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Forthcoming Feature Film, “Gold on Ice” Honors the Icelandic-Canadian Hockey Players Who Took Home the First Olympic Gold in Ice Hockey Much like the Icelandic footballers (soccer team) being compared by some as the World Cup’s Cinderella Story of 2018, the film project, “Gold on Ice,” is about the Icelandic-Canadian ice hockey players and their Cinderella story, prevailing as the underdog to win the gold at the 1920 Olympics. The screenplay “Gold on Ice” was written by Hilmar Ragnarsson & Karen Eusebio, co-founders of the newly formed production company Ice Gorilla Production. Ragnarsson summarized his forthcoming film by stating, “Gold on Ice is based on the true but little-known story of the Winnipeg Falcons who were barred from joining Canadian hockey leagues because they were children of Icelandic immigrants. Yet, their invincible spirit, uncompromising resolve, strong bonds of friendship and love of hockey carried them past the pains of ethnic prejudice and World War I to the 1920 Summer Olympics, where ice hockey was on the world stage for the first time.” Karen Eusebio continued, “Although based on a true story, we took creative license particularly with the only fictitious character, Disa, who embodies the immigrant experience and what I’ve come to know as the unstoppable Viking spirit of Icelanders.” Eusebio continued, “the themes inherent almost one hundred years ago are very relevant today; such as, overcoming discrimination, the importance of the power of love and the rewards which come about when one never gives up to achieve a dream. It’s very much the kind of story that I could see Disney making, truly uplifting, and a film that the entire family can watch.” Ragnarsson stated, “We are pleased to have renowned director, known for directing iconic television shows such as “Dallas” and “MacGyver”, a true veteran in the entertainment industry, Michael Preece, as one of the Executive Producers on our forthcoming feature, “Gold on Ice”. Michael Preece recently stated in an interview, “I became interested in this film project in an instant. It is a story about immigrants who had to fight to play a game they loved and spoiler alert, they won it all. I met Karen and Hilmar and immediately became drawn to their passion and enthusiasm. I read the screenplay and after doing so, I realized quickly that it could become a great movie.” Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky as well as Mark Chipman, Chairman of True North Sports and Entertainment, and co-owner of the Winnipeg Jets of the National Hockey League, have both expressed initial interest in terms of potential involvement with the film upon further development,” according to Hilmar Ragnarsson, co-founder of Ice Gorilla Production. When asked about the forthcoming cast, Ragnarsson and Eusebio stated that “they are in talks” with talent. Ragnarsson states, “Choosing the right actors for a project is much like an artist picking his or her colors, with the right combination of people and their respective talent, one can create a masterpiece.” Michael Preece added, “This project needs a sensitive director, ice hockey is the background of course but it’s more about, grit, resilience and relationships. It is important to choose a director who sees it from the audience’s point of view.” The film “Gold on Ice” is slated for production in late 2018, with a theatrical release in line with the one-hundred-year anniversary of the first Olympic Gold in ice hockey. News release written by Lisa Pellegrene The Iceland Soccer Team (fótbolt) plays today in their final match in Group D. Our IR Members have had so much fun seeing how they are related to each of 'Our Boys.' Áfram Ísland!!! #GoldOnIce #WinnipegFalcons #OlympicHockey

I received a scholarship from Icelandic Roots and it made my experience possible! A fellow participant, Susie Forsyth, and myself went to Grimsey Island to record videos and make content for the city's promotion. We created a quick video including 3 timelapses on Grimsey and wanted to share the video with Icelandic Roots! Susie Forsyth not only helped film and edit the videos, she also recorded the Ukulele music that plays under the video! We are both having a great time on the Snorri program and we wanted to say thanks to Icelandic Roots for the Icelandic language classes and I wanted to say thank you for your support through my scholarship. Best, Bridget #Grimsey #Snorri #IcelandicRootsScholarship

Hope you are having a wonderful summer! It has been such a fun-filled and busy summer here at Icelandic Roots. The IR Team continues to add about 2,300 new people each month into the IR database. The number of photos, stories, obituaries, biographies, and more are growing every day, too. The “My Page” and “Relationship Calculator” features have been very popular with our members. The interactive maps showing places in Iceland, Canada, USA, and other places around the world where Icelanders have lived is so very valuable and interesting. The 119th annual Deuce of August Icelandic Heritage celebration, "Day of the Icelanders," in northeast North Dakota was a huge success. This was our 16th year providing genealogists at the celebration. Many people from the area and from a distance came to see us on Thursday. Here is a link to the Prairie Public News article where they write, "One of the most popular