Heimskringla - 03.03.1937, Page 1

LI. ÁRiGANGUR
NÚMER 22.
WINNIPEG, MIÐVEKUDAGINN, 3. MARZ 1937
Móttökunefnd við fröken Halldóru Bjarnadóttur
Skipuð af Þjóðræknisfélaginu og ýmsum kvenfélögum í bænum
(Mynd þessi var tekin af Winnipeg Tribune 24. febr.)
Efri röð: Mrs. O. Stephensen, fulltrúi Sambands Lútherskra kvenna; Mrs. B. E. Johnson,
fulltrúi Þjóðræknisfélagsins; Mrs. P. S. Pálsson, fulltrúi Kvennasambands hins Sameinaða
•Kirkjufélags; Mrs. J. P. Markússon, fulltrúi Hannyrðafélags fslenzkra Kvenna.
Neðri röð: Mrs. Gísli Johnson, fulltrúi Þjóðræknisfélagsins; Mrs. Finnur Johnson, fulltrúi
Sambands Lútherskra kvenna; Mrs. S. E. Björnsson, fulltrúi Kvennasambands hins Sam-
einaða Kirkjufélags. (Á myndina vantar Mrs. J. B. Skaptason, fulltrúa (og forseta) Jóns
Sigurðssonar félagsins I. O. D. E.).
MINNINGAR UM
ÍSLANDSFERÐ
Ræða flutt á Þjóðræknisþingi,
22. febrúar, af ungfrú Margaret
A. Björnsson. Samkoman þetta
kvöld var sérstaklega helguð
yngra fólki íslenzku í Winnipeg.
The difficulty, I suspect, in
preparing a lecture of this sort
is to discriminate between pure-
ly personal experiences—which
are the most dear to me— and
more objective and impersonal
observations. There are always
quick changes of mood to be
taken into account—the amus-
ing life on board ship, the some-
what lofty reactions to the land
of my forefathers, the sensing
of political unrest in the capital
the gradeur of the elements and
the somewhat prosaic inconveni-
ences that are the result of them.
Four days on the “Goðafoss”
are a curious compound of a kind
of continental formality, and
some of our national customs.
— Of these last, one especially
bears comment—the enormous
meals. An ordinary luncheon on
an Eimskip consists of soup,
ham, cold tongue, prawns,
shrimp, four or five salads, bread
and crackers, hard fish, svið,
kæfa, hard-boiled eggs, fruit
pastry and coffee. Any con-
versation is essentially limited
by one of the bells that forebode
another session in the dining
room.
It was in one of these brief
intervals between meals that we
docked in the Westmann Islands.
Gjerset tells graphically the
story of how these grim rocks
jutting out of the sea came by
their name. Two foster broth-
ers, Ingólf Arnai*son and Leif
Hrodmarsson—later called Hjör-
leif, made a Viking expedition
from Norway about 870, and
were probably the first settlers
in Iceland. Hjörleif had with
him a number of Irish slaves,
and he aroused their resentment
by forcing them to draw the
plough, as he had only one ox.
The Celts set upon him in the
woods, killed him, and fled to
these lslands, with Ingolf and his
men in hot pursuit. The Irish,
or Vestmen, were hunted down
and the islands have since been
called Vestmannaeyjar.
This is only one of the many
legends surrounding them. And
in spite of the incredible grim-
ness, the fishermen eke a precar-
ious existence out of the rocks,
and out of the sea. A few sheep
graze placidly far up, where,
stangely enough the grass is
green all the year around. It is
fascinating to speculate that
once these islands were part of
Iceland, and Iceland a part of a
huge continent now submerged
—the fabled Atlantis.
It is another twelve hours sail
to Reykjavík, and we approach-
ed the harbor long after mid-
night. It is almost impossible to
clarify the emotions that were
stimulated by the rising of this
dim mass out of the sea into the
darkness and the mist. Einar
Jónsson epitomizes it in his
bronze plaque “Einbúinn í At-
lantshafi”, where Iceland stands
like the shrouded form of a
woman between two continents.
Hans Chr. Andersen express-
es it another way: “As an etern-
al monument to the saga, stands
Iceland, the bleak rock island, in
the turbulent sea.”
