#bolludagur

[vegehana-food]

✿ Bolludagur | ボッルダーグル ・イースターの7週間前の月曜は、Bolludagur＝ボッルダーグル（シュークリームの日）！19世紀半ばにデンマークから伝わった習慣で、この日子供たちは朝起きると「ボッラ！ボッラ！ボッラ！」と言いながらお父さんお母さんにシュークリーム(bolla: ボッラ)をおねだりします。普段は見かけないシュークリームも、この日が近づくとパン屋やスーパーなどあちらこちらで売られるように。 ・北欧諸国でのこういった行事はキリスト教に関係があり、イースターから数えて7週間前の月曜がこのボッルダーグル、火曜日はアイスランド版マルディグラの「Sprengidagur（スプレンギダーグル）」、水曜日が灰の水曜日「Öskudagur（ウスクダーダーグル）」と続く。

[hangryeddiebuckleydiaz]

It's #bolludagur (bun day) today and I love them so much! 😭😭 You can't see it but there were two different kinds of fillings. Well, stuff in the cream. XD Also choux pastry or nothing! The yeast ones are an abomination and I will not have it. XD #pastry #stuffed #baking #iceland #tradition #omnom #food https://www.instagram.com/p/B89oicinn0j/?igshid=1d925jnofle3t

[thedailyphotos]

Med tanke på att det är #bolludagur idag. Alltså den isländska fettisdagen, så har jag bakat ett gäng klassiska isländska semlor = bollur. Fluffiga och fyllda med sylt + grädde och på toppen chokladglasyr. 😋😍 Traditionsenligt har jag också gjort en bolluvöndur, den där färgglada pinnen (bläddra), den är direkt avgörande för hur många bollur en får äta. En längre historia om den samt recept på de isländska semlorna finns på bloggen. Länk i profilen @dnilva 〰️ #jwhf #jwhffood #jwhfbloggare #nyttblogginlägg #recept #baka #bollabolla #icelandictradition #fotoutmaningmars2019 #dnilva (på/i Stockholm, Sweden) https://www.instagram.com/p/BumWa4iHNFX/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=bbwsqstvfob1

[almorsing]

10.02.2016 Bolludagur

[almorsing]

10.02.2016 Fastelavnsfest på Valhúsaskóli eller Bolludagur som det hedder på islandsk

[miniar]

Síðbúinn #bolludagur #Fedora noticed me call these fresh puff pastries balls and now her emotions are more than she can handle. #doglife #muttlove #mutt

[iheartreykjavik]

If you like sugar and cream and all things sweet then you will like today here in Iceland. It's cream bun day, a day dedicated to eating these delicious things you see in the photo. We jumpstarted cream bun day yesterday when my mum invited us over and this was the spread that awaited us. #yum #bolludagur #bollabollabolla #iceland #Reykjavik

[reykjavikexcursions]

Bolludagur, sprengidagur, öskudagur

Bolludagur - Bun day

Pastry bun.

The Monday before Ash Wednesday has many different names around the world, but most countries include some celebration.

In Iceland, it is called bolludagur, or Bun day. In the past century or so, the custom is to eat pastry buns, filled with cream, jam and topped with chocolate icing. Little kids are either gifted or make their own rod or „bolluvöndur“ which they use to spank their parents with and ask for buns.

An older variation of this custom was for kids and grown-ups to dress up in costumes, go to parades and strike a piñata to get to the goods inside (in Iceland it’s called: “að slá köttinn úr sekknum” or to hit the cat out of the bag).

Originally, Ash Wednesday was the day when the rod was used, probably in correlation to the Christian custom of being lightly patted with a burnt palm tree branch while attending mass on that day. However, at some point the Bun-day and Ash Wednesday traditions swapped places and today children dress up on Ash Wednesday.