attractions is the Genealogy Center, staffed by Icelandic Roots genealogists." http://news.prairiepublic.org/post/deuce-august Friday, we had Halldór Árnason’s busload of Icelanders come to visit the Genealogy Center and they were thrilled with the “Cousins Across the Ocean” project and all the features of the IR Database. One of our IR Volunteers and one of the originators of this Genealogy Center during the Deuce is George Freeman. He drove up to Mountain for a visit and we were so happy to see him in Mountain again. He brought a box of books for the IR Library, too! Saturday, before the parade, the Prime Minister of Iceland, Katrín Jakóbsdóttir along with many other dignitaries from Iceland, Canada, and the USA came for their official visit. The entire day, everyone was kept very busy. Everywhere we looked, people were smiling and excited to learn more about their living cousins, ancestors, GPS coordinates of the family farms, and much more. Cathy Josephson explaining Icelandic Roots to Prime Minister, Katrín Jakóbsdóttir and with Sunna Furstenau Our 2018 team consisted of the following volunteers starting with those who live the furthest away. See the two photos below of the IR Team. Cathy Josephson from Vopnafjörður (Membership Director / Translator / Genealogist) Þordís Edda Guðjónsdóttir from Kópavogur (IR Library / Documentary / Translator) Doreen ‘Kristy’ Kristjanson Marston from Tennessee (Media Specialist / Genealogist) Bruce Marston (Production and Facility Crew / Assistant to Kristy) Russ and Gwen Lanoway from Winnipeg (Dynamic Duo Genealogists) Sunna Olafson Furstenau from Fargo (President / Genealogist) Ron Baker from Cavalier (our Norwegian friend helping with etc Genealogy) Thanks again to each of these wonderful volunteers (plus the rest of the team who did not attend The Deuce but were hard at work behind the scenes keeping the website whirring). Thanks also to those who came to the 16th Annual Genealogy Center, the Icelandic Communities Association for hosting this fun feature of the celebration, and also to the IR supporting members whose paid memberships help us to "Pay it Forward" for scholarships, heritage grants, education, and much more to preserve and protect our shared Icelandic story. Let's make each day a "Day of the Icelanders!" #DeuceofAugust #IcelandicGenealogy #IcelandicRoots

What is a place? In the most simple terms, a place is a geographic location. In genealogy records, a place could be a street address, a farm, a parish or a larger area such as a valley, county, state or province. Along with dates, names, and relationships, these geographic elements are crucial to tracing genealogical linkages to the past. Places, however, are far more than just locations associated with births, deaths, marriages or other events. Places are where we live our lives! Whether a rural town, a city block, a suburban street or a small turf hut on an Icelandic farm, these places are meaningful because they are where we work and play and experience life! The same was true for our ancestors. Abandoned farm in Iceland, Másstaðir, Vatnsdalur, Austur Húnavatnssýsla by Doug Hanson, August 2018 At Icelandic Roots, we go beyond simple dates and times and strive to tell stories. The photos, community histories, maps and more in our genealogy database are how we tell these stories. Among these resources, our interactive mapping capability is a feature of which we are particularly proud. Our maps work by digitally plotting key places using Google maps. With our system, users can see a satellite image of locations for the key events in a person’s life. For each plotted farm or town, one can view the geographic coordinates and use them to travel to the site and see it in person. Many of our members utilize this feature to visit ancestral farms during trips to Iceland, where place names can be particularly difficult for western Icelanders to understand. We often include farm and church photos, too, so that members can get a real sense of the places where their ancestors lived without the expense of international travel. Maps also give us the unique ability to visualize historic migration patterns as our ancestors moved from place to place due to changing climate and economic conditions. In Iceland, these factors often contributed toward decisions to emigrate. In North America, we can also see patterns as people moved westward. Seeing the farms and parishes plotted on a single map makes these patterns much easier for us to see and appreciate. Places are vital to our study of genealogy. In addition to giving us clues to finding historic records, locations can also help define the conditions under which our ancestors lived. We hope you'll take advantage of geographic information, such as the maps feature in the Icelandic Roots database, to explore, to visit, and to reflect upon the sense of place that is such a vital component of our shared Icelandic heritage. This article was first published in the Lögberg-Heimskringla newspaper. Reprinted with permission of the author and the L-H. To purchase a subscription to the only Icelandic newspaper in North America, click HERE. The team at Icelandic Roots has your story, interactive maps, photos, emigration information, plus much more. Help preserve our Icelandic story for the generations to come. Complete the 'Cousins Across the Ocean' form. Find Your Story. Join ICELANDIC ROOTS!

