Suffering and Solace: Vulnerability and Resilience to Environmental Change in

Northern Iceland c. AD 1700-1900

• Astrid E.J. Ogilvie

• Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research,

University of Colorado, and the Stefansson Arctic

Institute

• ARCUS 15th Annual Meeting and Arctic Forum 2003

• Arlington, Virginia, USA

FOCUS and GOALS

Main focus is historical evidence of climatic and environmental impacts in northern Iceland – but will also refer to Iceland as a whole.

Main goals are to:

1. illustrate the suffering and difficulties caused by these impacts (vulnerability)

2. show the efforts to adapt and circumvent the difficulties (solace/resilience)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

•THE LATER ICELANDIC ANNALS

•SHERIFFS’ LETTERS•WEATHER DIARIES•EARLY INSTRUMENTAL OBSERVATIONS

OFFICIAL REPORTS BY LOCAL OBSERVERS

• Iceland had been a colony of the Danish crown since 1380, and, as such, was ruled over by the central authority in Copenhagen. However, from before that time Iceland had been divided into a number of districts (sysla, plural syslur). From the seventeenth through the nineteenth centuries, these districts were administered by syslumenn or “sheriffs” who were representatives of the king. In the 1680s a “Governor” or “Prefect” (Stiftamtmand) was appointed over Iceland.

• The Governor was required to give an annual report on the situation in Iceland to the Danish government, and the lesser officials in Iceland, the syslumenn or sheriffs in each district were similarly required to send in reports on their district to the Governor. The Sheriffs were generally Icelanders and there were usually twenty-two in office at any one time (one for each district of Iceland).

THE SHERIFFS’ LETTERS• The Sheriffs’ letters were written in the form of a letter or

report to the Governor. They contain information on, for example, legal, economic and social matters, issues with regard to trade, the state of the hay harvest, fishing, and also weather and climate. Occasionally, additional information is included in the form of an “Assembly Testimony” (Thingsvitni), taken at the local courts, and detailing, for example, how many people died during a severe season, and how many farms were deserted.

• These letters are reliable contemporary records and they form the major source in recent reconstructions of climate and climate impact in Iceland during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries (Ogilvie 1992, 2001, Ogilvie and Jónsdóttir, 2000, Ogilvie and Jónsson, 2001).

• The letters are unpublished and are written mainly in Danish, with some written in Icelandic, and are for the most part in Gothic handwriting. They are located in the National Archives in Reykjavik and cover the time period ca. 1700 to 1896. They are especially detailed from around 1780 onwards.

•HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

• Settlement in Iceland prior to the 20th century was almost completely rural. The large majority of farmers were tenants of the Danish King or the Church.

• The economy was based on animal husbandry with supplementary fishing.

• “As regards the general condition of this district the previous severe winter and spring has so greatly damaged the people’s livestock (from which they get the greater part of their sustenance)...Also, there is such a small quantity of grass that has grown this summer that there will not be sufficient to feed the remaining livestock in the coming winter and the people will not survive without great hardship.”

Bjarni Halldórsson, Thingeyrar, Húnavatnsyssla. 3 October 1737

FOOD SOURCES• Traditional food sources

in Iceland were the meat and dairy products derived from animal husbandry and fish from the sea. Fresh water fish were not caught on a large scale, but formed a dietary supplement. Wild plants such as Icelandic moss and angelica roots as well as seaweed (dulse) formed part of the normal diet until the 19th century.

• “In the morning they eat skyr (curdled skimmed milk), sometimes with berries...They also often eat Icelandic moss boiled with milk which is quite good...For the main meal they eat dried fish on which they spread sour butter. Occasionally they eat fresh fish with a very small quantity of bread and cheese if there is any” Uno Von Troil in 1772.

ENVIRONMENTAL and CLIMATIC IMPACTS

• Environmental and Climatic impacts could be direct and immediate, as when farms were deserted after being overrun by glaciers, or more commonly by glacial floods and debris, or by avalanches and landslides.

• Farm desertion after volcanic eruptions occurred most commonly because pasture lands and vegetation were spoiled by ash-falls or lava flows.Evidence suggests that the desertion of farms also occurred as a result of the indirect influence of climate.

• During severe seasons when food supplies became short, or ran out, people had no option but to leave their farms and go and beg for food elsewhere.

FURTHER CLIMATE IMPACTS

• Grass growth and Hay yield• Thermal effects • Sea Fishing• Physical Impacts• Livestock Mortality• The Desertion of Farms• Begging and Crime

THE DESERTION OF FARMS

• According to the census of 1703, the majority of farms were main farmsteads (5,915). There were also dependent farmsteads (1,181). These were attached to the main farms. A third category had no land attached to them and were lived in by those few people who lived almost entirely from fishing (342 in 1703).

