The Icelandic Sheep Dog
Discover the Icelandic Sheepdog's history and resurgence as Iceland's national dog. Join us in 2024 for the opening of our exhibition dedicated to this unique breed. Help spread the word about this remarkable breed and participate in strengthening its presence on the international stage.
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Bósi
Bósi Growl, my Bósi, never bite — better heed this warning! Or someone — turning snappish — might smash your jaw some morning. And never join the gibing pack of "gentlefolk" that flatters until a man has turned his back — then tears his name to tatters. [Jónas Hallgrímsson (1844-5)](https://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/Jonas/Bosi/Bosi.html) The French explorer Paul Gaimard visited Iceland in 1835 and 1836. During the second summer, he led a scientific expedition on behalf of the French government. His scientific work, _Voyage en Islande et au Groënland_, was published in nine volumes after his return. Gaimard became so famous in Iceland that [Jónas Hallgrímsson (an Icelandic poet, author, and naturalist) wrote a poem about him.](https://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/Jonas/Herra/Herra.html) The book _Voyage en Islande et au Groënland_ (1840–1842) contains numerous drawings, reports, and studies on the nature, wildlife, and culture of Iceland. The image above is from this book. The following description accompanies it: This is a rare print titled _"Mammifères Plate 7 - Chien Islandais (Canis familiaris Islandicus)"_, depicting the Icelandic sheepdog. It is a copperplate engraving with contemporary hand coloring on vellum paper. The engraving was made by the artist Massard, after a drawing by Werner. Such prints are not only significant as works of art but also serve as scientific documents from the 19th century. They were often created to provide detailed descriptions of animal species, with a focus on their natural characteristics, and in this case, the Icelandic sheepdog is depicted. According to the inscription on the print, this is number 1 of 5 prints, and I am pleased to announce that I recently acquired this very print for the exhibition.
Njord
I was searching for information about this picture, which is also in Watson's book and marked as Njord, but no further explanation is provided. It was once again [Jørgen Metzdorff](https://naskur.dk/) who was able to help me, as he knew that this picture was printed in the Danish magazine _Vor Hunde_. Most likely, Njord was one of the Icelandic Sheepdogs that lived in the Copenhagen Zoo. The drawing of Njord closely resembles the dog in the photograph of the dogs in [_Københavns Zoologiske Have_](https://drive.proton.me/urls/MHDE8XE8QR#DiBpN4PYfz5e). That photo was taken in 1898/99 and shows some of the last dogs that lived in the zoo. They had a dream to breed and showcase different national dog breeds – Icelandic Sheepdogs, Greenland Dogs, and the Great Dane. The picture hung for a long time in the zoo director’s office. Jørgen tried to find more information in the zoo’s archives but was unfortunately not lucky in uncovering anything further. Thus, the mystery of Njord will remain unsolved.
Who was Pillar?
In my search for old pictures and drawings, I came across a picture of "Pillar," which appears in the book _Dogs of all Nations_ by Mason, which I mentioned in the blog post [_Les Races de Chiens_ (1897)](https://www.fjarhundur.is/en/blog/les-racen-de-chiens-1897) a few days ago. However, my Danish research colleague, [Jørgen Metzdorff](https://naskur.dk/), provided me with more information about this picture, and I would like to share this information here. He mentions that the picture of Pillar was originally published in an article in [_Vore Hunde_](https://drive.proton.me/urls/H706PG7DKR#ihCMe0IeZOJF) in April 1900. Pillar was a so-called war dog that was supposed to play an important role. Jørgen states that a number of Icelandic Sheepdogs were brought from Iceland to Denmark around 1890 to fulfill communication roles. The dogs were part of a military experiment in which Icelandic Sheepdogs were used to carry messages between advancing units, so-called war dogs. The experiment was initiated by Captain Christensen, and the Icelandic Sheepdog was selected because of its versatility, independence, and intelligence. However, the use of the Icelandic Sheepdog as war dogs remained an experiment only, as message delivery was soon taken over by other inventions. Pillar lived with Sergeant Lindholm in Aalborg and was awarded an honorary prize at the Danish Kennel Club Show in 1897, as well as first prizes in 1898 and 1899. As far as we know, Pillar was used for breeding twice. The book [_The Iceland Dog_](https://drive.proton.me/urls/MSZXKPRSBW#NJ3Xh5blzdvJ) by Mark Watson contains pictures from Danish Kennel Club show catalogues. Two of the pictures are from the July 1900 show, where three of Pillar's offspring (born in 1899 after Svartur) participated. The other two pictures are from a 1901 dog show in Copenhagen, showing two other offspring of Pillar (born in 1900 after Sampa, owned by Sergeant Andersen). All of the offspring were owned by Sergeant Lindholm. Some of these dogs were for sale for 50-100 DKK, which in today’s value equals 3,600-7,200 DKK. **A small side note:** An average Danish worker earned 0.39 DKK per hour according to data from 1907. If this amount is adjusted for 2024, it would equal 33 DKK per hour. In 1900, it took about 250 work hours to pay for a dog. The average salary in Denmark in 2024 is 240 DKK per hour – so, using the same assumptions, a dog would cost around 60,000 DKK or 1.2 million ISK. Dogs were relatively expensive at that time compared to today. Thus, Pillar gained fame in Denmark during these years, and a picture of her was later used in Mason’s book.
CONTACT
Lýtingsstaðir, 561 Varmahlíð.
Phone: +354 893 3817
[email protected]
CONTACT->
Lýtingsstaðir, 561 Varmahlíð.
Phone: +354 893 3817
[email protected]