Join us as we celebrate our 5th Anniversary this month! We can’t thank you enough for supporting Icelandic Roots and helping it become such a vibrant community and treasure trove. In 2012, Icelandic Roots had a blog, Facebook page, and a small group of volunteers interested in genealogy. November 12, 2013 we achieved nonprofit status. Now, five years later, a thriving community of people who love Iceland and value their Icelandic heritage exists. We are flying strong with thousands of people who follow our blog posts, engage with us on social media, and contribute and use the wonderful IR Database. Over 525 people now have full access to the database by being financially supporting member-partners and 30 volunteer workers are on the team. Both are an important part of a vision to preserve our shared heritage for generations to come. Icelandic Roots is a non-profit IRS code 501(c)(3) organization. Our team is comprised of energized and committed volunteers who accomplish remarkable things. Because of their volunteer efforts, we use much of our income to “pay it forward” in Canada, USA, and Iceland. Collectively, our Icelandic Roots community invests in future generations by awarding thousands of dollars of scholarships for people to participate in the Snorri Program, Icelandic Language Scholarships, pursue other educational opportunities aligned with our mission, and to support other heritage preservation initiatives. One of our most meaningful initiatives is the Cousins Across the Ocean Project. It’s powerful for our volunteers when they ultimately link together long-lost cousins and reconnect people to family lines they didn’t dream they had. And of course, those people’s lives are forever changed when they connect to newly found relatives and perhaps even visit family farms in Iceland which they knew nothing about. The visitors from Iceland meet their long-lost cousins in North America and the family ties are strengthened. The world gets smaller and more loving through this kind of work! Your enthusiastic support, combined with our vision of what could be, boldly brought us to this celebration point. If we were all together, we’d certainly have many bright balloons, happy-dance music and would share slices of vinarterta and punch. Since we’re not, we want you to know from the depths of our hearts how happy we are that you’re with us! Please share the good news of Icelandic Roots’ anniversary with others because each person’s contribution makes us a stronger and more vibrant community keeping our story alive for the generations to come. Thanks to Arden Jackson from Vinarterta.ca for the 5 candles on the Afi Vinarterta!

For the final edition of this series, we asked our Facebook Group Members to share their holiday traditions and their childhood memories with us. Here are some of their responses: KATHY SMART "Growing up in Iceland, Christmas Eve was my favorite day all year. Precisely at 6:00 pm all was quiet in the city of Reykjavík (my home overlooked a big part of the city and harbor). Almost not a car moving and all church bells throughout the city were ringing. People were either at church services that began at 6:00 or at home preparing Christmas Eve dinner and listening/watching the sermon and the beautiful Christmas carols and psalms. I moved to the US and added the tradition of everyone lighting a candle for a loved one passed or not present. [Hangikjöt] that is what we have Christmas Eve as well. Hangikjöt with lots of sweet cream sauces with small potatoes, peas and red cabbage. Christmas pudding is the big thing with all 16 of my grandchildren and their parents. A very rich rice pudding with a hidden almond. The recipient of the almond receives a special gift. For my family… this is the most fun tradition." Kathy was also kind enough to share her sweet cream sauce recipe. Sauce: 1/4 c butter or margarine 1/4 c white flour 2 c whole milk 1/8 tsp salt *add sugar to taste for sweet sauce. Double, triple recipe .... as needed for number of diners. Figure on at least 1/3 c per person. JO-ANN BRIGNOLY "I grew up in Gimli in an Icelandic household… we celebrated on the 24th and going to the Lutheran Church for the carol service was always a highlight of the evening." JONENA SMITH RELTH "On Christmas Eve, our family had dinner, opened presents, and then went to 9pm church service. Once our kids were older, we attended the Candlelight Service that ended at midnight. Everyone stood outside the church holding our candles in silence to welcome in Christmas. It was magical!" KELLEY SCHULZ "I don’t know how traditional it is, but I make vínarterta and krumkake. This year I’m incorporating the 1 Yule Lads, instead of Elf on the shelf, for my toddler. We’ll leave out treats and snacks and hope the lads will leave little gifts. We’ll do something for Yule, light some candles, otherwise Christmas Eve is spent at my inlaws and Christmas morning we open our presents and stockings." LYNNE SHELTON "Christmas Eve, magical and spiritual, almost beyond words. It began when my Grandma said so! Sometime between 5 and 6 p.m. Aunts, Uncles, cousins and my grandparents all together in my grandparent’s small house. First we had a buffet of holiday