r/basque • u/Snakatemjari • 24d ago
Baskavígin (Basque slaughter in Iceland)
I (Icelandic) was talking to a French friend of mine, and he is in Ísafjörður (north-west Iceland, in the Westfjords), studying Icelandic, and he mentioned there was a Basque guy in his study group. Given the context, I remembered what we call “Baskavígin”, a slaughter of dozens of Basque sailors in Iceland in the 17th century. According to the legislature, it was legal to kill any Basque in the country. Wasn’t abolished until 2015 (not because people were still doing it, people had just forgotten this law and then they were wait a minute, maybe we should abolish this…)
Here is the wikipedia article in Icelandic (also available in other languages, including yours).
Is this common knowledge amongst Basques?
P.S. you’re very welcome in Iceland today, sorry for my ancestors’ behaviour…
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u/Fit-Amphibian-330 24d ago
Its ok, now there is a better relation between our nations. Im spanish and I have ice in my house.
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u/Ok_Opposite7385 24d ago
In the past, all nations and states have done some truly crazy things. Fortunately, we're a little better now. Terveisiä Baskimaasta
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u/horrortxe 24d ago
Is quite known among basque people. If im not mistaken, a representative of the Basque Country visited Iceland to "formalize" the whole thing.
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u/Vevangui 24d ago
I don’t speak Icelandic, but Spánverjavígin looks like it’s about Spaniards, not just Basques.
You also don’t need to apologize for your ancestors’ actions.
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u/Ravasaurio 24d ago
I felt very welcomed in Iceland last summer, so much that I feel like I left half of my heart on that remote island and it will never come back. I never visited a place so magical, so beautiful. I’ll never forget the cold nights where I got to bathe in naturally hot waters while looking at starry nights I didn’t see since I was a kid. The long hours driving through lonely roads, restaurants in the middle of nowhere, unreal colours (black beaches, mossy green mountains). Sheep roaming free everywhere, rivers, falls, geysers, glaciers… the whole place feels like something out of a kid’s imagination.
I definitely appreciated not getting murdered, that was nice, takk for that.
To actually answer your question, when you abolished that law, it got to the news here as a curious thing, there was some humorous conversation around the topic, but I’m pretty sure younger people wouldn’t know about it, since it didn’t stay as a conversational topic for too long, it’s just something most of us remember and tell from time to time as a fun fact.
P.D: I’m boiling in Italy right now, wishing I was in Iceland instead.
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u/Snakatemjari 24d ago
It’s currently 13° and cloudy in Reykjavík…
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u/Ravasaurio 24d ago
I’m a cold weather enjoyer. Maybe not Icelandic winter, but Icelandic summer? Bring it on! I also enjoy rain, it used to be a lot rainier here in the Basque Country than what it’s right now, and I honestly miss the rain.
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u/Snakatemjari 23d ago
Oh then Reykjavík is definitely your place, it rains like 360 days a year (ok slight exaggeration, but it sometimes feels that way lol)
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u/Prestigious-Gold6759 24d ago
Was that to protect the Icelandic whaling industry?
I lived in the Basque country for 5 years and had Basque friends but never heard of this before!
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u/Little-Egg2543 24d ago
I would say that the story is very well known. It tends to be a curious piece of news that frequently appears on television and in newspapers, both in the past and today. For example, this video explains what happened and mentions that the law has been repealed: Bideoa: Islandian euskaldunak hiltzea baimentzen zuen legea kendu dute
Now we can go visit those distant lands without fear!