The Iceland year-book - 01.01.1927, Side 68

mit his ignorance of the works of Longfellow and
Morris thus inspired? With regard to modern Ice-
landic literature the matter is different, for this
is comparatively little known abroad. Yet, in
quantity the literary production of modern Ice-
land is no doubt relatively greater than that of
most other countries, for Icelandic is spoken by
less than 150 thousands altogether (100.000
at home and approximately 30—40.000 in Canada
and the United States). Nor is it merely in bulk
that this literature is considerable, for Iceland has
never ceased to produce truly great poets and hi-
storians, and during the last three-quarters of a
century there has been a number of novelists of a
very high standard. Even at the present day
young writers holding forth great promise are
appearing in all the fields of literature.
In additon to Prof. W. A. Craigie’s hook already
mentioned, the following are also recommended
for those who wish to acquire the Icelandic langu-
age: Helen McMillan Buckhurst: An Elementary
Grammar of Old Icelandic (Methuen 1925);
E. V. Gordon: Introduction to Old Norse (Oxford
University Press 1927); Snsebjorn Jonsson:
A Primer of Modern Icelandic (Oxford University
Press 1927; this manual may with advantage be
used as a conversation hook by the traveller who
washes, or finds it necessary, to express himself
in Icelandic); Geir Zoega: Dictionary of Old Ice-
landic (Clarendon Press 1910); same author:
Englisli-Icelandic Dictionary (Reykjavik 1911),
Icelandic-English Dictionary (Reykjavik 1922);
Sigfus Blondal: Islenzk-ddnsk ordabok (Reykjavik
1922—24).
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