Lögberg - 05.04.1951, Page 8

8
LÖGBERG, FIMTUDAGINN 5. APRÍL, 1951
Dr. Gillson's Ánnouncement...
(Continued from Page 1)
will be, the cultural center for people
of Icelandic descent in North Am-
erica. As yo-u know, Icelandic studies
are actively pursued in a number of
universities of the United States, but
there is no specifically Icelandic
chair anywhere in this country, so
far as I 'know. The closest approach
to it is the chair of Scandinavian
Philology in this university, held by
Dr. Stefan Einarsson, whose work
has always been primarily in the
Icelandic field. Professor Richard
Beck is also a leading scholar in
this field, but his teaching duties,
if I am not mistaken cover a much
wider area, and he is unable to de-
vote himself exclusively or even
predominantly to Icelandic studies.
There ought to be a chair which
would enable an Icelandic specialist
MESSUBOÐ
Fyrsta Lúterska Kirkja
Séra Valdimar J. Eylands.
Heimili 776 Victor Street. Sími
29017.—
Guðsþjónustur á hverjum
sunnudegi:
Á ensku kl. 11 f. h.
Á íslenzku kl. 7 e. h.
Sunnudagaskóla kl. 12.15 e. h.
Allir ævinlega velkomnir.
☆
— Argyle Prestakall —
Sunnudaginn, 8. apríl
Guðsþjónustur:
Grund kl. 2:30 e. h.
Baldur kl. 7:30 e. h.
Hreyfimyndin „For Good or
Evil“ verður sýnd á Baldur eftir
messu.
Aillir velkomnir.
Eric H. Sigmar
☆
Lúterska kirkjan í Selkirk
Sunnud. 8. apríl —
Ensk messa kl. 11 árd.
Sunnudagaskóli á hádegi
íslenzk messa kl. 7 síðd.
Allir boðnir velkomnir!
S. ólajsson
to concentrate on his specialty, and
I am delighted to learn that the
University of Manitoba is to'set up
such a chair.
As a Professor of English, I can
bear witness to the importance of
Icelandic studies for workers in the
English field. My own scholarly
career would have been impossible
without the knowledge of Icelandic
which I was able to obtain by a
year’s residence in Iceland. The
literature of Old and Middle English
cannot be studied with full success
without some acquaintance with
Icelandic literature, and a knowledge
of the Icelandic language is indis-
pensable to every successful student
of the history of the English lan-
guage. In other words, the new
chair at the University of Manitoba
will be an asset of the first import-
ance to the English department, in
addition to the importance it will
have in its own right.
I extend to you, and to the Uni-
versity, my heartiest congratulations
on the occasion of the establishment
of the new chair of Icelandic. In
behalf of the many American ad-
mirers of Icelandic culture, I wish
you well in this significant under-
taking. May the new chair find a
worthy holder and live up to the
promise of its founding.
Sincerely yours,
“Kemp Malone”
* * *
Ridgehurst
Christmas Common
Watlington, Oxon., England.
2. March, 1949.
Dear Dr. Thorlakson:
I am very much obliged to you
for sending me a copy of your re-
port on the progress already made
towards founding a chair of Ice-
landic studies in the University of
Manitoba, and copies of the letters
relating to this. With everything in
these I am in complete agreement,
for in my opinion there is no coun-
try or place outside qf Iceland where
a university chair of Icelandic could
more appropriately be founded. Any
student who has to learn the lan-
guage before he can understand and
appreciate Icelandic literature
(which would usually be his objec-
tive) will have facilities for doing so
there which are not to be found
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receive more for their barley than if it had only graded feed.
If each grower prodftced just one average carload of 2,000
bushels, his increased revenue would be about $500.00.
In one item alone, harvesting, considerable improvement
has been made. It has been estimated that by the use of
better threshing technique, the farmers have earned more than
last year. Unfortunately, some growers lost the premium this
year because of having over 5 per cent peeled kernels. While
threshing has always been a problem, the introduction of the
combine and some of the looser hulled varieties such as Mont-
calm have made this operation more difficult. There are three
factors that the grower must consider: (1) the proper stage
of maturity at which to swath, (2) the length of stubble and
size of swath, and (3) in combining the speed of the cylinder
and distance between cylinder and concave.
In order to produce good ftuality barley, the grower
must allow his crop to become fully mature before swathing.
While immature barley will mature in the swath, it produces
shoe-peg kemels which have to be removed, and, in general,
the extract will be low and the grain useless for malting.
The stubble should be left at the proper length to hold up
the swath. If too long, it wil bend and let the swath lie on
the ground; if too short, it will not give space underneath to
allow free circulation of air and has a tendency to allow the
barley heads to fall through on to the ground. The size of
the swath will depend on the growth of the crop. If it is
heavy, the swather should be set to give a wide swath; if it
is light, the swath should be narrowed, otherwise, the heads
will fall through on to the ground. In combining the grain,
the cylinder speed and space must be frequently adjusted.
