Lögberg-Heimskringla - 03.06.2005, Qupperneq 10
10 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Friday 3 June 2005
Stephansson House
the main attraction
The Stephansson House Provincial Historic
Site brings international recognition to the
Markerville area. Steinþór Guðbjartsson
paid the Facility Supervisor Olga Fowler
and her staff a visit.
Stephan G. Stephans-
son was bom in Ice-
land in 1853. About 20
years later he emigrated with
his family and his uncle Jón
Jónsson’s family to Shawano
County in Wisconsin. There he
married his cousin Helga Jóns-
dóttir. In 1880, the Stephans-
sons and Jónssons left Shawano
for a new Icelandic settlement
in Pembina County, North Da-
kota.
In 1889 Stephan G.
Stephansson, his family and
a number of other Icelanders
moved to the new settlement by
the Medicine River in Central
Alberta. Stephan played an inte-
gral role in settling the area and
through his writings brought it
íntemational recognition. The
“poet of the Rocky Mountains”
has been recognized as one of
the greatest poets in the western
world, and in recent years two
books about him and his work
have been published in Iceland.
A translation into English is be-
ing worked o'n, and the author
Viðar Hreinsson hopes to have
his book published in Alberta.
The poet laureate of Ice-
land and farmer died in 1927,
but the Stephansson House Pro-
vincial Historic Site, which the
Alberta Government operates,
keeps his memory alive in the
area.
Restored to its 1927 appear-
ance, the Stephansson home
offers a glimpse of Alberta’s
Icelandic heritage and the life
of this pioneer-poet. Guests
can experience the spinning of
wool, baking, household chores
PHOTO: STEINÞÓR GUÐBJARTSSON.
Stephan V. Benedikston stands by an informational display
outside Stephansson house. He is the poet’s grandson.
YEOMAN
FARM
Stefanía Sveinbjamardóttir
Ray Dignum
Parham. ON K0H 2K0
Tel: 613.375.6308
E-mail: yeomanfa@frontenac.net
www.yeoman-icelandic-sheep.ca
Breeders of lcelandic Sheep
Rentcash Inc.
Gordon J. Reykdal
President & CEO
17703 - 103 Avenue
Edmonton, AlbertaTSS IN8
Canada
Tel: (780) 408-5118
Fax: (780) 408-5122
E-mail: gord@rentcash.ca
PHOTO: STEINÞÓR GUÐBJARTSSON
The staff at the Stephansson House Provincial Historic Site. From left: Lisa Kinnear, Lisa Ma-
loney, Lisa Szymanek, Katey Boal and Olga Fowler.
and poetry reading while view-
ing the Rockies.
“The visitation has been
growing and this is a very popu-
lar site,” says Olga Fowler. In
the spring they offer school
programs where they teach
about Stephan, his family and
the live in the Icelandic commu-
nity. “Yearly we get about 2,000
students from kindergarten to
grade 12 in the local area,” she
adds. “We also teach them some
Icelandic words, like takk, já,
nei, velkomin og bless. We bake
ástarbollur and read stories and
poetry. Like all our provincial
sites, we have a ‘year of inter-
pretation’ and we do everything
like it was in 1927.”
Olga’s husband worked on
the restoration of the house and
after having visited the site she
got interested in the culture. “I
feel very comfortable helping
people preserve their history,”
she says and adds that she is
learning Icelandic.
The site is open to the pub-
lic from middle of May until
Labour Day. Every summer
Olga hires about four students
to assist visitors. “I hire people
who have the skills to tell the
story and have the interest in
history.”
* / Ur Islendingadags ræðu
From an Icelanders’ Day Address
Stephan G. Stephanson, 1904
Þó þú langförull legðir Though your travels encompass
Sérhvert land undir fót, every country on earth,
Bera hugur og hjarta Deep at heart you’ve been moulded
Samt þíns heima-lands mót, by the land of your birth.
Frænka eldfjalls og íshafs! Kin to ice and eruption,
Sifji árfoss og hvers! Falling water and steam,
Dóttir langholts og lyngmós! Bom of meadow and moorland,
Sonur landvers og skers! Mystic landform and stream.
Yfir heim eða himin Whether heavens or homeland
Hvort sem hugar þín önd, in your heart you constme,
Skreyta fossar og fjalls-hlíð Ever hillsides and homefields
Öll þín framtíðar lönd! grace your landscape anew.
Fjarst í eilífðar útsæ At the ends of the ocean,
Vakir eylendan þín: In a wide, sunlit ring
Nóttlaus vor-aldar veröld Where your island lies wakeful,
Þar sem víðsínið skín. It’s etemally spring.
Það er óskaland íslenzkt, It’s an Icelandic dreamland
Sem að yfir þú býr - over which you preside,
Aðeins blómgróin björgin, Where the boulders yield blossoms
Sérkver bald-jökull hlýr, — ice has fire inside!
Frænka eldfjalls og íshafs! Kin to ice and eruption,
Sifji árfoss og hvers! Falling water and steam,
Dóttir langholts og lynmós! Bom of meadow and moorland,
Sonur landvers og skers! Mystic landform and stream. Translated by David Gislason, 2004
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