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05/09/2011

Tha na h-Eileanan Westmann ann an Innis T矛le beag ach garbh. Seo Litir Bheag 330. The Westmann Islands in Iceland are small. This is Litir Bheag 330.

Tha na h-Eileanan Westmann ann an Innis T矛le beag ach garbh. 脌 t矛r-m貌r, chuir sealladh nan eilean Hiort nam chuimhne. 'S e bholc脿nothan fon mhuir a rinn iad. Bha sin aona mh矛le dheug bliadhna air ais. Cluinnear tuilleadh bho Ruairidh ann an litir bheag na seachdain-sa.

The Westmann Islands in Iceland are small. Learn more with Ruairidh in Litir Bheag 330..

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Mon 5 Sep 2011 19:00

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An Litir Bheag 330

Tha na h-Eileanan Westmann ann an Innis T矛le beag ach garbh. 脌 t矛r-m貌r, chuir sealladh nan eilean Hiort nam chuimhne. 鈥橲 e bholc脿nothan fon mhuir a rinn iad. Bha sin aona mh矛le dheug bliadhna air ais.

Nochd eilean 霉r 鈥 Surtsey 鈥揳nn an naoi ceud deug, seasgad 鈥檚 a tr矛 (1963). Agus deich bliadhna an d猫idh sin, th貌isich spreadhadh 霉r. Bha sin air an eilean far a bheil an sluagh a鈥 fuireach 鈥 Heimaey. Th脿inig l脿bha agus luaithre a-mach. B鈥 fheudar do na daoine falbh gu t矛r-m貌r.

Airson c貌ig m矛osan ghluais trithead millean tonna de l脿bha thairis air taobh an ear an eilein. Dh鈥櫭╥rich cnoc m貌r 霉r. Chaidh c貌rr is tr矛 cheud taigh a sgrios. Bha an l脿bha a鈥 gluasad a dh鈥檌onnsaigh an aon chala anns an eilean. Bha sin cunnartach. Gun chala, cha b鈥 urrainn do na daoine fuireach anns an eilean.

Chaidh feadhainn air ais don eilean le pumpaichean m貌ra. Chuir iad milleanan de ghalanan de sh脿l air an l脿bha. Stad an l脿bha mus do r脿inig e an cala.

Air an t-slighe don phort air a鈥 bh脿t鈥-aiseig, chaidh mi seachad air eilean beag air a bheil Bjarnarey. 鈥橲 e sin an aon ainm a th鈥 againn ann an Alba. Tha barrachd air aon 鈥淏e脿rnaraigh鈥 againne.

Agus dh鈥檌onnsaich mi rud inntinneach mun ainm Westmann. Tha westmann a鈥 ciallachadh 鈥渄uine bhon taobh an iar鈥. 鈥橲 e sin an t-ainm a bha aig na Lochlannaich air daoine 脿 Breatainn is 脠irinn.

Seo mar a fhuair na h-Eileanan Westmann an t-ainm aca. B鈥 e Ing贸lfur Arnarson a鈥 chiad Lochlannach a rinn a dhachaigh ann an Innis T矛le. Thog e taigh far a bheil Reykjavik an-diugh. C貌mhla ris, bha dl霉th-charaid aige, Hj枚rleifur Hr贸冒marsson. Bha tr脿illean aca. Tha d霉il gur e G脿idheil a bha annta 鈥 脿 脠irinn no 鈥檚 d貌cha 脿 Alba. Rinn Hj枚rleifur droch dh矛ol air na tr脿illean. Mhuirt na tr脿illean e. B鈥 fheudar dhaibh teicheadh. Dh鈥檉halbh iad do na h-eileanan far costa deas na d霉thcha.

Ach chaidh Ing贸lfur an t貌ir orra. Bha e ag iarraidh d矛oghaltas. Lorg e na tr脿illean anns na h-eileanan. Mharbh e iad uile. Bhon uair sin, 鈥檚 e na h-Eileanan Westmann a tha air a bhith orra mar ainm.

The Little Letter 330

The Westmann Islands in Iceland are small but rugged. From the mainland, the view of the islands reminded me of St Kilda. It鈥檚 submarine volcanoes that made them. That was eleven thousand years ago.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 A new island 鈥 Surtsey 鈥 appeared in 1963. And ten years after that, another eruption began. That was on the island where the people live 鈥 Heimaey. Lava and ash came out. The people had to leave for the mainland.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 For five months thirty million tons of lave moved over the eastern side of the island. A large new hill arose. More than three hundred houses were destroyed. The lava was moving towards the only harbour on the island. That was dangerous. Without a harbour, the people couldn鈥檛 live on the island.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Some people went back with big pumps. They put millions of gallons of seawater on the lava. The lava stopped before it reached the harbour.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 En route to the port on the ferry, I went past a small island called Bjarnarey. That鈥檚 the same name we have in Scotland. We have more than one 鈥淏ernera(y)鈥.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 And I learned an interesting thing about the name Westmann. Westmann means 鈥渁 man from the west鈥. That鈥檚 the name the Vikings had for people from Britain and Ireland.

聽聽聽聽聽聽 聽Here鈥檚 how the Westmann Islands got their name. Ing贸lfur Arnarson was the first Norseman to make his home in Iceland. He built a house where Reykjavik is today. Along with him, he had a close friend, Hj枚rleifur Hr贸冒marsson. They had slaves. It is thought they were Gaels 鈥 from Ireland or perhaps from Scotland.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Hj枚rleifur abused the slaves badly. The slaves murdered him. They had to flee. They left for the islands off the south coast of the country.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 But Ing贸lfur went in pursuit of them. He was wanting revenge. He found the slaves on the islands. He killed them all. Since then they have been called the Westmann Islands.

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