• Farms were deserted because of:

• Epidemics

• Climatic or Environmental Impacts

• A combination of factors, including economic factors, e.g. adverse effects of the Danish trading monopoly

TYPES of FARMS DESERTED

• As might be expected, it was generally the poorer farms that were deserted first. But the stress of a run of severe weather could also help to bring about the desertion of the better farms. Those living on the poorest farms near the coasts without land had a certain advantage when fishing catches were good. But when they were poor, those people could also be forced to leave their homes.

LOCATION OF CLIMATE-RELATED FARM

DESERTIONS• Although farms were deserted at

different times in different districts, it was the outlying, more marginal areas, particularly in the north and east, which were most prone to farm desertion. However, during one or, more typically, a number of years of severe weather, such as the 1690s, 1750s, 1780s, early 1800s and 1880s, then farms could be deserted in a number of different districts.

BEGGING and CRIME

• Begging and crime were further manifestations of the social stress experienced during years of hardship when food sources failed. As with the desertion of farms, begging and crime occurred during single years, but also more commonly during groups of years. They also coincide with years, or periods, of severe climate.

• “...The misery described above is increased by the swarms of starving and itinerant beggars coming from the north and also from the ruined Skaftafell district in the east. These people coming here, together with their wives and children, have to be added to the 350 fatherless, motherless, infirm, free-roaming, unemployed people who have their place of residence here in the district. May the Lord show mercy on us and alleviate our suffering”

• Brynjólfur Sigurdsson. Árnessysla. 11 September, 1756.

POPULATION and POVERTY

• The poorest members of the population were landless labourers; people who owned virtually nothing of their own and who had little hope of acquiring anything. According to the census of 1703, every 7th person was a pauper. It was undoubtedly these people who were most likely to be reduced to begging and stealing when there was little food to go around. During good years, they could be accommodated on farms, but during years of dearth, they would be among the first who would be forced to leave.

• “Many people are so poor that they are unable to buy flour or fish, even when it is obtainable” Sheriff of Múlasysla, 1729.

• ““After the loss of livestock this winter, some people who had previously have been able to support themselves have now become beggars” Sheriff of Múlasysla, 1724.

• “Those who before had been well-to-do farmers were now virtually paupers” Sheriff of Rangárvallsysla, 1757.

SHERIFFS AND SUFFERING

• “This year I have to report that the country is in a poor condition; there was very little grass growth, and cattle and livestock died in many places during the previous severe winter (1746). Also, the fishing on the coast has been very poor so people could not get any nourishment from this source either. Thus it looks as though there will be a difficult and hard time in the country...Although I feel it is wrong of me to trouble Your Excellency with my difficult circumstances during the previous year, I lost my livestock...namely 120 sheep and 16 horses...Thus with such difficult times and with such heavy costs...I have been forced to sell both my own and my wife’s clothes to cover expenses, and to buy both sheep and horses, which one cannot be without in this country”

• Sheriff Sivert Vígfusson. Vatnshorn, Dalasysla. 16 September 1746

THE 1750SThe decade 1751to 1760 was one of the severest since the 1690s, with cold years occurring one after the other from 1751-57. During these latter years, almost all springs and winters were severe, something unusual in itself. Sea ice was present in 1751, 1756, 1757, 1759 and 1760.

• The coldest year this decade (and one of the coldest of the century) was 1756.

• The extreme difficulties of this period are likely to have been set off by the very cold seasons of the late 1740s.

• In the period 1752 to 1759, it has been estimated that 9,700 people died in Iceland either directly or indirectly from hunger.

• “Since 1753 there have been very severe seasons in this country, as is well-known, and because of them many unfortunate abuses have occurred, including theft, which has been widespread. The people have lost their livestock and means of subsistence. Because of this there have been a large number of beggars and homeless people wandering around the country. A number have died of hunger and some have taken up stealing either out of malice or desperation and, in such times and circumstances, it is not easy to tell one from the other”

• Bjarni Halldórsson, Húnavatnsyssla. 12 September 1760

THE 1780S

• The 1780s are overshadowed by the massive volcanic eruption which took place in the Lakagígar area in southeast Iceland in 1783-4. Not only did the ash from the eruption settle on pastures throughout Iceland, it was also carried over great distances, covering the Northern Hemisphere like a large veil. The effects of the eruption were compounded by severe weather. About one quarter of the population of Iceland died in the resulting “famine of the mist”.

• The eruption occurred at Whitsun (8 June). “After that the air was full of ash and smoke which has lasted up to the present time (26 August). On the rare occasions that we have had a glimpse of the sun it has looked like the reddest blood. The grass was singed and seemed to wither and stopped growing, so now there is a great lack of grass everywhere”

• The Sheriff of Rangárvallasyssla.26 August, 1783.

THE LAST FAMINE IN ICELAND: 1882

• Famines and dearths which were due in large measure to climate impacts occurred many times during the history of Iceland. The last such famine occurred in 1882. The severe winter of 1880-81, a precursor to the famine, is described in many sources of the time, and in all of the sheriffs’ letters for this year.