treats, sandwiches, and cookies, kleinur and vinarterta and milk. Then we would get ready for the magic of Christmas, the lights were dimmed, the little ones seated on the floor, all of us ready to sing the Carols and listen to the Christmas story read by my Mom or one of her 4 siblings. We ended our singing with “Jingle Bells” and “Here comes Santa Claus”. The magic continued with Santa coming with a bag of small gifts. One for everyone. Sometimes an orange and a pair of socks. Nothing big, Santa wore a mask and boots and an overcoat. All black. I think the lights were dim so the little ones wouldn't be terrified by Santa! Us cousins still laugh at the scary Santa , but our grandparents wanted Christmas to be honored with our worship time and also an element of fun and silliness. I treasure the memories of my childhood Christmas celebrations and we have carried the tradition over to our own family, with a few updates. We allow the younger ones to read the Christmas story from Luke and our Santa is much better looking!" DIANE RYAN "I realize many decades later that's why we celebrated Christmas Eve much more than Christmas Day unlike most of our friends. My mother used to make those woven "heart baskets" out of Christmas wrapping paper to hang on the tree when we were little. We got to open just one present Christmas Eve but don't know where that came from? At Icelandic American Christmas Parties we joined hands and sang and danced around the Christmas Tree. Icelandic Santa arrived to deliver the presents to the children and he was skinny ;-) Another memory comes to mind from my Mother growing up in Iceland that they had Ptarmigan at Christmas and it was a real treat to get an orange for Christmas!" DONNA THORVALDSON "We always had hangikjot on Christmas eve. We opened presents Christmas morning. We just had our with mashed potatoes with lots of butter, and boiled cabbage." LAVRON PAUL "This year we sent a Pönnkökur recipie with all our christmas cards!" SVALA ARNASON DUNN "On Christmas Eve the elves would always hide new pyjamas or slippers for my children to find before going to bed!" Thank you to everyone who shared their holiday traditions with us! It was a real treat to read the similarities and the differences between everyone. I know I sure found some inspiration for next year! If you want to share your traditions with us, leave a comment below or tag us in your holiday photos. Facebook: @icelandicroots or Instagram: @icelandic_roots Gleðileg Jól og Gleðilegt Nýtt Ár! The Icelandic Roots Team *Árbær photos courtesy of Natalie Guttormsson

An Icelandic Christmas Down Under Elin de Ruyter - IR Volunteer While most Australians celebrate Christmas Day - the 25th of December, Christmas has always been the 24th of December in my family. In Australia our Christmas’ are hot and dry as it falls in our summer, our season of extreme heat, bushfires and thunderstorms. As a child my Christmas’ were spent trying to keep cool by the poolside or playing board games under the fan counting down the hours until five o´clock in the evening when we would dress in our finest clothes and our Christmas would begin. Of course, growing up in an Icelandic family my parents carried on with the traditions they had themselves grown up with in Iceland. Some years the thirteen Yule lads even made the long journey from the Icelandic mountains to Australia to place a lolly in our shoe by the window. While most Aussies spent Christmas Day opening gifts from Santa and eating a cold lunch of ham, prawns and salads, we celebrated our Christmas the Icelandic way. On the 24th my mother would swelter in the kitchen all day preparing the hot dinner my sisters and I looked forward to all year. Months earlier my mother would put her order in at the butcher for a leg of triple smoked mutton, for our main dish of hángakjöt with white sauce, caramelised potatoes, red cabbage, cooked peas and carrots. But we would begin the feast with an entrée of asparagus soup served with whipped cream and warm oven baked rolls. One year my father even attempted to make his own version of the Icelandic Christmas drink Égil’s Malt og Appelsín but it didn't quite compare to the real thing. After dinner the family would all sit by the Christmas tree and presents were given out and dessert was served. This was the Christmas of my childhood. Now that I’m a grown woman with a family of my own, we have incorporated the Icelandic tradition with my husband's Australian tradition. We celebrate both days and my children hear stories of the mischievous Yule lads but also anticipate the arrival of Santa Claus on Christmas Day. Bridging Traditions Between Canada and Iceland Natalie Guttormsson - IR Volunteer I've lived in several different provinces, and thus have experienced very different weather on Christmas throughout my life. I remember one Christmas in BC when I was five and Santa brought me a beautiful wooden toboggan but he forgot to bring me snow. So, I had to use my imagination and push myself across the living room carpet, imagining snow instead. One Christmas in Ontario brought such a severe ice storm that shops were closed early and my grandparents were without power and had to rely