Lögberg-Heimskringla - 01.02.2012, Page 8

Visit us on the web at http://www.lh-inc.ca
8 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • February 1 2012
Editor’s note: The March 1
issue of L-H, the travel issue,
will feature four travelogues
from our modern readers and
writers. In that they are sharing
some of the challenges involved
in planning a tour of Iceland in
the 21st century, L-H thought we
should offer readers a look back
- 134 years back, in fact - before
online booking, airplanes and
cell phones. The challenges of
these tourists, from 1878, were
a little different, although, that
said, some things never change.
The 1878 tourists roamed the
streets of Reykjavík, buying
Icelandic silver jewellery, they
came to party, and, yes, they
had someone with them who
could record their experiences
for publication.
L-H thanks W.D. Valgardson
for allowing us to offer our
readers a taste of travel,
1878-style. The following two
essays are taken from Bill’s
blog, wdvalgardsonkaffihus
and are used with permission.
When Anthony Trollope
Visited Iceland, 1878
As I was growing up
in Gimli, Manitoba, nearly
everything I was told about
Iceland was incorrect. Memories
of Iceland were distorted by time
and distance. Events and social
conditions were filtered through
a lens of misunderstanding.
In the days of my childhood,
people didn’t fly over
the pole to Iceland.
People seldom flew
anywhere. When one
person moved to Gimli
from Iceland, it was
the talk of the town.
Perhaps one of the
largest distortions was
the picture of Iceland
as a country so far from
everything that it was
completely isolated.
While Iceland wasn’t
a hub of activity like
Denmark or Norway,
it certainly wasn’t an
isolated place with no
communication with
the outside world. The
Danish traders had
stores in Iceland and Danish
families lived at some of these
posts. Danish trading ships
came to Icelandic ports in the
summer. Well-to-do Icelandic
farmers and officials travelled to
Denmark and sent their children
to school in Copenhagen.
However, contact wasn’t
just with the Danes. Europeans
were fascinated by Iceland.
Germans and French came but
most of all, English people
came. Not just men but women
as well. Summer after summer,
they came to study the geology,
the fisheries, the bird life. They
came to see if the sulphur beds
could be mined. They came,
time and again to see the geysers
for the geysers were one of the
wonders of the world. Some
came to travel to the places
described in the sagas. When
the Danish trade restrictions
were lifted, the English came
to buy horses and sheep. They
also fished offshore.
Most of those visiting
Iceland came with a serious
purpose. Many were members
of the Royal Society of England.
They came to learn about
volcanoes and lava and glaciers.
They took the temperature of the
Great Geyser and of Strokkur.
They pondered how the geysers
worked. They recorded daily
life on the isolated farms. They
wrote reports on the fisheries.
They came to sell Bibles and
spread the word of God.
However, one person who
came in 1878, during the time
of emigration, didn’t come
for a serious purpose. He and
his fifteen companions came
to party and visit the geysers.
They did both. He was Anthony
Trollope, Victorian England’s
most popular novelist. When he
returned to England he wrote a
short account of this excursion.
His account is deceiving
because it says nothing about
the importance of the visitors. A
quick read through might leave
the reader thinking these were
just ordinary, everyday people
who came to ride Icelandic
horses and party with the elite
of Reykjavík.
No ordinary people could
afford to visit Iceland. If ordinary
people saw Iceland it was sailors
like the thirty-four crew on the
yacht, The Mastiff that brought
Trollope. The owner of the yacht
was Mr. John Burns, the owner
of the Cunard Lines. He lived
at Castle Wemyss with his wife.
He paid for the entire trip. The
yacht, the supplies, the horses
and guides. His fourteen guests
were allowed to buy antique
Icelandic jewelry and other
trinkets but, otherwise, were not
to mention money.
Trollope lists those guests
but says nothing much about
their social station or their
accomplishment. For example,
in the list of the members of the
party, he simply says there is a
Mrs. H. Blackburn. He doesn’t WWW.ICELANDAIR.CA
Now available on the Icelandair website:
book from 10 additional cities throughout Canada,
making your flight home that much easier.
Seasonal service from Toronto and Halifax now ongoing.
+ For further information, please visit
www.icelandair.ca or call (877) I-FLY-ICE.
CLOSER TO HOME
WWW.ICELANDAIR.CA
Now available on the Icelandair website:
book from 10 additional cities throughout Canada,
making your flight home that much easier.
Seasonal service from Toronto and Halifax now ongoing.
+ For further information, please visit
www.icelandair.ca or call (877) I-FLY-ICE.
CLOSER TO HO E
Owner/Dealer rObert FriDFinnsOn
www.mymidtownford.com
100-1717 waverley street
waverley autO Mall
winnipeg, ManitOba r3t 6a9
1-800-665-1632
204-284-7650
We offer help to descendents of
the emigrants who are looking
for their roots in Iceland.
For those who have decided to
visit Iceland, we offer help in
planning their journey.
Phone 354.473.1200
E-mail vesturfarinn@simnet.is
www.vesturfarinn.is Kaupvangur 2, Hafnarbyggð 690 Vopnafjörður, Iceland
Vesturfaramiðstöð Austurlands
East IcEland EmIgratIon cEntEr
W.D. Valgardson
Victoria, B.C.
Travelling with Trollope before airplanes and cell phones
Stokkur Geyser: Tourists in 1878 were content to travel
to Iceland to study the geysers, although they didn’t
have colour cameras to catch the moment.
Anthony Trollope, popular
Victorian-era English novelist
PHoto courtesy oF Wikicommons
...contact wasn’t
just with the
Danes. Europeans
were fascinated by
Iceland. Germans
and French came
but most of all,
English people
came.
PHoto courtesy oF WikiPedia