Lögberg-Heimskringla - 09.02.1990, Síða 7

Lögberg - Heimskringla • Föstudagur 9.'Febrúar 1990 • 7
Bjössi bomm - a whirlwind of a man
by Hulda K. Danielsdóttir
Last winter, I heard that Bjössi bomm
(Dr. Björn Jónsson) of Swan River was
planning a trip to Iceland, a lecture tour
to promote his interpretation of the
Eddas. Last summer, guests from Ice-
land, who knew Bjössi well, told me they
had heard an excellent interview with
Bjössi on the Icelandic State Radio. He
had acted quite out of character, been
calm, spoken slowly and told of some
very moving things that had happened
while he worked as a physician in rural
Manitoba.Those who know Bjössi know
that he does not speak slowly as a rule.
He goes from one story to the next and
it is very hard to keep up with him.
Bjössi thinks a mile a minute and is
blessed with a certain boyish energy
and forwardness.
I decided to contact Bjössi about his
trip, and just before Christmas we met
for an interview at my home. Bjössi ar-
rived bringing rúllupylsa for me, baking
for my sons, and a small jar with decaf-
feinated coffee for himself. “I know that
an Icelandic woman like yourself, who
drinks strong black coffee all day, does
defmitely not have any decaffeinated
coffee on hand,” Bjössi said as he looked
for a pot in my kitchen to boil water in -
and of course he was right.
Bjössi said he had gone to Iceland to
promte his ideas on an Astral
Planetary explanation of the myths of
the Eddas and to publish his book on the
subject, Stjamvísi í Eddum (Astral
Aspects of the Eddas), as well as his
childhood memoirs, Glampar Á Götu
MESSUBOÐ
Fyrsta Lúterska
Kirkja
Pastor Ingthor I. Isfeld
10:30 a.m. The Service followed by
Sunday School & Coffee hour.
First Lutheran Church
580 Victor St., Winnipeg, MB
R3G 1R2 Ph. 772-7444
(Reflections on a Street).
Bjössi delivered 4 lectures, 2 in
Akureyri and 2 in Reykjavík, which were
all well attended. Slqaldborg offered to
publish both books if Bjössi agreed to
write a sequel to his memoirs. Bjössi
has since heard that Glampar Á
Götu was a best-seller at
Sauðárkrókur and made the best-
seller’s list in Akureyri.
“Not enough books have been
sold in Canada,” says Bjössi,
who, incidentally, advertized
them for sale in our special
Lögberg-Heimskringla No-
vember 3rd issue. “The
reason for this is obvi-
ous,” he adds. “Icelan-
ders in Iceland will pur-
chase books whatever the
cost, but people here refuse to pay
more than a few dollars for a copy. The
Icelandic pubhsher insisted on pricing
my books at $35 and $55, but I told him
they wouldn’t sell here for that price.
Now I have decided to bring down the
price, by what would otherwise have
come my way as wages. Now Stjamvísi
í Eddum is selling for $20 and Glampar
Á Götu for $40, with postage of course
paid by the customer.”
“My trip to Iceland was successful in
other ways as well,” Bjössi continues.
“Vísindafélag Norðlendinga (Science
Academy of the North), led by pórir
Sigurðsson, an astronomer who teaches
at Akureyri’s college, grilled me for 2-1/
2 hours on my ideas. Afterwards, they
told me they would like to use my ideas
for their study program this winter. I left
them some slides and other interesting
materialwhichwillbeused atthecollege
as well. I was also interviewed by some
joumalists and by Jónas Jónasson from
the Icelandic State Radio, and a 1/2 hour
television show on Astral Aspects of the
Eddas will air soon on Icelandic Televi-
sion.”
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Stjarnvísi í Eddum is 141
pages long, with 48 illustrations and a
fold-out star map called Næturskuggsjá
Eddanna (Celestial Mirror of the Ed-
das). In it, Bjöm presents his interpreta-
tíon of Norse myths as planetary move-
ments across the zodiac. The book is
only available in Icelandic as yet, and
apparently young scholars are showing
it increased interest. The other book,
Glampar Á Götu, is 262 pages, with
illustrations by Jóhannes Geir, the
author’s brother. That book is written
from the viewpoint of a child. A child is
the narrator and as he grows older the
narratíon changes and the style becomes
more sophisticated. Bjössi does not
show himself in a favourable light but is
honest and open. Sauðárkrókur, a town
in the north of Iceland, is the stage upon
which Bjössi and other youths act and
perform incredible deeds. This book
also reveals a way of life in an Icelandic
town half a century or more ago.
Dr. Björn Jónsson was born at
Sauðárkrókur in 1930, the son of Jón p.
Bjömsson and Geirlaug Jóhannesdóttir.
The older generatíon at Sauðárkrókur
still remembers Bjössi bomm, and the
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younger generation knows him second
hand from stories told. Bjössi was quite
famous in Sauðárkrókur and received
his nickname from imitating the sound
that the plumber’s pipes made when they
were cut. They rang out “bomm” and
little Bjössi yelled “bomm” when he
broke light bulbs or windows, and thus
the nickname.
Bjössi graduated from the University
of Iceland in 1947 as a medical doctor.
Early in 1948, Bjössi left Iceland and
went to Winnipeg, Canada for his post
graduate studies. He had always in-
tended to retum to Iceland and work
either at Sauðárkrókur or Húsavík, “but
human nature interfered”, as he puts it.
“There was this young nymph working
at the hospital, hormones took over and
we got married and had children,” said
Bjössi. His wife is Iris, his sons are Jón,
Randver Gerry and Ath Brian, and his
daughter is Álfheiður.
Bjössi retired a few years ago but is
keeping busy. He is presently writing a
sequel to his memoirs and working on
the publication of the English version of
Stjamvísi í Eddum. Bjössi’s interest in
the Eddas is much more than a hobby, it
is an impassionate endeavor which he
approaches with the same enthusiasm
and in the same whirlwind manner as
most things.
X
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