“Sagnaskemmtun: Connecting Indigenous and Icelandic Voices” is the theme of a symposium to be held at the University of Manitoba on Thursday, October 16, 2025, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in the Iceland Reading Room of the Elizabeth Dafoe Library. The event, hosted jointly by Icelandic Studies and Indigenous Studies, will feature nine speakers on a variety of topics to celebrate 150 years of Icelandic settlement in Manitoba. Lunch and refreshments will be provided at the event, which is open to the public...

The Sturlunga Age, the period from 1200 to 1264, is like a stage which is crowded with so many characters and so many episodes that it is difficult to discern the plot. Not infrequently the episodes and incidents are such in their inhumanity as to outrage the decent and more moderate of the actors. But they, themselves, are a part of the play and are compelled to carry on. The action of this drama continues in ever-mounting fury until the end of the last act, when that freedom which the Vikings had sought and finally found in Iceland, lay in fetters...

Háskóli Íslands Most Icelanders are familiar with the need to be cautious around the dwellings of elves and hidden people in rocks and hills. Most of us have heard ghost stories that make our hair stand on end or tales of troll women who turned to stone under the rays of the sun. There are also countless stories about prophetic dreams, name-callings, and clairvoyance among Icelanders. Folk belief has long held a significant place in our culture. Whether people see it as an unnecessary remnant from old times or believe it contains a grain of truth, one could argue that it embodies cultural values that have shaped the nation’s self-image over the centuries...