Lögberg-Heimskringla - 15.10.1982, Page 6
6-WINNIPEG, FÖSTUDAGUR 15. OKTÓBER 1982
Ingolf's Pillars:
The changing Icelandic House
Continued from page 5
it. The real world was background to
the central image. Their material ar-
tifacts were beautiful because they
were expressions of myths, but the
house remained simple and unimpor-
tant. Life took place in the imagina-
tion. This remained true for at least
the first generation of Icelandic-
Canadians. Early accounts give the
impression that all the energy of
Icelandic settlers, beyond sub-
sistence, poured into one channel —
education. Icelanders struggled to
establish schools, print newspapers,
and get professional training. By the
second generation, traditional culture
was losing its importance. The pre-
MINNING
cious carved furniture with grotesque
mythic beasts was stored in the attic;
the evening ritual of telling sagas was
discontinuéd.
Rapoport's model is useful and
perceptive, but as the history of
Icelandic housing illustrates, the in-
fluence of environment and culture
on house form is as convoluted as the
entwined beasts on Ingolf's pillars.
Like the ancient Vikings, the settlers
adapted to new environments, but
the outward forms, such as houses,
were only shells. Inside Icelanders
maintained a strong and unchanging
inner vision. The house was merely a
shelter; cultural life was expressed in
less tangible forms.
Jóhanna Anderson
In Canada, Icelandic immigrants experimented with architecture,
but echoes of traditional features still were visible. Tcelandic-
Canadian poet G.J. Guttormursson is shown as a teenager circa 1891
in front of the home where he was born in Riverton, Manitoba. The
separate units are reminiscent of the passage house in Iceland.
Courtesy of the Manitoba Archives.
Jóhanna Anderson andaðist 7.
ágúst síðastliðinn á sjúkrahúsinu í
Selkirk. Jóhanna var fædd 10. júní,
1894 á Ármótaseli á Jökuldalsheiði.
Foreldrar hennar voru þau hjónin
Björn Sigurðsson og Guðrún
Valgerður Hallgrímsdóttir. Jóhanna
fluttist til Kanada árið 1903 með
foreldrum sínum og systkinum.
Settist fjöldskyldan að í Hólabyggð,
norður af Glenboro, Manitoba. Þar
dvaldist Jóhanna á heimili foreldra
sinna til fullorðinsaldurs.
Árið 1925, 31. mars, giftist hún
Hannesi Anderson og stofnuðu þau
hemili í Hólabyggðinni. Bjuggu þau
þar til ársins 1936 en þá fluttu þau
inn til Glenboro.
Jóhanna var mild og hæglát kona.
Hún ávann sér virðingu allra sem til
hennar þekktu. Hún lét sér einkar
annt um þá sem sjúkir voru og
þreyttist aldrei á að sinna þeim sem
til hennar leituðu.
Hannes, maður hennar, tók þátt í
síðari heimstyrjöldinni og kom
þaðan all skaddaður. Annaðist
Jóhanna mann sinn af natni og alúð
allt til dauða hans, 9. júlí, 1972.
Jóhanna þótti sérstaklega barngóð
og mörg voru þdu litlu börnin sem
drápu á hennar dyr og ávallt
laumaði þá Jóhanna einhverju
góðgæti í litlu munnana þeirra.
Skömmu eftir lát Hannesar fór
heilsa Jóhönnu versnandi og árið
1976 seldi hún heimili sitt og flutti
til Betel í Selkirk. Þar dvaldi hún í
góðu yfirlæti þar til yfir lauk.
Jóhanna var heiðursmeðlimur
Lúthersku kirkjunnar í Glenboro.
Þar fór útför hennar fram frá kirkju
þess safnaðar, 18 ágúst s.l. Var
Jóhanna lögð til hinnstu hvílu við
hlið manns síns í Glenboro grafreit.
Rev. R. Dederick jarðsöng.
Jóhönnu syrgja ein systir hennar,
Jónína í Glenboro og ein mágkona,
Lena Heidman í Winnipeg. Enn-
fremur systur - og bróðurbörn, sem
öll minnast hennar með virðingu
Far þú í friði
friður Guðs þig blessi
hafðu þökk fyrir allt og allt
gekkst þú með Guði,
Guð þér nú fylgi,
hans dýrðar hnoss þú hljóta skalt.
J.F.
Böðvar Bjarki Jakobson
Bjarki Jakobson
læknir látinn
Icelanders who moved to the Canadian prairie experimented with
underground houses. The Gronlund family built this winter home
with a sod roof in Saskatchewan. The house, shown in 1910,
measured twelve by fourteen feet and eight feet deep. The family
plastered the walls with clay and sand. Courtesy of the Saskat-
chewan Archives Board.
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