Charlotta finishes early

Trausti starts to describe his still life to Charlotta, using his arms to indicate positioning on the canvas.

Charlotta manages to translate “lengst nidur” as ‘far down’, as it sounds similar in Swedish, but then translates “tuttugu svín” (‘twenty pigs’) as ‘turtle pig’.

She realises that Trausti is likely listing a number, so asks him to count until he reaches the correct amount. Trausti counts to 20 in Icelandic, as Charlotta keeps track on her fingers. She then gathers as many pig figurines as she can from around the room, and places them on a nearby table.

When Charlotta asks Trausti what else is in the still life, he replies “mörgæs í miðjunni” (‘penguin in the middle’), and Charlotta works out that Trausti is referring to another animal. After asking about a few specific animals, Charlotta asks if the animal lives in the ocean (to which Trausti responds “sometimes”), and she eventually realises that “mörgæs” means ‘penguin’. She walks around the house in search of a penguin, but does not find one, instead making do with a taxidermy owl.

Trausti tells her that, along with the “mörgæs”, there is a “fíll” (‘elephant’). After listing several other animals, Charlotta correctly identifies that she needs an elephant, and finds a figurine nearby to add to her arrangement.

Trausti then tells Charlotta that the still life also has “diskur með goðgaeti” (‘a plate of goðgaeti’; ‘goðgaeti’ means ‘delicacy’, but Trausti is referring specifically to fermented herring). However, Charlotta believes that ‘goðgaeti’ is the name of another animal, and so asks where it lives. When Trausti replies “in water”, Charlotta reasons that it’s a fish, and adds a mounted pike head from the wall.

Charlotta manages to finish her attempt early, and waits for David to enter the room and tell her that her time is up.

In the studio, Charlotta’s recreation is penalised for using an owl instead of a penguin, and for using a pike head instead of the actual delicacy, and she earns fourth place.

(Written by Jenny R and proofread by Karl Craven)

(Illustrations collected by Jenny R and adjusted by Karl Craven)