The Land of Ice

Land The of Ice

by John F. Doran mhm

A thousand years ago, Loki, a Norwegian Viking, set out to discover Iceland. His secret weapons were three ravens, two logs (cedar I think) and two Irish slaves. When he felt he was nearing land he released a raven. It couldn’t believe its luck and headed east, back to Norway! Raven no. 2, had a failure of nerve and refused to fly. Raven no. 3, having read the contract, headed west towards Iceland. The logs? They were thrown overboard! Where they were to be washed ashore would be the settlement. The logs disappeared into the currents of the Atlantic…….. Loki put ashore, dispatching the two slaves with two horses to find the logs, somewhere on that cold and lonely coast. They reappeared a year later and led the Vikings to the logs at a place they named “Reykjavik”. What a film that year could make!

They described the island as being “wooded”. That may have been big bushes, or the now extinct, Icelandic Birch trees. Natives? It seems Celtic monks were already there, the “Westernmannen”, as the Vikings called them. Recently the ruins of their chapels and “cells” have been found. But soon, “Loki of the Ravens” had had enough, and set sail for Norway. His view across the mountains in winter gave him the name “Iceland”. Soon Vikings came, and they settled. Any monks who had been there were now gone. Within a generation the Vikings became Christians. The king who facilitated this was the great communicator, Harold Bluetooth of Norway. The “Bluetooth” on your phone is in honour of him. All of Norway and what became Denmark and Sweden, the Western Isles of Scotland, the Isle of Man, Orkney and Iceland became part of the Catholic Church. I forgot Shetland and Faroes, and my own part of South West Lancashire. One Bishop of Reykjavik was canonised. Then, disaster…… the Danes conquered Norway. In 1540 the king of Denmark decreed that all his subjects were to become Lutheran. This was not popular in Iceland, but reluctantly, after the beheading of the Bishop of Reykjavik, the people conformed…….” The greatest tragedy to befall Iceland”, as a

Lutheran professor at Reykjavik university recently described it.

But, as we know, the Church comes back! Today there are 30,000 Catholics – half of them are Icelanders. When I was on a recent visit a girl proudly introduced herself to

Roman Catholic bishop Jón Arason was beheaded in 1550.

Above: Bishop Dávid Tencer of the Diocese of Reykjavik celebrates Mass at the Cathedral of Christ the King. Below: Bishop Dávid on his visit to Pope Francis.

me as, “the great, great, great, great granddaughter of the first Icelander to return to the Catholic faith….. When the cathedral was built a farmer brought a wooden statue to the Missionaries. It had lain in a woodshed since the reformation. It had lost a hand. When St. John Paul II visited Iceland he was so touched that he sent a crown from Rome, which now adorns the statue in the cathedral. There are five Masses there, all full, every Sunday, in Icelandic, English, Polish, Spanish and Latin. Many people continue to believe in the trolls and “hidden people” of pre-Christian times. The volcanoes, geezers, hot springs and earth-tremors run down the island, along the crack where the tectonic plates of America and Eurasia meet. There are glaciers. I visited one. I also got to see the Northern Lights, but only as a small dim green cloud. I got to eat old shark meat- better than it sounds (or smells!) Black pudding, made from sheep’s blood rather than pig’s, is popular, but not on sale in the cafés. It is eaten with….guess what!? Rice pudding! For centuries Iceland was isolated and poor. It is now a proud and independent nation, with a population of over 300,000 (about that of Newcastle) and no longer poor. The language is what the Vikings spoke a thousand years ago. So, modern Norwegians do not easily understand them. It would be like modern English and Scots listening to old Saxon, as spoken a thousand years ago….Eastenders meet Beowulf !? Like Nicaragua, Iceland has no army. There are police, and a good Navy- remember the “cod wars”?! I met some great people, both immigrants, tourists, and Icelanders. They are sports mad, especially soccer (please don’t think of their massacre of England a few years ago!)

Blue Lagoon in Iceland - the most extraordinary geothermal spa in the world.

Closing remarks:

With the Isle of Man, Iceland boasts the oldest parliament in the world.

DNA: over 90% of male DNA is Norwegian (Viking)

Over 80% of female DNA is Celtic – (mainly Cumbrian) No doubt some of the first women were captives, picked up on the way.

One man told me he never understood why people on British TV wore coats indoors. Then he visited Edinburgh and realised that we don’t know how to heat our houses!

Pray for the recently- returned Catholic Church in Iceland. Tips for visitors

• Accommodation is a bit expensive, but there are reasonable places to stay if you look around. • You need to take all your clothes off for a shower before you are allowed to swim, either in the outdoor hot springs, or swimming baths. (Its all about hygiene) • Until you break the ice (!?)

Icelanders are a bit reserved, like the English. If you really want to meet the locals, it is at the municipal swimming pools - not the pubs. • Everyone, even the primeminister and the archbishop, is called by their first name. • Everyone takes off their shoes when they visit or go indoors. • Wear clean socks!

Reyniskirkja, church on Reynisfjara Beach near Vik i Myrdal, South Coast, Iceland.