History of Skjöldungar

The summer of 1955 was the wettest summer of the last century, raining without a break from beginning to end. In the old sagas such events are often tied to great and memorable happenings, and there is no doubt that momentous things had taken place that spring. On 30 March a number of young scouts came together who wanted to make their mark and work side by side in a new scout patrol. They brought in new members and persuaded older scouts to take on the role of patrol leader. They obtained the approval of the board of the Reykjavík Scout Group (SFR), and the patrol was given the name Skjöldungasveit. The first patrol leader was Hafsteinn Eyjólfsson, and among the leading founders were Jón Hákon Magnússon, Tómas Hjaltason, Úlfar Guðmundsson, Eysteinn Sigurðsson, Jónas Gústafsson, Halldór Ármannsson, Sveinn Björnsson and Jón Stefánsson, to name only a few. A year later it was decided that the patrols of the Reykjavík Scout Group would become divisions made up of one or more scout patrols. That arrangement took effect in 1957, and the first division leader of Skjöldungar was Gísli Kristjánsson. There was a single patrol in Skjöldungar until the autumn of 1959, when Minkasveit was founded. The old Skjöldungasveit was known simply as First Patrol, and in 1959 the scout troop Fóstbræður was founded within it — and if you look closely, the Fóstbræður troop song says:

We Fóstbræður of the first patrol,
we are the best of troops.

And often we go out to the country
and are guests of the earth.

There we pitch our tents in a green hollow
and sleep in the lap of nature.

We play and we sing
and we swallow our tests whole.

That is what we do, we Fóstbræður
of the first patrol.

It was not until the autumn of 1961, however, that Fóstbræður joined Minkasveit. The Skjöldungar division was fairly small and had to pull its weight in most undertakings, for the youngest division of SFR had no intention of being left behind in scouting. As early as the autumn of 1957 Skjöldungar began publishing a handsome division paper, and there a number of fine journalists and scholars stepped into print for the first time. The division’s first ten years proved well that Skjöldungar were at the forefront of scouting work, even though for a time the division did not have many members.

From the founding of the division until 1964 the division leaders were Hallgrímur Sveinsson, Óli Kristinsson and Hákon J. Hafliðason. Deliberate work was done to raise the quality of the scouting programme, helped considerably by Nína Hjaltadóttir’s preparation of the cub scouts and by the backing the group had in Björgvin Magnússon DCC, headmaster of the Scout School at Úlfljótsvatn. Leaders from Skjöldungar were diligent in attending courses. It is worth mentioning that division leader Óli Kristinsson attended the first Gilwell course in 1959 and was among the first to complete the Gilwell qualification. The principal leaders of Skjöldungar attended the leadership courses of SFR and BÍS (preparatory courses for the Gilwell course) in the summer and autumn of 1961.

A degree of generational change took place in the Skjöldungar division around 1960. As happens, various pioneers left the work and new people took over. It may be said that the scouts of Minkasveit as it was made up in 1962-1965 formed the core of the Skjöldungar leadership until around 1975, and many of them still hold important leadership roles.

In 1962 a grand National Jamboree was held at Þingvellir to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the scout movement in Iceland. Every preparation was made with care, and Skjöldungar took charge of the historical exhibition “50 Scout Years” at the jamboree. Fóstbræður of Minkasveit won the jamboree’s troop competition, and that was the beginning of a run in which troops from Skjöldungar were highly successful in national troop competitions and at national jamborees until around 1970. Things were somewhat quiet in 1963, as fatigue set in after the great labour of preparing for the 1962 jamboree. That winter nevertheless laid the foundation for building up the division in the years to come. It was decided to mark Minkasveit’s fifth anniversary by calling a Minkamót at Borgarvík, and plans were made to expand the patrol in the wake of the event. The Minkamót went extremely well, and there was great enthusiasm among the aspiring leaders in the autumn of 1964. The cub patrol Farúlfar was founded then, cub scouting having been rather unstructured until that point. Matthías G. Pétursson succeeded admirably in getting the cub patrol on its feet, and he led the cub scouting of Skjöldungar continuously for 8 years. He has been the principal leader of the younger scouts in Skjöldungar ever since. In the spring of 1965 Bjórasveit was founded, and within a few months the membership of Skjöldungar had tripled.

Until 1 December 1966 the Skjöldungar division operated out of the Scout House on Snorrabraut, but on that Independence Day in 1966 it moved into newly fitted-out premises in the scout house on Dalbraut. There the work grew considerably, and before long there were 6 scout troops in each patrol; in 1966 the drótt-scout patrol Sagittarius was founded. Kristinn M. Kristinsson took over as division leader from Hákon J. Hafliðason in 1965 and held the post until 22 February 1966, when Ólafur Ásgeirsson took over, having been patrol leader of Minkasveit since the autumn of 1963. Grímur Valdimarsson became division leader in the autumn of 1968. That was a winter of revolution, and he took for himself the title of sun-division-leader; that summer the sunniest scout camp yet was held, MINKAMÓT 1968 at Borgarvík. The camp had a Native American theme and surpassed other camps in most respects…

