The Icelandic Canadian - 01.09.2008, Qupperneq 42

180
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 61 #4
in the community.
The Fjallkona appeared for the first
time at the Icelandic Day Celebration in
Winnipeg in 1924 and has been part of the
festivities ever since. Her appearance is a
truly Canadian adaption of the Icelandic
costume with no exact parallel in Iceland.
She wears the traditional faldur which in
shape represents the prow of the Viking
ship while the gold ornament symbolizes
the volcanic fires. The green robe trimmed
with white ermine represents the grass and
snow covered mountains. The gown is
white or ivory trimmed with gold braid.
It is natural that as the knitted wool-
lens played such an important part in
Icelandic clothing both in Iceland and
among the early settlers here, that this is
one area where considerable influence is
still felt. Some of the knitted articles are
used today in the original form. The slipper
socks are still often worn. These were knee
length and were knitted of thick wool uti-
lizing the natural colours of the wool. In a
traditional pattern the sole would be black,
the sides striped in shades of grey and the
instep and front of the stocking white,
Double-thumbed mittens are still used
by the farmers and fishermen for their win-
ter work, because of their practicality.
When the palm becomes icy the mitten is
flipped over providing the worker with a
dry palm. Knitted insoles traditionally
given as signs of affection by young people
are still occasionally exchanged.
Of course the most obvious examples
of the influence of Icelandic knitting is the
popularity of sweaters, usually imported
R£V. StfrffllA,
ARBORG UNITARIAN CHURCH
GIMLI UNITARIAN CHURCH
9 Rowand Avenue
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3J 2N4
Telephone: (204) 889-4746
E-mail: sjonasson@uua.org
from Iceland, knitted in the traditional
colours and patterns. The pattern knitted
around the yoke symbolizes the important
aspects of the Icelandic scene - the moun-
tains, the waves and the northern lights. I
was told in Icelandia (former store selling
these sweaters) that the older women in
Iceland who knit these sweaters refuse to
knit plain sweaters because that was not
traditional.
Icelanders have adapted and con-
tributed to the Canadian ways of life in
many ways - costume is just one. Although
their life styles including clothing have
changed drastically over the years, they
have managed to retain the essence of the
Icelandic culture.
Written by Peggy Barker
Addendum
The “kyrtill” and “skautbuningur” as
we know them today were designed by
Sigurdur Gudmundsson known as “the
Painter.” The kyrtill is a long sleeved loose
flowing dress belted with a gold or silver
filigree link belt, trimmed with either gold
or silver braid, lace or ribbons in various
colours. The kyrtill was sometimes deco-
rated with vibrantly coloured leaf designs
embroidered around the skirt and on the
bodice. This version was often chosen as a
wedding dress in the early 1900’s.
The skautbuningur is a very formal
adaptation of the peysufot. It consists of a
long full skirt with a fitted bodice open at
the front to show a white blouse and is
embroidered on the bodice and hem of the
skirt with a leaf design in rich autumn
colours or gold thread. The headdress fea-
tures the faldur shaped like the prow of a
Viking ship over which is a veil of white
that hangs well below the shoulders. A
gold diadem adorns the front of the head-
dress and makes it possible to wear it in the
manner a tiara is worn.
Recent research by Fri3ur Olafsdottir
has determined that there was an every day
costume referred to as the “dagtreyja.” It
was usually made of broadcloth in various
colours with black, brown or navy blue the
more frequent choice for the skirt. The
skirt was actually the “undirpils” or petti-
coat worn with the upphlutur. The bodice,
which may have been a patterned fabric,