Jón Bjarnason Academy - 01.05.1931, Page 15

the noblest ideals that they have inherited from their fathers.
Here, then, is a place of usefulness for Jon Bjarnason
Academy to fill. Our institution is an attempt to keep burning
the fires of the highest ideals of the Icelandic race. We do
this because we want to be true to ourselves and we want to
give to our adopted country the best we possess. Two avenues,
we are convinced, lead to this goal. One of these is our racial
culture, and the other and more important one, our Christian
attitude to life.
Our Racial Culture
Our Icelandic nation, one of the smallest on the face of
the earth, owes its origin to the fact that a group of people in
Norway left all they had in their homeland, preferring a life
of freedom, even on the barren hills of Iceland, to submitting
to a despot in the land they loved best on earth.
In the island to which they migrated they established, of
their own accord without the slightest urging from any outside
power, a government which combined the principles of dem-
ocracy with respect for law.
Throughout the history of the Icelandic race there appear
many examples of heroism, of patient endeavor, of spiritual in-
dependence, of love of fredom, of endurance in suffer-
ing, and of loyalty to high ideals, so exemplary that they can-
not fail to influence the minds of young and old who are
willing to give them due consideration.
Should their influence be lost sight of in a scheipe of
education for the descendants of the race that gave these ex-
amples? That seems absurd, particularly when we consider
the fact that these treasures are within easy reach of most
young people of Icelandic extraction on this continent. The
language that they learn from father and mother is the key
which only needs a little polishing to unlock the Icelandic
classics. If these records can serve to create in young minds
a yearning for noble activities is it well to pass them by?
Let it be noted that we possess a literature, ancient and
modern, that deserves a better fate than that of being forgotten.
Our ancient Eddas and Sagas are masterpieces that will with-
stand the ravages of time, whether we in Canada have the mind
or not to appreciate them. From the standpoint of the histor-
ian they furnish most valuable data in mythology. They throw
light on the former life of the Teutonic race. They are a real
treasure to the man of literary mind. In conciseness of word-
ing and felicity of phrase they have scarcely been surpassed.
In mediaeval and modern poetry we have hymns and lyrics
that undoubtedly rank with the world’s gems of literature.
Neither must it be forgotten that the Icelandic language is, in
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