Gripla - 2019, Side 18

GRIPLA18
Albert likely acquired this manuscript in Kaldrananes but could po-
tentially have obtained it after leaving Iceland: five of Þorsteinn’s eight
siblings who lived to adulthood emigrated to North America. The saga-
manuscript was evidently in poor condition after its travels, since Albert
replaced some of leaves and added a title-page. He also copied two well-
known folk-poems, Ljúflingsdilla and Systrakvæði, into the manuscript.
These additions all appear to postdate his arrival to North America.
Lbs 3022 4to was part of a larger collection of manuscripts sold to the
national and university Library of Iceland by bookseller Árni Bjarnarson,
comprising Lbs 3019–3027 4to, Lbs 2895–Lbs 2930 8vo and Lbs 3233 8vo.
Árni collected manuscripts from Hecla Island and other Icelandic settle-
ments in North America but unfortunately did not record where or from
whom items came. Lbs 4667 4to was a donation from Finnur Sigmundsson
in 1975. Lbs 3785 8vo was donated in 1968 by librarian Páll Jónsson.
In America, a thousand snares
Albert Jóhannesson’s move to North America in 1884 was likely one of
necessity. The extraordinarily harsh winter of 1882–83 prompted his
employers to leave for North Dakota in 1883. As the winter had left many
households struggling, finding stable employment elsewhere in the com-
munity after over fifteen years at Bær would have been a challenge.
According to Þorleifur Jackson’s biography, Albert’s initial destination
was North Dakota. Like many Icelandic immigrants, he encountered un-
favourable conditions in the Dakota settlements, and he left for Winnipeg
in 1886. From there, he headed to the Rocky Mountains, where he worked
on the railroad. Travelling with an unnamed Icelandic friend, he reached
the West Coast, where Þorleifur states that he was duped into semi-slavery
on a whaling ship for nine months, sailing to the West Indies before dis-
embarking at San Francisco, where he worked for a year before returning
to the Prairies.42
A single document from the period survives, a vow written by Albert in
July 1889, tucked into the back of Lbs 4667 4to. It reads, in part:
If I live, and God almighty is pleased to lead me to Icelanders, happy
and healthy in soul and body, before next Christmas, then I will
42 Jackson, Frá austri til vesturs, 120.