Everything Icelandic
Everything Icelandic is a new INLNA initiative to better serve members and friends of the league through online means. It will present monthly presentations or interviews on a variety of topics – travel and tourism, literature and music, history and geography, food and art, cinema and sagas, business and public affairs. We’ll explore all things Icelandic, whether here in North America, over in Iceland, or anywhere else in the world.
Ryan Eyford
Tuesday, January 21, 2025 8 pm EST (7 CT; 6 MT, 5 PT)
Icelanders love stories, especially ones about journeys. The journey of Icelanders in 1875, to escape the volcanic eruptions and poverty in order to create a new home in North America is a saga to rival all of them. In 2025, we celebrate 150 years since the founding of Nýja Ísland. It is a time to honour the many groups who came in small ships to different harbours and made the long trek across forested wild lands to found settlements from coast to coast. The large group that came to Gimli to found New Iceland in the north-west territories, became a cultural heart for all these disparate communities. They stayed connected through newspapers, letters, visits and resettlements. It was remarkable when you consider 1875 and what travel and communication was like then.
This year the INLNA convention will be held in Gimli, Manitoba. The theme is “Þó Líði Ár og Öld – Though Years and Centuries Pass”. Though the years have passed, we still gather to celebrate our shared and rich cultural heritage.
In this webinar, Professor Eyford will share with us the story and journeys of those original settlers, giving us the beginnings of the saga of Western Icelanders.
Discover Your Icelandic immigration story
with Icelandic Roots
Webinar REplay:
Join in a special webinar which will be jointly hosted by INLUS and INLNA. Dave Jonasson from Icelandic Roots will show us some amazing new features in the Icelandic Roots genealogy database which can help us trace and understand our ancestors and how they emigrated from Iceland to North America.
Icelandic Roots is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization based in Fargo North Dakota and is a member of both INLUS and INLNA. Visit our Icelandic Organizations and Partner Organizations pages for more information.
This event was held on Thursday, October 26th. The conversation will be facilitated by Natalie Guttormsson from INLNA.
Wind, Gravel, & Ice
with Christina Chowaniec
Webinar REplay:
Everything Icelandic presents Christina Chowaniec on Wind, Gravel and Ice, an account of Canadian soldiers in Iceland during World War II.
The result of a 10-year research project, the story focuses on the experiences of Christina’s grandfather, who was stationed at RAF Kaldadarnes from July 1940 to April 1941. Christina herself lived at Laugarvatn while she wrote the book, connecting with Icelandic experts and storytellers. A coming of age story set against the backdrop of Iceland, Wind, Gravel and Ice is told in the first person by Private Claude Hill, a new soldier in a strange land, understanding what it means to wait for war – and what happens when it finds you.
A Little Look at Christmas in Iceland
with Alda Sigmundsdóttir
Webinar REplay:
The Icelandic National League of North America webinar series Everything Icelandic is pleased to have Alda Sigmundsdóttir speak to us directly from Iceland on Wednesday, December 14, 2022.
Alda Sigmundsdóttir is the writer and publisher of the delightfully entertaining "Little Book" series, including The Little Book of the Icelanders at Christmas.
Alda Sigmundsdóttir will be in conversation with INLNA past president Stefan Jonasson, taking us on a journey through Iceland's magical Yuletide festivities, from Advent to New Year's Eve, sharing the history and cultural background to many of the traditions still celebrated today. And, of course, she has favourite traditional recipes, stories of the jólasveinar and much more to share.
Alda Sigmundsdóttir's Little book series is equally informative and entertaining. Many of us have enjoyed The Little Book of Hidden People or smiled in recognition when reading The Little Book of Tourists in Iceland. Alda has also brought her insight and compassion to non-fiction works like Unraveled: Living Inside the Meltdown and Daughter, A Memoir. You can check out Alda's books and publishing company at www.aldasigmunds.com
Ambassador Pétur Ásgeirsson
February 20, 2021
Ambassador Pétur Ásgeirsson was the first guest when the Icelandic National League of North America launched its new webinar series, All Things Icelandic, on Saturday, February 20, 2021.
The ambassador was in conversation with INLNA president Stefan Jonasson. They discussed the relationship between Canada and Iceland, what the two countries have in common and how they differ, how the Nordic embassies in Ottawa collaborate, and even explored the ambassador’s personal background and interests.
Saturday, February 20, 2021 – 1:00 p.m. Eastern / 12:00 p.m. Central / 11:00 a.m. Mountain / 10:00 a.m. Pacific
Ambassador Pétur Ásgeirsson has been Iceland’s representative to Canada since November 1, 2017, when he and his wife, Jóhanna Gunnarsdóttir, a lawyer by profession, arrived in Ottawa. The ambassador joined the Icelandic Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1999 and was previously Consul General in Nuuk, Greenland, which is Iceland’s nearest neighbour.