Lögberg-Heimskringla - 25.04.1963, Side 5

LÖGBERG-HEIMSKRINGLA, FIMMTUDAGINN 25. APRÍL 1963
5
that every member of Althing
was allowed for the sitting of
this ancient Icelandic Parlia-
ment. Just above this area
was “Lögberg” the Rock of
Law on which stood the
speaker of the assembly.
The Hon. Asgeir Ásgeirsson,
now the second President of
the Republic of Iceland, was
then the Prime Minister. On
one occasion he received the
official salutations and mem-
weather in the north, we fin-
ally had to abandon the trip
because the north country was
fog-bound.
We did, however, motor out
to Haukadalur to see the
famous Geysir spout up into
the air for a distance of 160 to
180 feet. We also travelled to
Hlíðarendi in Rangarvalla-
sýsla where Gunnar of the
well-known Njálssaga, turned
back saying “Fögur er hlíðin,
from there to Keflavik, Ice-
land.
After several hours’ flying,
we approached Iceland as the
glowing red sun was setting
near the horizon. We looked
out through the windows of
the plane, spell-bound by the
vivid colors and weird con-
figurations of the cumulus
clouds beneath us. It was an
eerie and awe-inspiring scene.
In 1948, we had ten days of
Leiksýning á þjóðháiíðinni 1930
orial gifts from delegations
representing several foreign
countries. I seem to recall that
he replied to all of them in
their own language which was
an astounding feat of diplo-
macy for a young man of 35
years of age. Lord Stanley
who headed the delegation
from Great Britain said on
this occasion that he “repre-
sented the Mother of Parlia-
ments and brought greetings
to the Grand-Mother of
Parliaments.”
We had three unforgettable
days at Þingvellir. On the last
day we attended one of the
banquets held in the great hall
erected for the occasion. The
King and Queen of Iceland
and Denmark (Iceland re-
gained its complete independ-
ence in 1944) and other digni-
taries were guests of honor.
Several hundred people sat
down to dinner. We were in-
formed by a table companion
that as this was the final
function some of the dinner-
ware, which had been speci-
ally designed and made for
the celebration, would be for
sale and that if we wished to
purchase a souvenir we could
leave an order. We did take
home with us a set consisting
of a coffee pot, cream jug and
sugar bowl, suitably decorated
to commemorate the lOOOth
anniversary of the Icelandic
Parliament. We have kept
these pieces in a place of
honor in our dining-room
throughout the intervening
years.
Before leaving Iceland, Dr.
Brandson and I made arrange-
ments to fly up to Akureyri
in a small 2 passenger open
sea-plane but after sitting in
this plane for over an hour,
waiting for the pilot to re-
ceive clearance about the
,svá at mér hefir hon aldri
jafnfögr sýnzt, bleikir akrar,
ok slegin tún, ok mun ek ríða
heim aptur of fara hvergi.” —
From the site on which Gunn-
ar’s house stood, we could look
southward and across a stretch
of sea to the mountains on
Vestmannaeyjar (Westman
Islands).
Later on a clear bright day
we drove out to the magni-
ficent waterfall Gullfoss in
company of the late Hon. and
Mrs. W. J. Major of Winnipeg.
(Mr. Major was at that time
the Attorney-General of the
Province of Manitoba and
represented the Government
of Manitoba at the Millennial
celebration.) We enjoyed a de-
lightful picnic lunch on a
ledge of ground overlooking
the waterfall which glittered
with an effect of sparkling
jewels produced by the sun-
beams playing upon the spray.
A miniature rainbow appear-
ed on the far side of the
waterfall.
Our afternoon visit to the
Einar Jónsson Museum was
memorable. This f a m o u s
sculptor took us on a tour
explaining to us the various
statues and other works of art
which he had donated to the
nation.
There were also many
pleasant visits to private
homes during those three
weeks but I must now move
on to our second visit.
☆
In 1948 I received an in-
vitation to address the Ice-
landic Medical Society. Mrs.
Thorlakson, our daughter
Tannis and I set out for a trip
to Europe. In the course of
our travels we stayed three
weeks in Norway visiting my
mother’s relatives and then
went on to Copenhagen to fly
sunshine — five days in the
South while it rained in the
North and five days in the
North when it rained in the
South. This time we did fly
to Akureyri. We were met by
Mr. Kristján Halldórsson,
whose grandfather had taken
over our grandfather’s prop-
erty. He took me to the offices
of the local printing press.
Here I was shown copies of
newspapers which contained
letters sent home by two of
my uncles, Páll and Björn
Thorlaksson, written from
Wisconsin in the early ’70’s.
Next day, in company with
Dr. Eggert Steinthorson, we
motored over “Vaðlaheiði” to
Stóru-Tjarnir at Ljósavatns-
skarð in Þingeyjarsýsla. This
was the homestead of our
grandparents, Thorlakur
Gunnar Jonsson and Henrietta
Lovisa Nielsdottir. The family
left for North America in 1873.
