Lögberg-Heimskringla - 24.08.2001, Blaðsíða 2

2 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Friday 24 August 2001
Editorials
Lillian Vilborg
Managing Editor
WlNNIPEG, MB
Sometimes I call him “Mr.
Smoke.” When we first visited
Iceland, my relatives gave him an
Icelandic name, Lárus Pétursson,
and for the five weeks we were
there, he called himself by that
name. Now if we added Mr. Smoke
to it, he could be Lárus Reykur And
that would be very Icelandic - giv-
ing a person a “by name” - a name
which describes a physical attribute,
or the place you come from, or
something that you do.
It’s more than a nick-name, as
we know it. Nick-names are
absolutely standard fare in Iceland,
and here too. From diminutives, like
Johnny or Nonni, there are all kinds
men who are called Steini, Hilli,
Fusi, Thor, Geiri, Halli, and women
who answer to Rikka, Bogga, Lína,
Dísa, Fríða, Sigga, when the names
on their birth certificates are
Thorsteinn, Hilmir, Sigfús,
Thorvaldur, Thorgeir, Halldór,
Eiríkka, Vilborg, Gíslína, Thordís,
Hólmfríður or Sigríður. And there
are many many many more.
I have a handwritten ættatré -
family tree - handed down, written
and re-written by my mother, her
mother, and her father. It is a simple
list of names going back for hun-
derds of years. On it are many by-
names, such as Pétur the One-Eyed,
and Jón Prestur. These descriptors
give me a sense of what these people
might have looked like or how they
might have lived. It makes it possi-
ble for me to imagine them into life.
A list of such names used in the
Letters to the Editor
Dear Editor,
Some time ago someone was
asking about the work “kýr.” I
haven’t seen a response so I made
up a short conversation using differ-
ent forms of “kú” and kýr.” I stand
to be corrected!
“Ætlar þú að kaupa fleiri kýr?”
“Já. Ég á bara eina kú.”
“Hvar er rauða kýrinn þín?”
“Sú kýr var góð en ég seldi hana
með svörtu kúnum í fyrra.”
“Eru kýrnar þínar góðar mjólkur kýr
og hvaða kúa litnr líkar þér?
Það eru svo margir kúa litir.”
MESSUBOÐ
Fyrsta Lúterska
Kirkja
Pastor Michael Kurtz
10:30 a.m. The Service
First Lutheran Church
580 Victor Stv Winnipeg
R3G 1R2 Ph. 772-7444
Translation:
“Are you going to buy more cows?”
“Yes, I just have one cow.”
“Where is your red cow?”
“That cow was good, but I sold her
with the black cows last year.”
“Are your cows good milk cows
and what colour of a cow do you
like? There are so many cow
colours.”
Verma Zahorodny
Lundar, MB
Dear Editor.
My thanks to you and your crew
for pepping up the paper and giving
us a new look. It must cover all the
Icelandic communities, as we are
spread all over, jn North America.
The following is what I wrote
while flying home froin North
Dakota. It has to do with Ancestry.
Some Thoughts on Our Ancestry
When god created us, he gave us
roots, through our family clan.
These roots give us a founda-
Minnist
BETEL
í ERFÐASKRÁM YÐAR
Lundar area came into my hands
recently. I remember as a child
thinking that Geysir was John á
Geysir last name, because I never
heard him referred to in any other
way. It tumed out that Geysir was
the name of his farm, and Sigurdson
was actually his last name. When we
drove into town we passed Johnny
Mink Face’s place. Conversation
around the coifee table might turn to
Sticky Nose or ...
Recently, Chris Hale, who teach-
es at the University of Alberta, was
in Winnipeg. Amongst the many
projects her has underway, is
researching the use of these by-
names in Canadian communities. If
you know of by-names used in your
area, let Chris know at e-mail
chale@ualberta.ca. Or send them to
us. It would be fun to compile them
on our web site.
tion, nutrients, and a chance to grow.
Like the trees in a grove, man
has a better chance to survive,
among his own.
If we let our roots die, we will
soon be lost, withering over time.
So let us grow togther and when
other groves wither and die, we will
stay strong , through the ages.
So I say to you all, re-examine
your thoughts on what your roots
mean to you.
Harold Leo Johnson
(Or Halli For Short)
Seattle, WA
Dear Editor t
My roots are proudly Icelandic -
every Christmas I make vinartertas
for my brothers and various friends
who salivate at the word "terta". My
question is a simple one - why do
vinartertas have only 6 layers?
Thank you for your help.
Lillian Davidson Allan
Correction from July
In the letter from Clifford Stevens,
Mindy is Clifford's Grandfather
not his father.
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