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# Episode 254: Smollop: The Hobos of Iceland
- URL: https://there-might-be-cupcakes-podcast.ghost.io/episode-254-smollop/
- Published: 2017-05-09T17:18:02.000Z
- Updated: 2025-02-03T15:55:58.000Z
- Author: Carla Pettigrew
- Tags: Newsletter, #Migrated-1738597973835, #Import 2025-02-03 15:53

> Dave: So then the volcano goes off–  
>  
> Gareth: I’m seeing the problem.

<http://traffic.libsyn.com/thedollop/The%5FHobos%5Fof%5FIceland.mp3>

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6d/f5/6df583d7-3da2-455c-b104-e0c5ab8c796a/content/images/2025/02/https-3a-2f-2fsubstack-post-media-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2fecf51a7a-6d1d-424c-a45f-10ba77de8984_252x320.png)

Knock, Knock!

Yes, I listened to [Björk](http://amzn.to/2q2Wl7f) while writing this entry. I’m a good fan, that’s why. Which? [Homogenic](http://amzn.to/2qW7uG0). *I’m going hunting…I’m the hunter…I’ll bring back the goods…*Apropos, yes?

So many splendiferous books by Alde Sigmundsdóttir:

- [The Little Book of the Icelanders: 50 Miniature Essays On the Quirks and Foibles of the Icelandic People](http://amzn.to/2pYuqak)
- [The Little Book of the Hidden People: Stories of Elves from Icelandic Folklore](https://bookshop.org/a/6560/9781970125047)
- [The Little Book of the Icelanders in the Old Days](http://amzn.to/2qYk88t)
- [The Little Book of Icelandic: On the Idiosyncrasies, Delights and Sheer Tyranny of the Icelandic Language](http://amzn.to/2q34oRE)
- [Icelandic Folk Legends: Tales of Apparitions, Outlaws and Things Unseen](http://amzn.to/2qWpFf2)

Let’s review our terminology of wandering peoples, shall we?

- [**hobos**](http://theremightbecupcakes.com/tag/hobos)**: they travel and work**
- [**tramps**](http://theremightbecupcakes.com/tag/tramps)**: they travel and don’t work (aka vagabonds)**
- [**bums**](http://theremightbecupcakes.com/tag/bums)**: they don’t work and stay put**

and then there’s [**troubadour**](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Troubadour): perhaps (?) more pleasing to the ear and to the intellect; most likely just as odiferous

Other posts for your enjoyment:

- [**Hobo graffiti**](http://theremightbecupcakes.com/hobo-graffiti/)
- [**Episode 47: Bricklayer Bill**](http://theremightbecupcakes.com/blog/episode-47-dollop/)
- [**Episode 32: Leatherman**](http://theremightbecupcakes.com/episode-32-smollop/)
- [**Episode 92: Owen Kildare**](http://theremightbecupcakes.com/blog/episode-92-dollop/)
- [**Episode 5: Hugh Glass**](http://theremightbecupcakes.com/episode-5-dollop/)

Project Gutenberg: [Grettir the Outlaw by Sabine Baring-Gould](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/48622)

![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/6d/f5/6df583d7-3da2-455c-b104-e0c5ab8c796a/content/images/2025/02/https-3a-2f-2fsubstack-post-media-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2f95f32414-3363-463c-bf91-fcd5371d85af_221x300-jpeg.jpg)

“You win some, you lose some” is not an appropriate foreign policy.

[Christian X of Denmark](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian%5FX%5Fof%5FDenmark) was the only monarch of Iceland (where he was known as Kristján X), where he ruled from 1918 to 1944\. Rose: During World War II, he helped finance the transport of Danish Jews to unoccupied Sweden and therefore saved their lives. Thorn: He turned the mentally ill in Iceland into hobos–“forced drifting” as a mental health plan.

[Volcanology of Iceland](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volcanology%5Fof%5FIceland)

[A History of Humanity’s Disgusting Hygiene](https://owlcation.com/humanities/A-History-of-Dirty-Habits)

[etymology of “filthy rich”](http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/filthy-rich.html)

Band names from this episode:

- Between Jobs
- The King’s Vagrants
- Ashy Beets–first top-ten hit was “Hobo Nights”–you might remember it from an episode of [Miami Vice](http://www.amazon.com/Miami-Vice-Complete-Don-Johnson/dp/B01HSAIP9W/ref=as%5Fli%5Fbk%5Ftl/?tag=bibliothera01-20&linkId=877d19ff96edf42787dc05ff91b68ee8&linkCode=ktl)
- Yelp of Mouth–one-hit wonder “Bodies in the Streets”

Cultural references from this episode:

- [Vikings](http://www.amazon.com/Viking-Spirit-Introduction-Mythology-Religion/dp/1533393036/ref=as%5Fli%5Fbk%5Ftl/?tag=bibliothera01-20&linkId=29b41a394a4263baab135c5aa630840e&linkCode=ktl)
- [pet rocks](http://www.amazon.com/Rockinthebox-Rock-Walking-Leash-Kraft/dp/B008PSP5SG/ref=as%5Fli%5Fbk%5Ftl/?tag=bibliothera01-20&linkId=b4a1743289794eb20d24446461965edd&linkCode=ktl)
- [Chia pets](http://www.amazon.com/Chia-11230DWCS-Gnome/dp/B008VVUWQC/ref=as%5Fli%5Fbk%5Ftl/?tag=bibliothera01-20&linkId=244baf730c93fd6faad12b4ea2da5afa&linkCode=ktl)
- [The Fly](http://www.amazon.com/Fly-Jeff-Goldblum/dp/B004DHUB28/ref=as%5Fli%5Fbk%5Ftl/?tag=bibliothera01-20&linkId=9fdc78cac5a391439d0554424cb8ccc8&linkCode=ktl)

The post [Episode 254: Smollop: The Hobos of Iceland](https://there-might-be-cupcakes-podcast.ghost.io/episode-254-smollop/) first appeared on [There Might Be Cupcakes Podcast](https://there-might-be-cupcakes-podcast.ghost.io/).