This sort of romanticism is
implicit in the country itself,
and no amount of extravagance
or lavishness can adequately de-
scribe it. The appellation “land
of the sagas” is hackneyed and
platudinous, but more than justi-
fied, because our early history
and literature are conditioned by
the natural phenomena. And
here again are the changes of
mood — the bleakness of the
rocks and the wind and the rain;
the timelessness of the sea; the
magnificent heights of the
mountains; the riotous colors
when the sun comes out; the
eerie brilliance of the moonlight
on the water. And the northern
lights—on one of the most beau-
tiful nights I ever saw the sky
was a jewelled mosaic of exqui-
site, intensely burning colors, as
if it were a ceiling over the har-
bor. Down below the ships rose
into the clear frosty air with the
precision of an etching. “Brúar-
foss” sailed past the white-head-
ed mountains out into the open
seas under a canopy of phos-
phorescent green and brilliant
purples and reds; I remember
saying in very bad Icelandic—
“I’m glad I don’t have to go
home yet.”
Reykjavík is certainly not the
most attractive city I have seen,
though once I was almost in-
toxicated with its beauty. Com-
ing from Akranes early one
morning, the pale gold of the sun
was dripping on the mountain
peaks and running in shiny little
rivulets over the sea. When it
fell over the smoky harbor, the
whole city was shrouded in a
copper-colored haze, against
which the tower of the Catholic
church high on a hill rose in
solemn beauty. Usually at this
time of year, Reykjavík is foggy
and dismal, swept by a strong
wind that comes up from the sea.
Many of the buildings are one
and two story frame structures,
though of late the architecture
has changed to what the inhabi-
tants are pleased to call a Rivi-
era style, a rather unsuccessful
attempt to make attractive
homes out of something that
looks like a cheese box. The in-
congruity is all the more marked
because the houses are so beauti-
fully furnished, and so very at-
tráctive, inside.
Father Jón Sveinsson re-
marks somewhere that Iceland
is connécted geographically with
America, but politically with Eu-
rope. And in the capital, the at-
mosphere is much more contin-
ental than Americah. I confess
to a vague disappointment that
so many efforts are directed to-
wards absorbing European in-
fluences, when our own customs
and traditions are so unique. The
people of my generation appear
to want„ Parisian clothes and
London dance orchestras; not a
few are influenced by German
politics, and a great many of
them are socialists; one of the
most talented young artists
seems to be a disciple of French
Impressionism. These things I
object to not in themselves, but
I do óbject to their being super-
imposed upon a structure that
has had a remarkable develop-
ment, and is worth maintaining.
The influx of foreign ideas I
think is wholly antagonistic to
the logical direction of affairs,
and ludicrous when viewed in
the light of the country’s re-
sources and population. This is
not an attempt to give the last
word on the financial and politi-
cal conditions in Iceland.
Apart from this, life in Reykja-
vík is socially charming and
Fulltrúar og gestir á Þjóðræknisþingi 22-24 febr.
(Myndin birtist í Winnipeg Free Press 24. febr.)
Efri röð: Séra Guðm. Árnason, Lundar; Gutt. J. Guttormsson, Riverton, Sigmundur Lax-
dal, Garðar, N. Dak.
Neðri röð: Kristján Indriðason, Mountam, N. Dak.; Próf. Richard Beck, Grand Forks, N.
Dak.; Páll Guðmundsson, Leslie, Sask.; Thorst. J. Gíslason, Brown, Man.; Thorl. Thor-
finnsson, Mountain, N. Dak.
intellectually brilliant. A great
many of the women still wear
the peysuföt; small girls curtsey
to visitors, and little boys bow
very low; the members of parlia-
ment gather at Hotel Borg for
afternoon coffee, and the cafes
are full. Much of the social life
centres around the University.
The erudition and intellectual
activity of the Icelandic people
have always aroused amazed
comment. About 1055 schools
were established at Skálholt and
at Hólar in connection with the
bishoprics, to instruct young
men in Latin, poetry and music.
Generation after generation has
passed long dark hours with
stories of their forefathers and
Viking exp'loits and the early
íistory pf their country. And
J;hen the incredible diligence of
the men that recorded these
things that we might all read
them one day. There is hardly a
home in Iceland today that has
Frh. á 8. bls.
