Árdís - 01.01.1966, Blaðsíða 7

Ársrit Bandalags lúterskra kvenna
5
An Appreciation
The Icelandic people are well known for their love of learning
and of books. Most of them would agree heartily with Thomas
Jefferson, who wrote to his friend, John Adams: “I cannot live
without books.” This tradition and tendency have been duly trans-
mitted to that portion of the Icelandic people who immigrated to
the western world, and to their descendants. It is not possible to
write a complete history of Icelandic literature in the twentieth
century without making reference to the literary efforts among the
Icelanders in North America and the numerous books and pub-
lications which they have sent forth. Some of their periodicals have
indeed been but birds of passage, and their influence negligible.
This is only natural among a racial group so small, and so divided
in their interests and attitudes as the western Icelanders have al-
ways been.
Among our western publications, printed for the most part in
Icelandic, Árdís has a very distinguished survival record of some
thirty-four years. It was never intended for wide circulation, nor
for popular appeal. Its aim and primary objective was to serve as
the offical organ, and mouthpiece of the Lutheran Women’s League.
For its material and maintenance it has depended solely upon the
love and loyalty of the sponsor organization, and it has been granted
both in full measure. It has served a distinct and useful purpose.
In the course of the decades many articles of inspirational and in-
formative nature have appeared in this magazine, many of them
lectures and addresses which have been delivered at the annual
conventions of the League. These articles express the spirit which
moved the League from its inception, and t.ell about their aspira-
tions and accomplishments. The numerous obituaries appearing
annually in the magazine are of great value to the historian and
genealogist of the future. In years to come, Árdís will be frequently
and profitably consulted by scholars and writers who are desirous
of obtaining as complete a picture as possible of the Icelanders in
North America, and their activities.
But the greatest material contribution which the Lutheran