RobBurn encouraged:
>
> In a message dated 7/11/2000 7:15:23 PM, lexjenkins@xxxxxxxxxxx writes:
>
> << Hey, Rob, didn't you know the names were deliberate choices? The
> residents
> of "Iceland" originally named their homeland Bjorkhutinhollarljaend (Land
of
> Sirens With Strange Hair and Quavering Vocal Cords Calling Sailors to
Their
> Tragic Deaths Upon the Rocks). Fearing this name would not only fail to
> repel the Vikings, but might actually attract them knowing the Norse
> penchant for offbeat music, they decided to rename the island something
> rather unattractive. And, as an inside joke, they also renamed the
> neighboring clot of ice, known as Fruzengladjuvchessploeyers, something
more
> appealing as a distraction. Hence Greenland.
>
> Alas, due to an oversight in committee, they failed to mount an effective
> marketing campaign overseas and to change the names on the buoys. So the
> Norsemen sailed straight for "Iceland", stuck a flag in the first
> Bjorkhutinhollarljaender to greet them, quaffed many ales, did some
> pillaging and promptly had all their gods and goddesses adopted by the
> Greeks and moved to Mount Olympus. (Obligatory OM content requirement
met.)
>
> Lex "Fables To Go" Jenkins >>
>
> Lex:
>
> They should have turned to you for those articles in Encyclopedia
Britannica.
> Whoever wrote those articles didn't know any of this stuff. ;-) Now we
> know -- "the rest of the story." I didn't know about the Aesir adoption
> either. Moved to Mt Olympus, did they?
>
> Robert (humbled by the awesome "depth" of your Icelandic folklore)
>
It was only recently that historians discovered that the Vikings that
traveled east were called "Rus" by the locals. As to Iceland, I read
recently that the island used to be covered by forests, but the combination
of domestic animals the Vikings brought with them to farm effectively
eradicated the forest lands.
Gregg
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