Lögberg-Heimskringla - 25.02.1994, Blaðsíða 4

4 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 25. febrúar 1994
Lost stories retrieved
THE WRITING OF RAGNHILDUR GUTTORMSSON
by Klrsten Wolf
Chair, Dept. of lcelandic
University of Manitoba
When it comes to find-
ing specific informa-
tion about Icelandic-
Canadian literary works written
and published in the decades
following the mid-twentieth
century, the literary critic often
runs into problems. The stan-
dard reference guide, Ólafur F.
Hjartar’s Vesturheimsprent:
Skrá um rít á íslensku prentuð
vestan haís og austan af Vestur-
íslendingum eða varðandi þá. A
bibliography of publications in
Icelandic printed in North
America or elsewhere by or
relating to the Icelandic setúers
in the West (1986) lists, as its
title announces, only works
written in Icelandic. Stefán
Einarsson in his survey of
North American Icelandic
prose writers in History of
Icelandic Prose Writers 1800-
1940 (Islandica 32-33 (1948)
and Richard Beck in his com-
panion work on North
American-Icelandic poets in
History oflcelandic Poets 1800-
1940 (Islandica 34 (1950),
which to date together consti-
tute the most detailed discus-
sion of literature written by
North Americans of Icelandic
extraction, obviously do not
include authors who published
afterthe 1950s.
In many respects, the termi-
nation point set by Stefán
Einarsson and Richard Beck’s
studies is a wise one, for the
1950s mark a definite transition
from composition in Icelandic
to composition in English, a
transition that also gave rise to
uncertainties concerning the
fate and future of Icelandic-
Canadian literature. In fact,
Richard Beck concludes his
survey with some considera-
tions of the state of the art and
quotes a statement by the jour-
nalist ]ohn G. Holme, who in
1922 prophesied that the
Icelandic-Canadian literary tra-
dition would live on in the New
World, and comments that “the
voices (i.e., of these later
authors) are gradually letting
themselves be heard, and
although so far rather faint and
lacking in robust and distinctive
quality, it is to be hoped that
they will in the future swell into
a chorus of might and magnifi-
cence worthy of the old and rich
Icelandic literary tradition”
(241).
There is no doubt that John
G. Holme’s prophecy found
realization: a multitude of voices
have let themselves be heard
over the last four decades.
Characteristic of the literature
that appeared in the years fol-
lowing the publication of Stefán
Einarsson and Richard Beck’s
surveys, however, is that women
writers are here in the forefront.
In 1951, Kristine Benson
ICristofferson (1914) published
the novel Tanya, in 1957, Lauga
Geir (1888-1968) published the
play In the Wake of the Storm,
in 1959, Violet Paula Ingaldson
(1887-1980) published the novel
Cold Adventure, in 1963 and
1979, Elma Helgason published
her two poetiy collections In the
Land Where the Peace River
Flows and Songs for All
Seasons, in 1973, Helen
Swinbume Lloyd published her
Cloth of Gold and Other
Poems, and during the 1950s,
1960s, and 1970s, Solveig
Sveinsson (1877-1976) pub-
lished no fewer than four novels
(the first two written under the
pen-name of Ronda Rivers): We
Loved Them Once (1954),
Heaven in My Heart (1956),
The Tangled Web (1960), and
Life’s Many Moods (1971).
Common to most of these later
authors is, however, that their
achievements have never been
chronicled in surveys of the type
undertaken by Stefán Einarsson
and Richard Beck. Accordingly,
many of them soon receded into
oblivion, a fact that has given
rise to the mistaken impression
that the 1950s and 1960s repre-
sent a decline in Icelandic-
Canadian literature. A con-
tributing factor is probably also
that in most of the works of the
Icelandic-Canadian authors
writing during this period ethnic
reference or influence is virtually
completely absent; they were
mainstream Canadian writers.
It is among these later writers
that we find Ragnhildur Gut-
tormsson (1886-1983). Ragn-
hildur was bom in Eskifjörður,
the daughter of Gísli Jónsson
and Sólrún Ámadóttir. The fam-
ily emigrated to Canada in 1903,
settling first in Gladstone,
Manitoba; two years later they
moved north to the west side of
Lake Manitoba by The Narrows,
where they homesteaded.
Despite the hardships of the pio-
neering years, Ragnhildur, or
Hilda as she was called, man-
aged to secure for herself an
education. She attended school
in Winnipeg where she eamed
her teacher’s certificate. She
then worked as a school teacher
for many years in the Icelandic
communities, including Big
Point, Asham Point, and The
Narrows. When her youngest
brother became a widower,
losing his wife when the
youngest of his three
daughters was born
Ragnhildur took it upon
herself to raise the three
girls, Sólrún, Aurora,
and Ragnheiður. In
1919, she married
Stefán Guttormsson,
and the family moved
to Winnipeg where
Stefán worked as a
surveyor. After her
husband’s death in
1959, Ragnhildur
moved to Toronto to
live with her daughter
and niece, Ragnheiður
(Heather) McNamee.
