Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.02.1980, Side 3

Lögberg-Heimskringla, föstudagur 15. febrúar 1980
3
episode may therefore be
regarded as a sublimated
version of the situation
which produced Head-
Ransom. In the saga the two
poems form a perfect
balance as an external and
side of the axe, trying to
break the skull. But the skull
neither broke nor dented on
impact, it simply turned
white, and from that
anybody could guess that
the skull wouldn’t be easily
An old drawing o f ftgiil
internal enactment of
salvation from defeat.”
Despite his many battles
against superhuman forces,
the poet Egill lived to be an
old man and died a natural
death at his home of Mosfell
in South Iceland.
An epilogue to his saga
reports the following event
which took place more than
a century after Egil’s death.
“When Christianity was
adopted by law in Iceland,
Grim of Mosfell was bap-
tized and built a church
there. People say that
Thordis (his step-daughter)
had Egil’s bones moved to
the church, and this is the
evidence. When a church
was built at Mosfell, the one
Grim had built at Hrisbru
was demolished and a new
graveyard was laid out.
Under the altar some human
bones were found, much
bigger than ordinary human
bones, and people are
confident that these were
Egil’s because of the stories
told by old men. Skapti
Thorarinsson the Priest, a
man of great intelligence,
was there at the time. He
picked up Egil’s skull and
placed it on the fence of the
churchyard. The skull was
an exceptionally large one
and its weight was even
more remarkable. It was
ridged all over like a scallop
shell, and Skapti wanted to
find out just how thick it
was, so he picked up a
heavy axe, swung it in one
hand and struck as hard as
he was able with the reverse
crackedby small fry while it
still had skin and flesh on it.
Egil’s bones were re-
interred*on the edge of the
graveyard at Mosfell.”
On the preceding episode
I once made the following
comment:
“Even though this
epilogue may be variously
interpreted, it may be
assumed at the very least
that the author was im-
pressed by the knowledge
that the skull of the heathen
poet had not decomposed
during its long sojourn in
consecrated ground. In the
same manner, the traditions
of Iceland’s heroic age had
not only remained strong but
assumed renewed vigour as
they were gradually ab-
sorbed into the new
civilization of the Medieval
Church.
The immense strength of
the skull explained, of
course, why the mighty
warrior managed to escape
unscathed from many a
fierce encounter. But in
describing the testing of the
skull, the author may also
have taken a prophetic view
of the remarkably strong
cultural and literary con-
tinuity which was to remain
the cornerstone of Icelandic
nationhood.”
Exceptfor the cover of the
Penguin Classics, which
shows an old drawing of
Egill Skalla-Grimsson, all
the illustrations were ob-
tained from film director
Michael Utgard.
H.B.
egill skalla-grimsson
ON FILMIN MANITOBA
Gont. from page 1
Gyda’s daughter. The film
crew were all members of
the Winnipeg Film Group.
After an intensely active
and social filming period
everyone moved on the other
projects, leaving me with
4000 feet of film and a lot of
post-production work to do
on the film. Exactly a year
elapsed from the time the
film was shot until its first
public showing. It was a
year of finding money to
finish the project, editing
the film, preparing the
music, preparing the sound
effects, and cutting the
original film stock to make a
master negative, from which
all prints of the film will be
copied. I was originally
hoping for a public showing
during the third week in
October, which would
coincide with the beginning
of the Old Norse winter, but
delays pushed us back, to
Cast and Crew
the next auspicious date,
November 1979. On that
night an invited audience
was introduced to my idea of
Egill, and my attempt to
capture the flavour of the
times. FRAGMENT: EGIL
SAGA SKALLAGRIMSON is
a short film (approx. 9 min.)
produced for two personal
reasons: 1) to test my
abilities at working with a
full crew and 2) to test my
abilities to create an
historical feel which
somehow reflects the
literary feel of the sagas. It
is also pleasant to find that
people seem to enjoy it as
well.
BETEL HOME FOUNDATION
BUILDING AND MEMORIAL FUND
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for treats Members of
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Estate of the late
Cecilia Benningen $131.75
In memory of Mrs. Cecilia
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Don Fraser,
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In loving memory of our
sister, Emma Swanson
Miss Mae Anderson Mrs. S.
Blake, Wgp. Man. 100.00
In memory of Mrs. Emma ,
Swanson
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Aunt, Mrs. H.G. Sigurdson
(Auntie Sigga)
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Abington, Pensylvania
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Miss Sigrun Johnson,
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Aunt, Sigridur Johnson
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Burlington, Ont. 10.00
In loving memory of my
sister, Sigridur Johnson
Christjana Crowe
Winnipeg, Man. 30.00
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Gudrun (Amason) Joyce
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White Rock, B.C. 20.00
DENNIS B. SIGURDSON
Fund Manager,
34 Westdale Place,
Winnipeg, Man. R2M1W9
CHRISTMAS
DONATIONS
Poinsettia
Miss S. Hjartason, Gimli
Poinsettia
Icelandic League, Gimli
Gimli
Mums
Betty Sisterson, Gimli
$20.00
for treats, Emma and Joe
Wilkinson, Winnipeg
$10.00
for treats, Mrs. Eleanor
Gibson, Winnipeg
Poinsettia
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Gimli
Mums
C.N. Training Centre,
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Floral Arrangement
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Gifts and Treats,
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Chocolates
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Candy
The Children of First
Lutheran Church, Wpg.
Dennis B. Sigurðson
President
ICELANDIC LESSONS
The third and final set of Icelandic Lessons is now
availablé for $5.00 The second set is also availáble.
Written by Guðbjartur Gunnarsson and Guðrún Jör-
undsdóttir; illustrated and published by the Icelandic
National League in conjunction with the Department
of Education, Province of Manitoba, it contains:
Introduction to Icelandic part II; Lestrarbók, level C;
Vinnubók (exercises); Visnabók (Icelandic Folksongs);
A.B.D. framburðaræ'fingar. This set for $12.00 (five
sections*.
The first set of lessons is no longer available. The
lessons may be ordered from:
Mrs. H. F. DANIELSON,
869 Garfield St., Winnipeg, Canada R3G 2M6
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