Lögberg-Heimskringla - 18.03.1994, Blaðsíða 1

( Lögberg ]
neimsKringia
The lcelandic Weekly
Lögberg Stofnaö 14. janúar 1888 Heimskringla Stofnaö 9. september 1886
108. Árgangur Föstudagur 18. mars 1994
108th Year Publications Mail Registration No. 1667 Friday, 18 March 1994
Inside this week:
Letters to the editor....................2
Police Officer of the Year...............3
Þorrablót in Florida.....................4
Fantasies by Franklin Johnson............5
A heritage hangs on......................5
Halli's Kitchen..........................7
Children's Corner........................7
Númer 9
Number 9
A
loelandic
News
Camping in a snow
bank:
■ "I had a good night's sleep in an excel-
lent sleeping bag”, said Martin Flousden a
mathematics teacher from London, after
camping on a snow bank just outside
Selfoss. Martin and his friend are the first
campers this year. They have been travel-
ling on foot in lceland since January 5,
pulling their gear on sleighs. Martin is on
his way to Gullfoss which is the last stop
on his trip. He told a Morgunblaðið
reporter that the accident insurance runs
out on February I6 and he wants to be in
safe harbour by then.
However, the sidewalks in Reykjavík
are more dangerous now than the interior
highlands. Martin is happy with his trip,
but wants to come back as there is so
much to see in lceland.
Þorri is out, Góa is in:
■ February
20th was
the first day
of Góa (the
month that
f o I I o w s
Þorri) and
Woman's
Day. Icelandic women have given up the
old ways of welcoming Góa and instead
husbands or boyfriends give them flowers
on this day. Above Magnús Pálsson is
seen buying his bouquet from Elisabet
Kristinsdóttir in the flower shop Sólblómi.
Horses for export.
■ About 90 horses were flown from
lceland to Sweden, Lithuania and
Germany recently. Sixty three horses
were taken to Lithuania where they will be
taken to Krasuona, a farm about 70 km
from Vilnius, where lcelanders and
Lithuanians
have formed
a co-op farm
for raising
h o r s e s ,
1 r a i n i n g ,
trading and
tourist ser-
vice. On the
lower picture two of the
horses can be seen being
taken from the cart to the
plane which took them
sbroad.
GUNNUR ISFELD
V
ICELANDERS AGREE !
(sart af)
By Tom Oteson
Western Icelanders
love to argue.
Perhaps because
we can no longer hack away
at each other with swords
and axes as people did in
saga age, our genes express
themselves in the more civi-
lized form of heated discus-
sion and debate.
It has even been said that
we are a contentious people,
to the point that if three of us
get together in a meeting to
solve a problem, they are
likely to emerge from that
meeting having formed four
committees, all operating at
cross purposes with each
other.
Be that as it may, a group
of Icelandic Canadians
representing Lögberg-
Heimskringla and the Ice-
landic Canadian magazine
had a meeting to discuss
ways in which the two publi-
cations could co-operate to
their mutual benefit. There
were considerably more than
three of us present, so need-
less to say there were a lot of
interesting discussions. One
of the Icelandic Canadian
representatives suggested,
only half in jest, I think, that
the two publications could
generate more interest if they
could get a fight going
between them. In that spirit I
might suggest that the useful-
ness of the Ióelandic Cana-
dian ended with the advent
of indoor plumbing and the
demise of the outhouse, and
that even in the golden age of
the outhouse, Lögberg-
Heimskringla was superior
because the Icelandic
Canadian is printed on high
quality bond paper, whereas
L-H is printed on newsprint,
which is softer, gentler and
more pliable, although the
ink could leave smudges.
I might suggest that but I
won’t. It is simply one of my
weak attempts at humor, a
joke not to be taken seriously
at all. If we were going to
pick a fight with the maga-
zine, it would be over a much
more serious issue, one
directly connected to and of
vital importance to our
Icelandic heritage and cul-
ture, such as what is the
proper filling for vínarterta.
In any case, we don’t real-
ly want to fight — at least, I
hope not. I have immense
respect for the Icelandic
Canadian Magazine and its
long tradition and the contri-
bution it continues to make
to the preservation of the Ice-
landic heritage in North
America. The meeting was
about co-operation, about
ways in which we might be
able to share resources and
cut costs; for example, is
there a way in which the two
Icelandic violinist Sigrún
Eðvaldsdóttir gave per-
formances, partly spon-
sored by Lögberg-
Heimskringla, in Canada last
November during which her
talent and charm deeply
impressed those who had the
opportunity to hear her
music. According to News
from Iceland she made an
even bigger impression in
England recently.
Geoffrey Crankshaw, a
music critic for the respected
publicaton Musical Opinion,
praised highly Sigrún
Eðvaldsdóttir’s recent recital
given in London’s St James,
Piccadilly, calling her “the
finest young violin talent” he
has seen since Vengerov.
She is complimented for
flawless technique and sur-
prising maturity for her
young age.
Her programme consisted
publications could get
together in a joint drive to
sell subscriptions? How can
each publication help to pro-
mote the other? Many such
questions were raised and
discussed. The answers to
these questions are not as
easy as one might think at
first glance. The two publica-
tions are very different. The
Icelandic Canadian is a quar-
terly magazine. Its format per-
mits the publication of in-
depth articles on many
aspects of Icelandic and
Western Icelandic culture,
past and present. L-H is a
weekly newspaper published
44 times a year. It can offer
more current news about
events in the various commu-
nities around North America,
as well as timely comment
and historical background
and features ranging from
of works by Beethoven,
Tchaikovsky, Gershwin and
Wieniawski and, according
to the critic, all were played
with marvelous interpreta-
tion, rich and pure tonality,
flawless bowing technique,
and a sincere and inspired
stage presence.
Masterly avoidance of
excessive sentimentality in
the Adagio Cantabile of
Beethoven’s Sonata in C
children’s puzzles and games
to recipes. Both publications
have strong interests in art
and literature. Lögberg-
Heimskringla, for example,
recently published the lost
stories of Icelandic-Canadian
writer Ragnhildur Guttorms-
son, edited by Kirsten Wolf,
Chair of the Department of
Icelandic at the University of
Manitoba, and we are espe-
cially proud to publish in this
issue a poem by Franklin
Johnson, one of our most dis-
tinguished and talented poets.
In fact, as different as they
are, the two publications do
have much in common, the
most important thing being
that they both share the same
goal preserving our heritage
and culture. Co-operation
that benefits both and ties the
hands of neither is worth
Continued on page 5
minor, Op. 30, Nr. 2was
lauded. “Ravishing” was
applied to Tchaikovsky’s
Souvenir d’un lieu cher,
whereas she is said to have
shown brilliance in both the
Beethoven and Heifetz’s
transcription of three Gersh-
win works. Crankshaw
described the conclusion as
a “rousing performance of
Wieniawski’s showy
Polonaise de Concerto.”
Sigrún Eðvaldsdóttir: “the finest young violin talent”
Violinist receives rave
review in Engíand