Reykjavík Grapevine - 21.04.2017, Síða 10

Words:
Nanna Árnadóttir
Photos:
Varvara Lozenko
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gpv.is/jake6
Plans are underway to honour dedi-
cated Seattle police officer and native
Icelander Jakob “Big Jake” Bjarnason, 90
years after his death from
heart failure.
The decision was made
after a number of history
buffs informed the Seattle
Metropolitan Police Muse-
um that Big Jake's grave in
Evergreen Washelli Memo-
rial Park was neglected and
overgrown.
“He emigrated [in his
twenties, during a time] when a lot
of Icelanders were ‘going west,’" said
Friðrik Þór Guðmundsson, an inves-
tigative journalist who recently spent
a year in Seattle with family, looking
into Big Jake's story. Friðrik Þór is also
Big Jake's great-grand nephew.
Friðrik Þór's research uncovered Big
Jake's renown. It turned out he was, at
the time, considered a legend among
Seattle police. Not
only did he serve
for over two de-
cades, from 1903-
1927—a rarity at
the time—but his
funeral was also
one of the largest
ever held in Seat-
tle. Two thousand
people attended
Big Jake's funeral,
including over a
hundred policemen and
the Police Commander, all
in dress uniform.
At roughly 223 cm tall
(7-foot 4-inches), Big Jake
towered over the residents
of the city, and his gi-
ant, strong-jawed stature
coupled with his booming
voice proved a powerful de-
terrent for the city's trou-
b l e m a k e r s
(Big Jake only
ever carried a
billy club, saying he didn't
require a pistol).
Big Jake had to
have all his clothes tailor-
made as he was too tall
to buy anything off the
rack—everything down to
his police gloves and even
his shoes. According to Friðrik Þór,
Big Jake had a sense of humour about
his size, often joking that his barber
charged him double for a shave.
“My favourite story might be, when
asked by a Seattleite if he had been
unusually tall in Iceland, Big Jake an-
swered; ‘No, no, no, I was so little that
I was ashamed, and moved over here!’”
Friðrik Þór told the Reykjavík Grape-
vine.
“A lot was writ-
ten about him in
Washington state
and US newspa-
pers, which I read
through genealo-
gybank.com,” said
Friðrik Þór about
his research. “The
rest I got from liv-
ing people.”
“ T he mo s t re -
warding thing about this
[pro cess],” cont i nued
Friðrik Þór, “has been
searching for something
that's almost vanished,
but finding it, and being
surprised and impressed
with just about every-
thing he did and stood
for. Seeing item after item
showing that he was just-
ly called ‘a gentle giant.’
All my best investigative
journalism happens out-
side journalism.”
Big Jake's Memorial and new head-
stone ceremony will be held May 10, at
11 am at Evergreen Washelli Memorial
Park, and Friðrik Þór hopes his fam-
ily in the surrounding area—other
distant relatives of Big Jake's—will be
able to join him for it.
To learn more about Big Jake, check
out Friðrik Þór's article in Kultur Mag-
azine (check out the link in the online
version of this article - gpv.is/jake6 ).
It seems that every space film
these days, from ‘Prometheus’ to
‘Oblivion’ to ‘Star Wars’, is shot
in Iceland. But fewer know that
this trend began over 400 years
ago, with the German astronomer
Johannes Kepler. Not only is he a
founding father of astronomy, but
he also dabbled in science fiction,
writing a book called ‘Somnium’,
often referred to as ‘Kepler’s
Dream’.
The story, which takes place
within a dream, is about the Ice-
lander Duractus (no doubt as
common a name then as now) and
his mother Fiolxhilde. The moth-
er, who happens to be a witch,
grows tired of Duractos messing
up her brew, and so sells him to a
sailor who is then similarly frus-
trated by his seasickness. The boy
is put ashore and left with the
Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe,
who teaches him to speak prop-
erly (i.e. to speak Danish), as well
as about the basics of astronomy.
Duractus returns home to Ice-
land and his mother, impressed
by his newfound knowledge, de-
cides to introduce him to the dae-
mons she has the power to sum-
mon. These creatures describe
travelling to the moon, which
they call the island of Levania.
The trip takes four hours, and
passengers must put wet sponges
in their noses to compensate for
lack of air.
Levania and its inhabitants
are described in detail, but sadly
the protagonist wakes up before
getting there. Still, both Stephen
Hawking and Isaac Asimov rate
this as the first ever sci-fi story.
Take that, Tom Cruise.
Special thanks to Jón Gunnar Þor-
steinsson
Words: Valur Gunnarsson
10 The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 06 — 2017
1608: The First
Icelandic Sci-Fi
HISTORY
BLAST FROM THE PAST
Riccoli & Grimaldi's moon map
from 1651
“At roughly
223cm (7 4́"),
he towered
over the resi-
dents of the
city.”
Gentle
Icelandic
Giant, Big
Jake, To Be
Memorialised
In Seattle
An Icelandic immigrant in
America, and a part of local legend,
becomes immortalised at last
Strumming on the
shoulders of giants
Big jake never needed a pistol,
a club was enough for him.
2000 people came to
his funeral, the tallest
man to be buried in
Seattle at the time.
Bun in the Sun
Frakkastígur 16, 101 Reykjavík
www. braudogco.is