Ný saga - 01.01.1987, Page 100

Abstracts
Anna Agnarsdóttir
ÍRSKUR SVIKARI RÆÐISMAÐUR
Á ÍSLANDI (AN IRISH TRAITOR CONSUL
IN ICELAND)
In 1817 Lord Castlereagh appointed his protégé
Thomas Reynolds British consul in Iceland. Reynolds,
a notorious Irish informer, had betrayed the
conspiracy of the United Irishmen in 1798. For poli-
tical reasons the foreign secretary deemed it expedient
to remove Reynolds from the kingdom and send him to
far-away Iceland. His appointment, however, can be
seen in a wider context. The Danish trade ordinance of
1816 justified expectations of a renewal of the British
trade with Iceland, begun in 1809, and which had been
extensive enough during the war years to warrant a
British consul (John Parke) being stationed in Reykja-
vik. There was also a revival of interest in the Iceland
fisheries. However the Danes imposed restrictions
ensuring that foreigners could not carry on a profi-
table trade with Iceland. Reynolds, who resided in
Copenhagen, visited Iceland once in 1818. His duties
were non-existent and after Castlereagh's suicide in
1822 the consulship was abolished.
Ragnheiður Mósesdóttir
GLOUCESTERMENN 1 LÚÐULEIT
(HALIBUT-HUNTING GLOUCESTERMEN)
The present study examines the halibut-fisheries of
American schooners from Gloucester, Massachusetts,
off the north-west coast of Iceland in the last two
decades of the 19th century. It describes the origins,
development and decline of these fisheries and tries to
shed light on the intercourse between Gloucestermen
and Icelanders, in particular those from Þingeyri in
Dýrafjörður, looking also at those cases of Icelandic
emmigration to the USA which may be directly linked
to the presence of Gloucestermen in Dýrafjörður. The
article is based primarily on American source-
material, not least on documents from the US
consulate at Þingeyri, which seems to have been
established primarily to protect the interests of the
Gloucester fishermen.
4
Indriði G. Þorsteinsson
„EIGI SKAL HÖGGVA" (YOY SHALL
NOT STRIKE)
The article travels through the Icelandic history. The
author accuses Icelandic historians of their inatten-
tion; they have neglected to write about the change
from the traditional Iceland towards modernity. Here,
Indriði is referring to the transformation in Iceland
during the period 1910-1940. Finally, he reminds us of
the fact that the Icelandic language is our armory and
strength in the relations with other and much larger
nations. Against it we must not strike.
Gunnar Þór Bjarnason
„EN ÞEGAR DAUÐINN KEMUR SVO
SEM EIN VOLDUG HETJA...“
(„WHEN DEATH COMES AS A
MIGHTY WARRIOR..." ON ATTI-
TUDES TOWARDS DEATH IN
MODERN TIMES)
In the article, the author studies the attitudes towards
death from the seventeenth century up to the present.
What characterized people's opinions towards death in
former times ? How did it differ from the notions of our
time? Can we, perhaps, learn from the reactions to
death in the past? The article stresses the prominence
and closeness of death in the life and thought of our
ancestors, and how remote it has become in Iceland
during the present century. The authour utilizes, to a
certain degree, the theories of the French historian
Philippe Ariés as a paradigm.
Heimir Þorleifsson
Á HEIMDALLI SUMARIÐ 1898 —
VARÐGÆZLA OG VEIZLUHÖLD
(ABOARD THE HEIMDALLUR IN THE
SUMMER OF 1898 — COASTGUARDING
AND MERRIMENT)
When British trawlers started fishing off Iceland in
1890 the islanders demanded increased surveillance
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