This publication in Icelandic “Hve aumir og blindir þeir eru: Dionysius Piper á Íslandi 1740–1743” by Joanna Kodzik (MIARC), Sumarliði R. Ísleifsson and Gunnar Kristjánsson provides the first study and edition of German handwritten sources about Iceland from the 18th century which has never been published until now.
This book reflects Moravian attempts to establish a Moravian diaspora in Iceland, sheds light on a quasi-unknown part of the history of Iceland and analyses one of the earliest German eye-witness accounts about this island, rare even in the Icelandic history of this time. The book focuses on aspects of cultural mobility between the Moravian Brethren and Iceland’s culture as well as ideas about space, inhabitants and the climate by analysing foreign views of Icelandic traditions, customs, building techniques, the Icelanders’ daily activities, their food, language, character traits and the state of the church as well as the weather. This material is discussed in the wider context of travel literature as well as German, Danish and Icelandic history, especially cultural history and religious studies.
It also fills in the gap in research on the Moravians in the Arctic who ran mission stations in Greenland, Labrador and Alaska and have produced significant knew knowledge about people living in these parts of the world. One particularly valuable aspect of this publication is the analysis of ideas and world views produced by not very well-educated people from modest social backgrounds, reflecting their problems, beliefs, work and emotions – precious sources seldomly produced by craftsmen, farmers or fishermen etc. in the 18th century.
