Sunday, 3 July 2011

Ancestral Land

I am half Icelandic... a Viking woman... and I've started taking more of an interest in my heritage recently. My exposure growing up was minimal, as I spent a good portion of my childhood away from Manitoba, where the largest population of Icelanders outside of Iceland exists, in what was first called New Iceland. The university here offers an undergraduate degree in Icelandic Studies. No, I am not going back to school, but I might take some of the Iceland language classes to see if I can get a handle on the language. Having watched some videos online of how to say phrases in Icelandic, I think it would be easier to learn to speak it without reading it too! Complicated alphabet that threw me off, but listening did not.

I was looking through different websites and came across many photos of the verdant green-ness of Iceland in summer. Most of the island is under glaciers but the parts that are not are exquisitely lush in summer. No trees, mind you... just grass... but a horse's fantasy to be sure!

Iceland is called the land of fire and ice for good reason. Being covered in glaciers and having very active volcanoes (the world has been reminded of that just a couple months ago) means the coexistence of opposites. I found a stunning photo, which I stole without permission so I won't mention the photographer's name but his copyright is on it, so he still gets all the acknowledgement of sure a fantastic image!

The foreground is glacier, the background is lava, with the aurora borealis hovering above. How can one not be awed by the majesty and terrifying power of nature shown here? I so want to go there...

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22 comments:

  1. Jimmy3 July 2011 at 11:20

    Pony-doll, takið þið við krítarkortum?

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  2. LẌ3 July 2011 at 11:21

    I think learning a language by sound is the way to go as it avoids trying to remember a translation. Has worked out well for me the last year studying German.

    Gangi þér vel!

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  3. Ponita in Real Life3 July 2011 at 11:25

    Jimmy: Kredit kortið mitt er of lítill! Of course, if you want to help, I would be very willing to stop in Glesga along the way to express my thanks. ;-)

    XL: Takk! Ég þarf sennilega það.

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  4. hope3 July 2011 at 11:33

    Okay in plain old English: I'm impressed. :)

    WOW..what a photo! As someone who loves digging into the family tree stuff I say go for it! Of course my family doesn't like hearing me say that some of the dead relatives are more interesting than the current ones. ;)

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  5. Ponita in Real Life3 July 2011 at 11:34

    Hope: I'm so making that photo my desktop image... I love it! I wonder if you would say the same thing if you had met those dead relatives? ;-)

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  6. Jimmy3 July 2011 at 12:10

    By all means hen, do drop in, but your new lumberjack man will have to wait outside in the car. Apologies by the way. My recent comments about his planking may have caused a fence.

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  7. Ponita in Real Life3 July 2011 at 12:12

    Jimmy: I've not yet decided if he'll come along for the trip... but no worries about fencing. He'd be no match for your long reach.

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  8. Jimmy3 July 2011 at 12:39

    ...not just my reach hen, eh?

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  9. Ponita in Real Life3 July 2011 at 12:41

    Jimmy: I'll have to take your word on that... Oh wait... I saw something once, a long time ago, in another part of the bloggosphere. ;-)

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  10. Jimmy3 July 2011 at 13:17

    I bet it wasnae a lumberjack!

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  11. mapstew3 July 2011 at 18:35

    Has he been posting 'THOSE' pictures of me again? Honestly! A pal says he wants to take some 'artistic' photies and before ya know it they're all over the innerwebs! :¬)

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  12. mapstew3 July 2011 at 18:44

    p.s. Hvernig gengur? :¬)

    xxx

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  13. Ponita in Real Life3 July 2011 at 20:27

    Jimmy: I make no comment about what I saw... other than :-P

    Map: You never know what's going to happen with photos these days.

    Mjög vel takk, vinur minn! :-D

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  14. Madame DeFarge4 July 2011 at 15:46

    I shall take some pictures especially for you when we go back in August for another two weeks. You have to go there!

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  15. Ponita in Real Life4 July 2011 at 15:53

    Oh yes, please! I'd love to see your photos. I will definitely make it there on of these days. Thanks! :-)

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  16. Anonymous4 July 2011 at 17:22

    I could slap you with a Hering - would that help?

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  17. Ponita in Real Life4 July 2011 at 18:41

    Mago: What's that all about? I've heard of that but don't know what it's about other than there is now a video game you can play called "Slap the Herring".

    Besides, I am not fond of herring, despite my heritage. I prefer less oily fishes thank you! ;-)

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  18. Pat5 July 2011 at 02:33

    Have you been? I haven't but everybody I know who has rates it highly.
    Have you noticed Jimmy has a bad case of punitis and it seems to be getting worse. Is there a cure?

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  19. The Unbearable Banishment5 July 2011 at 06:17

    My grandparents immigrated from Europe; my father's side from Poland and my mother's from Italy. I could be trilingual except that when they came to the U.S., they abandoned their native tongue. They only ever spoke English around us. They saw themselves as Americans and had no use for the language of the old country. Sad.

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  20. Ponita in Real Life5 July 2011 at 08:33

    Pat: No, I've not been! And I would love to... so it's on my list of things to do before I die (so that gives me about 40 years).

    And yes, Jimmy seems to be mortally afflicted with punitis. I think we may have to put him out of our misery!

    UB: It is sad, isn't it? Losing one's heritage. My mum spoke low German (being Mennonite) but never taught it to us kids. I never heard my dad speak Icelandic, nor my grandmother, so never had a chance at that either. I could take it at the university, though... and just might!

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  21. savannah7 July 2011 at 06:59

    incredible sight, sugar! all the best to you, darlin! xoxoxo

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  22. Snooze7 July 2011 at 09:44

    Definitely go and visit! I went twenty years ago as the love of my life was an Icelander. I like your idea to take a few courses.

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