The White Falcon - 05.12.1986, Blaðsíða 9

In and About Iceland
Photo of the Week
by JOC John Petersen
Can you read this!
Feeder ure,
|>u |>e eart on heofonum
si t>in nama gehalgod.
Tobecume |nn rice.
Gevurt»e Sin villa on eorSan
sva sva on heofonum.
"No" you answer, ‘I can't read Icelandic!" But who
said this is Icelandic? It is actually the opening
lines of the Lord's Prayer in the English of nearly a
thousand years ago!
You and I can't read it because English has
changed drastically in a thousand years. Icelandic
has not. When school children in Iceland learn to
read they can read the ancient Icelandic sagas in
the original text. Iceland's geographical Isolation,
plus the determination of the Icelandic people to
maintain their culture and heritage, has kept the
language virtually unchanged.
The resemblance between Old English and
Icelandic is not coincidental. Both English and
Icelandic can be traced to the same roots. Try to
follow this:
Icelandic is derived from Old Norse which is
derived from North Germanic which is derived from
Germanic.
English is derived from Middle English which is
derived from Old English which is derived from
West Germanic which is derived from Germanic, the
same "root" as Icelandic.
Icelandic is not an easy language to learn and few
Defense Force people manage it during a tour.
(Rear Adm. McVadon is an exception.) Rules about
declension of nouns, pronouns, adjectives and
other linguistic gymnastics discourage us.
Living in a country with such a difficult,
unfamiliar language could be a problem; many of us
have lived in other countries where culture shock,
caused in part by a language barrier, was a real-
ity. But there is little danger of culture shock for
Defense Force members. For one thing, all our
The old pier at Eskifjordur. The houses are
approximately 150 years old and are still in
use. (photo by Magnus Kristinsson)
needs are provided for on the base, so it is
possible — although mentally unnerving and
culturally depriving — to spend an entire tour here
without leaving the base.
But the main reason is that so many Icelanders
speak English. No matter what business you need to
transact off base, someone will probably be able to
speak to you in English. In school Icelanders are
required to study two languages in addition to
Icelandic. The two most popular are English and
Danish.
The only difficulty I’ve encountered with language
was once in Hveragerdi trying to book a hotel room
from an older Icelandic desk clerk who could not
speak English. We finally resorted to pointing,
gesturing and a phrase book. (Did you know there
is a list of helpful Icelandic words and phrases on
page 43 of your KEFINFO?).
—i
l^J-M i 1 1 H r
ii1! !> r 1 N i ■ ■.
ID —*
Sundag
9:15 a.m. Protestant Sunday School
(Contact chapel at 4111 for
class location.)
9:30 a.m. Catholic Mass
11:00 a. m. CCD (Sept, thru May, High
school, Family Services)
11:00 a.m. Protestant Morning Worship
(Communion-First Sundays)
12:30 p.m. Catholic Mass
Schedule of religious services
6:30 p.m. Protestant evening service
Fridag
Lav Reader Services
8:30 a.m. Lutheran Communton
Service, chapel
(Second and Fourth Sundays)
9:00 a.m. The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-Day Saints,
Elementary School
12:00 p.m. Gospel Service, Elementary
School
2:00 p.m. Christian Science, chapel
2:30 p.m. Church of Christ, Elementary
School
3:00 p.m. Pentecostal Full Gospel
Fellowship, chapel
7:30 p.m. Jewish Sabbath, chapel
Weekdags
6:30 a.m. Morning Prayer Service,
chapel
11:30 a.m. Catholic Mass (Mon.-
Thurs.) chapel
5:00 p.m. Catholic Mass (Sat.)
(Oct. thru April)
Contact the chapel at 4111 or
4211 for other activities.
December 5, 1986
9