on their wood stove for a week. We usually travelled to their home for Christmas and had to reschedule our travel plans until after New Year's. No matter where I was living, the constant element in my Christmas celebrations for as long as I can remember was the making of Vínarterta. As a child, my mom made the cake, but I helped put the layers together. As I grew older, she trusted me to stew and blend the prunes. Then one year she allowed me to roll out the cookie layers, even though my stretched 7th layer was a lot to be desired, each year grew easier. The first time I lived on my own, I was at a loss because I did not have the circular pie plate to make my cookie layers. I broke tradition completely and made a rectangular one and then iced the Icelandic flag on top instead of our usual almond-icing. It just wasn't the same! Growing up we usually spent the 24th watching classic movies like "Miracle on 34th Street" or "A Christmas Carol" before going to bed early so that Santa could come and fill the stockings and leave gifts that we then opened on the morning of the 25th. We spent Christmas day eating snacks, enjoying our gifts, and cooking Christmas dinner that we ate that night. Now that I have my son, I've taken the opportunity to create new traditions for him. I still make Vínarterta, and we still get stockings from Santa on Christmas morning, but my husband and I have chosen to open presents on the night of the 24th. We also decided to forgo the Dec. 1 - Dec. 24 advent calendar, and instead welcome the Jólasveinar to visit. My son loves running to the living room to check his shoe in the window for the gift of the day - so much so, that I fear I went overboard and set the bar too high this year! The wonderful thing about traditions is that it is both fun to look back and remember those of our childhoods, but it is also fun to choose new ones to pass onto our kids. Traditions are only lost forever if we give up on them.

Þorlákur Þorhallsson (Bishop Thorlakur) is the patron Saint of Iceland. Today we celebrate a holiday called Þorláksmessa (Thorlak’s Mass). Here is a photo of his statue at the Dómkirkja Krists konungs – Catholic Cathedral in Iceland. This is the last day of Christmas preparations in Iceland. Most people in Iceland eat Skata (an ammonia smelling putrefied skate fish) on this day with boiled or mashed potatoes. Sometimes the skata is so strong (so putrefied) that when you take the first bite, it actually can numb your nose and throat. Some people in Iceland, especially those who live in apartments, have argued and debated about the cooking of this meal since the smell permeates to all corners of the building. Þorlákur Þorhallsson was born in 1133 at Hlíðarendi in southern Iceland and died on the 23rd of December 1193. He was ordained as a deacon at the age of fourteen and a priest when he was eighteen. He established the first nunnery in Iceland, Kirkjubæjarklaustur, and was the first Abbot for the first Augustinian Canonry in Iceland founded at Þykkvabæ. The convent was abolished at the Reformation, when Iceland became a Lutheran country. Read more about the Last Catholic Bishop and his fight to remain Catholic. Þorlákur Þorhallsson was consecrated Bishop in Norway on 2 Jul 1178 and was the Bishop of Skáhlolt in south Iceland for 15 years, until his death in 1193 at the age of 60. He was canonized in Iceland in 1198 and finally on the 14th of January in 1984, John Paul II declared Thorlak to be the Patron Saint of Iceland. You can read his Icelandic Saga to learn of the miracles he performed. Skálholt was the ‘capital’ and center of power in Iceland for seven centuries and is historically, one of the most important places in our story. All the buildings now at Skálholt are new and you can attend church there each Sunday. There is a grave of Bishop Páll Jónsson, the successor of Saint Þorlákur, plus a tunnel dated at about the 13th century. Irish Papar are believed to have lived in the area before the Vikings arrived. There is a folktale of some nuns who disobeyed the church teachings. Above the present day town, there is a beautiful waterfall called Systrafoss (Sister falls) and Systravatn (Sister lake) named after the nuns (sisters) of Kirkjubæ. The disobedient nuns were taken up to a big flat rock called Systrastapa (Sister Butte) where they were burned for their sins. In the town of Kirkjubæjarklaustur is a tourist information center called Skaftárstofa (after the Skáfta River). Inside, you can watch a film about the history of the convent. It is very interesting. Another story says that a pagan man called Hildir Eysteinsson decided to move to Kirkjubær. As soon as he touched the property of this sacred place, he died immediately and is buried on a rocky hill just east of the present town of Kirkjubæjarklaustur. His burial site is called Hildishaugur (Hildir´s Mound). We have so many stories, so many traditions, and so much to learn about our Icelandic story. I hope you enjoy learning more about our people, places, traditions, and stories here at Icelandic Roots. Best wishes to you and your loved ones today on Þorláksmessa and tomorrow as we start Christmas festivities. Gleðileg jól – Merry Christmas!

