Don´t Look for Fun in Iceland!

Getur verið að "ástandið" hafi að miklu leyti verið hugarástand eða órar í íslenskum karlpeningi, og að allar sögur af vinsældum íslenskra kvenna á meðal breskra dáta og Kana hafi verið orðum auknar?

Nei, ekki held ég að málið hafi verið svo einfalt, en lítum á málið í einni samtímaheimild: Í blaðagrein, sem birtist í blaði í Bandaríkjunum, sem kallað var Denton Record-Chronicle og kom út í Denton í Texas-ríki, er grein eftir útsendara Associate Press, Tom nokkur Horgan, sem sendur var til Íslands sumarið 1942. Hann greindi frá bæklingi sem erlendir hermenn gátu keypt sér í "Reckiavick". Ekki þekki ég þetta rit, en hef áður skrifað um aðvörunarrit sem einhver ræfill í Reykjavík gaf út (sjá hér). Kannski hefur höfundur Meira um Setuliðið og Kvenfólkið gefið út eitthvað á ensku.

Don´t Look for Fun in Iceland Book Advices

(Note: Tom Horgan, Associate Press staff writer, has been on a voyage with vessels of the United States neutrality patrol and has visited the new defence bases in Iceland. Here is a story of what he found there, certain details being omitted at the request of the U.S. Navy.)

By TOM HORGAN

REYKJAVIK, Island. Aug. 12- (AP) (delayed) -- American forces assigned to this amazing land of Ice and fire may purchase for $2.50 a paper-covered illustrated guide book which contains no truer or more significant advice than the following:

"It must be stated that those who seek a live of boisterous gaiety and attach importance to bodily comforts, have at present little reason to come to Iceland."

The cost of the book, which would bring about 50 cents in the United States should prepare the purchaser for almost any future transaction.

   Of boisterous gaiety, there is none. The capital´s leading hostelry, Hotel Borg, holds the only liquor license, and spirits are sold only to patrons who purchase a full meal, and then in strictly limited quantities between the hours of noon and 2:30 p.m. , and in the evening between 7 and 11 O´clock.

   Domestically brewed beer is sold freely, but even residents claim for it only one per cent alcoholic content, and it has much the same flavor, aroma and potency as the Icelandic fogs which come rolling in from the sea without notice.

Dance Music

    The closest approach to merriment may be found at the Borg in the evening, when a three piece orchestra furnishes dance music, thus disclosing a distinctive Icelandic custom. Groups of unescorted young women arrive shortly after the dinner hour. The girls come to the hotel frankly eager to dance with the American and British officers, but they firmly decline to sit at the same table with their dancing partners or to accept refreshments.

     Conversation while dancing usually is confined, in excellent English, to :"I am very sorry, but I do not understand English."

     The Borg and one other hotel have been declared by military authorities out-of-bounds for enlisted men, but they probably would not be disposed to pay hotel prices anyhow - $1 for a double Scotch about the size of a single portion at home. The law limits each patron to three double Scotches.

     In more than a week the correspondent did not see a single man, American or British, with a girl companion. Common gossip has it that as punishment for associating with British soldiers, the flaxen tresses of several Icelandic maidens were shorn close by indignant countrymen.

     Residents of rural sections, according to Americans who have been stationed here some time, are much more cordial than city dwellers and soon there should be a new version of the marine and the farmer´s daughter - Hinkey, Dinkey, Parley Voo. (Sjá hér).

Mikil ósköp. Ætli sé til einhver sannleikur í þessu? Voru borgarpíurnar svona heiðvirðar og prúðar? Glöggt er vitaskuld ávallt gests augað. Kannski var "ástandið" bara hugarástand íslenskra karla? En kannast einhver við að konur hafi verið rúnar lokkum fyrir að hafa dansað inn í nóttina með dáta? Norðmenn gerðu það reyndar við norska konu sem hafði legið með þýskum hermanni árið 1941.

Nei, er ekki líklegast að þessi blaðamaður, eins og svo margir aðrir fyrr og síðar, hafi látið frjótt ímyndunaraflið hlaupa með sig í gönur. Blaðamenn eru alltaf í einhverju ástandi, misjafnlega annarlegu. Eða er verið að gera meira úr ástandinu en ástæða er til.

„Hermenn voru svo kurteisir og hjálpsamir. Íslenskir karlar gösluðust áfram og tóku ekkert tillit til kvenna, sýndu þeim bara ókurteisi.... “
           Herdís Helgadóttir, 2001. Úr fjötrum. Íslenskar konur og erlendur her, bls. 182.