Ný saga - 01.01.2000, Page 100

Summaries
Sigurður Narfi Rúnarsson
Boxing in Iccland. A brief history of boxing
lcading up to its prohibition in 1996
(Hnefaleikar á Islandi. Ágrip af sögu íþróttarinnar og
aðdraganda linefaleikabanns)
On May 13th 2000 the Iceiandic parliament
rejected a bill proposing legalization of amateur
boxing which had been prohibited by law since
1956. Boxing was introduced in Iceland in the
first years of the 20th century but had a mixed
reception. Many found it vulgar and foreign to
Icelandic cultural traditions. The first public
boxing tournament took place in 1928 and in
1933 the sport was accepted by the Icelandic
Sports Association, leading to the first national
championship tournament in 1936. Considerable
activity followed in the next 10-15 years,
although shorlage of good trainers and facilities
was always a handicap. As a result ol' better
knowledge of the dangers of the sport and
mounting criticism, especially from doctors, box-
ing fell inlo disrepute and in 1956 a bill was
passed without opposition in parliament banning
all forms of boxing.
Karl Grönvold
The timing of the settlenient ash layer
(Aldur Landnámslagsins)
The volcanic eruption which occurred in Iceland
just at Ihe time of earliest settlement produced
a distinctive ash layer, the settlement layer
(Landnámslag). No menlion ol' this eruption and
the formation of the ash layer is made in histori-
cal records and radiocarbon age determinations
are uncertain (plus/ntinus a few decades). Signals
from Icelandic volcanic eruptions are, however,
preserved in the Greenland ice, and in ice cores
the annual layers can be counted with the accur-
acy of only two or three years. The signal in ice
is both in the forrn of acid precipitation caused
by interaction of volcanic gasses with the atmos-
phere and wind carried ash particles. The ash par-
ticles can be chentically analysed and their chem-
ical composition can be used to trace individual
ash layers to separate volcanoes and volcanic
areas in Iceland.
The source of the settlement layer is the
Vatnaöldur eruption in the Torfajökull area in
South Central Iceland. Ash from this eruption is
made up of two distinct components, one rhy-
olitic and the otlier basaltic. Both components are
found in the GRIP ice core, leaving no doubt as
to the identification.
The ice core age is 871 CE +/- 2 years which
coincides closely with the date givcn by historical
sources for the earliest settlement (Ari fróði in
Islendingabók). In two cases there is a turf wall
and a turf l'ence that may predate the setllement
Iayer and in one case cereal pollen predates the
settlement layer. No other archaeological finds
underlying the settlement layer have been
recorded.
BOOKS (AF BÓKUM)
Gunnar Karlsson
A task accomplished
(Verkið sem tókst að vinna)
In the article professor Gunnar Karlsson reviews
a new four volume work, The History of
Christianity in Iceland (Krislni á íslandi), which
was written by five historians, Hjalti Hugason,
Gunnar F. Guðniundsson, Loftur Guttormsson,
Þórunn Valdimarsdóttir and Pétur Pétursson.
Rósa Magnúsdóttir
The Origins of a Cultural War: The Establish-
ment of Soviet and Anierican Friendship Socie-
ties in Iceland.
(Menningarstríð í uppsiglingu. Stofnun og upphafsár
vináttufélaga Bandaríkjanna og Sovétríkjanna á
íslandi)
The early Cold War years saw the establishment
of Soviet and American cultural and friendship
societies in Iceland. The competitive spirit of the
Cold War was highly visible in the years leading
up lo the establishment of such societies and dur-
ing the early years of their activities. Soviet and
American foreign policy makers considered cul-
tural diplomacy an important strategy when com-
peting for the support and respect of the
Icelandic public. Their ultimate goal, however,
was to influence Icelandic politics but there is no
evidence that they succeeded in doing so. On the
other hand the Icelandic public appreciated the
cullural events. The period under discussion,
1948-52, shows how the launching of the friend-
ship societies and the cultural competition
between the two super-powers, became a high-
brow cultural war.
Torfi H. Tulinius
Snorri and his brothers. The ascendancy of the
sons of Sturla in the social space of llie Icclandic
Coniinonwealth
(Snorri og bræður hans. Framgangur og átök Sturlu-
sona í félagslegu rými þjóðveldisins)
Concepts developed by French sociologist Pierre
Bourdieu are used to elucidate the relationship
between power struggle and cultural activity
among the aristocracy in Iceland during the earli-