The custom of eating buns and spanking on that day seems to have reached Iceland in the 19th century from Denmark and Norway. During the Icelandic Commonwealth, people used these days to eat all kinds of delicious food before fasting for a long time, and in the Bishop Sagas and Sturlunga Saga, it is said that people ate all kinds of dairy in the days before Lent.

Bolluvendir. Photo from here.

Before getting the name „bolludagur“, in the early 1900s, the day was often called „flengidagur“ or „Spanking day“. The custom arrived from Protestant Germany to Denmark in the 19th century and then to Iceland with Danish merchants. For a while, the spanker had to be fully dressed, and the spankee undressed. Thus, it became a custom for children to wake up early to be able to spank their parents with the rod while they were still in bed. When spanking, the children are supposed to chant “Bolla! Bolla! Bolla!” (or “Bun! Bun! Bun!”)

Almost everyone eats, at least, one bun on bolludagur and it is thought that Icelandic bakers bake about million buns for that day. A lot of people bake their own at home as well.

 Sprengidagur – Explosion day

Saltkjöt og baunir. Photo from Icelandicroots.com

On Shrove Tuesday, many Icelanders eat a soup made out of salted meat and lentil beans is simply called: Saltkjöt og baunir - salted meat and beans. Apart from the meat and lentils, it had swedes, potatoes, carrots and other vegetables. In Catholicism, it was not customary to eat meat in the days preceding Lent so at first this custom of eating a lot of meat used to be done on Sunday before, but, later on, it was moved to Shrove Tuesday.

In Britain, the day is called Pancake day or Pancake Tuesday, where the goal is to eat a lot of the stuff you are supposed to give up for Lent, which often dairy and eggs, hence the name. Everywhere where this day comes up, people use it to eat a lot because this is the last day you are allowed to eat as much as you want before Lent.

Öskudagur – Ash Wednesday

Öskupokar. Photo from here

This is the first day of Lent in Western Christianity and occurs 46 days before Easter. The name refers to the custom of scattering the ashes of burnt palm leaves which had been blessed on Palm Sunday the year before, over the heads of repenting church goers.

In Iceland, children dress up in costumes and sing in stores for candy on Ash Wednesday. Öskupoki was a big part of the day some years ago, but the tradition has mostly died out. The öskupoki is a small bag that was filled with a bit of ash and hung on unsuspecting people. Originally, it was not only the children who took part in this custom but people of all ages.

In some places it was customary for girls to have öskupoki with ash in it and boys had bags with little pebbles or grains of sand. They would then hang the bags on people without them knowing. This was considered a prank, and the person had to walk over three doorsteps for the prank to be valid.

The „öskupoki“ or bags filled with ash are unique to Iceland. It is possible the custom is related to Catholicism since the ash was supposed to be powerful, and the ash was sometimes mixed with holy water.

The bag of ash was made out of fabric scraps, tied together and a bent pin put on the end so it would be possible to hang it on unsuspecting people. This custom is since at least the middle of the 18th century but possibly older. For the longest time, girls had ash in the bag to hang onto boys, and boys had little pebbles to hang onto girls. Grown ups used to take part in this custom in earlier centuries. This was considered a prank and the person who had the bag hung onto its clothes had to walk over three doorsteps for the prank to be considered valid.

Later on, the custom changed, and children had to try and hang it onto grown ups. When people started getting electric stoves, and the burning of coal stopped, the bags weren‘t filled with ash or pebbles. Instead, they sometimes had small gifts or a little slip of paper. The custom has mostly died out, but people are trying to revive it.

The oldest written source for the name „öskudagur“ is in Icelandic manuscripts from the 14th century, but it is not unlikely that the name is even older. Most people gave up meat and dairy for Lent but those who were very devout Catholics ate only bread and water.

As is said above, bolludagur and öskudagur seem to have switched customs at some point around the beginning of the 20th century. Before that, bolludagur was the day off for children to have fun, but for the last century or so, children have dressed up and gotten the day off from school on öskudagur.