Obituary Of An Extraordinary Relative

Log in

SmokingPipes.com Updates

New Cigars




PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

PipesMagazine Approved Sponsor

Status
Not open for further replies.

workman

Lifer
Jan 5, 2018
2,793
4,219
The Faroe Islands
Hans Skalagard (Hanus í Skálagarđi) was a cousin of my paternal grandmother. He was born and grew up on a small island in the Faroe Islands, then inhabited by 150 souls or so. My father grew up there as well, but only after Hans left.
He left to be a sailor. Sailors, especially those who sailed the high seas with merchant ships, were the equivalent to cowboys here. Songs were sung about them. The stuff of legends. About girls in Havana, gunfights in Brazil, drunken brawls in Newfoundland, icebergs, tropical storms and what not.
Of course, sailing wasn't as romantic as the songs made it seem
Ships were sunk from under him three times during WW2. Here it is told that on at least one occasion he was the sole survivor.
After becoming a U.S. citizen, he earned some fame as a painter. Supposedly some of his paintings can be found in the U.S. Congress.
Travelling home to see relatives in the 60's he was quite the attraction in white suit, fedora, calfskin gloves and pretty blonde under his arm. He'd made well of himself and befriended some of the Hollywood jetset.
Visiting a men's club in one of the bigger villages, guys asked him about his famous acquaintances. He named some, and the guys wanted to hear more about Marylin Monroe. "When you get her by yourself in the dark, she's no different than any other small town gal!"
Maybe he was bragging.
He and Clint Eastwood seem to have been good friends.
 

olkofri

Lifer
Sep 9, 2017
8,033
14,644
The Arm of Orion

workman

Lifer
Jan 5, 2018
2,793
4,219
The Faroe Islands
Amazing paintings! Remind me a lot of the naval art of Geoff Hunt.

@workman: What does Skalagard mean? Surname reminds me of one feisty Egil Skalagrimson. Not a distant relative by any chance? ? ?
I'd love to be related to Egil Skallagrimsson. He was viking Terminator.
There is a spelling difference. Skallagrímsson
Skalagarđ
The first has two l's. Skalli means head or skull. Grímur was bald and ugly and wss nicknamed Skallagrímur. His son was thus called Egil Skallagrímsson.
Skálagarđur is a whole other thing. Skáli is a hall and garđur is a farm. Skálagarđur is a certain farm in the island of Skúvoy and its name implies that it had a noticeable hall at some point in history.
The names of some houses go back to before written records were made. The houses themselves didn't last more than a generation or two, but the names stuck.
Hans Skalagard is an anglification of Hanus í Skálagarđi.
 

olkofri

Lifer
Sep 9, 2017
8,033
14,644
The Arm of Orion
I'd love to be related to Egil Skallagrimsson. He was viking Terminator.
There is a spelling difference. Skallagrímsson
Skalagarđ
The first has two l's. Skalli means head or skull. Grímur was bald and ugly and wss nicknamed Skallagrímur. His son was thus called Egil Skallagrímsson.
Skálagarđur is a whole other thing. Skáli is a hall and garđur is a farm. Skálagarđur is a certain farm in the island of Skúvoy and its name implies that it had a noticeable hall at some point in history.
The names of some houses go back to before written records were made. The houses themselves didn't last more than a generation or two, but the names stuck.
Hans Skalagard is an anglification of Hanus í Skálagarđi.
Gotcha. Thanks.

Makes sense, because there's this one place called Skálholt.
 
  • Like
Reactions: workman

canucklehead

Lifer
Aug 1, 2018
2,863
15,323
Alberta
It's actually a church. One saga said it would become the holiest place in Iceland.
I was just saying that because light and lager have the same/similar meaning, as do hall and holt/hold in their medieval meanings.

I really like the medieval Norse wooden churches, they look pretty awesome with the black aged wood.
 
  • Like
Reactions: olkofri
Status
Not open for further replies.