Lögberg-Heimskringla - 09.09.1994, Blaðsíða 1

eimskringla
The lcelandic Weekly
Lögberg Stofnað 14. janúar 1888
Heimskringla Stofnaö 9. september 1886
Inside this week:
Toast to Canada................2
A Service to Remember..........4
Einar's Anecdotes..............6
Children's Corner..............7
108. Árgangur
108th Year
Publications Mail Registration No. 1667
—
Föstudagur 9. september 1994
Friday, 9 September 1994
lcelandic
News
lcelandic Tea:
Tea has always been an imported prod-
uct in lceland and usually from faraway
coasts such as Asia. Now lcelanders can
buy lcelandic tea from the lcelandic Tea
Corporation at Sandur, Aðaldalur.
Demand for
this product is
increasing.
The company
has been in
operation for
three years
and the main
buyers are health stores in Reykjavík
and Akureyri. The most desired blends
are: Blóðberg (wilde thyme)
Fjallagrasablanda (lceland moss blend)
Vallhumalsblanda (millfoil blend). The
company has seen a slow growth and it
appears that this on-the-side farming
wíll have some future.
The Big One:
Once in a while the 'Big One' bites!
This time it was the crew on the motor-
boats "Guðún HF I72" and "Fjarki HF
28" who got these two large halibut a
day apart; one weighing I35 kg, the
other I75 kg. It seemed like a family of
large halibut were travelling by. It can
be quite a chore to get a big catch like
this aboard and at times it has to be
towed ashore. It took Hilmar Sturluson
and his son Sturla on the motorboat
Fjarki HF an hour to get their monster
(I75 kg) aboard. However, it was worth it
as they received $5.00 per kg. on the
fishmarket at Tálknafjörður. The one
caught by Guðrún HF was sold on mar-
kets abroad.
Five Thousand "Kleinur"
These women took on the job of mak-
ing "kleinur" for the 50th anniversary
celebration at Þingvellir, on June 17th.
They are members of the Women's
League from Kjósarhreppur. The esti-
mate was that it would take 5,000 klein-
ur (lcelandic donuts) to satisfy the
demand for this national delicacy, which
always goes over well with lcelanders
and foreign visitors.
V CUNNUR ISFELD
Kalli and Axel Sigurgeirssynir, Guöný Friöriksdóttir, Margret Comack and Anna Axeisdóttir
by Amma ’s Canadian Tombstone.
By Agnes Bardal Comack
Tur
Inl
ow can you write an
article about Iceland?
How can you describe
the sights, the events
and the emotions you
experienced in two short weeks jam-
packed with fun and adventure? In
my seventy-three years of life, this has
been, no doubt, the best of times!
My daughter Margret arrived from
Dundas, Ontario, to accompany me
on this trip. She is a nurse. She was
supposedly coming to protect me from
harm and to care for me in case of
emergency. Just before we landed in
Keflavík, she informed me, “The first
tall, blond ‘hunk’ I see — I’m gone.”
Lucldly for me, all the blond “hunks”
she met were happily married. Never-
the-less, she did come home with a
hunk, a large hunk of lava! But that is
a story in itself.
Travelling on a charter flight was a
new experience. Everyone on board
had the same objective; a desire to see
Iceland but there were some adventur-
ers who had absolutely no connection
with Iceland.As my father used to say,
“In Iceland, you have to know your
‘ko-nnections’.” The majority of pas-
sengers on this Icelandair flight were
Westem Icelanders.
For the first time in my life, I began
to understand what it is to be a
Western Icelander. Most of us don’t
speak the language but we have this
strong bond with this country of our
origin. My relatives were surprised I
could speak and understand the odd
word. I actually knew the words to
some Icelandic songs from memory.
We also have a “svip” with some of
our relatives, I could see a familiar
resemblance in many of my cousins.
Margret was happy to be amongst peo-
ple who knew how to spell her name
and I was amazed to count thirty-one
“Agnes” names in the telephone book.
This was where we truly belonged.
When we planned this trip we
expected to stay in “Bed and
Breakfast” accommodation but our
family members insisted we stay with
them. We started our holiday staying
with my father’s relatives in Hvamm-
stangi and in Reykjavík we ended our
stay with some of my mother’s family.
In Miðfjörður, it was wonderful to
hear stories of my father’s visits. He
had returned to his homeland seven
times before he died in 1951. He
seemed to be a legendary figure and
his presence was still felt. Unknown to
me, he had donated a statue of Christ
to one of the churches we visited. We
also saw a large tomb stone he had
brought from Canada to mark his
mother’s grave in a small cemetery in
Efrinúpur, H.V.T. She had died the
year he left Iceland, in 1886.
We felt very fortunate in discover-
ing relatives we didn’t even know
existed. They seemed as anxious to
meet us as we were overjoyed to see
them. There were several “gatherings’
in our honour. We were well aware
there had been expended a great deal
of preparation, work and expense on
our behalf and we are very grateful.
Consequently, we were lucky to see
several homes on the farms, in
Hvammstangi and in Reykjavík. What
impressed us most was the cleanliness,
especially around the farms. Some of
our cousins live at Bjarg, the site of the
birthplace of Grettir, of Grettir’s saga.
We went there to ride horseback; an
unforgettable adventure! The sur-
roundings were neat and orderly. At
Svartárkot, where my father was bom
in 1866, we saw sheep manure drying
in the sun to be used as fuel. Nothing
is wasted!
Most of the homes we entered had
bare wood flooring and very attractive
window treatment. On the walls in
every home hung original paintings
and beautiful needlework.
Music plays an important roll in
every family. We enjoyed family gath-
erings where our cousins played
piano, organ, accordion, violin, cello,
guitar, saxophone, flute and coronet.
(Maybe I’ve missed some.) Those who
didn’t play an instmment sang beauti-
fully in harmony. Some of our cousins
have studied in Russia, continental
Europe and the U.S. of A. Our cousin
Grettir Björnsson is renowned
throughout Iceland as an accordion
player.
I don’t suppose there is a country in
the world with more spectacular
scenery than you’ll find in Iceland.
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