People traditionally don’t celebrate Valentine’s Day in Iceland, although its popularity is growing. It falls between two other romantic days: January 23 was Bóndadagur (‘Husbands’ Day’), and today it’s the women’s turn to be pampered on Konudagur (Woman’s or Wives’ Day).
While Bóndadagur marks the beginning of the old month of Þorri (and the Þorrablót mid-winter feasts with all sorts of strange treats), Konudagur marks the beginning of the month of Góa.
In Icelandic there’s a saying: að þreyja þorrann og góuna, which refers to these two months representing the harshest winter period. If people can just stick it out until the end of Góa they have survived winter and can start looking forward to spring.
But even in the darkest hours of winter it’s nice to have a reason to celebrate. On Konudagur men treat their partners to something special; flowers and chocolates are always popular.
In fact, Konudagur is by far the busiest day for flower growers and florists in Iceland.
The most ambitious men might even give their women a spa treatment, get tickets for the theater or take them out for dinner (their ambition may depend on how generous their significant others were on Bóndadagur).
Although no particular dish is related to Konudagur, as is the case with Bóndadagur, it is traditionally celebrated with a rather fancy dinner as the day always falls upon a Sunday.
Boyfriends and husbands might also take a hint from bakers who in recent years have held a competition for the Cake of the Year; the winning entry goes on sale on Konudagur.
The oldest sources of the first day of Góa being called Konudagur date back to the mid-19th century, according to the University of Iceland Science Web.
It is assumed that the beginning of each month was celebrated in paganism and that the custom was preserved to some extent after Icelanders converted to Christianity in 1000 AD.
The first day of Þorri and Góa eventually evolved into Bóndadagur and Konudagur as we know the holidays today.
