Iceland Gallery

Set in a wintry landscape, Christmastime in Iceland means gatherings of friends and family for the decadent Þorláksmessa feast after the Christmas fast.

Clockwise from top left: oatmeal cookies with chocolate and pecans, chocolate-cornflake cookies (marens kornflexkokur), chocolate-coconut cookies (kokosmjölskokur), leaf bread (laufabrauð), and Great-Grandmother's Mallet Cookies cool on the dining room table of Nanna Rogvaldardottír's Reykjavík home.

Homecooks Kjartan Ólafsson and Kaja Gunnarsdottír prepare for the arrival of guests at their skata luncheon in honor of Þorláksmessa, St. Thorlak’s mass on December 23rd.

A Reykjavík street lined with a mix of shops and homes slopes gently down towards the harbor.

Hallgrímskirkja, or Hallgrim's Church, a Lutheran Cathedral located at the top of a hill in central Reykjavík, allows locals and visitors a 365-degree view of the city from its towering steeple.

ADVERTISEMENTAD

Úlfur Árnason, Nanna's grandson, lights candles in her living room window before the beginning of her December 23rd buffet.

A hodgepodge of guests line one of several tables to enjoy fermented skate, baked cod with egg and butter sauce, potatoes, salad, and dark rye bread—as well as sips of Brennivin—at the home of Kjartan Ólafsson and Kaja Gunnarsdottír.

Nanna's brother, Eiríkur Rögnvaldsson, gets into the holiday spirit at her Þorláksmessa buffet on December 23rd.

A wintry landscape outside of Reykjavík in southwest Iceland.

Úlfur Árnason and Nanna Rogvaldardottír prepare great-grandmother's mallet cookies in her galley kitchen the day before her Þorláksmessa buffet on December 23rd.

ADVERTISEMENTAD