In Part 1 of this series we mentioned how we've awarded 22 individual scholarships to Snorri Program participants since 2015. Part 1 featured the words of Amber, Shelby, and Kjersten. This week we are concluding our look at the Snorri Program with the words of Jessie and Alyssa. (To learn more about the Snorri Programs, you can visit their website here.) (Photos left to right: Jessie with Icelandic Language teacher Sigríður in classroom, Jessie's cousin Guðný is holding an old photo of family, Jessie and her cousin Guðný at Skogafoss) JESSIE GOTTFRIED - MANITOBA, CANADA SNORRI SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT 2019 My name is Jessie, and I am from Winnipeg, Manitoba. Over this past summer I had the opportunity to visit Iceland through the Snorri Program. On June 16th, our group of 13 participants from across Canada and America came together in Reykjavík. Guided by our amazing and fearless group leader, Sandra, we participated in cultural programs and and took daily Icelandic language lessons. By the end of two weeks, what began as a group of timid acquaintances was beginning to become a temporary family, which wasn’t a stretch since we are all very distant cousins to each other. A bus took me to Hvolsvöllur, a small industrial town in the south of Iceland where Jóhanna, my host mother, welcomed me at the bus stop with open arms. During my stay with Jóhanna, I learnt of my ties to their family through our Icelandic-Canadian connection. I then finished the rest of my homestay at Buland, the small scale dairy farm run by Jóhanna’s sister, Guðný. As we drove to the farm we discussed our shared ancestry. To my surprise, she began to become emotional from the driver’s seat beside me as she talked about the horrible treatment of our forefathers which were farming slaves in Iceland during the mid 1800’s. I remember how impacted I felt when I broke the ice through my research into the lives of Rebekka and Thordur, my Icelandic grandparents who came to Gimli in 1887. Guðný’s sadness towards those that came before her reminded me that one generation’s suffering does remain in memory by future generations. To be Icelandic means to belong to a people who, despite hardship and displacement, have maintained their culture and vast genealogical records which continue to be built upon every time a new baby is born. At Buland I met her husband Guðmundur, son Halldór, and Simone, a friend visiting from Denmark. On days when I was not cooking, milking, gardening, or whatever needed attention that day, Simone and I borrowed the old car and drove to some of the most breathtaking hiking spots, waterfalls and black sand beaches that I have ever seen. My stay in Iceland came full circle as our original group got back together for a week long road trip around the western coast. One highlight was the climb up the cliff-sided birding island of Drangey, which was rewarded with a stunning view. This experience not only transformed my definition of family, but helped me to get in touch with my roots in a way that only visiting Iceland could. My newly discovered cousins Guðný and Jóhanna have invited me back to visit and work at Buland in the future, and I am confident that these overseas connections, forged stronger during this past summer, will be lasting. I want to extend my most sincere thanks to Icelandic Roots for their financial support through the Snorri scholarship. ALYSSA CARTWRIGHT - AKUREYRI, ICELAND SNORRI SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT 2016 Wow! I can’t believe how much I have grown, and how my life has changed since my Snorri Experience over 3 years ago! I had just graduated from university, unsure whether I wanted to continue with the career path I had chosen 5 years earlier, and all I knew was that I had always wanted to go to my Afi’s ancestral homeland of Iceland. It was a dream to see this tiny country I always thought I had a special connection to because it was so unknown and exotic to everyone else I knew growing up. However, it’s where everyone called their grandfathers Afi, just like me. I was overjoyed when I received my acceptance email, and gratefully stunned when I was chosen for one of 2 generous scholarships from Icelandic Roots. The Icelandic Roots’ Database has also been equally meaningful to me in its efforts connecting us Western Icelanders with Icelanders ‘proper’. I have used it multiple times over the past few years, most importantly to calculate my relationship to the cute guy I met, who is now my fiancé. (He is only* my 7th cousin by the way) My first Icelandic experience was unforgettable, thanks to the Snorri Program and Icelandic Roots. I fell in love first with the language while beginning language classes online, as well as watching cartoons in Icelandic on the flight. Then, I spent 3 weeks living in Akureyri with my distant cousins, where I became rooted in this town which reminded me so much of home, quaint but dynamic: home to all the amenities for Northern Iceland yet still with a small town feel. And finally I soaked in the climate, as someone who always complained about the heat, even in temperate Victoria BC, I will take Iceland’s winter any day to enjoy the 20 degree Celsius (70 F) MAX in the summer. All the while, since the moment I met my first “born and raised” Icelanders from the Snorri West program in 2015, the reason I decided to apply in the first place, I have admired the people and culture of Iceland more and more each day. It took me just over a year to find a way to move to Iceland with the plans to be here a year or two, but it took less than 4 months to meet Pálmi, my now fiancé. So I think it’s safe to say that if you believe in destiny, the Snorri Program was imperative in my life’s journey. And even if you don’t believe in destiny, I sure am happy with the direction my life has taken since the Snorri program. Thank you so much to Amber, Shelby, Kjersten, Jessie, and Alyssa for submitting their write ups and photos for us to share. And thank you to all our supporters that make awarding these scholarships possible. We look forward to meeting our 2020 applicants! - Deadline for scholarships is April 15th. Application deadline for the Snorri Program is January 8th. Apply online www.snorri.is

