Lögberg-Heimskringla - 12.04.1973, Blaðsíða 2

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LÖGBERG-HEIMSKRINGLA, FIMMTUDAGINN 12. APRÍL 1973
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lösbcrg- Jximsferinsla ðfclla tt itt tmUtnli
The Westman Islands of the Recent Past
By PÉTUR K. KARLSSON
On a weekend in spring, when ihe Wesiman Islands
were green, peaceful and properous Péiur Kidson Karlsson
journeyed ihere and wroie for Atlaniica & Iceland Review
ihe feaíure ariicle which is reprinied on ihis page.
One of the first dramatic
sights that greet the visitor
travelling to Iceland from Eu- j
rope by sea are the steep cliff j
faces and rocky pinnacles of
the Westman Islands, or Vesi-
mannaeyjar as they are
known in Icelandic, lying just
off the surfridden, harboúr-
less southern shore of the
mainland. T h e i r awesome
beauty is reminiscent of a
Wagnerian stage-set that in
calm summer weather can be
admired from the comfort of
the passengers’ lounge of the
m.s. Gullfoss, flagship of the
Icelandic Steamship Com-
pany, during one of its reg-
ular sailings between Den-
mark, Scotland and Iceland’s
capital Reykjavik. Icelandic
and foreign seamen are not
likely, however, to take such
a romantic view when brav-
ing the fierce storms and
mountainous seas that are a
frequent feature of the lucra-
tive w i n t e r fishing season
centred on these Atlantic out-
posts. The writer of the pre-
sent article recently revisited
the Westman Islands on a
special Whitsun weekend trip
in the above-mentioned ship,
when it was chartered by the
Icelandic dentists’ association
and a local brassband for a
holiday outing. On this occa-
sion the seas were smooth and
the sun smiled, so when pas-
sengers were not diverted by
the delicacies of the chef’s
enormous cold table lunches
(or stupified by their after-
e f f e c t s) opportunities for
shore excursions were excel-
lent. Though the Westman Is-
lands can hardly be classed
as a travel agent’s tourist para-
dise, one of the reasons being
that the local inhabitants are
too busy catching or process-
ing the rich harvest of the
surrounding sea, they are of
great geological and ornitho-
logical interest. Moreover,
they have an eventful history,
a distinct character and an
unusual social background.
Volcanic action brings new
íerrilory
It is only about seven miles
north across the sound to the
glaciers of Iceland’s south
coast, yet if one were to sail
roughly southwards ffom the
islands the only land likely to
be encountered between them
and the Antarctic would be
the other lonely outposts such
as Tristan da Cunha, Ascen'-
sion Island or Saint Helena
iri the distant South Atlantic.
Like Tristan da Cunha, the
Westman Islands are of vol-
canic origin and have hit the
headlines of the world’s press
in recent years, for they re-
ceived an unexpected addi-
tion when in 1963 a submarine
e r u p t i o n suddenly burst j
through the sea bed and
thrust glowing lava and gi-
gantic columns of smoke,
steam and ash high into the
air, resulting during three
years in the formation of
what is now the second larg-
est island in the group —
Surtsey. Several underwater
eruptions have occurred in
the ocean in this area in his-
torical times, but u n 1 i k e
Surtsey any islands created
by them have been shortlived.
During the period of Danish
rule a Danish warship once
proudly and solemnly planted
the national flag on such new
territory only to see it, to the
great glee of the Icelanders,
q u i c k 1 y engulfed by the
waves of the Atlantic. Nowa-
days, new land is welcome,
as it may provide additional
justification for Iceland’s
further extension of national
fishery limits, a burning ques-
tion at the moment. Some
local wags have suggested
that if the volcanic process
continues farther out to sea,
Iceland may end up by ab-
sorbing the territorial waters
of Britain, hitherto the main
foreign rival in the fishing
field.
Puffin are bofh hunied and
rescued
The Vestmannaeyjar archi-
pelago numbers 15 major is-
lands (though all small), to-
gether with several skerries
and lonely pinnacle rocks,
only one of which, Heymaey,
is inhabited. These have been
built up on volcanic fissures
during the last ten or twenty
thousand years and consist of
tuff or lava, or both, some
being part of former craters
and others containing whole
craters. The extinct volcano,
Helgafell, that dominates the
landscape of Heimaey pro-
duced, for instance, thousands
of years ago, so much lava
that it joined together two
islands. On some of the outer
islands there are cottages per-
ched precariously on the steep
rocky slopes, used both for
summer relaxation or as bases
for bird-hunting or egg-clim-
bing. Myriads of seabirds
wheel and dive over the area
and nest on inaccessible led-
ges on the cliff faces, some
of the most common being the
fulmar, guillemot and kitti-
wake, whose raucous cries
form a constant symphonic
background to the local scene.
But it is the colourful and
comical puffin, or sea-parrot,
with its gaudy beak and short
wings that is most sought
after both for sport and profit.
It is caught in long-handled
nets by keen-eyed islanders
who lie in wait at the cliff
edges and make swoops as it
returns to its nest-holes, fly-
ing low. In one year in the
19th century about 300,000 of
these birds were netted and
25,000 pounds weight of feath-
efs were exported. The young
hatch out towards the end of
June and, when darkness
beings to return to the islands
in August and the town lights
are switched on, hundreds of
them are attracted by the
glare and alight in the streets.
