Christmas in Iceland: Decorations

Burning candles have long served as important Christmas decora-tions in Iceland. This makes sense in a land that sees only about four hours of daylight around Christmas time (see also Winter Solstice). Many Icelanders also decorate their homes with Advent wreaths, a custom most likely adopted from Denmark. Trees are relatively scarce in Iceland and most people would never dream of cutting one down merely to use it for a week or two as a Christmas decoration. As a result, the Christmas tree didn’t become popular until the second half of the twentieth century, when imported spruce trees became available. Before that time, however, some people constructed homemade artificial trees out of colorful sacks and poles.