Each year Icelandic Roots supports the Snorri Programs in multiple ways. One way is through individual scholarships to participants. Since 2015 we've awarded 22 scholarships for individuals participating in the Snorri Program, a six-week summer cultural trip for youth (18-28) who are interested in learning more about their Icelandic heritage and ancestry. We have also given grants for the education portion of the Snorri Program, sponsored online marketing campaigns, as well as provided training and free access to the database for participants in all 4 programs plus the alumni internship. Icelandic Roots was also been instrumental in creating the new Snorri Deaf program, both in terms of people power and finances. (To learn more about the Snorri Programs, you can visit their website here.) We asked some of the past scholarship recipients to share a short review of their Snorri Experiences. Here is Part 1 of their responses. AMBER DRAKE - HAWAII, USA SNORRI SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT 2019 I want to thank Icelandic Roots for helping me make the pilgrimage to Iceland. My Snorri experience was THE best experience of my entire life, and I hold it very close to my heart. My trip to Iceland was very monumental for my family. I was the first in my family to go back to Iceland in over 60 years, and making the family connections I did is priceless. I can't thank Icelandic Roots enough for making this dream a reality! SHELBY BYRON - NORTH DAKOTA, USA SNORRI SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT 2019 Hello! My name is Shelby Byron and I am from Mountain, North Dakota. I am 18 years old and was a participant in the 2019 Snorri Program. Growing up in Mountain I have always attended the big Deuce of August celebration and just recently started attending the Þorrablót. I have been surrounded my entire life with all things Icelandic and to visit Iceland this past summer was a dream come true for me. To me, being an Icelander in America is about connecting to our roots over in Iceland. It is so exciting for me to be able to tell my young cousins and little brother about Iceland and where we came from. To tell them about the trolls and the land with both fire and ice. I hope that one day they can follow in my footsteps with the Snorri Program to continue keeping our Icelandic Heritage alive. While in Iceland I was able to learn so much, not only about Iceland and the culture, but about the world and myself. I saw and experienced so many things that would only be possible through the Snorri program. I gained so many new friends from all over the world. None of this would have been possible for me if it wasn’t for my cousin Sunna or the Icelandic Roots team. Not only did they help me find my family in Iceland but because of the Scholarship they granted me, I was able to live out my dreams of going to Iceland. I could talk about my Snorri trip for hours, but I know I need to keep this short. Thank you again from the bottom of my heart to everyone that made this experience possible for me. I am so excited to continue digging into my roots in Iceland and to hopefully return to Iceland one day. KJERSTEN GAMINEK - MANITOBA, CANADA SNORRI SCHOLARSHIP RECIPIENT 2019 / SNORRI ALUMNI ASSOCIATION PRESIDENT Greetings, My name is Kjersten Gaminek, I am 21 years old and am from Winnipeg, Manitoba. I am a student at the Canadian Mennonite University where I study arts and humanities, and I work part time at a local bakery as well. I currently act as the president of the Snorri Alumni Association, where I strive to create close relationships with past Snorri participants. I spent the summers of my childhood visiting langamma mín in Gimli and attending Íslendingadagurinn. Those memories are surrounded by warmth and happiness. I get that same feeling when I hear an Icelandic word, indulge in pönnukökur, or receive a message from one of my Icelandic cousins. Being Icelandic is a great part of my identity. To be Icelandic is to be proud of my heritage, to be friendly, to be active, and to cherish my family. My participation in the Snorri Program has changed my life. I am yearning to experience the greatness of this past summer all over again. The Snorri Program taught me the value of personal connections and gave me immense amounts of joy whilst being abroad. I’ve had friends and family members comment on how I haven’t been the same Kjersten since returning from my travels, and I truly feel it is because I belong in Iceland. For the first time in my life I felt the true feeling of what home should feel like. I would like to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to Icelandic Roots who gifted me a gracious scholarship so I could participate in the Snorri Program. If it wasn’t for the help of Icelandic Roots, I wouldn’t have gotten the incredible experience that I did. Participating in the Snorri Program was hands down the best six weeks of my life, and I would highly recommend any Western-Icelander to apply to the program. Stay tune for Part 2 later this week.

