Lögberg-Heimskringla - 30.05.2003, Síða 2

page 2 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Friday, 30 May 2003
M Editorial • Ritstjórnargrein
Lillian Vilborg
Managing Editor
Winnipeg, MB
The Scots and the Icelanders
are very closely related.”
So said my afi, Jon Johannson,
in a rather loud voice, at the
dinner table one night.
Apparently apropos of absolut-
ely nothing.
But there was a reason. I
went to Haga with my
boyfriend. I wanted my amma
and afi to meet him. I needed
their stamp of approval before
I could take the next step
towards the rest of my life.
Afi’s declaration of the
close relationship of the Scots
and Icelanders was his way of
telling me that he approved of
Lorne. (Amma’s way was to
write me a letter to tell me “As
soon as he walked through the
door, I felt like Lome was one
of my boys.”) If I couldn’t
bring an Icelander home, afi
thought Lorne would do.
Until relatively recently I
haven’t thought much about
the depth or implications of my
afi’s observation. I thought he
was perhaps referring to the
geographic proximity of the
two island nations. Now I am
beginning to understand that
his comment ran much deeper
than I could ever have thought.
That Scot my afi was
approving is actualiy half
Scottish and half Irish of ori-
gin. His grandmothers actually
spoke “the Gaelic” as they say
in the Outer Hebrides, where
the MacPherson part of his
clan originates.
Lome is currently reading
Gísli Sigurðsson’s book Gaelic
Influence in Iceland (2nd ed.,
2000). In the book, Gísli
debunks the idea that Icelanders
at the time of settlement were
“pure” Norwegians. This com-
plete fiction is one that most of
us grew up with. Gísli estimates
that about forty percent of the
original settlers were of Celtic
origin, mostly brought as
slaves. DNA evidence is now
proving him to be correct.
When his book, which is his
master’s thesis, first came out in
Iceland in 1988, it received very
little attention.
Historians and others
rejected the idea of strong
Gaelic influence in Iceland
because of the absence of
Celtic names and words in the
Icelandic language. But as
Gísli points out, slaves would
have had to leam the language
of their masters, and they
would have been given Norse
names. And as storytellers,
they would have been asked to
learn the stories of the masters’
heroes.
Now Iceland is encounter-
ing a new challenge to its
“Viking purity” as many peo-
ple from distant lands come to
live there. However, if
Icelanders consider those who
moved to North America and
Brazil as part of their larger
cultural and genetic base, the
results of intermarriage and the
diminution of “purity” are evi-
dent amongst us.
Here we have Icelanders
married to all the different
groups we came in contact
with - Scottish, Irish, English,
Ukrainian, First Nations,
German, Swedish, Norwegian,
Danish, French, Polish. You
name it. Where the Icelanders
lived in close proximity to oth-
er groups, they as likely as not
moved beyond friendship to
loveship.
That process began as soon
as we arrived in North
America. Because of the
patronymic naming system and
the practice of a woman taking
her husband’s name upon mar-
riage, many people of Icelandic
origin no longer sport Icelandic
names. Instead they are like me
- a 100% Icelander by birth
who has borne the name
MacPherson for most of my
life. And our children, of
course, have all kinds of sur-
names that are not Icelandic.
This naming issue will not
arise in Iceland in the same
way. For one thing, they do not
have a family name system.
For another, it is expected that
children born and named in
Iceland will comply with the
naming laws there. The basic
requirement of an Icelandic
name is that it can be declined,
in the same way that all nouns
are declined.
Here’s what I think the
catch will be. When the Poles,
Latvians, Scots, Thais,
Chinese, Japanese, Americans,
Danes, Norwegians, Swedes,
Yugoslavs, East Indians and
others who have moved to
Iceland, taken out citizenship
and married an Icelander, wish
to remember their specific cul-
tural heritage by naming their
children from their own tradi-
tion rather than out of the Nöfn
íslendinga, the solid list of
names which has not changed
that much since settlement will
begin to look very different.
Many Icelanders here have
done just that. After a genera-
tion of flight from the Icelandic
first name, as we tried to hide
our “Icelandicness,” we are
making a change. Many
younger people now proudly
bear the names of their
Icelandic forebears, or simply a
name that comes from their tra-
dition.
In another generation
Icelanders will look genetically
more like we do in North
America. And it may be that
their naming system will be
modified as well.
Letters to the Editor • Bréf til ritstjóra
84th Annual Conference
Finale
The Honour of hosting the
84th Annual Convention of the
Icelandic National League of
North America was the catalyst
First Lutheran Church
Celebrating 125 years
(1878-2003)
580 Victor Street Winnipeg R3G 1R2
204-772-7444
www.mts.net/~flcwin
Worship with us Sundays 10:30 a.m.
Pastor Michael Kurtz
Come Home!
Anniversary Weekend
October 17-19, 2003
that spurred the Edmonton
Icelandic Society to new
heights.
In March of 2002 our
Members came forward with
commitment and enthusiasti-
cally demonstrated their excep-
tional talent and desire to help.
The vision, talents and
resolve of the Icelanders blos-
somed and every effort was
made to follow a design of
Minnist
Remember
BETEL
í ERFÐASKRÁM YÐAR
Please send Donations to:
BETEL HOME FOUNDATTON
BOX ÍO
96 ístAvenue
Gimli, MB ROC ÍBO
simplicity, quality, and dignity.
The culmination of that
plan was demonstrated with
pride on May lst to 4th, 2003
at the INL/NA Convention.
The success of a conven-
tion is only a reflection of the
commitment and enthusiasm of
all of the participants. The
Organizers, Volunteers,
Sponsors, Presenters, Artists,
the INL/NA Executive, the
Government of Iceland, the
Province of Alberta, the City
of Edmonton, Fantasyland
Hotel and the delegates that all
came together made it a
resounding success.
Thank you all for your part
in making the INL/NA
Convention memorable.
Sincerely,
G.O. (Jerry) Kristjanson
Convention Chairperson
EDMONTON, AB
CORRECTION
In Issue 15, April 25th, 2003, the L-H incorrectly reported
that Manitoba’s Minister of Energy, Science and
Technology went to Iceland and that he signed an agree-
ment while there. Minister Sale was unable to travel there at
that time, and another representative of the government
attended the Hydrogen Conference.
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