Ný saga - 01.01.1998, Page 106

Summaries
this was certainly one of the most important
events in Icelandic political history, it has not
received the same attention as, for example, the
foundation of the Republic of Iceland in 1944. In
the article this is explained by the fact that in 1918
a large part of the Icelandic nation, women in
particular, had only recently received full citizen
rights. Nationalist politics were therefore not able
to unite the nation to the same degree as they did
around the foundation of the republic.
The Saga of the Goths
(Gotasaga)
The Saga of the Goths appears here for the first
time in Icelandic translation by Finnbogi Guð-
mundsson, who also writes the introduction. The
oldest manuscript (B 64, Cod. Holm. B 64) of the
saga is kept in Kungliga Bibliotecket in Stock-
holm and is believed to be written in the 13th
Century.
Kristján Jóhann Jónsson
Theatre history in the Iimelight
(Saga í sviðsljósi)
Three major works published in a span of six
years, about a subject on which hardly anything
had been written before, must be regarded as a
remarkable event in cultural history writing. The
author reviews these works, which deal with dif-
ferent aspects of the history of the Icelandic the-
atre. These works are Sveinn Einarsson’s two-
volume The History of Icelandic theatre (Islensk
leiklistarsaga), a comprehensive and detailed
book on the subject covering the 19th century
and up until 1920. Reykjavík Theater Company,
A Centenary (Leikfélag Reykjavíkur. Aldarsaga)
by Eggert Þór Bernharðsson and Þórunn
Valdimarsdóttir, who trace the first 100 years in
the history of the oldest existing company. The
Secret of Stefanía (Leyndarmál frú Stefaníu) by
Jón Viðar Jónsson is a study of the first female
star in stage acting, Stefanía Guðmundsdóttir,
and Icelandic theater of her time around the turn
of this century.
VIEWPOINT (SJÓNARHÓLL)
Halldór Armann Sigurðsson
The uses of genealogy
(Um áttvísinnar gagn og nauðsynjar)
Icelandic genealogy is in many respects unique in
the Western world. It has been interwoven into
almost any aspect of Icelandic thought and cul-
ture for over a millennium and it has a broad and
general appeal. Thus, Icelandic genealogy offers
unusual and exciting research opportunities in
rnany fields, above all historical sociology and
demography (not to mention genetics). Despite
its prominence, genealogy does not seem to be
taken as a serious field of scientific inquiry. The
paper argues for a radical change in the way we
think about genealogy and urges the establish-
ment of a research institute in genealogy at the
University of Iceland. One of its primary tasks
should be to create and run an extensive
genealogical, social and ethnological databank,
freely accessible to any interested researcher.
Kristján Sveinsson
The import of bison to Iceland
(Sauðnautasaga)
The article examines efforts to import bison from
Northeast Greenland to Iceland in the first
decades of this century. Already in the early years
of the century the idea gained ground in
Denmark where worries were expressed that the
species was in danger of extinction due to exces-
sive killing by Norwegian hunters. Iceland was to
provide a safe haven for the animals. In 1927 the
Icelandic government, prompted by interest in
the diversification of agriculture, decided to sup-
port an expedition to Greenland to catch a herd
of bison to be reared on Icelandic farms. The
expedition went ahead in 1929 in which seven
young animals were caught. But the enterprise
did not bring the expected results as all the ani-
mals died after a short stay in Iceland. Il also
aroused protests from the Danish government
stating that the brutal hunting violated Danish
laws. At the instigation of the Icelandic govern-
ment a new herd of bison calves was bought from
Norway the following year, but these animals also
dicd shortly after they were brought into the
country.
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