Iceland : Land of the Vikings (1940s?)

among the most unique of the more remote kingdoms of the earth is that little island on the fringe of the Arctic Circle known as Iceland its first colonists were wise and highborn chieftains or Viking who brought from their mother country Norway an already advanced civilization over a thousand years ago the entire population of Iceland today hardly exceeds 100,000 people more than a fifth of whom live in Reykjavik the capital and largest city although it may be dull and drab and at that mysteric an architectural character Reykjavik is praise worthy monument to the courage and endurance of a people who for 11 centuries have battled unflinchingly with nature's most devastating plagues earthquakes an icy blast and although practically isolated from all other nations have managed to develop a maintain of civilization that has seldom been excel in this very land of brief summers of long winters where green grass flowers trees and even sunshine are the rarest of luxuries the descendants of the Vikings have built their homes and reared their children sterically teaching them to carry on the great fight with nature which is the unfortunate heritage of every child born in this grim land of the Vikings most of the women still appear in the old Icelandic costume and it down from mother to daughter [Music] they speak a language which has changed very little since the 9th century and their greatest boast is that there is no illiteracy in Iceland they are exhaustive readers on all subjects their collection of books on check alone being one of the largest in the world it is only natural that a game like this would be popular in a country with long cold winter months where man in the absence of nature's benevolence must create his own diversions verily Nature has not been kind to Iceland with its vast and desolate volcanic Plains upon which the Sun who seldom shines and little or nothing may be cultivated as a matter of fact only 7% of Iceland's soil is capable of cultivation and most of this is devoted to the drawing of hay for the little Icelandic ponies until the advent of automobiles these ponies were the only means of transportation and consequently their tiny tracks have been perpetuated in every nook and cranny of the land having directly descended from the ponies that were brought to Iceland by the Vikings they may share with their owners the distinction of an unbroken lineage dating back to the 9th century this old custom of tying the bridle of one to the tail of the other probably originated from the absence of trees to which they might ordinarily be tethered at the present time it is estimated that there are about 50,000 ponies in Iceland the natural hot water which is constantly flowing from thousands of boiling springs is the one redeeming feature that nature has bestowed upon this cold and barren country and it is solving many problems while the people not the least of which is the municipal laundry this boiling water has also been piped into homes for heating washing and cooking purposes and experiments are now being made in piping it through the soil in greenhouses in order that fruit and vegetables might be grown there by solving one of Iceland's greatest problems the ceaseless activity of these hot springs as well as frequent volcanic eruptions our grim reminders that hit for if it were not for fish there would be no logical reason for human life in this weird country the waters directly surrounding the coast of Iceland the found and marine growth that attracts fish and overwhelming numbers and consequently the destiny of every Iceland from childhood to old age is inter Walden with the fishing industry although many species of fish are caught the bulk of the catch is usually cod fish [Music] after a very thorough cleaning and salting process the fish are stacked in piles and covered with canvas until they are thoroughly dry thousands of tons of salted fish are shipped annually to the countries of southern Europe of which Spain is the chief customer until recently Iceland had a very strict prohibition law which was enforced without difficulty until Spain threatened to withdraw its orders for fish if Iceland did not renew its orders for Spanish wine and as a result the law of prohibition succumb to the law of reciprocity the Icelanders by nature however are not an alcoholic people although their environment may be stark and colorless they accept it as a natural condition which does not seem to affect their peace or contentment [Music] they're hymn of prosperity is the monotonous flip-flap of codfish tales intermingle with the continuous swish of rock salt and out of this drab industry Iceland has evolved a standard of living that provides reasonable wages employment for everybody and a system of law and order which requires neither a police force nor a jail the national sport called Lima as a form of wrestling that originated in Iceland over a thousand years ago and is practiced today with much for Melanie although Reisman is still under the Dominion of in play and it aspires to be an independent republic again even as it was in the 11th century when the Vikings assembled on their fields of sports - what does their gleaming exactly as we see up here you touch the ground with any part of the body except the feet or the hands constitutes a fall when both contestants fall together it is considered a draw [Music] for some strange reason the Icelanders kept this phase of their physical development a secret from the outside world until 1800 and 74 and although it has never been divulged to foreigners it still complains itself exclusively to Iceland thereby making its champions the champions of the world somehow these fine physical specimens of manhood are reminiscent of the ancient Viking who cited the shores of America long before Christopher Columbus was born and handed down to their descendants the capacity for Franklin endurance that baffles nature herself and it is with this fall that we say farewell to Iceland the land of the Viking [Music]