If the grain is being skinned or broken, the speed of the
cylinder should be reduced or the concave lowered. If the
grain has too much awn the speed should be increased or the
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elsewhere except in Reykjavik. The
large Icelandic community of Win-
nipeg and its neighborhood, with
its keen interest in the preservation
and use of its mother tongue, will
provide ample opportunity for ac-
quiring a knowledge of the language
in its present form, and thereby
obtaining a wider and sounder
knowledge of it than by purely
academic study of the older tongue.
This is important not merely for
understanding the history of the lan-
guage, and recognizing its essential
unity throughout the centuries, but
for a thorough understanding of the
older literature and ability to read
easily so m u c h that Icelandic
scholars have written about it in
their own tongue. In this respect
the student at the University of
Manitoba could have a great advan-
tage over those in other countries
who study Old Icelandic in the same
way as they do Anglo-Saxon.
The University would also na-
turally become a centre for students
of Icelandic origin, from the Winni-
peg Area and other parts of Canada,
who wished to specialize in the study
of their own language and literature.
There is still much work to be done
in this field, especially in the period
between 1400 and 1800, and it would
be all to the good if part of this were
done outside of Iceland and so made
more readily accessible to the great
body of scholars and general readers
in the English speaking countries
and elsewhere. It may also be re-
garded as certain that such work
would result in closer relations be-
tween the Universities of Manitoba
and Reykjavik to the mutual ad-
vantage of both in furthering the
progress of Northern studies.
Trusting that you will soon be
able to report the actual establish-
ment of the Chair, I remain,
Yours sincerely,
“William A. Craigie”
* * *
This project has been a tre-
mendous undertaking, for while
it is true that the largest Ice-
landic group in the world out-
side Iceland is in Manitoba the
size of that group is very small
being only about 15,000 strong,
with possibly another 10,000
scattered throughout Canada
and the United States of Am-
erica.
Yet, this group in Manitoba,
consisting of doctors and fisher-
men, judges and farmers, mer-
chants and teachers, set itself the
objective of raising $200,000 to
endow in perpetuity this Chair
of Icelandic Language and Lit-
erature in the University of
Manitoba. T o n i g h t we are
gathered together to report that
the goal is now in sight.
Without going into too much
detail I would like to recall that
26 years ago the Icelandic Na-
tional League passed a resolu-
tion to the effect that the League
commence the raising of a $100,-
000 fund, the interest to be used
for the cost of teaching Icelandic
in the centres of learning of the
Province. Actually the first don-
ation for this purpose did not
take place until 1944, although
at a meeting of the Board of
Governors of the University of
Manitoba held on February 10,
1938, the President of the Uni-
versity, Dr. S. E. Smith, reported
that Maghus Hinrikson had be-
queathed $2,000 to his executors
in trust for the endowment of a
chair of Icelandic Language in
the University of Manitoba. A
special committee was appointed
by the Board to consider the
matter but nothing was done
until March 8, 1944, when a
letter was received by the Board
of Govenors of the University,
from Dr. P. H. T. Thorlakson in
which the first actual payment
for the purpose of the Chair was
made. On December 27, 1947, the
late Mr. Justice H. A. Bergman
sent his personal donatiqn to the
fund to the Comptroller of the
University, and in his letter he
announced that an active cam-
paign was under way under the
chairmanship of Dr. P. H. T.
Thorlakson. Five Icelandic
organizations sponsored the pro-
ject, the Icelandic National
League, the Icelandic Canadian
Club, the Jon Sigurdson Chapter
of the I.O.D.E., the two Good-
Templar Chapters, and the Ice-
landic Celebration Committee.
The work was carried through
under the auspices of the
Foundation Committee which
consisted of Dr. Thorlakson as
Chairman, Miss Margaret
Petursson, secretary, Mr. A. G.
Eggertson, K.C., Consul G. L.
Johannson, Judge W. J. Lindal
and Dr. L. A. Sigurdson.
Contributions of $1,000 and
upwards have come in from
Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Bri-
tish Columbia and Ontario and
even beyond the borders of
Canada, from North Dakota, and
several points in the United
States. The two largest are from
Mr. A. P. Johannson* who do-
nated $50,000 and Mr. and Mrs.
J. D. Eaton of Toronto who
donated $18,000.
This has entailed tremendous
and continuous work on the part
of members of the campaign
committee who have used each
oj;her’s leisure hours in the
weekends and whenever they
could get the time to travel, at
their own expense, explaining
to members of the Icelandic
community the ideals behind
this great project and asking for
substantial aid. L i t e r a 11 y
nothing has daunted t h e s e
countrymen of Leifur Erikson,
for at this moment there is in
deposit in the University of
Manitoba the great sum of
$155,000, $20,000 more having
already been promised of the
remaining $45,000 to be obtained.
