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Interesting Icelander for September 2025- Bólu-Hjálmar
by Shaune Jonasson This month’s Interesting Icelander profiles Bólu-Hjálmar, one of Iceland’s notable folk poets, whose sharp wit and...
4 days ago10 min read


Halldór Laxness: Travels with Amma
By Bryndís Víglundsdóttir Laxness Portrait by Einar Hákonarson Wikimedia Commons The Nobel laureate Halldór Kiljan Laxness is the...
Sep 135 min read


Book Club Returns with Iceland's Bell
Editor Note: There is a change in the usual timing for this event. It will be taking place at 1200 noon Central Time (DST) on October 2...
Sep 64 min read


Book Review: Hotel Silence by Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir
Reviewed by Sharron Arksey Jonas Ebaneser is in a midlife crisis and when he discovers that his daughter is not biologically his, he...
Aug 12 min read


GOING, Going, Gone….
Collecting Icelandic books.
Jun 203 min read


IR Book Club Explores Letters to Brian
Icelandic Roots Book Club Meets Thursday, February 6th By Heather Lytwyn Letters to Brian: A Year of Living and Remembrance is a...
Jan 232 min read


The Fifth Annual Icelandic Roots Jólabókaflóð (Book Flood)
Iceland is one of the most literate countries in the world and has a long literary history that goes back to the Icelandic Sagas. The...
Nov 23, 20243 min read


November Book Club Showcases Icelandic Children's Tales
By Heather Goodman Lytwyn The Icelandic Roots Book Club for Thursday, November 7, 2024, will feature Guđríđur’s Saga , Mundi: Boy of...
Oct 25, 20242 min read


What Are You Doing on Jón Sigurðsson’s Birthday?
By Rob Olason Editor's Note: Icelandic Roots is encouraging everyone to jot down a quick diary entry to document their day on June 17,...
Jun 8, 20243 min read


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


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


Saga of the Golden Curse - Part Two
Introducing Part Two of The Saga of the Golden Curse. You may recall in Part One that Odin and two friends, Loki and Heinir, journeyed to...
Feb 16, 20247 min read


The Saga of the Golden Curse - Part One
Icelandic Roots is pleased to help introduce a new book: A Viking Legend: The Descendants of Odin written by Ainsley Bloomer. We present...
Feb 3, 20247 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


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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