The White Falcon - 29.04.1988, Qupperneq 9

In &
%*nd
about ^
Iceland
Compiled by the White Falcon Staff
Can you read this!
Feder ure,
(iu (>e eart on heofonum
si |iin nama gehalgod.
Tobecume t>in rice.
Gewurfee bin villa on eorban
sva sva on heofonum.
"No" you answer, “1 can’t read Icelandic!" But who
said thi3 is Icelandic? It is actually the opening
lines of the Lord’s Prayer in the English of nearly a
thousand years ago!
You 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
£an read the ancient Icelandic sagas in the original
mx\. Iceland’s geographical isolation, plus the
^termination 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 to do it during a tour.
(Rear Adm. McVadon is an exception.) Rules about
declension of nouns, pronouns, adjectives and
other linguistic gymnastics tend to 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
needs are provided for on base, so it is possible —
although mentally unnerving and culturally
depriving — to spend an entire tour here without
leaving the base.
No matter what business you need to transact off
base, someone will probably be able to speak to
you in English. The main reason so many Icelanders
speak English is that in school, Icelanders are
required to study two languages in addition to
Icelandic. The two most popular are English and
Danish.
Even if you do encounter an Icelander who does
not speak English, you can usually resort to
pointing, gesturing or using a phrase book to get
what you need. A list of helpful Icelandic words
and phrases can be found on page 43 of the KEFINFO
booklet you received during indoctrination.
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Schedule of
religious services
Saturday
5:00 p.m. Catholic Vigil Mass
Sunday
8:00 a.m. Episcopal/Lutheran
Liturgical Communion
9:30 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
Lav Reader Services
9:00 a. m. .The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-Day Saints,
Elementary School
10:00 a.m. Church of Christ, Family
Service Center
12:00 p.m. Gospel Service, Elementary
School
3:00 p.m. Pentecostal Full Gospel
Fellowship, chapel
Weekdays
11:30 a. m.
Catholic Mass (Mon.-
Thurs. First Fri. of each
month with luncheon.)
Contact the chapel at 4111 or
4211 for other activities.
April Z9. 1988
9