On February 15, 1949, a Trust
Deed was executed by the Uni-
versity of Manitoba in which it
was stated: —
“If, on or before June 17th, 1952,
the Endowment Fund shall
amount to, or be of the Value of,
not less than $150,000:
(a) The University shall, on
or before June 17th, 1952, estab-
lish a Chair of Icelandic Lan-
guage and Literature within the
Faculty of Arts and Science of
the University, as a Department
of such Faculty, with the object
of providing courses of instruc-
tion and promoting studies and
research in the field of Icelandic
Language and Literature.
(b) The University shall on
or before June 17th, 1952, create
a Professorship of Icelandic Lan-
guage and Literature, and shall
from time to time appoint a
suitably qualified specialist in
Icelandic Language and Litera-
ture, whose duties shall include
the conduct and direction of
such classes and courses of
study in Icelandic Language and
Literature as the Senate of the
University may from time to
time determine.
(c) The University shall
maintain the said Department
so far as the income of the En-
dowment Fund shall permit, on
a basis comparable in every way
with that of other departments
in the Humanities established in
the University.
(d) The income of the En-
dowment Fund arising after the
establishment of the Chair of
Icelandic Language and Litera-
ture shall be applied by the Uni-
versity, firstly in payment of the
salary of the said Professor of
Icelandic Language and Litera-
ture, and secondly, so far as the
same will thereunto extend and
the Board of Governors of the
University may in their discre-
tion authorize, in providing such
additional teaching assistance as
the extent of instruction offered
by the said Department may
warrant, and such books, ma-
terials and library service as
may be deemed by the Board of
Governors of the University
necessary or desirable for the
purposes of the said Department.
The university shall provide
opportunity to the Professor of
Icelandic Language and Litera-
ture to* engage in extra-mural
lecturing and other extension
work in Icelandic Language and
Literature, to such reasonable
extent as may be undertaken
without interference with his
normal duties, and as may be
from time to time authorized by
the University. The extension
work may include lectures in the
Province of Manitoba and else-
where, as may be from time to
time authorized by the Univer-
sity.”
On December 2, 1950, the
Comptroller of the University
reported to me that funds in the
hands of the University amount-
ed to $150,153.90, and it was clear
that the University was then
obligated to establish the Chair.
The announcement that I wish
to make tonight is that the Uni-
versity of Manitoba is establish-
ing the Chair of Icelandic Lan-
guage and Literature in the fall
of 1951 for the ^cademic session
1951-52, and that vigorous plans
are now going forward to find
the first incumbent of that
Chair.
This is not going to be an easy
task for he must be a scholar,
that is clear, but he must also
be a man who through writing
and lecturing, both in Icelandic
and English, both in the Univer-
sity and throughout the Pro-
vince, will generate great inter-
est in all things Icelandic, not
only amongst Canadians of Ice-
landic descent, but also amongst
Canadians of other origins.
Thus we have come almost to
the end of one phase but equally
are we commencing another. It
is the intention of the University
to set up an Advisory Committee
on Icelandic Studies, the mem-
bers of this committee to consist
not only of men on the teaching
staff of the University, but also
representative members of the
Icelandic community with the
President of the University as
Chairman. In this way will the
University be kept in touch with
the thoughts and desires of the
Icelandic Canadian community,
so that as the Department de-
velops it may fulfil its function
completely.
There is one other thing I
must mention. The University
is at the present time about to
build a University library. In
that library will be a museum,
and it is our strong desire that a
collection of objects, antique and
modern, will be built up which
will preserve for all Canadians
those things of beauty and
utility which you and your fore-
fathers used. The spiritual value
for succeeding generations of
such a collection taken in con-
junction with the unique Ice-
landic library of our University,
cannot be overestimated.
What is expected from this
venture? Certainly under-
graduate study of Icelandic
Language, Literature and His-
tory leading into post-graduate
work in English, Icelandic and
Germanics gpnerally. This is the
very minimum, but this I am
sure would not be regarded by
any of us as enough. Surely an-
other ideal and aim is that there
will be thus established for all
time the centre from which all
agencies working for the pre-
servation of Icelandic culture on
the North American continent
will draw life and inspiration.
But to me even this is only the
means to a further end of much
wider spiritual significance.
My hope would be that be-
cause of the establishment of
this Chair the resulting study of
the history and literature of- this
noble people who through the
ages have coupled an intense
feeling for individual personal
freedom with fearlessness and
high courage, there would be a
lasting contribution to the moral
and spiritual strength of Can-
adian life.
If this were even partially ful-
filled then are we all this night
taking part in an event whose
grandeur and inner meaning
could only be described by the
nameless saga-men of long ago.
A. H. S. GILLSON,
President,
University of Manitoba.
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