Frá Þjóðræknisþinginu
Á þriðja og síðasta degi, sem
ársþing Þjóðræknisfélagsins stóð
yfir, fór fram stjórnarnefndar
kosning fyrir komandi ár. Hlutu
þessir kosningu:
Forseti: Dr. R. Pétursson
Vara-forseti: Dr. Richard Beck
Ritari: Gísli Jónsson, prent-
smiðjustjóri
Vara-ritari: B. E. Johnson
Féhirðir: Árni Eggertsson, fast-
eignasali
Vara-féh.: Á. P. Jóhannsson,
fasteignasali
Fjármálaritari: Guðmann Levy
Vara-fjármálar.: B. E. Olson
Skjalavörður: Sig. W. Melsted.
Á miðvikudagskvöldið fóru
fram skemtanir. Fluttu þá erindi
séra Egill Fáfnis frá Glenboro.
Var það hin bezta þjóðræknis-
hugvekja, enda vel rómuð af á-
heyrendum. Einnig flutti ræðu
þetta kvöld Tryggvi Oleson frá
Glenboro, kennari á Jóns Bjarna-
sonar skóla, um Sverrir konung.
Er hún birt á öðrum stað í blað-
inu. Einnig skemti karlakór þar
undir stjórn Ragnars H. Ragnar.
Allan Halldórsson, ungur sveinn,
skemti með píanó-spili. —
Var annað lagið er hann spilaði
samið af honum sjálfum og þótti
áheyrendum mikið til þess koma
og fyltust aðdáunar að þessum
afrekum svo ungs manns.
, f lok samkomunnar var ýms-
um óloknum þingstörfum í fram-
kvæmd hrundið. Það helzta
þeirra var, að þrír menn voru
gerðir að heiðursfélögum í Þjóð-
ræknisfélaginu. Þeir voru: Frú
Jakobína Johnson, skáldkona í
Seattle, Wash.; Guttormur skáld
Guttormsson, Riverton, Man. og
Þ. Þ. Þorsteinsson skáld í
Reykjavík á fslandi.
Kveðjur voru Þjóðræknisfé-
laginu fluttar frá Háskóla Norð-
ur-Dakota-ríkis (en á þeim Há-
skóla stunduðu fslendingar fyrst
nám hér vestra, eftir því sem
forseti Dr. R. P. greindi frá).
Félag fslendinga í Chicago sendi
einnig kveðju sína og J. K. Jón-
asson frá Vogar, Man., er oss
heyrðist getið um, sem fyrsta
landnema Vogar-héraðs, og ó-
trauðan þjóðræknismann, er nú
kom' því ekki við vegna lasleika
að sækja ársþingið, sem hann
hefir ávalt gert.
Ársþing þetta bar það með sér
að hagur og horfur Þjóðræknis-
félagsins eru betri en nokkru
sinni fyr. Aldrei hefir ársþing-
ið verið eins vel sótt og nú. Og
áhuginn fyrir þjóðræknismálinu
hefir aldrei verið almennari en
nú. Á þessu nýbyrjaða ári eru
miklar líkur til að deildir verði
víða myndaðar og samtökin efld
og útbreidd. Og íslenzku kensla
er líklegt að víða verði hafin,
sem í Winnipeg. Mun Þjóðrækn-
isfélagið gera það sem því er
fært í að styðja það starf. Æsku-
lýðurinn hefir nú og sjálfur haf-
ist handa og æskt samstarfs við
Þjóðræknisfélagið. Alt ber því
með sér, að Vestur-íslendingum
sé að vaxa ásmegin í þjóðrækn-
ismálinu, og að von Þjóðræknis-
félagsins muni rætast um að
þeim fjölgi æ, sem til þess finna,
að þar er um gagnlegasta, göfug-
asta og hjartfólgnasta mál
íslendinga að ræða.
Utanbæjar fulltruar og gestir á Þjóðræknisþingi 22-24 febr.
(Mynd þessi var tekin af Winnipeg' Tribune 24. febr.)
Efri röð: Séra Guðm. Árnason, Lundar; Thorst. S. Thorsteinsson, Selkirk; Séra Sigurður
Ólafsson, Árborg; Kristján Indriðason, Mountain, N. Dak.
Neðri röð: Próf. Richard Beck, Grand Forks; Grímur S. Grímsson, Gimli; Sveinn Thor-
valdson, M.B.E., Riverton, Man.