Lögberg-Heimskringla - 08.10.1999, Blaðsíða 1

Week at a glance
Jón Austmann
A short story from the time of the
settlement. Translated by G. Isfeld.
Young Vikings
The 1999 lcelandic Language and
Cultural Camp
Friday 8 October 1999 • Number 36/ Föstudagur 8. október 1999 • Númer 36
Lögberg
Lögberg stofnað 14. janúar 1888
Heimskringla stofnað 9. september 1886
Sameinuð 20. ágúst 1959
Heimskringla
The Icelandic Weekly
Registration no. 08000 Agreement no. 1402161 113th year/113. Árgangur
“The oldest ethnic periodical still publishing in Canada”
President of Iceland
breaks shoulder
The President of Iceland, Ólafur
Ragnar Grímsson, fell from a
horse at Landsveit on September 27,
and broke his left shoulder badly. A
Coast Guard helicopter picked the
President up at about eight o’clock in
the evening and brought him to the
Reykjavík Hospital where he was to be
treated.
Earthquake measures
4.3 on Richter scale
An earthquake measuring 4.3 on
the Richter scale, with epicenter
south of Hestvatn, west of Þjórsá
River, took place on September 27.
According to staff at the Geological
Department of the Weather Office the
quake was felt all the way from Vík,
Mýrdalur to the Reykjavík area. The
quake is not known to have caused any
damage. Ragnar Stefánsson, seismolo-
gist at the Weather Office, felt that
more aftershocks may be expected to
follow.
News continues on page 5
President of Alþingi encourages links
Halldór Blöndal (centre) with fellow visiting Icelandic representatives, at the University of Manitoba. riwm courtesy of Ken Howant
Ken Howard
ON the final day of a five-day
visit to Manitoba, the
Honourable Halldór Blöndal,
President of the Parliament of Iceland
(the Althing), announced that he would
encourage continuing liaisons with the
University of Manitoba on his retum to
Iceland. He and several other visitors
from Iceland were in Manitoba from
September 20 to 24.
Of his visit to the university, Mr.
Blöndal said, “It has given me the
opportunity to look into matters of the
Icelandic Department and the Icelandic
library at the University of Manitoba as
well as some other departments. [The
visit] has strengthened my belief that a
special chair of Icelandic has great
value both for ... Canadian-Icelandic
relations and for [the] linguistic purpose
in itself... not to mention the Icelandic
library collection, which forms the
basis for teaching and research.
“As I said when we were invited to
lunch given by the President of the
University, Dr. Emöke Szathmáry, I
will do my utmost to explain to my col-
leagues and the Icelandic Govemment
the cultural validity of the fundraising
programme for maintaining the
Icelandic language in Canada and the
relationship between our countries,” he
said. Mr. Blöndal had read much about
Icelandic-Canadians and he graciously
noted that “they have again and again
given a helpful hand toward us
Icelanders.”
The Althing President conveyed
greetings from Haraldur Bessason, sec-
ond chair and head of the Department
of Icelandic Language and Literature at
the University of Manitoba (1956-87),
who went on to become the founding
rector of the University of Akureyri.
Professor Bessason now lives in retire-
ment in Akureyri, Halldór Blöndals’
home town.
In an interview, Mr. Blöndal said he
is impressed with the quality of the
Icelandic collection and the achieve-
ments of the chair of Icelandic language
and literature, and that on his return
home, he will relay these impressions to
the parliament and to the prime minis-
ter. He commented that the university’s
Department of Icelandic Language and
Literature is unique—that there is noth-
ing comparable in any other university
outside Iceland.
To maintain the quality of the col-
lection, he felt it is both necessary for
and, in some respects, the responsibility
of, the govemment of Iceland to assist
in the acquisition of materials. Further,
Mr. Blöndal considers that the quality
of the University of Manitoba, and the
learning opportunities there, are excel-
lent. Young people from Iceland are
keen to study at the university, but the
process should be made less complicat-
ed than it is now. Student exchanges
between the two countries are not as
well developed as they could be, nor is
direct travel between Winnipeg and
Iceland currently available.
Please see President on page 5
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