Iceland review - 2016, Qupperneq 81

ICELAND REVIEW 79
STRONG WOMEN’S HANDS
Radiant women’s souls were clear
To sew, to spin, a ship to steer;
They knew the way through straits and shoals
And over broad shallows through which they rowed.
Strong women’s hands led the way
Working hard the whole long day
Thrusting oars through sounds and bay
Tying bales and shouldering hay.
(Written by Ólína Andrésdóttir in 1924, about the seawomen of
Breiðafjörður, West Iceland, where she grew up. Translated by
Margaret Willson and Ágústa Flosadóttir.)
Sometimes it takes a foreigner to point out the signifi-
cance of Icelandic history. While most Icelanders know
about Þuríður Einarsdóttir (Þuríður formaður, or ‘foreman’
Þuríður), as she was called, they’re oblivious to the fact that
in recent decades, 9-13 percent of Iceland’s professional
fishers were women. This is a similar or higher proportion
than in the US and Canada, and much higher than the aver-
age among other European fishing nations; which was 3.1
percent in the 1990s. In earlier centuries, particularly 1700-
1900, the ratio for Icelandic seawomen was substantially
higher. “Breiðafjörður and Stokkseyri/Eyrarbakki have the
best records of fishing crews. Breiðafjörður was the largest
fishing area and it’s where travelers commented that it was
just as common to see women working on boats as men. We
even have accounts of boats being crewed solely by women.”
HARSH REALITIES
Conditions at sea were harsh. People fished in open row-
boats and a skilled skipper was required to navigate through
the surf. There were no piers or purpose-built harbors. Boats
often capsized and people on land watched as their loved
ones drowned. Few knew how to swim. The harsh reality
of seafaring in Iceland’s past is well-known, dramatized in
novels such as the Heaven and Hell trilogy (2007-2011) by
H I S T O R Y
Jón Kalman Stefánsson. “What hasn’t been mentioned is
that the death records show that the crews included women
more often than not,” says Willson. “Farmers wanted farm-
hands to go to sea … it appears that it was after the plague
that women were pulling up boats and working equally with
the men.” To the farmers, a farmhand who could also go to
sea was a valuable asset, whether the farmhand was a woman
or not.
A smallpox epidemic killed approximately one quarter of
Iceland’s population in the early 1700s, so there was a lack
of workers. At the same time, commercial fishing became a
viable option for farms with access to the sea. Quite a few
went fishing because they didn’t have much of a choice.
“I write about one woman who was crippled and still had
to go out to sea,” says Willson. “She felt seasick and had
her head dunked in the water for cure.” Women went out
rowing heavily pregnant and some even gave birth onboard
the open rowboats. “There are also reports of women who
really wanted to go because they loved the sea. And they did
it because at sea they earned more than from farm work.”
Women were mostly involved in fishing near the farm.
However, some experienced fisherwomen negotiated to be
sent to so-called útver, or outstations, where they stayed
at fishing huts, similar to the one of captain Þuríður, for
extended periods of time. This gave them an opportunity to
earn more money. Remarkably, according to a 1720 law—
which is still in effect—women working at sea were entitled
to an equal share to that of the men, whereas women work-
ing as farmhands earned substantially less than their male
counterparts.
ERASED FROM HISTORY
There are records, albeit scarce, of women who were work-
ing at sea, owning boats and hiring crew as early as the 1600s.
The Icelandic sagas even include accounts of women who
were in charge of boats. It’s a mystery to Willson how these
seawomen seem to have been erased from history, especially
in a country that prides itself on gender equality. “My feel-
ing is that [it happened] when Iceland was striving towards
independence and changing its image from an oppressed
From left: The reconstructed
fishing hut of Þuríður Einarsdóttir;
Margaret Willson.
PHOTO BY PÁLL STEFÁNSSON. PHOTO BY RAUL CAMPOVERDE.