Yiyåxithut (Argument Theater)

Yiyåxithut (Argument theatre, or Discourse theatre), is one of the 3 old Whitmountian traditions, along with wrestling and Dilládudu making. Born out of popular love of watching political discourse, the conventions of Discourse theatre are very clear. There are (minimum) three characters on stage at all times; The Narrator, who has an omnipotent view of the stories events, but will not always tell all. He can only be heard by the audience, except on occasions when he acts as a moderator between the two other characters. The two other characters can be of any combination, but the most classical are thus:

•  Character A owns something that rightfully belongs to Character B
•  A is in love with B’s wife
•  A owns land that rightfully belongs to B
•        A has accidentally cursed B, and wants to help them out

There can be other characters to help drive the plot forward as well. These are usually wives or spirits. Performances of this form of theatre could last for up to weeks, as the scenes were played out for hours on one day a week, which were then updated with topical events when the people, who had finished farming, went the next week to find out what happened in the next part of the saga.

Possibly the most famous story in the Discoursia is Uxår Eindriði; Guðbrandr, a Xurlittur (holy warrior), finds out that his brother, Eindriði, is considering leaving his ailing father, Áki, so that he can marry Friðrik, son of the rival factions king, Eyvindur. It was one of the first plots to be written down, and a section of it is referenced on the Åthåser Rock.