In 874, after having been exiled from their home country of Norway, Ingólfur Arnarson and his wife Hallveig Fróðadóttir became the first permanent Nordic settlers of Iceland. Ingólfur and Hallveig dreamt of new beginnings in the west and what better place than Iceland, a small island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, to make their dreams come true!
In the early days of Iceland, Ingólfur was known for throwing large outdoor Viking parties to celebrate his peoples’ new-found freedom. Given the extremely cold climate in Iceland, he needed a way to keep his hands warm while keeping his mjöður – an Icelandic drink – cold. To solve this problem, he developed a wool mitten with a cup holder attached to battle the elements and keep the party going.
Ingólfur Arnarson’s family secret was feared lost until 2012 when one of his descendants, Rafn Árnason, uncovered them, filed away and forgotten in his family library.
Inspired by his own woes of keeping his hands warm and his beverage cold in the Icelandic winters, Rafn vowed to revive the cold weather drink glove in Ingólfur Arnarson’s tradition.
With great success, the experiment yielded the first of many samples of his exceptionally designed and crafted glove.
Today, this secret is known as the Hanskie!! The founders continue the Icelandic tradition of making high quality cold weather accessories that would make Ingólfur Arnarson proud.
So grab your drink, put it in your Hanskie and say cheers the Icelandic way…”Skál”!!