Iceland review - 2016, Side 80

78 ICELAND REVIEW
HEROINES
OF THE
SEA
When Seattle-based anthropologist Margaret
Willson first traveled to Iceland in 1999, she
came across the reconstructed winter fishing hut
of Þuríður Einarsdóttir (1777-1863) on a visit to Stokkseyri
in South Iceland. A sign by the hut read that Þuríður was one
of the greatest fishing captains in Iceland’s history. A woman.
This struck a chord with Willson, as she herself had worked
at sea, and she wondered whether there had been others.
Extensive research led to the publication of Seawomen of
Iceland: Survival on the Edge in April by Washington Press
and Museum Tusculanum Press in Europe.
Margaret Willson discusses
her book Seawomen of Iceland:
Survival on the Edge,
and the surprisingly numerous and
colorful seawomen of Iceland.

BY EYGLÓ SVALA ARNARSDÓTTIR. PORTRAIT OF THE AUTHOR BY RAUL CAMPOVERDE. OTHER PHOTOS BY PÁLL STEFÁNSSON AND SIGURÐUR GUNNARSSON.
Unnur Skúladóttir aboard a Coast Guard and research vessel in 1962, at age 23. Unnur started working at sea on her family’s fishing boat as a
young girl. Then she went on to study zoology and worked as a marine researcher until her retirement in 2010.
PHOTO BY SIGURÐUR GUNNARSSON. COURTESY OF THE REYKJAVÍK MUSEUM OF PHOTOGRAPHY.