From the folklore collection of Jón Árnason (IR I39045) Translated by Bryndís Víglundsdóttir Edited by Natalie Gutttormsson Once there was a minister and as is customary he lived at the rectory. He had a young and fair daughter. A young man from the district asked for her hand but the minister denied his request as he thought the girl was too young for marriage and he didn't like the man either. This angered the man and he vowed that he would have his way. A little later he died and was buried. It happened that just before this took place, a stranger had arrived at the rectory and asked to be allowed to stay a while and work as a farmhand. The minister allowed it. The stranger was a fine and hardworking young man and the minister was very fond of him. One night the farmhand saw that something was moving in the bed where the girl was sleeping. He had heard what the rejected suitor had said and suspected that something evil was going on. So he put on his clothes and went out to the graveyard. There he saw that the grave of the dead suitor was open. He found a rope, tied it around a rock and let it fall into the grave, but he held on to the end of the rope. Then he waited until the dead suitor returned. When the ghost of the dead suitor returned, he stood by his grave and said to the farmhand: “What are you doing here in the middle of the night?” The farmhand baited the ghost of the suitor and answered “If a man like you can stand here, then can't I too?” “You would think so,” said the ghost of the suitor, “I surely was a man but now I am more a spirit, than a man. Allow me into my grave.” “No,” said the farmhand, “not unless you tell where you have been.” “So be it,” said the ghost, “I was enjoying the minister's daughter. I promised I would have my way.” “Are there any consequences?” said the farmhand. “She is with child,” said the ghost, “and she will bear a boy.” “Tell me what will be the fate of her and the baby” said the farmhand. “You will not return to your grave until you have told me.” “So be it,” said the ghost. “No harm will come to the girl and later she will become your wife.” “I am not happy," said the farmhand, “to accept the leftovers from a ghost.” “That will have to be” said the ghost and it will not harm you.” “What will be the fate of the child?” asks the farmhand. “He will be,” said the ghost, “the most talented man ever to live in the country. He takes after me for I am a spirit and know much more than humans do. He will be educated and learning will be easy for him and he will become a minister, but when he turns to the altar for the first time the church and everyone in it will disappear into the ground unless there is someone present who is courageous enough to walk up to him and stab him when he is about to turn around. He will then disappear altogether except one shoulder blade and a few drops of blood. Those are the only parts he has from his mother. You must not tell anyone what I have told you until it has come to pass. Your life depends on it.” The farmhand promised to do so and then allowed the ghost into the grave asking him never to roam again. The grave closed over the ghost and the farmhand went back to bed, not saying anything about the events of the night. When people were up in the morning they saw that the farmhand had left during the night and thought that was rather strange. In due time the girl delivered a boy and said the stranger was the father. The minister cared for the boy and his good intellect was soon quite evident. He was sent to school, graduated with the highest grades and became an assistant to his grandfather, the minister. Everyone was looking forward to hearing the outstanding young man sing mass and when he was supposed to do so for the first time, people flocked to church. His mother sat at the front of the church along with the farmhand, who hadn't been seen since before his alleged son had been born, and looked rather strange. When the young minister was about to turn to the altar the farmhand rushed to him, swung a knife and stabbed him. The young minister fell and was dead. There was much commotion, some restrained the farmhand while others turned to the dead man and took off the vestments. It was as if the man dissolved in their hands and when they looked closer they found only the left shoulder blade and three drops of blood. Everyone was surprised and there was total silence in the church. Then the farmhand began to talk and tell the congregation clearly the whole story of his encounter with the ghost. There were some people in the church who had heard when the rejected suitor had declared that he would have his way. So people concluded the farmhand was telling the truth. The old minister thanked the farmhand for his help to the entire congregation and loved him better than even before this happened. Soon after this he gave his daughter to him in matrimony. They owned a stately farm, enjoyed good fortune and loved each other well, until their death. The end.

"In a remote fjord in the east of Iceland stands a lone uninhabited farmhouse, thought to have been Haunted since the 18th century. Tales have been told of SKOTTA, the ghost of a young girl who is believed to haunt the place. Inspired by a novel written by the renowned Icelandic author Þórbergur Þórðarson, titled Viðfjarðarundrin (The Wonders of Vidfjordur), in which he documents the old stories, including the tale of SKOTTA. " Thank you to Melanie Kolbeins for sending us this video, made by her cousin, Hugrun (Hugga) Dunn.