Christmas in Iceland 2000 - Main Page
Candlemaking in Iceland
FISH
OIL LAMPS
Centuries ago, the every day light source in Icelandic farms during the
winter darkness was small open lamps burning fish oil. The Icelandic name
for fish oil is "lysi" which means light. Iceland is close to
the Artic Circle and in December there is daylight only few hours per
day. The Icelandic farmhouses were made of turf and stones and usually
had only one room called baðstofa (living/sleeping loft). The fish
oil lamps would be the only light source for work and reading as can be
seen on this part of a painting of life in an Icelandic baðstofa by
A. K. Schiött from 1895.
CANDLES MADE OF TALLOW
Candles
and candlemaking was a valuable part of Icelandic Christmas traditions.
While Icelanders coped with darkness everyday by burning fish oil, during
Christmas they would light up every corner of the baðstofa by candles.
Taper candles were made in Icelandic homes several days before Christmas.The
most common material used for these was tallow.Not until the early 1800's
was paraffin made to replace tallow as the main
ingredient for candlemaking.
KÓNGAKERTI (KING CANDLES)
Children
looked forward to the candlemaking day and the brightness of candles lighting
up the "baðstofa". The candles with three branches "kóngakerti"
(king candles) were thought to be the most beautiful and provide most
light. During Christmas Eve night candles would burn all night in the
baðstofa.
DECEMBER
1999
During weekends in December candlemaking takes place in the old-fashioned way in the folk museum Arbæjarsafn in Reykjavik. These pictures from December 1999 show how candles are made in Iceland.
Candles
are dipped in the wax and allowed to cool & then dipped again. When
the proper size is achieved they are hanged to dry until the wax has set.
MAKING OF STROKKAKERTI
During
the candlemaking it is important to have containers that are a bit deeper
than the length of the candles. It was customary in Iceland to use the
milk production container (butter making container) "strokkur"
for candle making. These candles were called strokkakerti. The candles
were made by filling a deep tree container such as the strokkur with hot
water and pour the melted tallow on top.
MAKING OF KÓNGAKERTI
The
candles with three branches are made by having one middle wick, then longer
wicks are tied on both sides so it hangs in a bow over the middle wick.
Dipping into the melted tallow or wax is then started but care has to
be taken that the bow sticks to the middle wick as early in the dipping
as possible. The earlier it sticks, the more even the result is. The candles
with three branches are called "kóngakerti" and were
made for religious reasons to use on Christmas Eve.
Begin cutting the wicks the length of the candle plus a bit more for tying on the stick. Several wicks are tied on with an inch between the wicks, not too close so the candles will not stick together. Now fill the tin at least half-full with water and put in the wax as well. You can put in more water if you like, the more liquid the deeper you can dip your candles. You can use a pot for this but a good, thick tin is better because then you don't have to sweat for 10 hours trying to scrub the wax out. Anyway, heat up thewater and the wax will melt and form a layer on top of the water. The wax shouldn't be hotter than that you can dip your finger in it without too much pain. (you can make really neat wax finger-molds that way). If it's too hot the wax won't stick to the wick.
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© 2000 Salvör Gissurardóttir
Pictures and text by Salvor Gissurardottir
(Instruction for candlemaking are taken from the web)
Made in November 2000