On our way we passed
a sizeable birch grove. The
trees were not tall but they
were the only trees that I re-
member in the area. At long
last, I understood why my
father, the Rev. N. Stein-
grímur Thorlaksson, an en-
thusiastic gardener, had been
so perserving in his efforts to
grow birch trees around the
parsonage in Selkirk.
The old buildings at Stóru-
Tjarnir have all been replaced
by buildings of modern con-
struction. The house, which
overlooks the lake, has hot
and cold running water and
electricity. The hot water is
piped in from a near by
cauldron which bubbles in-
cessantly winter and summer
from the ground. The cold
water comes from one of the
two small waterfalls that
c a s c a d e down the steep
mountainside at the back of
the farmstead. An hydraulic
turbine operating a generator
supplies electricity for light
and heat and power for all
the buildings and for the
machinery.
The descendants of the
original Halldorsson family
still live in Ljósavatnsskarð.
They received us with great
cordiality. Amongst many
other things we were shown
a sloping area on the hillside
facing the south. It was sur-
rounded by the remains of a
turf enclosure that my grand-
father had built to protect a
small plot of ground on which
he experimented a hundred
years ago with the cultivation
of potatoes.
After our visit at Stóru
Tjarnir, we drove further
east to Goðafoss and then
around Mývatn until we came
to Reykjahlíð. We stayed that
night at the new hotel beside
ihe lake. Early next morning
as I sat on a boulder looking
across the lake, with the aid
of field glasses, I saw a flock
of white swans sporting them-
selves in placid waters. A
beautiful sight to behold at
sunrise. Before breakfast we
walked a short distance from
the hotel to bathe and swim
in the warm waters of a deep
cavern situated down among
the rocks some 20 to 30 feet
below the surface of the earth.
During the morning we
motored north of Mývatn to
the sulphur fields. Here we
looked out upon a vast area
from which steam was con-
stantly rising and the sulphur-
ladened surface of the earth
was plopping up all around
us. I can well imagine how the
local inhabitants of earlier
days could believe that the
caves in this area could be
the dwelling places of strange
and evil characters.
As we travelled back to
Akureyri we drove along a
beautiful valley. The hillsides
were green and dotted with
long haired white sheep. The
sky was clear and the sun
warm and comforting. The
atmosphere was clear and
exhilarating. The visibility of
objects at great distances was
truly amazing.
On our return to Akureyri
we met the Rev. Pétur Sigur
geirsson and his bride. They
had returned that day from
their honeymoon. Séra Pétur
took us to the church which
stands on a height overlook-
ing the city and the fjord
(Eyjafjörð). Björgvin Guð-
mundsson, the organist and
composer, formerly of Winni
peg played for us on the
church organ. I believe that
it is customary to play the
organ in the evening as a
greeting to the fishermen.
They hear the music of the
carillon floating out over the
harbour as they come back
home with their catch. The
next day, on August 20th,
1948, I had the pleasure of
meeting many citizens of Ak-
ureyri at a Rotary Club
luncheon.
From Akureyri we flew
back to Reykjavik and spent
three wonderful days as guests
at Valhöll at Thingvellir.
Driving from Thingvellir to
Reykjavik early in the morn-
ing to catch the plane for
Prestwick, Scotland, we sud-
denly emerged out onto a
plateau from which we could
look down upon the coloured
roof tops of the city 25 miles
away! Far away in the dist-
ance and to the right we could
see a high mountain on whose
summit was a glacier, Snæ-
fellsjökull. We were told
that the distance was over 80
miles. Such is the visibility
on a clear day in August.
On this second trip our
daughter, who was to be
married shortly after our re-
turn, hoped that her husband
would be with us on our next
visit to Iceland. Fourteen
years later, she had her wish.
☆
In October, 1961 we travell-
ed to Iceland to participate in
the festivities connected with
the celebration of the 50th
Anniversary of the University
of Iceland. As it was late in
the fall, all the flowers at
home had perished with the
cold and the trees were bare
of leaves. By contrast, in Ice-
land, the grass was a vivid
green, the flowers in the town
square were in full bloom and
the air was warm. The warm
gulf stream had extended the
growth period.
Heré I shall only list some
of the high-lights of our visit:
The morning visit to Bessa-
staðir in the company of a
group of people who had met
with the President, the Honor-
able Mr. Ásgeir Ásgeirsson,
and his gracious Lady in
Winnipeg only three weeks
earlier, was a happy reunion.
We saw the opening of the
Icelandic Parliament in the
company of Mr. and Mrs.
Birgir Thorlacius. We attend-
ed the official ceremonies,
presided over by the Rektor
Dr. Ármann Snævarr, in the
new University Auditorium
and the University dinner at
the Hotel Borg. Representa—
tives of over thirty univers-
ities from foreign countries
were present at these func-
tions. We travelled to
Þingvellir and to the power
station, Ljósafoss, where a
luncheon was given for the
visitors by the Mayor and
Council of the City of Reykja-
vik. We went down to the
harbour and saw the large
modern trawlers unloading
their large catches of fish from
the northern waters. We
enjoyed the warm hospitality
of friends extended to us in
their homes. These and many
more experiences have pro-
Framhald á bls. 6.