• The extremely severe weather which began in earnest in the middle of November (1880) lasted until the beginning of April (1881). It was the general opinion, that no one now living had experienced such long-lasting and severe frost. This was frequently measured between 12 and 30 degrees Reamur and was often around 20 degrees...There was frequent fog due to the sea ice, and the bay of Húnaflói was full of sea ice...The spring was cold and dry... and the grass growth was of the poorest quality...The summer was also cold and dry and there was often night frost.

• Lárus Blöndal, Húnavatn. 1 October 1881

SEA-ICE INFORMATION FROM SHERIFFS’

LETTERS FOR 1802 • Report from Governor of Iceland, Ólafur Stefánsson, Viðey, 22 July 1802• The Greenland ice is preventing all trade in the north as the entire northern coast is

hemmed in by ice and no ships can get through. Much of the western coast is also affected.

• Report from Sheriff Magnús Ketilsson, Búdárdalur, Dalasysla, 29 July 1802• The situation in neighbouring Strandasýsla is far worse than here. There the Greenland

drift ice is still lying off the coast.• Report from Governor of Iceland, Ólafur Stefánsson, Videy, 20 Aug. 1802• The Greenland ice is still keeping all northern harbours closed. According to the latest

report Vopnafjörður (in the east) is similarly affected. Thus, no trading ships can get to the northern harbours and, not, presumably, to Vopnafjördur either.

• Report from Governor of Iceland, Ólafur Stefánsson, Videy, 6 Sept. 1802• The Greenland ice left the northern coasts in the middle of last month (August). On the

first of this month (September) I also heard firm news that 7 merchant vessels have sailed into Eyjafjördur.

• Report from Sheriff Jón Jakobsson, Espihóll, Eyjafjardarsysla, 14 Oct. 1802• ...thus when the animals are dead; the people must consequently die also, here in the

north where there is no other food source apart from the animals, especially when all the northern coasts are spanned by the evil sea ice, as this year, when the ice first broke up on 23 August.

• Report from Sheriff Jón Jónsson, Bær, Strandasysla, 28 Dec. 1802• The ice spanned the whole of Strandasýsla’s coast from January to late August. • Report from Sheriff Magnús Ketilsson, Búdárdalur, Dalasysla, 3 Jan. 1803• The Greenland drift ice did not leave neighbouring Strandasysla before the end of

August. From long experience it is known that (the ice) has the same, or even colder influence on the weather here in Dalasysla.

INTERCONNECTIONS: SEA ICE, LAND TEMPERATURES, FISHERIES,

SUBSISTENCE

• Sea fishing has always been a very important part of the Icelandic economy. The correlation between sea temperature, ocean currents, and fish stocks has been observed in the 20thCentury.

• In the past, cod and shark fishing were of prime importance. The presence of sea ice off the coasts could hinder fishing. Sea mammals that were washed up on the shore could help keep supplement the diet.

• ...the winter was among the best, but the spring was very cold, especially after the sea ice, which lay here for some time, had embraced the coasts. In the similarly cold summer, the grass growth was thus very poor. The hay harvest, which began in mid August, was hindered by frost, fog and cold chills as well as much snow on occasion, especially around 18 August and again on 19 to 26 September. It was also difficult to harvest the hay in the constant and severe rain in late September and early October...In the spring the inhabitants caught several sharks, and in the autumn a considerable number of cod and halibut. However, on 19 October the fishing stopped due to encroaching drift ice. The two whales washed up in the jurisdictional areas of Broddanes and Bær by the sea ice in June, helped much in preventing hunger deaths in the dearth at that time.

• JÓN JÓNSSON. Bær, Hrútafirdi, Strandasysla.

RESILIENCE• In spite of the marginal nature of the

Icelandic economy and the severe hardships experienced there were buffers in place which helped to alleviate hard times.

• Recourse to sea fishing was the main buffer.• Also making use of “famine foods” and

marine mammals• From the 18th Century onwards attempts

were made to improve agricultural conditions• Although far from perfect, there was a

system in place to attempt to care for those who were destitute or infirm

• Populations recovered relatively quickly after a crisis

SOLACE• “The rain had cleared at last, but the drought was

truly a mixed blessing. A raging land wind tore the dry-meadow hay from their hands and sent it flying anywhere and everywhere...Three days they spent on the banks gathering it together and heaping it into ricks...The hay must be trussed and carried home immediately before the weather broke again. This was no time to think of messing about indoors, cooking food and pampering one’s belly. There was no time to think about sleeping even. Now was the time to put their backs into it and outwit the elements, for this was Bjartur of Summerhouses’ war of independence” Independent People, Halldor Laxness.

CONCLUSIONS

• A number of social and economic factors contributed to the desertion of farms but this phenomenon was invariably accompanied by years of severe weather, particularly when a number of severe years occurred one after the other as in the 1750s. Some farms, particularly in outlying districts in the north, northwest and northeast, lay empty for years. Others were abandoned permanently.

• Adaptive strategies included the sharing of resources among the population and turning to fishing.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

• Trausti Jónsson, Icelandic Meteorological Office

• National Science Foundation• The Icelandic Research

Foundation (RANNÍS)