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Secret Life of Canada

Crash Course: Icelandic Canada's long history

How did Manitoba become home to the world's largest Icelandic population outside of Iceland, and what does this have to do with Lord of the Rings?

Manitoba is home to the world’s largest Icelandic population outside of Iceland

CBC Podcasts ·
A statue of a 15 foot viking wearing a helmet and holding a staff towers over a small round park space against a blue sky. There are rocks and bushes surrounding him.
A 4.6 metre (15 feet) fibreglass statue of a viking in Gimli. The statue was unveiled in 1967 by then-President of Iceland Asgeir Asgeirsson. (Jeff Stapleton/CBC)

Gimli is more than a dwarf in J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy series Lord of the Rings, in fact the community in Manitoba is home to the world's largest Icelandic population outside of Iceland. So how did Canada become home to all these Icelanders, why did they end up living on a reserve and what exactly happens during Islendingadagurinn? 

Here is a link to previous episode mentioned in this episode:

  • The Mounties Always Get their Land, Part 1: https://link.chtbl.com/rY2oV_CK

Listen to more episodes here, and get transcripts of our series here.

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