Lögberg-Heimskringla - 26.08.1994, Blaðsíða 1

Inside this week
Heimskringla
The icelandic Weekly
Lögberg Stofnaö 14. janúar 1888 Heimskringla Stofnaö 9. september 1886
108. Árgangur Föstudagur 26. ágúst 1994
108th Year Publications Mail Registration No. 1667 Friday, 26 August 1994
Celebrating in Saskatchewan..........2
Message from Gimli's Fjallkona.......3
The North American Picture...........4
Musicians in love with lceland.......5
Einar's Anecdotes....................6
Children's Corner....................7
Númer 28
Number 28
leelandic
News
Smoked Dog-fish:
The manager of lcelandic Food Co. Jóhann
Guðmundsson in co-operation with the
lcelandic Fish Research Instítute is investigat-
ing export of smoked
dog-fish to the Euro-
pean market. Dog-fish
is mainly found in the
North Atlantic, north-
west of Scotland and
around Ireland and in
the ocean all around
lceland, but especially:
in the warmer seas at
the south and south-
west coast. In former days the dog-fish was
caught for the liver but now it is eaten and
marketed under many names such as ocean
eel or Schiller tress. The research ínstitute is
investigating better utilization of dog-fish and
this new project is a continuatíon of that.
The Elf Stone:
Work is underway
on widening Vestur-
lands road and
those travelling at
Laxalón have not-
'ced a large rock
with a fence around
it. Some people have speculated that this is
an elf stone or even an enchanted rock.
However acconding to Eysteinn Jónsson, a
foreman at the Highway Branch, who has
done a little investigation among the peo-
ple familiar in the area, no one is familiar
with any such stories about this rock and
therefore no reason to treat ít with special
Care. However during road construction in
I970 an unusual amount of break downs of
machínery was noticed which was attrib-
uted to the presense of elves or "huldu-
fólk", upset with the disturbance. Erla
Stefansdóttir, a medium, seen here stand-
ing by the rock, was asked to take a look at
Ihe stone. Erla sensed the presence of
many elves or "huldufólk".
Butter churned and bread
baked by open fire.
The outdoor theatre
and the souvenier shop
at Egilsstaðir sponsored
a demonstration, at
Egilsstaðir woods, of
°ld and new work meth-
°ds. Among those
things displayed were a
bláck smith at work,
cooking on an open fire
and butter churning.
Old ímplements for milk
Pmduction were displayed and yarn was spun
and knitted. Weaving in squares was dis-
played by Randalin Handíworks as well as
uying with herb sap. ”Oak“ showed wood
carving. Artists were on hand and some
^elected tunes were played on an accordian.
Mowing hay with a scythe was also displayed
and the hay transported by horses. Many visi-
tors stopped by, but the show was only a one
oay affair,
GUNNUft !SF£LD
ÍSLENDINGADAGURINN:
ANOTHER SUCCESS STORY
A visit to the Gimli Harbour is a required part of a trip to ísiendingadagurinn.
Once again on the
August long week-
end North Amer-
icans of Icelandic descent,
a scattering of people from
Iceland itself and the sim-
ply curious from other eth-
nic groups gathered togeth-
er in Gimli for the biggest
and most powerfully sym-
bolic celebration of the
Icelandic heritage in North
America.
The weather co-operat-
ed, warm and sunny — too
warm according to some, at
least on the big day on
Monday, and one could
not help but feel a little
sorry for the mounties in
their traditional costumes
as they escorted first
Lieutenant-Governor of
Manitoba Yvon Dumont
and then this year’s
Fjallkona, Dilla Narfason
of Gimli in her traditional
costume to the stage for the
official celebrations.
Thousands turned out
over the weekend to enjoy
the festivities. The theme of
this year’s festival was the
family, in keeping with the
year of the family spon-
sored by the United
Nations. That was a nice
gesture on the part of the
Festival committee and one
that is entirely in keeping
with the spirit of íslend-
ingadagurinn over the
years. It is a time to get
together with family, to
renew old acquaintances
and make new ones. It is a
time to honor and enjoy
our heritage, our culture
and our traditions and to
breathe new life into them
so that they will survive for
future generations.
Festival President Larry
Markusson summed it up
Larry Markusson
well when he said: “This
weekend has always been
special to people of
Icelandic ancestry. At this
time an extra effort is made
to contact family members,
hold reunions and visit
friends. I remember as a
child coming to the Gimli
Park on Monday. Families
would take a picnic, or par-
take in the sporting events
and enjoy each other’s
company. People would
take a break from mending
their nets , all to pay tribute
to the Icelandic pioneers,
their sacrifices and achieve-
ments, as well as to honor
both Iceland and Canada.”
In that, the festival has
not changed much over the
years, except to get bigger
and bigger, which is, in a
sense, odd, in that with
each year we grow further
from Iceland. It is a tribute
to the strength of the ties
that continue to exist and
to the dedication of the
people on the Festival
Committee and in the other
Icelandic organizations
who work so hard all year
long to provide organiza-
tions around which our
heritage can be focussed.
This year there was, as
usual, food in abundance,
entertainment and specta-
cle both on lake and land,
music, singing and danc-
ing. As usual, Lögberg-
Heimskringla was there as
well.
The most formal part of
the weekend is the official
ceremony of Monday, with
the toast to Iceland, the
Toast to Canada, represent-
ing the duality of our iden-
tities. The highlight of this
was the speech of the
Fjallkona, Dilla Narfason
which was widely praised
and commented on. It is
reprinted here on page 3
for those of you who were
unable to hear it or who
simply may want to save it
for what it says and an
example of how substance
can be combined with
brevity and eloquence.
Once again, for the
105th time, íslendin-
gadagurinn was a remark-
able success. L-H joins
with the rest of the commu-
nity in congratulating the
committee and thanking it
for its hard work.