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April’s Interesting Icelander: Halldor Laxness, Iceland’s Literary Icon
By Doreen (Borgfjord) McFarlane For its small size and population, Iceland is a giant when it comes to literary accomplishments as well...
Apr 25, 20244 min read
The Ásbirningar Clan and their Battles in Skagafjörður
The Ásbirningar Clan and their Battles in Skagafjörður
Apr 25, 20244 min read
Wasteland with Words
By Jason Doctor “One can see... in the Icelanders’ obsession with literacy, an urge to impose order on the desolation of the Icelandic...
Apr 12, 20243 min read
Book Club - May 2024
The Icelandic Roots Book Club for Thursday May 2, 2024 will feature Summer Light, and Then Comes the Night. It is important to note that...
Apr 12, 20242 min read
Reconstructing Old Iceland from North America - Part Two
Jakob Sigurðsson and his Melsted Edda by Jason Doctor and Cathy Josephson Editor’s Note: You will recall Part One addresses the life,...
Apr 12, 20246 min read
Reconstructing Old Iceland from North America - Part One
Jakob Sigurðsson and his Melsted Edda by Jason Doctor and Cathy Josephson Today if you want to see pictures of the Norse gods, an...
Mar 27, 20248 min read
Ari the Wise: Our Interesting Icelander for March 2024
By Gay Strandemo This month we continue learning about interesting Icelanders that were important to the settlement era of Iceland. As a...
Mar 15, 20243 min read
Nineteenth Century Education in/of Iceland: A Journey of Learning for Pliny Miles - 1852
By Brian Borgford “In fourteen hundred and ninety-two, Columbus sailed the Ocean Blue.” People of a certain age will remember the little...
Mar 15, 20243 min read
All new! The Icelandic Connection literary journal
by Sharron Arksey Although the last print edition of The Icelandic Connection came out in the summer of 2023, the saga of the literary...
Feb 29, 20241 min read
Iceland: An Outsider's View (1845)
by Brian Borgford “I must confess that I found the character of the Icelanders in every respect below the estimate I had previously...
Feb 29, 20243 min read
Bibles in the Icelandic Immigration to North America: Part One
by Doreen M (Borgfjord) McFarlane At the time of the immigration, 1875–1914, nearly all Icelanders were baptised and confirmed in the...
Feb 29, 20246 min read
Margaret Willson Tells of Icelandic Seawomen
On March 4th, Icelandic Roots hosted a conversation with anthropologist and writer Margaret Willson. You may view her presentation here...
Feb 16, 20244 min read
What about the Vikings?
By Bryndís Víglundsdóttir In this paper, I intend to share information I have gathered about the Vikings from books, articles, and...
Feb 3, 20249 min read
Interesting Icelander for January 2024
By Shaune Jonasson Welcome to our first Interesting Icelander of 2024 who also happens to be an important part of this year’s theme, the...
Jan 20, 20243 min read
Book Club: February 2024
by Heather Goodwin Lytwyn On February 1st, the Icelandic Roots Book Club will feature the author Margaret Willson and talk to her about...
Jan 20, 20242 min read
Infant Mortality in Iceland
By Susan Huff As I studied my Icelandic family history, I noticed families where many of the children died in infancy. I made some...
Jan 20, 20248 min read
Discovering the Land of Fire and Ice: What We Know about Iceland's Settlement
"So many men of lore claimed land, that the whole country was settled in the course of sixty winters so that since it has not been...
Jan 20, 202412 min read
The Power of the Word: The Mead of Poetry
By Karen Gummo A poet, dancer, and visual artist, Karen Gummo has been performing as a storyteller for almost 40 years in schools,...
Jan 6, 20242 min read
Going Where the Log Lands
By Rob Olason In 2023 Icelandic Roots explored the topic of the nineteenth-century emigration period in Icelandic history. Throughout the...
Jan 6, 20242 min read
November's Interesting Icelander
Árni Magnússon (I41634) 13 November 1663 – 7 January 1730 By Brian Borgford "And that is the way of the world, that some men put errors...
Nov 24, 20232 min read
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