In these years many of the Skjöldungar leaders were active instructors on courses; the editor and editorial board of Skátablaðið came from Skjöldungar, and Skjöldungar were capable contributors in other fields as well. In 1969 it was decided to dissolve the scout groups in Reykjavík — the Reykjavík Girl Scout Group and the Reykjavík Scout Group — and to merge boys and girls into neighbourhood groups. Accordingly, Skjöldungar became a division within the Dalbúar Scout Group on 29 March 1969. For various reasons it was then decided, in the summer of 1969, to found the Skjöldungar Scout Group in the Vogar neighbourhood and to begin a difficult struggle for the new group’s existence. A struggle by the few against difficult tasks had long been the lot of the Skjöldungar division, and so there was no faltering among those behind the new group; Björgvin Magnússon joined the group and became its group leader. Two new scout patrols were soon founded, Sporrakkar and Melrakkar, which were fully staffed from the outset. The cub patrol Farúlfar became a cub division with four patrols, and the drótt-scout patrol Sagittarius likewise grew large and took on wide-ranging projects. At this time the division leaders were Kristófer M. Kristinsson and Grímur Valdimarsson, and the patrol leaders were Eiríkur Guðmundsson, Magnús S. Magnússon, Helgi Eiríksson, Jón Þór Jóhannsson, Hallvarður Snorri Jóhannsson, Árni Sverrisson, Hlynur Þorsteinsson, Árni Jóhannsson, Gunnlaugur Valdimarsson, Óskar Guðlaugsson, Þorbjörg Árnadóttir, Yngvinn Gunnlaugsson, Sigurður Örn Kristjánsson and Viktor Smári Sæmundsson — and a new generation was soon to take over the leadership work: Sigurður Halldórsson, Guðmundur Þóroddsson, Bjarni Þ. Lárusson, Örn D. Jónsson and Eiríkur Barðason, each better known than the next for their achievements.

Around this time the scout group was given the use of two camping cabins: Dalakofinn by Elliðavatn and Núpstún at Lækjarbotnar. There were plenty of people at these camping spots in the years 1970 – 1975. That suited the group well, given its severe difficulties over premises, which were not resolved until a scout house was built for Skjöldungar in 1977 – 1979 — construction that opened an entirely new chapter in the group’s history. Ferfætlusveit was founded then, and girls joined the scout group for the first time. The first group leader stepped down in 1975, and Ólafur Ásgeirsson, who had been assistant group leader since the group’s founding, took over and served until 1977. Sigmundur Guðmundsson took over as group leader in 1978, and since then Bjarni Þ. Lárusson, Birgir Thomsen, Óli Kristinsson, Ólafur Ásgeirsson, Helgi Eiríksson, Guðfinnur Pálsson and Sigmundur Guðmundsson, Matthías G. Pétursson and Eiríkur Guðmundsson have served as group leaders.

The first years in the new scout house bore the marks of the difficult years that had gone before, but in 1984 things began to brighten and a new generation took over — a generation that was in the group’s front line for the next decade. The group’s activities were reorganised as well. As before, Skjöldungar have earned a good name at scout jamborees and won a great many prizes. At the helm in these years were Þórður Bogason, Óli Vilhjálmur, Guðfinnur Pálsson, Guðmundur Þór Pétursson, Guðmundur Ármann Pétursson, Jón Grétar Gunnarsson, Hulda Ástþórsdóttir, Katrín Ásgrímsdóttir, Ingibjörg Eiríksdóttir, Ellen Habekost and Soffía Hauksdóttir, to name a few. Skjöldungar have also had representatives on the principal councils and committees of the Reykjavík Scout Association and the Icelandic Boy and Girl Scout Association.

In 1994 the 25th anniversary of the founding of Skjöldungar was celebrated with a grand anniversary event in Langholtskirkja. The group was at that time in a period of strong growth, which may be said to have continued ever since. The patrol leaders at the time were Dagmar Ýr Ólafsdóttir, Sigurður Úlfarsson, Thelma Björk Gunnarsdóttir, Gunnar Björgvinsson, Ólafur Gauti Gunnarsson and Kristján Meldal. The group had also brought in a managing director, Sigurður Guðleifsson ADCC. Sigmundur Guðmundsson was group leader then; he and his wife Unnur Scheving Thorsteinsson were very active in the work of Skjöldungar in these years and spurred the leaders on. They are now honorary members of Skjöldungar, along with Björgvin Magnússon DCC. It was not long before a new generation of patrol leaders took over, among them Bjarki Reynisson Hólm, Björn Bragason, Vaka Ágústsdóttir, Tinna Sigurðardóttir, Þyrí Óskarsdóttir and others, most of whom had in common that they had worked in scout troops under Sigurður Úlfarsson and Dagmar Ólafsdóttir. Around the turn of the century Guðmundur Þór Pétursson was division leader, and Sigurður Úlfarsson has now taken over that role. The group owns two camping cabins, Hleiðra by Hafravatn and Kútur on Hellisheiði; Helgi Eiríksson and the drótt-scout patrol Sagittarius carried out extensive renovations on the latter around 1990.

It will not be long before half a century has passed since a few young troop leaders, who were not old enough to become patrol leaders themselves, founded Skjöldungasveit. At present the leadership of Skjöldungar is made up of capable and enthusiastic scouts who will doubtless accomplish a great deal in the years to come. At the dawn of the new century the principal patrol leaders are Kristján Meldal, Margrét Hanna Bragadóttir, Thelma Björk Gunnarsdóttir, Ragnheiður Jóna Grétarsdóttir, Gunnar Magnússon and Björn Bragason. The group leader is Eiríkur Guðmundsson.

Compiled by Ólafur Ásgeirsson, Chief Scout, in 1994.

Additions written by Björn Bragason, patrol leader of Minkar.

Roughly translated to English with the help of translating software.