Lögberg - 20.12.1951, Blaðsíða 6

6
LÖGBERG, FIMTUDAGINN, 20. DESEMBER, 1951
Prof. Finnbogi Guðmundsson
Honored at Public Reception
Under the auspices of the Foundation Committee of the
Chair of Icelandic at the First Lutheran Church on
December lOth, 1951.
Introductory remarks by Dr. P. H. T. THORLAKSON
Mr. President,
Prof. Gudmundsson,
Honored Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen:
' The singing of “O Canada, Our
Home and Native Land” and “O
Guð Vors Lands” is a fitting
introduction to this evening’s
ieception. The words of this
stirring Icelandic Anthem were
written by Matthias Jochumsson
for the millennial celebration of
1874. One thousand years earlier,
(874-930), the Icelandic colonists
sailed across the northern seas
from Norway and the northern
parts of the British Isles. They
brought with them their lan-
guage, their stories and their
poetry, which were an inherit-
ance* from the great and ad-
venturous nations of northern
Europe. The stories and poetry
originally passed on by word of
mouth were put in permanent
written form in Iceland and in
them they have preserved a
priceless heritage in the original
Norse language — a literature
•Kriatján Albertson — Akademían os
íslenzk tunga. Lögberg Nov. 18. 1951,
Teprinted from MorgunbláCiÖ.
•Richard Beck—History of Icelandic
Poets, 1800-1940. The Icel. Poetical
Tradition, pp. 1-9, Cornell University
Press, 1950.

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which has been enriched in the
passing of the centuries to this
very day.
On the occasion of the visit of
the late Matthias Jochumsson to
this country in 1893, the poet
wrote an Ode to this old and
classic language. The following
lines e x p r e s s some of his
thoughts:
Það hefir voða-þungar tíðir
þjóðinqi verið guðleg móðir
hennar brjóst við hungri’ og
þorsta,
hjartaskjól þegar burt var sólin,
hennar ljós í lágu hreysit
langra kvelda jóla-eldur.
In these and in subsequent
lines, the poet ascribes the role
of divine motherhood to the
language and literature which
through the centuries helped to
sustain the people of Iceland
with intellectual nourishment,
and to maintain their courage
in years of great adversity.
He reminds us that, during the
long winter evenings in that
northern Island, the thoughts
and heroic spirit conveyed to the
people of Iceland, from genera-
tion to generation, through this
inheritance, have served as a
light, a warm glow, and a source
of inspiration, even in the
humblest home. He exhorts the
descendants of the people of. Ice-
land on this continent to cherish
and preserve this great cultural
heritage.
It is of special interest to us
that Professor Gudmundsson’s
father, the late Dr. Gudmundur
Finnbogason received general
recognition from his compatriots
for his work in the “purification
and enrichment of the Icelandic
language,” and was proclaimed
as “one of the chief intellectual
leaders in Iceland of the first
half of the 20th century.”**
We have met here this evening
to welcome a talented son of an
illustrious father, Professor Fin-
bogi Gudmundssonr the first
Professor to occupy the Chair of
Icelandic Language and Litera-
ture at the University of Man-
itoba. Before calling upon Presi-
dent Gillson to introduce our
guest, may I recall briefly some
of the local historical events
leading up to this memorable
occasion.
• ‘Stefán Einarsson: History of Ice-
landic Prose Writers, 1800-1940, pp.
170-172,
1948.
Cornell University Press,
A quotation that has particu-
lar significance for us this
evening is Thomas Carlyle’s
statement: “We stand on the
shoulders of the past.” It is for-
tunate for us that those shoul-
ders were broad and strong.
Seventy-six years ago, on Octo-
ber llth, a small group of Ice-
landic people arrived in Man-
itoba. They were the vanguard
of other Icelandic men and
women who helped to develop
the country to the north, south,
and west of the city of Winnipeg.
Lord Dufferin, then Governor-
General, had advised the Canad-
ian Government to encourage
the Icelanders to come to this
country. He had visited Iceland
in his earlier years, and had ex-
pressed a genuine admiration
for the qualities of heart and
Siind that h"e had found in the
Icelandic people. Lord Dufferin
visited the Icelandic Settlement
of Gimli in 1877. During the
course of his visit, he said: “I
have not entered a single hut or
cottage which did not contain,
no matter how bare its walls or
scanty the furniture, a library
of 20 or 30 volumes.”
In their struggle for survival,
the Icelandic settlers adopted
this country as their own and
became good Canadians, but at
the same time, they came to feel
that, in the Icelandic language
with its magnificent literature,
they.had a heritage that could
enrich the culture of Canada.
With the passing of the years,
the conviction grew that the
greatest single contribution the
Icelandic people could make
would be through the establish-
ment of this basic and classic
language at a seat of higher
learning. Many individuals and
organizations have helped to
foster a study and an apprecia-
tion of Icelandic literature, and
this has been an important factor
in promoting the project which
this year reaches its fulfillment.
We are, indeed, fortunate that
the inauguration of this new De-
partment is taking place during
the Presidency of a man who
fully appreciates its importance.
Dr. Gillson, himself a graduate
of a famous English University,
has told us that in many of the
leading universities of Great
Britain, the study of Icelandic
and Old English is /egarded as
essential to a knowledge of
modern English usage. The es-
tablishment of this Chair, there-
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It remains for me to express to
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Committee (of which I have the
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co-operation and generous assist-
ance.
And now, Mr. President, I
have great pleasure in asking
you to introduce Professor
Finnbogi Gudmundsson to this
assembly.
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