Preschool children embrace Icelandic verse tradition

Children at Laufásborg preschool have taken up Iceland’s rímur verse tradition, mbl.is reports. The children’s Kvæðabarnafjelag Laufásborgar performed for guests at Rímnalag Day at Salurinn in Kópavogur.

“Verse has been an important and growing part of the children’s programme at Laufásborg since 2008,” says Ari Hálfdán Aðalgeirsson, a music teacher and group leader at the preschool.

That year, rímur singer Steindór Andersen made his first visit to the school. His visits on Farmers’ Day soon became an annual event, giving the children new material and introducing them to the distinctive singing style of kveðskapur.

Jensína Edda Hermannsdóttir, the preschool’s director, originally contacted Steindór and asked him to teach the children about the rímur tradition. Ari says Steindór was delighted by the interest shown in the tradition in the school.

When Ari joined Laufásborg in 2011, he took over the work and saw many opportunities to develop it. At first, the activities were mainly linked to the traditional periods of þorri and góa, with Steindór visiting on Farmers’ Day and Bára Gríms and other female verse singers visiting on Women’s Day. Gradually, the tradition became a larger part of the preschool’s activities throughout the year.

The children’s verse association

Ari later wrote the name Kvæðabarnafjelag Laufásborgar on a whiteboard. The name refers to Kvæðamannafélagið Iðunn and similar associations, while its old-fashioned spelling was intended as a joke about how ancient the activity may seem.

The association was formally established at Iðnó on 8 March 2023, before a full audience of parents and other guests. The event was partly linked to Laufásborg’s 70th anniversary celebrations.

“The children love learning verses and poems,” says Tinna Eir Kjærbo, who has led the school’s verse activities with Ari for many years. She says the work supports language development by teaching children new words and showing them how to play with the building blocks of language.

The children also use Duplo blocks to identify stresses and rhymes in the verses. Tinna says verse melodies are often among the children’s most requested songs.

The association’s first performance attracted attention. The children were soon invited to perform at the opening of Edda, the House of Icelandic Language. That autumn, they were invited to perform at Reykjavík City Hall on Rímnalag Day. The association has repeated the performance every year as part of Vaka, a national folk culture festival, with the past two performances held at Salurinn.