Föðurland

By Gunnar Birgisson

Icelandic Roots welcomes guest writer, Gunnar Birgisson. He continues with his thoughts about an interesting Icelandic word...

Lopapeysa - traditional knit Icelandic sweaters. Image from knittingtraditions.com.

You might think a word like Föðurland, meaning “the fatherland,” would refer to misty-eyed, clenched-jaw patriotism, the kind practiced by countries that frequently send their military forces uninvited into other countries. No, in Icelandic, it refers to itchy underwear, our woolen long johns. 

Icelanders today, like others living in cold countries, have the latest ultra-light undergarments made from thin, strong space-age fabrics to help them stay warm outside in winter (or even in summer.) We pay a good sum for these at uppity outdoor stores.

But before all that, Icelanders made their thermal underwear from Icelandic wool. Icelandic wool has many fine qualities. It is durable and comes in several different colors. It provides warmth even when wet. But it also tends to be extremely itchy. 

It’s hard enough to wear garments made of Icelandic wool even with another layer of clothing underneath. Most people who wear some iteration of the classic Icelandic wool sweater take care to don a layer or two of shirts made of different materials underneath the sweater. Even then, the prickly strands of wool can somehow burrow through and find your sensitive skin, causing you to scratch and squirm this way and that.

Now imagine wearing the wool as your innermost guard against the cold, right up against your skin from hip to ankle, plus possibly a matching shirt. I remember being told by my mother when I was young to wear the long underwear before we headed out. If I chose not to, I’d surely be cold. And she was right. The Fatherland might be itchy, but it also protected us from the cold, the rain, the wind, the snow, the hail, the sleet, etc., any combination of which was likely to greet you outside.

I’m glad we’ve moved on, but these garments helped us stay alive. The way other countries that possess a devotion to the land of their fathers believe their troops and bombs keep them alive, we know that it was our itchy long johns that saved us.

Our national slogan might as well have been “Itch or Die!”