Lögberg-Heimskringla - 05.02.1988, Blaðsíða 5

LÖGBERG CENTENNIAL YEAR, FÖSTUDAGUR 5. FEBRÚAR 1988-5
Watch yourself
Different people have different
ways of trapping others, while in
conversation.
The English are skillful in the art
and expertly lead small talk conver-
sation into areas which are familiar
to them, while sporting a double
scotch or gin and tonic in one hand
and either gesticulating or holding a
cigarette in the other. The trick is to
make note of the topics they tend to
use and you will find they narrow
down to a small number. These could
be architectural styles of buildings
such as Norman, Tudoror, Gothic, or
politics, preferably strategic global
stuff. A popular talking-piece is ber-
ating the Americans. More local sub-
jects could be the silly Irish. Juicy tid-
bits of rumoured risque relationships
out of wedlock bring forth silly grins
and deep-throated chuckles.
The trick is to read up on these
topics and, once in a while, you will
be able to add a word in the right
place, indicating you are in there and
following the conversation with un-
derstanding. You will come away as
a hale and hearty fellow.
The Icelandic Icelanders from Ice-
land are wide open and you know ex-
actly where the conversation will
lead.
After a brief introduction the Ice-
landic Icelander will invariably ask
from what part of the country your
people emigrated. This will be fol-
lowed by the question, ''whose son
is your father and whose daughter is
your mother?' and ''where do they
come from?" As a Western Icelander
this poses a problem for our surname
always remains the same, whereas in
Iceland it changes with every gener-
ation, except family names which are
used generation after generation;
however, they are a small part of the
total surnames in Iceland and are
gradually dissappearing.
To overcome this, look up your
background, and if this material is
not available, you can resort to fabri-
cation, however be careful to follow
established guidelines in this whole
matter or you may get caught out.
First look at the map of Iceland. A
safe area to concentrate on is Norður
and Suður Þingeyarsýslur. Most of
our forefathers came from there. This
is referred to as Norðurland. It would
be safe to say, "Eg er Norðlendin-
gur"; next, look for a geographic fea-
ture, such as a mountain, valley,
river, bay, peninsula, etc. Then select
the name of a farm and there you
have it. A word of warning: be care-
ful not to select a farm name ending
in kot, for that signifies a small
poverty-stricken abode where people
barely existed. Next you seek out a
Western Icelander and try this infor-
mation out for size and hope his ad-
vice is reasonably correct.
If you select northern Iceland, you
should determine if the Icelandic Ice-
lander is from western, southern, or
eastern parts of Iceland. If he is from
the north, your bluff may be a bit
risky — you should really have the
same answers to suit all quarters of
the compass.
In selecting background fore-
fathers, bishops are rath'eí qDopular.
If you decide on one make certain he •
is of fairly recent times for it is em-
barrassing if you select one, say from
the early middle-ages. It is always
better to claim him as a relative
rather in direct line. This gives you
more leeway, and it is more difficult
for the Icelandic Icelander to mental-
ly trace the lineage.
Probably the best course of action
is to confess ignorance and accept a
friendly gesture of sympathy, as a
lost soul in the intricacies of Icelandic
genealogical lore.
Einar Arnason
A proud moment deflated
A friend visiting in Iceland was
zooming along the highway in the
Dalasysla Iceland, which his wife in-
sisted on calling a road. My friend
claimed it was part of the national
highway system, and that she was
showing disrespect to the nation
from which he was descended. This
did not faze her for her ancestry in-
cluded English, Dutch, Irish, and
French. She just did not have a pride
of heritage. It was too difficult to sort
out. She thought her husband was a
bit foolish to be dragging her around
this forlorn country, which looked
harsh and uninteresting to her. He,
however, was savouring every mo-
ment of it.
Speeding along at 20 miles per
hour, they met a car which indicat-
ed they wished to stop and have con-
versation. After a pohte salutation the
question posed was, "Is this the road
to Bjarkalundur?" To which my
friend replied, "Yes". There were
further comments concerning the
weather. My friend was very proud
of himself for the conversation had
been carried out in Icelandic, and
these Icelanders did not seem to de-
tect they were conversing with a
Western Icelander.
A couple of years later, my friend
was in conversation with a visitor
from Reykjavík Iceland. He told him
the story and mentioned, he could
tell by the license that it was from
Akureyri, while his rented car would
be identified with Teykjavik, adding
he felt proud of his Icelandic.
The visitor quickly pointed out
how people in Northern Iceland con-
sidered people in the south to be
careless in their speech, and just con-
cluded he was from the south or a
Sunlendingur in their terminology.
My friend felt deflated.
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