Lögberg-Heimskringla - 06.05.1994, Qupperneq 31

Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 6. maí 1994 • 31
Iwould like to make a proposi-
tion to you for the erection of a
monument at Glaumbær in
Skagafjörður, Iceland, in the memo-
ry of the first European child to be
born in the New World, one Snorri
Þórfinnsson. Snorri and his parents,
Þórfinnur Karlsefni and Guðríður
Þórbjarnardóttir, are all buried at
Glaumbær.
In the Saga of Greenlanders and
the Saga of Eiríkur the Red, it
describes how Guðríður and
Þórfinnur met in Greenland after she
had been widowed by Þórsteinn,
Leifur Eiríksson’s brother. After their
marriage, they sailed in search of
Vínland according to Leifur
Eiríksson’s description. They were
the first European settlers to pass the
winter of 1002-1003 on Vínland with
the intention of making this their
new home. This same winter,
Guðríður bore a son and named him
Snorri. Some years later the family
sailed back to Iceland and returned
to settle at Glaumbær in Skaga-
fjörður, where Þórfinnur had come
from. Snorri eventually took over
from his father and erected the first
church at Glaumbær and a church
still stands there today. After
Þórfinnur died, Guðríður, who was
extremely religious, “walked south”
on a pilgrimage to visit the Pope in
Rome, which was a daring feat of
that time.
Apart from the church at
Glaumbær, there is also a 19th-cen-
tury turf farmhouse, now a Folk
Museum, visited by many tourists
every year who want to know more
about the Icelandic nation.
The idea, to erect a monument in
memory of these historical events, is
for the purpose of promoting knowl-
edge about the people of Nordic
descent and their origins as well as
to prompt or increase relations and
travel between Iceland and North
America.
During the preparations of this
project, it was revealed that an actu-
al statue of Guðríður and Snorri,
called “The First European Mother”,
did in fact exist. It was sculptured by
one of Iceland’s most famous sculp-
tors, Ásmundur Sveinsson. The stat-
ue, which is double man’s size, was
made some time in the 1930’s and
then sent to the World Exhibition in
New York in 1939. The statue shows
Guðríður standing at the stern of a
Viking ship, looking out to sea, with
her son Snorri, standing on her
shoulder. Although enquiries have
been made to find the statue’s
where-abouts, nothing has come up
so far. With further research into the
matter, information about the small-
er original came about. It was being
kept in storage at Kjarvalsstaðir
Museum in Reykjavík. The original is
about 1 metre high and will be
placed on a base of another metre,
where all those who donated to the
project, will be mentioned.
It has been decided to look for
support from companies, fellowships
as well as individuals both here in
Iceland and in North America, to
finance the project. The estimat-
ed cost of purchasing the statue,
casting in bronze and erecting it,
is U.S. $18,000.
I would therefore, like to ask
for your financial support for
this project, perhaps $50 - $100
or in fact, any donation would
be appreciated. The statue would
be regarded as a gift from
Canadian and American Ice-
landers to Iceland, in celebration
of 50 years of independence this
year.
If all goes according to plan,
the monument will be unveiled
with a ceremony July 9, 1994,
when many people of Icelandic
descent from North America will
be in Iceland celebrating our 50
years of independence.
It is worth mentioning, that
the project has had much cover-
age lately in the media, as well as
being part of a TV series about
the Nordic countries, called
“The Viking Project” for PBS.
Iceland Air has also shown inter-
est in our project and promises
their support.
If you have any questions
regarding this matter, I am pre-
pared to help and discuss with
you whatever you need to know.
U.S. contact is Einar Gústafsson,
Iceland Tourist Board, New
York. Tel: (212) 949-2333.
Thank you.
Vigfús Vigfússon
Manager
Skagafjörður Tourism Board
Skagfirðingabraut 17-19
550 Sauðárkrókur
ICELAND
Tel: 354-5-36440
Fax: 354-5-35892
Detail ofthe statue “The First European Mother”
by Ásmundur Sveinsson.
Hver d
sér fegra föðurland
Við bjóðum
_ tíðar flugferðir milli Reykjavíkur og stærri þéttbýlisstaða
hringinn í kringum landið.
— gistingu á tveimur af bestu hótelunum í Reykjavík;
Hótel Esju og Hótel Loftleiðum.
— bíla af öllum stærðum hjá Bíialeigu Flugleiða / Hertz.
FLUGLEIÐIR
þjóðbraut innanlands