The Icelandic Canadian - 01.04.2007, Page 22

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THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 61 #1
Some Icelandic Folklore about the sheep:
“The Shore Walker - In areas near the
sea, the Shore Walker tried to breed with
the ewes, so the shepherd had to keep an
eye on his sheep. Lambs sired by this crea-
ture were often born paralyzed and
deformed. (The explanation for this bit of
folklore is that sheep grazing on kelp often
suffered from copper deficiency, and that
caused paralysis and deformity.)
If children made pets of the lambs,
they were allowed to hug them but never to
kiss them. If they did so, the arctic fox was
sure to kill these lambs during the summer.
Sometimes the ewes got mastitis. Some
believed that the fallow-finch flew under
the ewes and pecked at their udders. Some
believed the ‘hidden folk’ (huldufolk) were
milking the ewes. Still others thought it
was caused by a creature that the devil sent
to steal milk:
“Using wool as a band-aid: Gray heals,
black hurts, white does neither, moorit
(brown) murders. Only grab gray wool to
cover a cut.
If a person could walk three times
around a sleeping sheep, their wish would
come true. Try it. I have never managed
to.
- summarized from an article by
Stefania Dignam.
HEIMAKLETTUR
“See Sheep on the Cheap: Ever wonder
where that wool sweater comes from?
While most mass produced clothing today
Stg-ffllA,Jol/vasSDlA,
ARBORG UNITARIAN CHURCH
GIMLI UNITARIAN CHURCH
9 Rowand Avenue
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3J 2N4
Telephone: (204) 889-4746
E-mail: sjonasson@uua.org
can trace its ancestors back to the same
ingredients used to make polyester leisure
suits, natural Icelandic wool comes right
from the source—healthy and sturdy sheep
that roam the countryside foraging on
mountain grass and herbs. Each September,
the sheep round-up—or rettir—attracts
thousands, especially nature photogra-
phers. At the rettir corral you can take pic-
tures, mingle with the locals and, if you
wish, even lend a hand sorting sheep.”
-Visit Iceland brochure (2002). Iceland.
If you would like to read a newspaper
story about the rettir titled, “Traditional
Icelandic Sheep Chaos” from the
Reykjavik Grapevine, go to
www.grapevine.is and search for “Icelandic
Sheep Chaos”. Date printed is Oct. 8, 2004.
Author is Kirsten Egekvist.
This article was put together from the
Internet. There were two main websites:
HYPERLINK " http://www.isbona,com"
www.isbona,com (webmaster at Queso
Cabeza Farm in Olivet, MI), and HYPER-
LINK "http://www.yeoman-icelandic-
sheep.ca" www.yeoman-icelandic-sheep.ca
(Yeoman Farm in Parham, ON). The
Editor would like to thank Greg Balia for
his internet sleuthing and technical exper-
tise.
This article is dedicated to Stefania
Sveinbjanardottir Dignam of Yeoman
Farm, the home of the first Icelandic sheep
flock in North America. Stefania died ear-
lier this year. As her friend, Josslyn
Richardson of Willow Farm said: “Stefania
was an amazing woman, her determination
and dedication to the breed was outstand-
ing. Many of us started our flocks from her
founding one. ”