Lögberg-Heimskringla - 07.05.1982, Side 8

8-WTNNIPEG, FÖSTUDAGUR 7. MAÍ 1982
The Icelanders
This is an excerpt from the
book The Icelanders, by David
Arnason and Michael Oíito,
published by Turnstone Press,
Winnipeg.
It's hard for a child, and not much
easier for an adult, to separate the
myth from the reality, one kind of
story from another, and that's why
the landscape of the Interlake is
forever charged for me with the un-
seen presence of heroes. My grand-
father used to tell me stories from
the Icelandic sagas but he didn't tell
me that those stories were
literature. What was the point? It
would make no difference to a
child. And so, when he told me the
story of Grettir Asmundson, Grettir
the strong, who swam the half mile
from the mainland to the island car-
rying fire and the fire didn't go out, I
assumed that Grettir lived on Hekla
Island, and that he had swum from
Riverton. When he told me the sad
story of the burning of Njal, I
assumed that Njal was a couple of
miles west, probably between
Sigurdson's farm and Narfason's.
I'd seen the charred remains of
some old shack or granary, and
assumed that was likely the place.
a graveyard at night, the body rises
from the grave. Then you've got to
kiss it, mix your saliva with his, and
then he will do your bidding. This
man got scared and ran away, and
so Mori, the brown one, wanders
around, unable to get back to his
grave and without a master. He's
only a little boy, and so he's lonely.
He wants to talk to you, but he's
very shy. If you see someone out of
the corner of your eye, but when
you turn to look he's gone, that's
Mori. Or if someone knocks at your
door, but when you go to answer
there's no one there, that's Mori too.
Leave him a little food so that your
milk won't go sour.
That's the way stories get rooted
in a new land. Like Thorgeir's bull.
It seems that a couple of hundred
years ago, a farmer in Iceland was
skinning a bull he had slaughtered,
when his wife called him in for sup-
per. He was only half done, and
when he came out after supper to
finish the job, the bull was running
off across the field dragging his skin
behind him. The bull vowed to
haunt Thorgeir's descendant's for
nine generations. When the
Erlendsons reach 50th
On Sunday, April 11, 1982 family
and other relatives gathered at the
Gimli Viking banquet room for a
very delicious dinner to honour
Thor and Josie Erlendson on the oc-
casion of their 50th anniversary.
Steina Martin played the Anniver-
sary Waltz as the honoured couple
entered the room.
Joe Arnason was M.C., and
PallVigfusson said the grace.
Telegrams were received from P.M.
Trudeau and other dignitaries.
Thor stood up and gave thanks
and a good time was had by all.
Book of poetry by Halldór
Laxness published in Iceland
The well-known Nobel prize win-
ner, Halldór Laxness turned 80,
April 23. As a birthday present,
Helgafell, an Icelandic publishing
company, decided to publish a
selection of Laxness’ poems. Lax-
ness is world famous for his novels
but less attention has been paid to
his poetry.
Unexpected trip to Iceland
An Icelandic woman, who has
been living in the United States for
some time, got an unexpected op-
portunity recently to visit her home-
country. Her American husband,
Terence, is an airline pilot and not
so long ago he was asked to fly to
Iceland. His wife, Ólína, grabbed
the opportunity and joined her hus-
band. Although the stop in Iceland
was brief, Ólína managed to visit
friends in Keflavík and phone
relatives in the north of Iceland.
Editorial
Professor Haraldur Bessason will
be honored by the University of
Manitoba May 26th. The editorial
discusses Professor Bessason's work
at the University and his many con-
tributions to the Icelandic com-
munity in North America. Professor
Bessason was born at Kýrholt,
Skagafjörður, April 14, 1931.
Following his graduation from the
University of Iceland in ,1956, he
became Deputy Director of the
Icelandic State Broadcasting in
Reykjavík but his stay there was
short. He accepted an offer from the
University of Manitoba to take over
the Icelandic chair at the Universi-
ty, and so in the fall of 1956, he
found himself in Winnipeg, far from
Kýrholt in Skagafjörður.
Icelanders immigrated to Canada,
Thorgeir's descendants were among
them, and so, of course, was
Thorgeir's bull. He's mostly seen in
the moonlight, running across a
field, and sometimes he comes as a
barking dog in a distance on a dark
night. Grandpa's never seen him,
though he's heard him, and he
knows a man from Arborg who's
seen him three times. There must be
another version of the story in
Iceland, but I don't want to know
about it.
Or Mori. He came over later,
about 1900. He was an eight year
old boy that somebody raised from
the dead to do pranks on his
neighbour. The man who raised him
from the dead made a mistake.
When you’ve said the right spells in

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NOTICE
Solskin June Tea and Bazaar
will be held on
Saturday, June 5th, 1982,
1:30 - 3:00 p.m.
At the Icelandic Care Home
2020 Harrison Drive, Vancouver, B.C.
?n
"The Chapel founded by A.S. Bardal to provide warmth,
understanding and personal service within the means of all."
M\(
BARDAl FUNERAL HOME
AND CREMATORIUM
843 SHERBROOK STREET, WINNIPEG, MANITOBA
774-7474
Þjóðræknisfélag íslendinga í Vesturheimi
FORSETI: JOHANN S. SIGURDSON
Lundar, Manitoba
Styrkið félagið og deildir þess, með þvf að gerast meðlimir.
Ársgjald: EINSTAKUNGAR $5.00 - HJÓN $10.00
Sendið ársgjöld til gjaldkera ykkar eigin deilda, eða til
Lilju Arnason, Box 1 - 1871 Portagc Avc. Winnipcg R3J 0H0