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by Jason Doctor Icelandic Roots will be hosting a public webinar on Monday, 16 February. Jason Doctor will host Kathy Thorbjornasson while she describes the saga of Eirik the Red. Many of us are familiar with this saga, but Kathy has dug deeper and will show us what she has discovered while entering the saga details into the Icelandic Roots database. Join us at the webinar. Details can be found at the Icelandic Roots Event Calendar, or watch for more information coming to yo

By Phyllis Smith Icelandic Roots newsletter theme for 2026 is the emigration and settling of American settlements, including those that went to Brazil in the early years. Most people with ancestors who left Iceland have connections with various communities in the USA and Canada. However, a tiny group of Icelanders headed to Brazil in 1863, followed by another small group in 1873. A Reddit thread poster asked for information in the Brazil subreddit regarding the Icelanders in

by Shaune Jonasson In this article Icelandic Roots pays homage to our own Icelandic-Canadian hockey heroes. As we approach this year's XXV Olympic Games in Milano-Cortina, we acknowledge The Winnipeg Falcons - the first team to win an Olympic Gold Medal for amateur hockey. Many of us in North America are blanketed in white. It’s winter and it’s cold. Regardless of how we spend the season, outdoors or inside staying warm, one thing is certain: it’s hockey season.    Winter is

Book review of The Icelandic Emigration Journey

by Rob Olason The Icelandic Roots 2026 focus is “Exploring and Documenting Local Icelandic Settlements in North America.” In 2025, the focus was on Icelandic art and culture in Iceland and North America. 2024 saw us focusing on the Settlement Era of Iceland around the first millennium. We inaugurated the idea of focusing on a specific topic in 2023 when we explored Icelandic emigration to North America and other continents. The idea of examining a focus topic each year doesn’

By Sharron Arksey Celebrating Thanksgiving is held at different times in Canada and the United States. Our Writers' Group wrote stories about thankfulness for both holidays. With our American cousins anticipating its arrival, Sharron shares her thoughts on thankfulness after the trip to Iceland this past September. I did not try to count the sheep I saw in Iceland during the 2025 Icelandic Roots tour; there were too many. I did, however, smile often as I watched their woolly

Icelandic Roots - Bridging the Past into the Future

By Blair Swanson and Becky Byerly-Adams During November Icelandic Roots pays tribute to our ancestors who arrived in North America from Iceland just years before the call came to support World War One. We honor the dedication and commitment these soldiers gave, some paying the ultimate sacrifice. Lest we forget. Many people of Icelandic descent have served in the military of Canada and the United States. Respect is paid annually in honour of our militaries on Remembrance Day

An Icelandic movie review from Toronto International Film Festival in September 2025.

By Gerry Stefanson We present a poem by Gerry Stefanson, a Writers Group member. As Hallowe'en approaches, we can find ourselves drawn to the more macabre or those questionable events that may be easily explained, but sometimes not. Source: Lögberg-Heimskringla, 1996 This poem was inspired by the true tale of two high school chums who rented a garret loft together at 616 Alverstone Avenue in Winnipeg while attending the University of Manitoba. Was it haunted, as another tena

Interesting Icelanders Jóhannes Sveinsson Kjarval, artist

by Anne Brydon Department of Anthropology McGill University, Montreal, Quebec   ** Reprinted from Icelandic Canadian v.48 n.2 Winter...

By Cathy Josephson Cathy volunteers for Icelandic Roots and also at the East Iceland Emigration Center in Vopnafjörður. She also serves...

by Anne Brydon Department of Anthropology McGill University, Montreal, Quebec   ** Reprinted from Icelandic Canadian v.48 n.2 Winter...

Beth remembers the Icelandic Festivals she attended in August 2025

by Anne Brydon Department of Anthropology McGill University, Montreal, Quebec   ** Reprinted from Icelandic Canadian v.48 n.2 Winter...

by Gerry Stefanson Gerry is a member of the Icelandic Roots writing team. He has kindly shared some of his poetry published in his book...

Writers' Group Series "Changes"

by Greg McNeill and Shaune Jonasson   It’s summer! That means sun and fun with fairs, parades and festivals. This year, the Viking spirit...

Collecting Icelandic books.