Eyðibýli ~ Abandonded Homesteads of Icelanders ~ Photography

05/05/2021

http://www.thedockyards.com/history-turf-houses-faroe-islands-iceland/?fbclid=IwAR3xk-XEl_4mFzy1r290SF4R3jnYGAqCWljHYXMwtixHxJ9guArUr9Haveo

A brief article on the history and architecture of the beautiful turf houses typical to the Faroese archipelago and Iceland.

28/04/2020

17/04/2020

Here is a link to the Award-Winning Documentary Series by Egill Helgason. Thanks to RÚV for making this available online. Most of it is in English. The DVD has subtitles - but this version in Iceland does not. However - no fear - most of the interviews are with English speaking North Americans. Watch all of the series and learn more about some of the Icelandic settlements in North America.

Í öðrum þætti er fjallað um Gimli og Nýja Ísland og sagt frá fyrsta landnámshópnum í október 1875 og goðsögunni um hann. Viðmælendur Egils í þættinum eru Elva Simundsson, Tammy Axelsson, Óli Narfason, Robert T. Kristjansson, Lorna Tergesen, David Arnason og Maxine Ingalls.

17/04/2020

03/04/2020

Here is a link to the Award-Winning Documentary Series by Egill Helgason. Thanks to RÚV for making this available online. Most of it is in English. The DVD has subtitles - but this version in Iceland does not, most of the interviews are with English speaking North Americans. Watch all of the series and learn more about some of the Icelandic settlements in North America.

Í öðrum þætti er fjallað um Gimli og Nýja Ísland og sagt frá fyrsta landnámshópnum í október 1875 og goðsögunni um hann. Viðmælendur Egils í þættinum eru Elva Simundsson, Tammy Axelsson, Óli Narfason, Robert T. Kristjansson, Lorna Tergesen, David Arnason og Maxine Ingalls.

17/12/2019

Sigtryggur Jónasson: Local Hero & National Figure…

In the long history of the Icelandic people in North America, no individual has done more to establish the Icelandic presence than Sigtryggur Jónasson - the first Icelander to settle in Canada (1872), the ‘Father of New Iceland’, a tireless champion of his countrymen in both Iceland and North America, and a role model as both an Icelander and a Canadian.

05/11/2019

Nýja Ísland/ New Iceland, Riverton Lundi, Manitoba, Canada

Our library/office is called Sigtryggsstofa in honour of Sigtryggur Jónasson, ‘Father of New Iceland’, whose office was in this room for about eight years in the 1920’s. The trunk under the table was his, as were the big dictionary and the wooden box on the table.

05/11/2019

Nýja Ísland/ New Iceland, Riverton Lundi, Manitoba, Canada

05/11/2019

Nýja Ísland/ New Iceland, Riverton Lundi, Manitoba, Canada

Icelandic River pioneers Jóhannes Jónsson and Guðrún Högnadóttir of Víðirnes (Riverlot 11-E) arrived in New Iceland in the summer of 1877 with their newborn son, Alexander (born at sea on August 14th), and first settled at Akravellir, a half-mile north of Sandy Bar townsite. Their son died in infancy while the family was living on this homestead, and he was most likely buried in the cemetery at Sandy Bar (where the grave of Betsey Ramsay is now the only marked grave). After four years at Akravellir, Jóhannes and Guðrún relocated at Víðirnes on the south bank of the Icelandic River (just west of the current bridge on Hwy 8), which had been vacated by the first settler, and in 1884 Jóhannes obtained the patent for this land. Of five children born to this couple, two daughters survived infancy and grew to adulthood: Sólveig, who married iThorsteinn Goodman of Milton, North Dakota; and Jónína, who married Jóhannes Helgason of Reynivellir, the next riverlot to Víðirnes. On Ap.26.1899, tragedy claimed Guðrún's life. She and Jóhannes had gone to the stable to do the evening milking when a sudden storm blew up and released a torrential downpour. Guðrún dashed back to the house to close the windows, and when she did not return, Jóhannes followed to see what was keeping her. He found her lying on the floor in one of the upstairs bedrooms, struck dead by lightning. Jóhannes subsequently married a second time, to Halldóra Soffía Thorleifsdóttir, who died six years later. Jóhannes, known in his younger years in Iceland as Jóhannes 'Langi' (Long) because of his height, was 74 at the time of his death at Víðirnes in 1913. Some of Jóhannes and Guðrún's descendants still live at Riverton. - The photograph of Guðrún and Jóhannes with their daughter Jónína was taken at Icelandic River in 1890 or 1891, by photographer Jón Blöndal of Winnipeg.