Many are unable to take to
the air again, which provides
great excitement for the local
children, who catch them, put
them in boxes and next mom-
ing march with them to the
shore, where they are thrown
into the air to regain the sea.
Though of little economic im-
portance today, puffins are
s t i 11 sold in considerable
quantities for eating, as they
can make a cheap and tasty
dish if prepared in the right
way.
Did you hear ihe splash?
Egg-climbing, once a valu-
able source of income, has
also declined in importance
with the growth of the fish-
ing industry, but the island-
ers are still famed for their
agility and daring in descend-
ing the precipitöus cliffs hun-
dreds of meters above the sea.
In fact, a favourite local sport
practised by children of very
early age consists of swing-
ing on long ropes between
widely spaced rocks just out-
side the town, while more
s e r i o u s demonstrations of
cliff-climbing are given by
the grown-ups on special oc-
casions. Throughout the years
there have been eighteen fatal
accidents w h i 1 e gathering
eggs on the 1000-foot high
Heimakleliur crag on Heima-
ey, and folklore has it that
when the nineteenth man
falls to his death there the
notorious volcano Katla on
the nearby mainland will
again erupt (its next perfor-
mance is in fact now over-
due). Some of the climbers
take their mishaps lighthear-
tedly, however. On one occa-
sion a man fell from a great
height and disappeared into
the sea near a waiting boat,
only to pop up again after a
b r i e f interval and, to the
astonishment of his comrades,
cry out cheerfully: “Well,
boys, did you hear the
splash?” His name was John,
and ever since he was known
as John Splash.
Slaves and Celís
Whence came the original
“Westmen” after whom the
Vestmannaeyjar are named?
Old stories tell us that about
the year 875 the first settler
of Iceland, Ingólfur Arnarson,
went in search of his foster-
brother Hjörleifur and found
him murdered on the south
coast. He eventually tracked
down the doers of this foul
deed — Hjörleifur’s rebel
Irish slaves — in the West-
man Islands, where he killed
them all. One of them, Dufi-
hakur, in desperation threw
himself to his death from a
high cliff, which to this day
still bears his name on Heima-
ey. Celts from the British
Isles in Viking days were
known as Westmen, men ori-
ginating from lands to the
west of Scandinavia, and the
Westman Islands are thus to
have been named after them.
According to another theory,
however, it is possible that
Norsemen came earlier to the
islands from Britain, and they
were also known as Men from
the West.
Ambassador to Iceland
Like the rest of Iceland, the
Westman Islands came under
the rule of Denmark towards
the end of the 14th century.
When Iceland was granted a
Constitution of her own in
1874, the islanders were pre-
vented by bad weather from
attending the national cele-
bration on the mainland. Not
to be outdone, they decided
to hold théir own locally, and
this event has been repeated
there early in August every
year since. Though the Ice-
landers as a whole are known
for their in(ense. national
pride and índependence of
outlook, the Westman Island-
ers are said to exhibit these
characteristic ,to a still
stronger degree. In fact, an
elaborate April Foöl joke was
broadcast on lst April last
over Radio Reykjavik, an-
nouncing that the islands had
declared independence from
the mainland, where they had
appointed their own ambassa-
dor, with whom a detailed
and not unconvincing inter-
view was held. Though súch
demands for autonomy are
made more in jest than earn-
est, the inhabitants do in
many ways consider them-
selves a special and distinct
community. Some of them
also feel that their economic
contribution to Iceland’s eco-
nomy is not fully appreciated
or rewarded by the national
authorities, as the amount of
fish caught by them (repre-
senting only about 2 V2 % of
the Icelandic population) is
out of all proportion to that
of the rest of the country.
Fish takes pride of place
T h e r e is practically no
farming in the islands or any
industry apart from fishing
and fish processing. The smell
of fish, the chimneys of the
processing plants and the
busy harbour completely do-
minate the local scene. The
s t r e e t s are full of hardy
young men and women dres-
sed in sweaters, working
jeans and high boots, who
have little time to attend to
the delicate whims of the in-
creasing numbers of day tour-
ists from Reykjavik. Boats,
large and small, chug briskly
in and out of the port in all
weathers, particularly during
the ,main fishing season from
January to May, when enor-
mous quantities of cod, had-
dock, saithe and capelin are
landed from nets, longlines
or trawl. At particularly busy
periods it is not uncommon
for schools and offices to close
down temporarily so that ev-
eryone can lend a hand in
dealing with the rich harvest
of the sea. The fishermen eam
good wages, but they deserve
it especially in the dark days
of winter, often working to
artificial light on small boats
in icy seas. Much of the fish
is frozen for export to the
USA, USSR, Britain and oth-
er countries, a good deal is
salted for the Mediterranean
or sometimes South America,
and in recent years some has
been exported to Japan. As a
comparison, it may be men-
tioned that during 1970 the
whole of Greenland produced
about 17,000 tons of fish,
which is less than a third of
that often land4d in the West-
man Islands in a year.
Continued.