Lögberg-Heimskringla - 13.05.1994, Blaðsíða 1

r
i
Inside this week:
rleimskringla
The lcelandic Weekly
Lögberg Stofnaö 14. janúar 1888 Heimskringla Stofnað 9. september 1886
Þorrablót in Wynyard....................2
New Ways of Réaching Out................3
Poetry by Franklin Johnson..............4
Letters to the Editor...................6
Children's Corner.......................7
108. Árgangur Föstudtgur 13. maí 1994
108th Year Publications Mail Registration No. 1667 Friday, 13 May 1994
Númer 17
Number 17
lcelandic
News
Ballad-poetry:
■ Ballad-poetry (rímur) ís uniquely
lcelandic, as far as we know. It was,
however, not a native-born lcelander
who conducted a seminar in Ballad-
poetry ín the middie of April at Hotel
Valaskjálf in Egilstaðir, Philip Voegler
is a Ballad-poetry enthusiast and
wanted to create more interest in this
very lcelandic art form amongst
lcelanders themselves. Twelve peo-
ple took part in the course, which was
very ably led by Magnús Jóhannsson,
a member of lceland's poetry club
"Iðunn" in Reykjavík. Participants
achieved good fesults and the intem
tion ts to organize a poetry club in
Egilstaðir.
Dr. Jónas
Kristjánsson, 70;
■ Jónas Kristjánsson has been a mem-
ber of the lcelandic Language
Committee since it was established ín
I964. Ðuring that time the Language
Committee has grown from three
members, where Jónas was a spare, to
fíve members between I980-I988, fif-
teen members since I989, During this
last period Jónas has been appointed
by the University Board and appointed
tp the executive by the Minister of
Education. Jónas has always fully par-
ticipated, even dufing the first years
when he was a spare, and has been
part of all major decisions during this
time. The Language Commíttee's
maín objective is the protection and
strengthening of the lcelandic lan
guage. , During this time the Language
Committe has grown from a few mem-
bers who conducted meetings at the
office of its director to an institution
which advises on language and lan-
guage creation and publishes dictio-
naries and textbooks in lcelandic.
Jónas's advice regarding the larger
issues has always been valuable. His
knowledge of lcelandic Literature, hís
sensitivity to the language and faith in
its abílity to renew itself has been a
Tjuiding light within the committee,
\. GCWWff ISPEIO
Hitting the Right Note!
Chris Thorsteinson comes
from Westboume, Man-
itoba which is located 20
miles north west of Portage la
Prairie. His interest in Country
Music began at an early age and
by age 14, in 1989, he had
formed the Doc Walker Band.
This was a 3 piece band and
their first public performance
was providing entertainment for
the Johnson Family Reunion in
Langmth, Manitoba. Since that
time the band has grown to five
members.
During the past five years the
band has been developing their
musical talent and are now giv-
ing their audiences a blend of
harmony and a clear country
sound that has meant many
more appearances locally as
well as performing in competi-
tions.
Chris Thorsteinson is lead
vocal and guitar, Kevin Berard,
also from the original group,
plays the drums, Kristinn
Hambly is bass guitar and plays
the keyboard, Chad Gray does
vocal and guitar and Mark
Morrisseau plays the fiddle and
does vocal. They are sought
after as a group to play at socials
(as these gatherings are cailed in
Manitoba); for the Royal
Canadian Legion in Portage and
have also performed at the
Cont'd. page 4
‘Doc ‘WaC/^er
Chris Thorsteinson, centre,
(L-R): Chad Gray, Kristinn Hambly, Kevin Berard and Mark Morrisseau.
Icelandic Women
by Gunnur Isfeld
When we look at education of
Icelandic women, the name
Thora Melsteð ranks high on
the list. Thora Melsteð had received
more education than was usual fór a
woman of her generation, having spent
four years in Copenhagen leaming both
home economics and the arts, among
those English, German, and French.
She retumed to Reykjavík and began
teaching languages, with emphasis on
English. At this time the only schools in
Iceland were, the Latin School, the
Seminaiy and a few elementary schools.
The only education available to wómen
took place in homes and consisted
mainly of embroidery and other home
arts.
Thora’s interest in educating Ice-
landic women grew and in 1851, with
her sister Ágústa, she established a
school for young women at Suðurgata
2. There were no lending institutions in
Iceland at this time and finding money
for such a project proved difficult.
Wages were mainly paid in products.
Government officials and other func-
tionaries were paid in butter, lamb,
wool and fish. It was a time when peo-
ple were doing w.ell if they physically
survived winter.
The Alþing (parlament) could give •
advice, but no money. In 1869 Thora’s
husband Páll Melsteð, wrote an article
regarding the establishment of a
Women’s College, which appeared in
“Norðanfari”. It received little response
and because of that Thora sailed to
Copenhagen and Edinburgh in 1870 to
try to raise money for the school.
Denmark was in an economic slump
and the answer there was that
Jcelanders would have to start the
school themselves and if there was
interest there could be support coming
from Denmark.
Thora Melsteð returned to Iceland
and invited 24 women to her home who
all supported her in pushing ahead with
the school. Still there was little enthusi-
asm for their project. No one had heard
of establishing a school with collec-
tions. The country had gotten by with-
out a women’s school and so they
would in the future, and because Thora
Melsteð was partly Danish, people
feared the school would not be cultural-
ly Icelandic. Others felt it would be
impossible to run the school in
Reykjavík because there was too much
vanity in that town.
When everything failed, Thora
Melsteð broke the ice by donating a rug
Cont’d. page 4