14.2.2010


Humorous Icelandic Tales






 

 

Humorous Tales

from the Daily Life in

the West Fjords of Iceland

in the 20th Century


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English Translation:

Haukur Ingason,

Certified Translator

Compiled by Hallgrimur Sveinsson

Published by

Vestfirska forlagiđ

Brekka Dyrafirdi 2009

Iceland

E-mail address: jons@snerpa.is

ISBN 978-9979-778-79-0

© All rights reserved

To the Readers

The humorous stories of the people of the West Fjords

of Iceland that are here committed to paper are part

of the heritage of the generations living in the West

Fjords in the 20th century. Some of the stories are

true, some are made up, and some can be said to be

somewhere between truth and fiction. They are

chosen from a vast array of folk tales and humorous

anecdotes that we have published over the years.

We hope that it will give you pleasure to read about

the unique people that make up the population of the

West Fjords, who are people that possess a healthy

sense of humour and no small amount of life

experience!

Enjoy.

Vestfirska forlagiđ

Hallgrimur Sveinsson

From Hell to Heaven

Mr. Sighvatur Bjorgvinsson, Member of Parliament

for the West Fjords, once drove to his constituency

from Reykjavik in his fine car accompanied by his

wife, Bjork Melax, to meet with the voters. Mr.

Bjorgvinsson came by the west road and stayed

for some time at Isafjordur, which was his chief

stronghold.

On his way back the Honourable Member took

the road south through Djup and Strandir which

led back to Reykjavik. The road through Djup

was in very bad condition, wet and slippery with

mud, full of holes and hardly fit for any vehicles

except bulldozers, tractors and armoured tanks.

When he and his wife arrived in Holmavik,

Sighvatur Bjorgvinsson

exhausted from rattling along the road through

Djup, they stopped for refreshments in the

canteen of the local co-operative and to put gas

on their car. Other travellers were eating in the

canteen and they scolded the Member of

Parliament excessively for the condition of the

road he had himself just travelled by.

Mr. Bjorgvinsson sat quietly for a while, and

then said:

"Let me tell you this. If Heaven was in

Isafjordur and Hell was situated here in Holmavik,

and people were given the opportunity to move

from the latter to the former, nobody would

subject themselves to travel the distance by that

road."