Meeting with gyrfalcons

Sigurdur Aegisson is an Icelandic ethnologist. I haven´t  been able to find his book on Icelandic monster lore, “Meeting with monsters”, and therefore had to rest contented with a small work on very real animals, “Icelandic trade with gyrfalcons: From medieval times to the modern era”, published in 2015. I readily admit that the book is very narrow, and of interest only to gyrfalcon aficionados, or perhaps hardcore history buffs suffering from an enduring obsession with the West Scandinavian theatre. But then, I know that at least one gyrfalcon aficionado is reading my blog on a semi-regular basis, so here we go… ;-)

The gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus) is the largest falcon in the world, and the diurnal raptor with the northernmost geographic distribution, living in the Arctic and Sub-Arctic regions of North America and Eurasia, including Iceland and Greenland. Due to its large size, the gyrfalcon has long been popular among falconers – we are talking about a sturdy raptor that can attack and kill even swans and herons! The gyrfalcon is famous for its many color morphs, with the Icelandic birds being grey, while many “Greenland falcons” are white. White gyrs in particular were highly prized by European and Muslim royals and aristocrats.

Aegisson has probably read every book on the topic of Icelandic gyrs and the trade in them. When Iceland was an independent “republic”, every landowner could freely catch and sell gyrfalcons which lived on his own land. As Iceland became more integrated into the Norwegian and Danish kingdoms, however, this gradually changed until the catching and trade in gyrs became a royal monopoly. Gyrs were taken to a gigantic aviary at Bessastadir, from which they were taken to Denmark onboard ships. The local peasants were forced to hand over cows and other livestock to feed the birds. This can´t have contributed to the bird´s popularity – indeed, most Icelanders regarded gyrfalcons as an annoying competitor (they often killed eiders), and as the international interest in falconry dropped during the 19^th century, the falcons became fair game. At the same time that Iceland adopted the gyrfalcon as its national symbol, the actual birds were threatened with extinction!

Judging by Aegisson´s account, this extremely negative attitude to “Falco rusticolus” can´t have been the original one. During the Middle Ages, Icelandic imports were often paid in money earned by selling gyrfalcons to enterprising European traders. The author believes that huge amounts of flour, timber and wax could be imported by the Icelandic settlers in this manner, making the bird an extremely valuable commodity. This is interesting for another reasons, too. Note that the settlers weren´t self-sufficient, at least not during the High Middle Ages, and actually survived on their desolate island only thanks to large scale trade with the rest of Europe! Somehow, this isn´t the romantic view we all have of rugged Vikings living off the land (and the loot) in their own independent state… My guess is that later, as the gyrfalcon trade became a Danish royal prerogative, the locals developed very different feelings towards the unfortunate birds.

Aegisson believes that most Greenland falcons owned by European and Mideast falconers weren´t caught in Greenland but in Iceland. The white Greenland color morphs regularly migrated to Iceland, following icebergs which in turn attracted enormous flocks of seabirds.

Today, gyrfalcons are protected by law and their Icelandic population is relatively stable at around 2,000 birds. One fun fact not mentioned by the author is that DNA tests apparently show that falcons aren´t closely related to eagles, hawks, vultures and other raptors. Rather, they are on the same line of evolution as – wait for it – parrots and passerines! The idea of a gyrfalcon being an Arctic badass parakeet (or is it psittacoid) does have a certain intrinsic appeal, at least in my intellectual neighborhood…

With that, I leave you for now.