and there is a certain experience going through the various 'sands.
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Jun 15, 2015 12:16
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One cool thing about parking in the city though is that you can feed the meter for days at a time. We spent half our trip traveling and half in the city, so when we got there I just parked and bought a parking ticket that lasted three days. Didn't have to move my car at all until we were ready to go to the airport
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Jun 15, 2015 18:58
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The places in the center of the city are pretty expensive, so we went with a cheaper place with parking. Thanks for all the advice, I think we'll definitely rent a car since we both really want to go out and explore as much as we can. DP, I can be in touch closer to the time. We're going to be in Scottland for a week before heading to Iceland. We'll be there for the first week of August.
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Jun 15, 2015 19:50
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