In 1959, Ragnhildur’s Ian
of Red River, a book for young
adults, appeared. It is the stoiy
of the adventures of Ian and his
father Angus and other
Scotsmen who emigrated in
1811 to colonize the plains of
Manitoba. While Ian of Red
River is written as fiction, the
actual events and many of the
names are factual, as noted by
Sally Townsend in her review in
The Globe and Mail. These
include Miles Macdonnell,
Robert Semple, the metis
Cuthbert Grant, leader of the
Seven Oaks battle, and Lord
Selkirk. Ian and his friend Don
play their part in the Seven
Oaks incident, one of the
attempts made by the Nor’-
Westers to drive out the settlers
and during which Ian shoots a
native to save Don’s life. As
Sally Townsend comments, “the
stoiy of these two boys... is one
to hold the attention of young
readers from first to last, and the
historical setting can be an edu-
cation.” The book evidently
enjoyed success, for it was
reprinted in 1967.
Ragnhildur’s desire to edu-
cate and her interest in children
are clearly associated with her
carreer as a teacher, and the
educational element is found
also in a number of her other
publications, which include the
many essays she published in
her nature column in the
Winnipeg Free Press, here writ-
ing, under the pen name
“Auntie Lou,” the folldale “The
Rescue of the Prince,” pub-
lished in Jan Andrew’s antholo-
gy The Dancing Sun (1981), a
book of stories and poems cele-
brating Canadian children, the
short stoiy “Broken Shackles,”
published in the first issue of
The Icelandic Canadian, and
the play, “Moss-grown Rocks,”
which she had produced on
CBC radio.
From Ragnhildur Guttorms-
son’s obituaiy, written by Elma
Ragnhildur Guttormsson in her
normal school days in Winnipeg.
Gislason, it is clear, however,
that not all of Ragnhildur’s
writings appeared in print:
“One of her manuscripts
‘GrimkeH’ is still in the hands of
a publisher; it was her dream to
have this stoiy published and it
may yet be. It portrays her
fondness for Iceland and with
her bright mind she was able to
put this into words.” Due to the
efforts of Heather McNamee
(who also provided this writer
with many of the biographical
details listed above), it was pos-
by Ragnhildur Guttormsson
It was a hot Friday after-
noon in June. The game of
life was in full swing. In the
low willow, the yellow warbler
was building his nest and the
oriole in the tall poplars. Down
in the grass, the ants were busy
with larvae and pupae. Bees
were buzzing among the June
roses lining the roadside, gath-
ering supplies for their off-
spring, and the June roses
themselves were intent upon
their one object in life: to
ensure the world a plentiful
supplyof Juneroses.
Ed Buckley was driving his
car down the road that led past
the little white schoolhouse.
Farther down the road, he
could see Joe Brown’s oldfash-
ioned buggy tuming a comer.
There were two people in it,
sible to locate the publisher and
obtain the manuscript of Ragn-
hildur Guttormsson’s novel,
“Grimkell’s Stoiy,” a fascinating
stoiy of medieval Iceland during
the early years of the Free State.
In a letter of 22 November 1993
to this writer, the publisher says
that she had been “touched by
the lyrical quality in her
(Ragnhildur Guttormsson’s)
writing, experiencing it as
something rare in Canadian
books either for children or
adults and believing she had
a great deal to offer.”
However, the search
for “Grimkell’s Story” also
brought to light a number
of unpublished short sto-
ries by Ragnhildur Gut-
tormsson; some of these
were in the hands of the
above-mentioned publish-
er, while others were in
Heather McNamee’s posses-
sion. These stories as well as
Grimkell’s Story” are now
housed in the University of
Manitoba Archives.
While it is evident that the
two novels, Ian of Red River
and “Grimkell’s Story,” repre-
sent Ragnhildur Guttormsson’s
highest literary achievements,
many of the short stories are
well written and treat a variety
of issues. Some are set in
Canada, others in Iceland.
Some are clearly fictional, oth-
ers appear factual. Yet others
might be best described as a
hybrid form: factual events in
literary clothing. “All Is Fair”
appears to belong to the first
categoiy; it is here published —
with the permission of Heather
McNamee — as an example of
Ragnhildur Guttormsson’s skills
as a writer.
their heads bobbing up and
down with the motion of the
vehicle. Joe must have called
for his boy at school.
The children were coming
out and sauntering off in two’s
and three’s in different direc-
tions. Ed felt pleased: he had
timed himself well.
Ed Buckley, a young bache-
lor farmer in the Grandville dis-
trict, was in love with Helen
Aylesworth, who taught in the
little white schoolhouse. At
present, he was the only one
who was sure of the fact, a few
guessed it, and one hoped for it.
Therefore, since he absolute-
ly had to go for his mail, what
more natural than to offer
Helen a ride to her boarding
place, seeing he was going that
way. Helen Aylesworth was a
wonderful girl, so small and
Continued on page 5