Swedish Midsummer tradition suggests that anyone in the search for romance and true love performs a certain ritual on the Midsummer night. The ritual consists in jumping over seven fences/walls, pick seven different kinds of flowers, then put the flowers under the pillow, and you will dream about the person you will marry. Apparently this tradition is also known in Iceland. Randomly meeting a group of young girls after a night out on Midsummer, me and my travel companion half-heartedly pick up on the tradition. We jump two walls, but don’t bother to pick any flowers.
The next night - admittedly after a few drinks - we decide to fulfill the ritual though. Problem is, on the countryside of Iceland, in an area with summer houses, there aren’t that many fences to jump. At least not without risking the neighbors calling the police, and facing a rather awkward explanation. So, our interpretation of fence/wall becomes very liberal. As we have done two already the previous night, there’s only five to go. Our local host’s porch fence counts for one. A neighbor’s unfinished porch counts for two. Granted, there is no fence, but we agree that there will be a fence eventually, as the material is laid out already. The playground nearby is surrounded by a rope - a fence. The golf course is surrounded by a stone wall - definitely a fence. A road is blocked by a bar - yup, a fence.
Now, the flowers. Being on the tipsy end of the scale, and not knowing the first thing about wild flowers, it doesn’t take us long to find seven “different” kinds of flowers. Some would probably call some of them leaves or berries, but then again, the rules aren’t exactly enforced by any strict state authority. So, we both have our fences, and we have our flowers. Now they go under the pillows. Did we dream about the person we’re about to marry that night? You never know…
Iceland's Flag
Map of Iceland