Today is Christmas Eve, and according to the family, its origin, its culture and its tradition, it is passed in one way or another throughout the world. But do you know how the inhabitants of Iceland? Today we tell you this curiosity that you will surely want to implant, at least, in your home.
In our article on "Did you know…? Christmas and books ... » Today we are in charge of offering you some information that you may not have known and that has to do with this wonderful time of year and with literature.
Christmas Eve in Iceland
Did you know that Christmas Eve in Iceland is to be with the family and also spend the night reading books? Yes, on Christmas Eve there is to eat, celebrate and above all, read.
The inhabitants of Iceland have the custom of giving each other books after dinner, in order to spend the night reading (nothing to do with the way we have, for example, in our country of celebrating tonight). If we want to know how long they have this literary custom, we have to go back to World War II. Due to restrictions on imports during the war, they started this tradition of giving away books, since they were printed in the country itself.
We are not talking about a tradition that only some families from all over Iceland follow, no ... It is such an important tradition and deeply rooted in their society, that the 70% of the books They go on the market three months before Christmas. This phenomenon is known as 'Jólabókaflód' or said in Spanish, "The barrage of Christmas books".
Iceland's love of books, made Reykjavik was named the City of Literature by UNESCO in 2003.
What do you think of this Icelandic tradition? Have you felt some envy like I did when you met her? Would you like to establish this tradition in your home for next Christmas or do you see it too far away today?
And taking advantage of this article, I wish you all a very HAPPY HOLIDAYS!