Lögberg-Heimskringla - 22.02.1985, Blaðsíða 2

2-WINN1PEG, FÖSTUDAGUR 22. FEBRÚAR 1985

Broken Melody
Elmu Gislason
"There is tlo music ih ti rest, but it
hus thé híaklng of music in it."
—Ruskin
A score of tnusic I was giv'n
lo write tny life upon.
I scan atnazed what I have writ,
look carefully ahd iong.
At first, a sweet ahd tender tilt,
hartnoniously strong,
tny heart and soul nostalgia fills,
tnetnories of chlldhood throng.
Now, a quickehing pace is felt,
you feei the rush of yeurs,
HP
Fourteen saved from shipwreck
All fourtccn crew mcmbers of thc capelln sliip Stíebjörg were rescued
by volunteer teams whcn the vessel ran aground ncar Hornufjördur
In the early hours of 17 Decembor.
The Sacbjöig was sailing liome to thc Westman Islands for the
Christmas holiday aftcr fishing off the east coast, when thc engine
brokc down and she started to be swcpt asliore. A smaller boat, Erl-
Ingui', tried to tow Saebjörg out of dangcr but the towing-wire brokc
in rough seas.
By extraordinary good iuck, Saebjörg ran aground probably in the best
placc in the southeast, on sofl sand between two dangerous heudlands.
As soon as the vessel was aground, about 100 nictres from the shore,
a line was sent across to rescue tcanis on land, and thc crew were
takcn on one by onc in a rcscuc chuir. The wliole operation took under
an hour, with only one casualty wlicn first matc Hafthór Thcodórsson
injurcd his lcg during thc rcscue. —photo by R. Axelsson
the harmötiy grow fuller, rich,
more intricute, the time
rising to exultant peaks
wlieti cherished goals attained.
Now and then, some discords
jarring
to rippling laughter turn,
sadness, anger, in succession
to liappiness return.
Life's passion in tunntltuous peaks
in zeniths of melodies strains
life’s greatest gift of gifts
parenthood procíaims.
1 scun once more with eagerness,
note deluils I have missed:
the little breaks — wee sliort rests
the silence that press
the heartbeat onward, and that
bless
what has been and is to be.
But, near the bottom of the score
too rests — mucli longer than
béforel
I sense a slackening of puce,
Cudences no longer race,
new goals no longer call.
Yet, the harmony flows on
sweet and true, new visions form.
How long will be my song, how
long
before the blessed eternal rest?
Will I be giv'n u melody,
a score to write upon
celestial harmony?
Eltna Gislason
Question of
the Week
Ai e you a mcmbcr of any Icclan-
dic organization?
Edítor's Note:
As some of those nsked below in-
dicnted that tlie only reasons they
were not memhers of nn Icelandie
orgánízation was because no such
organi/.ation existed in their hoine
town, it must be pointed out to all
readets that ymt can becoine a
meinber of Lögberg-Heiinskringla
Inc. and the Icelandic National
Leágúe, wherever you inay live.
Mrs. Eric Gudnason, Baldur,
Manitoba: "No, we are not."
Mrs. Balclur Gudbjartson, Gimli:
"No, we do not belong to any Icelan-
dic organizution.
Mr. Marvln Isfjord, Glrnli: "No, I
don't but my brother Eric does. He
is a member of the Festival
Committee."
Mrs. Áróra Sigurdson, Riverton:
"No, I don't. You see there is no such
organization here. But 1 attend func-
tions such as Thorrabiot at Geysir
and the Celebration at Gimli. I read
Lögberg-Heimskringla, of course."
Mr. Jolin Vidalin, Rivcrton: 'No,
there is no lcelandic organization in
Riverton. I go to Arborg qr Gimli for
Icelandic social events."
Mrs. Slgrun Palsson, Arborg:
"Yes, 1 ath a member of the Chapter
here in Arborg.
Mr. Haraldur Palsson, Arborg:
"No, not officially but 1 attend
Cttiturai and social events organized
by the chapter here. Yes, we all read
Lögberg-Heimskringla."
Tough Haul
When two young poachers were
caught red-handed recently with
three reindeer (two bucks and a calf)
they had shot illegally, the Fáskrúdsf-
jördur police confiscated the
evidence, taking the carcasses along
Largest Donation of Books ever made
ln a country like lceland, where
reading and book ownership con-
tinues to play an important cultural
role and the distinction between the
reader and the private collector is
more a difference of scale than at-
titude, there is scarccly a more
magnanimous gesture that cun be
made than donating one's private
library to the publie good.
Considering this high value placed
upon the printed word, nothing short
of nationwide press and broadcasting
coverage could be expected for a re-
cent gift of books by south Iceland
clergyman the Rev. Eiríkur J.
Eiriksson and his wife Kristin
Jónsdóttir, on the occasion of her
sixty-seveiith birthday, to their local
Selfoss municipal and regional public
library. Numbering 30,000 volumes,
the couple's private library
represents the largest donation of its
kind ever made in lceland.
Forming by sheer weight of
numbers an almost exhaustive record
its establishment in 1944. Where else
in the world, muses the Morgun-
bladid, can books be found which the
first president of the republic has
bound with his own hands.
A donatlöh of this size naturally
poses something of a problem for the
Selfoss library, more than doubling
the number of books at its disposal.
For the time being, therefore, the
largest gift of books in the country
will remain in the safe-keeping of the
to the local co-op for safe keeping in
a cold store.
Reindeer hunting is severely
restricted under conservation laws,
and the animals may only be shot by
licence hoiders for a few weeks each
year.
When the time came to show the
evidence to the local magistrate, one
of the reindeer, a buck, had disap-
peared without trace. "Anyone could
have walked in, as the room isn't
kept locked," said an employee of the
magistrate's office. "But it seems
unbelievable. It's a two-man job to
carry a full-sized buck, and you'd
need a car to táke it away in."
Whoever spirited the reindeer
away is due for a rude shock, as at
this time of year, during the rut,
buck's meat is rumoured to taste par-
Witticism The Althing makes just enough laws to hold the loopholes together. of Iceland s long literary traditions, suilab)é premises can be arranged to have done bettcr to make off with the the private hbrary also contains |1()USC it calf. numerous priceless volumes of
various rare works or collectors' items. One of these is a signed edi- tiort of a saga prlvately bound by its former owner Sveinn Björnsson, first president of the Icelandic republic on r n Up-Coming Events ^ Whist & Bridge every TUésdhy 8 p.m. — Scandinavian Centre. ^