The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1963, Page 20

18
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
SUMMER 1963
chiefs considered this tyranny. How-
ever, all those who opposed the king-
had to flee the country in order to
save themselves. Consequently many of
the great chiefs left Norway. Some of
them went first to the various western
settlements where they had relatives
and friends. A number of these went
almost immediately from there to set-
tle in Iceland, others stayed longer,
perhaps one generation or more, then
finally moved to Iceland. Ingolfur
Arnarson was the first settler. In 874
he took possession of a large district
around where Reykjavik, the capital
of Iceland, is now located, and divided
it among his friends and relatives when
they migrated to Iceland.
Landnama, (The Book of Settle-
ment), records all the names of im-
portant people who settled in Iceland,
and also where they settled on the is-
land. However, the writer of the book
has adopted the custom of changing
the names where pronunciation was
difficult. As an example: the Irish
king Muircertach, is called Myrkjart-
an, and king Cearbhall, is called Kjar-
val. Sometimes the Celts are simply
given Icelandic names which are easy
to pronounce. Landnama also gives
the genealogy of most of the settlers
whose names are given in the book,
covering in many cases three centuries.
It might be of interest to record
here the names of some of the most
distinguished people who came to Ice-
land from Ireland and the Western
settlements:
AuSur DjupauSga (Deepminded),
Brought with her to Iceland four of
the daughters and a son, of her son
borsteinn the Red. Their mother was
a granddaughter of Cearbhall (Kjar-
val), king of Leinster, Ireland. She
set free five slaves and gave them land;
One of them was Myrgjold, a daugh-
ter of king Gljomal of Ireland and a
widow of Earl Meldum of Scotland,
with her son Erp. The others were
•three men. Hundi, Sokkolfur and Vi-
vill. Vivill’s granddaughter, GucfriSur,
a beautiful and talented girl, married
borfinnur Karlsefni, who attempted
to establish a colony in Vinland, in
North America, 1003, A.D., but had to
abandon it due to attacks by natives.
Their son, Snorri, is said to have been
the first white child born in North
America. He was an ancestor of three
bishops in Iceland.
Helgi the Lean, took possession
of EyjafjorSur. His father, Ey-
vindur AustmaSur, was a direct des-
cendant of EroSi, a king in Sweden,
and his mother, Rafarta, was the
daughter of Cearbhall, king of Leins-
ter. Helgi was raised in Ireland and
the Hebrides, and his two sons and
several daughters were adults at the
time they migrated .to Iceland.
Helgi Ottarsson, a direct descendant
of Bjarni Buna Grimsson, hersir in
Norway, harried in Scotland, and
brought back with him, to Iceland his
bride, NiSbjorg, whose parents were,
king Bjolan of Scotland and KaSlin,
a daughter of Gaungu-Hrolfur (Rollo),
Earl of Normandy. GuSrun, .the
heroine of Laxdaela Saga was Helgi’s
granddaughter.
HofSa-borSur, said to be a descend-
ant of Ragnar LoSbrok, married a
granddaughter of king Cearbhall. They
did their share in colonizing the coun-
try by raising nineteen children.
Aufiunn, of AuSunnarstaSir, was the
grandson of Hunda-Steinar, an Eng-
lish Earl. He is reputed to be an an-
cestor of Queen Elizabeth II, of Eng-
land.