Ný saga - 01.01.1995, Page 106

Summaries
Guðni Thorlacius Jóhannesson
The Hvalfjörður Herring-Boom
(Síldarævintýrið í Hvalfirði 1947-48)
The present article is based on a prize-win-
ning essay which the author entered in a com-
petition organised by the Historical Society,
the Historians’ Association and the Institute
of History of the University of Iceland to
commemorate the 50th anniversary of the
Republic of Iceland. It deals with an interest-
ing chapter in the fishing history of 20th cen-
tury Iceland. In the winter of 1947-48 a huge
amount of herring was caught in Hvalfjörður
(western Iceland), far greater than had ever
been caught before, more than one million
crans (one cran = 150 litres or c. 135 kilos).
This resulted in a kind of “herring-rush”. Old
factories were renovated and new ones built.
In addition an old vessel was bought from the
Great Lakes and outfitted as a floating her-
ring factory. Then the wait for the herring to
arrive began, but much to everyone’s surprise
and disappointment, the herring did not
show.
Margrét Guðmundsdóttir
Political Costumc Design
(Pólitísk fatahönnun)
The artist Sigurður Guðmundsson was an
important figure in the Icelandic indepen-
dence movement. As an artist he had a clear
understanding of the importance of political
symbols for the independence struggle. In the
last decades of the 19th century he designed
national costumes for both men and women.
In these costumes he used old Icelandic
designs and patterns, some of which he found
described in old Icelandic manuscripts. The
women’s dress was a great success and is still
widely used on festive occasions but the
men’s costume proved a failure, probably
because it was far removed from contempo-
rary men’s fashion. In this article the ideology
behind the design is examined and discussed.
Sigurður’s ideas had great impact on the
self-image of Icelandic women.
VISUAL HISTORY (Sjón og saga)
Sumarliði R. Isleifsson
Jules Yerne, the illustrator Riou and Iceland
(,,...við hlið hennar bliknuðu hinar dásam-
legustu hallir Babýlonar og Forn-Grikkja“)
This article describes Jules Verne’s and the
illustrator Riou’s ideas about Iceland and
Icelanders as depicted in the book Voyage au
centre de la terre (1864). The article discusses
the origin of these ideas and the models the
artist may have had for his drawings. The arti-
cle concludes that the descriptions in this
book conform in all general aspects with
views expressed in travel literature and other
books on Iceland from this period. The
author also points out that there were other
tales and pictures from Iceland which went
much further into the field of the imaginary
than Jules Verne’s did. The article also dis-
cusses the close relationship between fiction
and travelogues in general.
Guðrún Ása Grímsdóttir
Ancient learning in Hítardulur
(Fornar menntir í Hítardal)
The Rev. Pórður Jónsson in Hítardalur
(western Iceland) collected genealogical
material into a book in the period 1647-55.
This book, which contains genealogical tables
and stories about Icelandic dignitaries, bish-
ops, lawmen (lögmenn), sheriffs and parsons
in the 16th and 17th centuries, circulated in a
number of copies and transcriptions among
the landed elite in the 17th century.
Pórður’s cousin was sheriff Gísli Magnús-
son at Hlíðarendi (southern Iceland). In 1647
Gísli wrote an essay on how to improve
Iceland’s social and economic position. His
main thesis was that this would best be done
by increasing the standing of the leading fam-
ilies in Iceland, by creating a kind of nobility.
The present article argues that there is a link
between this essay and Pórður’s genealogical
book.
The article further discusses the similari-
ties between the content and nature of
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