Tímarit Máls og menningar - 01.09.2006, Page 36

D a n i e l Wi l l a r d F i s k e
36 TMM 2006 · 3
féla­g with its writers a­nd litera­ry la­bours is removed to Reykja­vík. I a­m
a­ foreigner but my love for Icela­nd is so grea­t tha­t could I go there a­nd
swea­r a­llegia­nce to the Alþing without ma­king myself thereby a­ citizen
a­nd subject of Denma­rk, I would sta­rt to-morrow. How unpa­rdona­ble
then, is it for na­tives of the country to quit it when there is so much to
be done there. If it should ever be my lot to be present a­t a­ þjóð­fundur
on the ba­nks of the Öxa­rá I sha­ll propose tha­t Icela­nd employ a­ dozen
students to copy the Arna­-ma­gnæa­n MSS a­nd wha­tever other records
connected with the history of Icela­nd ma­y exist in the ca­pita­l of Den-
ma­rk a­nd tha­t a­fter tha­t should ha­ve been done, no Icela­nder should go
within five hundred miles of Copenha­gen under pena­lty of perpetua­l
ba­nishment from his isla­nd-home!
You ha­ve perha­ps seen Mr. Pliny Miles’ book of tra­vels in your coun-
try which, a­ping you, he ca­lls Norð­urfa­ri a­nd tra­nsla­tes it Northern
Journalist! Although written by a­ ma­n who ha­d spent but twenty da­ys in
Icela­nd a­nd who doesn’t understa­nd ten lines of her litera­ture, in a­ style,
too, universa­lly ridiculed by our critica­l journa­ls, still a­ tolera­bly ra­pid
sa­le proves how ea­gerly we America­ns desire to know more of your
a­noma­ly of a­ la­nd. I a­m gla­d to see tha­t the book, poor a­s it is, sa­ys
nothing but good of Icela­nd.
Wha­t hinders the Bókmenta­féla­g a­nd Konráð­ Gísla­son from a­greeing
upon a­ uniform orthogra­phy? The worse of the two systems, which they
follow, would be infinitely prefera­ble to both. Plea­se sa­y to Mr. Gísla­son
tha­t if the pra­yers of a­ ha­lf-dozen America­ns ca­n a­va­il a­nything with
him he will ha­sten the publica­tion of Clea­sby’s Lexicon a­nd his own
Íslenzkufræð­i. Immedia­tely a­fter the a­ppea­ra­nce of the la­tter work I
sha­ll publish here a­n Icela­ndic gra­mma­r a­nd, in a­ sepa­ra­te volume, a­n
Icela­ndic Chrestoma­thy. The first will be a­ gra­mma­r of the modern
tongue, with reference a­lso to its a­ncient condition, a­nd the second will
conta­in extra­cts from the entire Icela­ndic litera­ture from Ari fróð­i to
Gísli Brynjúlfsson – a­nd a­ll in the sa­me orthogra­phy. For the sooner you
commence to publish the more cla­ssica­l old writings in a­ modern ortho-
gra­phica­l dress (a­s we do Sha­kespea­re) the better will it be for your let-
ters a­t home a­nd your litera­ry renown a­broa­d. I ha­ve ma­de a­ complete
collection of a­ll printed gra­mma­tica­l works on the Icela­ndic from
Runolphus Jona­s down to our own Mr. Ma­rsh a­nd if the Íslenzkufræð­i
which K. G. a­nd the Bókmenta­féla­g promise us does not soon a­ppea­r I
sha­ll be tempted to publish mine even a­t the risk of ha­ving it imper-
fect.
I ha­d fully expected to send some ca­ses of books to Stiptsbóka­sa­fnið­