Rettir, the Autumn Sheep Round-up

Icelandic sheep spend the summer loose in the highlands, unfenced and unattended, and in September they have to be brought back. Riders and walkers spend days sweeping valleys and passes, pushing the flocks down to the lowland, and then the sorting happens at a rett: a round stone or timber pen with a central holding ring and wedge-shaped compartments off it, one for each farm. People wade in among the animals, read the ear marks, take hold of a sheep and haul it into the right compartment. It is loud, muddy and physical, largely family work, and it usually ends with a dance in the local hall that same night.

History

Sheep took over from cattle as the mainstay of Icelandic farming in the late Middle Ages, when the climate was cooling, and the breed has changed little since. In the 19th century the old shieling system gave way to summer grazing on the common highland pastures, the afréttir, where the flocks still spend the summer. Ear marks are older than all of this: livestock has been marked since the settlement, the medieval law books Grágás and Jónsbók required every animal except birds and horses to carry a mark, and 63 valid mark patterns are in use today. Until the middle of the 20th century the searches were almost entirely men's work - in 1943 three young women going up to the highland pasture was news enough for an article in the local newsletter - and the first woman on record as fjallkóngur, the leader of the search, was Lilja Loftsdóttir of Steinsholt, in 2002 (Icelandic Wikipedia, Sauðfjárrækt á Íslandi).

The main sights

• The sorting pen - a round enclosure with wedge compartments, one for each farm.
• The ear marks - the cut patterns that say whose sheep is whose.
• The drive down - riders and dogs bringing flocks off the highland over several days.
• The dance after - the rettarball in the community hall the same evening.

When to go

September, and the exact days vary by district and are fixed locally, so ask in the area rather than assuming a date. Mornings are when the sorting happens. Weather at that point in the year can be anything at all and the work goes ahead regardless, so waterproofs and boots are the minimum for standing around outside.

Practical notes

This is work rather than a display, and standing in the way is the quickest way to annoy everyone present. The pen is deep in mud and manure, and sheep move fast and heavily. Nothing is explained in English unless somebody takes pity on you. The handling is rough by necessity, and a few visitors find watching it uncomfortable.

Nearby

Sorting pens sit near farming districts countrywide, with well-known ones in Skagafjordur and the south.