Jónas Blondal
Third and youngest son of
Amalie and Ivar Blondal.
Born on 17th February 1882
in Keflavík near Reykjavík

Amalie Blondal
Mother of Sigurð, Grímur and
Jónas Blondal. Born on
2nd January 1859 in Keflavík,
married to Ivar Blondal
since 1879 († 1914 in Reykjavík)

Ivar Blondal
Jónas’ father. Born on 23th
September 1850 as the son of
Norwegian immigrant Vilhelm
Blondal, Ivar lives in Reykjavík
since 1873 († 1913 at sea)

Per Gudmundsson (left),
Björn Linstow
Relatives of Amalie Blondal.
Per Gudmundsson is Amalie’s
brother-in-law, second husband
of her late sister Camilla.
Björn Linstow is Gudmundssons
Cousin

Gestur Laxness
Protestant pastor from Skálholt.
In office since 1874 and working
in Reykjavík since 1879

Roald Castberg
Clerk in the seamen’s
employment office in Vesturgata/
Reykjavík. Norway is represented
on Iceland with its own whaling
station since 1880

Jón Sverdrup
The 37-year old from Bergen in
Norway is working as a Cadet on
the “Eiríkur Rauði”. He is given
the task to look after Jónas and
repeatedly shows his tendency
for sarcasm

Hannes Skredsvig
The 42-year old is First Mate on
the “Eiríkur Rauði”, and also
Deputy Commander. Skredsvig
is unapproachable and usually
in a bad mood

Einar Nygaard
Second Mate. The 38-year old
dare-devil comes from Isafjöður,
a small town in the extreme
Northwest of Iceland. His crew
mates are envious of this
reputation as Iceland’s best
harpooner

Magnus Hasund
Commander of the “Eiríkur
Rauði”. At 47 years old the
Captain is not only the most
experienced but also the oldest
on board the whaler. Hasund
is Norwegian, born in the
small village of Steinkjer on the
top of Trondheimmsfjord

Knut Thorlaksson
The shy Norwegian is 19 years
old and the second youngest
crew member. His mother comes
from the Japanese Kuschiro,
his father from Bodö in North-
Norway. As Quartermaster
Thorlaksson is responsible for the
stowing away the oil barrels

Árni Sveinnsson
The 37-year old sod from Kosör
in Denmark has family roots in
Moss (South-Norway). The man
with the red cap is undoubtedly
the most repulsive character of
the whole crew

Ole Svenning
The man from Oslo with the
slight speech impediment holds
the position of Cable Stage Man
on the “Eiríkur Rauði”. He
manages the rope store:
a storage area in the front of the
ship for ropes, tools and paint

Jan Sigurðsson
The remarkable friendly man
from Reykjavík works as Ship’s
Cook on board. Despite his open
nature he is not very popular
with the rest of the crew: As an
untrained cook his meals are
more often than not completely
unpalatable

Lambert Nordal (left),
Konrad Söderlund
Lambert Nordal (42) from Larvik
on the Oslofjord is Boatswain –
and therefore the superior of the
ship’s crew. Konrad Söderlund
(30) works as a Ship’s Carpenter
on the whaler

Halldór Kvalstad
The 41-year old from Djúpivogur,
East of Iceland, together with
Ivar Blondal, belongs to the four
Harpooners on board. He is the
worst shot out of all of them