When hobbies collide

[primeideal]

Interesting overlap in the "Ringing World" newsletter this week for bell nerds and/or polar exploration nerds. There was a column written by a ringer who had travelled to the Falklands, South Georgia, and Antarctica last month. Grytviken, the largest settlement on South Georgia, contains a church that was founded by Norwegian Lutherans in 1913, and transferred to the Church of England a hundred years later. There are two bells, which rung for the first time on Christmas Eve 1913, and they were described as "the most southerly chime of bells in the world." They are inscribed:

SALLIO ER DE DØDE SOM DØ I HERREN (Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord)

 

VAAG OG BED BERED SNART JEG RINGER DIG IND TIL FRED (Awake and pray, make ready, I ring unto you peace)

"Lutheran pastors were in residence intermittently until 1931, but were not impressed by the religious observance of their parishioners. Indeed, the church served many secular purposes including potato store and cinema." Bleeping Lutherans ;)

The columnist was able to ring an "extent" on the two bells, several times. An extent is a performance of every possible order of the bells, so n factorial. An extent on 7 bells is 5040 changes, which is the cutoff for "full peal" length. But on two bells, it would literally just be 1 2; 2 1. Math!

Grytviken is also Ernest Shackleton's resting place.

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[isis]

Today I learned!