Ritmennt - 01.01.2005, Page 162

RITMENNT
Abstracts
Auður Styrkársdóttir: Hannes Hafstein og kvenna-
baráttan. Ritmennt 10 (2005), pp. 9-17.
Hannes Hafstein (1861-1922) was chosen the
first Icelandic minister when Icelanders gained
Home Rule in 1904. He was minister in 1904-09
and again in 1912-14. Hafstein supported women's
rights issues and proposed in 1911 that women
should have the same access to education and
official jobs as men. The proposal was prepared
in co-operation with Bríet Bjarnhéðinsdóttir
(1856-1940), the founder of The Women's Rights
Organization in 1907 and the unofficial leader of
the women's rights movement in Iceland.
By comparing the lives of these two individuals,
we see clearly the contrast between the sexes in
Icelandic society at the beginning of the 20th cen-
tury. Hafstein and Bjarnhéðinsdóttir were of simi-
lar age, but their paths were destined to be very dif-
ferent. Hafstein attended the Reykjavík Grammar
School and later the University of Copenhagen,
whereas Bjarnhéðinsdóttir's only chance for
further education was one year at Kvennaskólinn,
a junior college for women. Hafstein's road to
power was smooth from the beginning, whereas
Bjarnhéðinsdóttir's only road to some kind of
influence was through women's organizations and
men of power - first and foremost the minister
Hannes Hafstein.
Jón Aðalsteinn Jónsson: Himnabréf ömmu minnar
Guðrúnar Ólafsdóttur frá Eystri-Lyngum í Meðal-
landi. Ritmennt 10 (2005), pp. 18-48.
This article discusses a letter, the so-called
"Letter from Heaven" which the author's grand-
mother, Guðrún Ólafsdóttir (1853-1948), carried
on her person for most of her life. The con-
tents include a prayer by Jesus Christ which the
Archangel Michael is presumed to have read to
Leo, the brother of Charlemagne. Tlie bearer of
the letter can expect to be protected from various
dangers and to die a Christian death.
There is a long history of letters of this kind and
they share a common popular European heritage.
Some of the first known letters, which date from
early Christianity, were condemned by church lead-
ers, partly because they preached that men should
not work on Sundays at the risk of severe punish-
ment. Churcli leaders felt this to be remnants
of Jewish respect for the Sabbath. The author's
grandparents observed the principle of not worlc-
ing on Sundays, as did many other inhabitants of
the Meðalland region. This was, however, not tlie
case in Mýrdalur, the region where his mother was
brought up. The author surmises that the letter
may explain this difference to some degree.
The author has also done research on other simi-
lar Icelandic letters which are still extant as well
as Scandinavian and German letters. There are
distinct similarities between these letters and his
grandmotlier's letter. The autlror concludes that a
Danish letter from 1720 may be the prototype for
Icelandic letters of this kind written in the 18th
and 19th centuries.
Gunnar Harðarson: Gaddhestar og gull í lófa.
Myndmálið í afmæliskveðjum Halldórs Laxness
til tveggja pólitískra samherja. Ritmennt 10 (2005),
pp. 49-62.
This essay attempts to analyse the imagery
in letters from Halldór Laxness to two politi-
cal fellow-travellers, Kristinn E. Andrésson and
Brynjólfur Bjarnason on the occasion of their
birtliday. The aim is to investigate whether this
tells us anything about the attitude of the writer
to the politicians. What metaphors does Halldór
Laxness use to describe the communist leader
Brynjólfur Bjarnason? What images can be seen
behind his descriptions of editor and literary his-
torian Kristinn E. Andrésson? For comparison we
examine the imagery in a birthday letter from poli-
tician Brynjólfur Bjarnason to the poet Jóhannes
úr Kötlum.
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