Gripla - 2019, Síða 34

GRIPLA34
strong evidence for the presence of other Icelandic manuscripts on Hecla
Island. Unfortunately for scholars, Albert provides no details on the manu-
scripts and printed books from which he copied. A printed catalogue of
the holdings of Hecla Island’s Icelandic lending library shows virtually no
overlap, with the exception of a copy of Nasreddin (see fn. 80).82
In examining Albert’s scribal methods, the presence of more recent ma-
terial from contemporary print sources is helpful. Texts first appearing in
printed periodicals and books – with no previous history of scribal publica-
tion – provide a fixed frame of reference. Two translations of short stories
by Swedish author August Blanche in NIHM, both copied from Þjóðólfur
(1889),83 are examples of texts where Albert’s own voice emerges plainly.
The first, “Vel borgaðar sveskjur” [Well-paid Prunes], on ff. 511v–513r, is
a comic tale in which a shopkeeper’s assistant offers a shabby orphan girl
dried prunes, only to discover that her eccentric father has just left her a
small fortune. When the shopkeeper arrives to berate him, the assistant
announces that he and the girl are getting married and opening up their
own shop. Blanche ends by commenting that prunes are not always so well
repaid. Albert gives the story’s protagonists an even happier ending, add-
ing that the couple lived many years together in harmony and had many
children together.84
Blanche’s second short story, “Gjöfin,” [The Gift], on ff. 513r–514r,
is a sombre tale in which a destitute young cotter’s wife helps her sick
neighbours, breastfeeding their infant while her own husband and child
sleep. “Gjöfin” is a fairly dark piece of social realism, with no promises of
a happy ending for either family. Albert remedies this by adding:
Daginn eftir fór hún með mjólk til sjúklinganna og því hélt hún
þangað til því batnaði. Lifði þetta fólk allt saman lengi. Varð Axel
82 S[tyrkárr] Vésteinn [Helgason], Skrá yfir bækur lestrarfélagsins Morgunstjarnan á Mikley
(N.p.: 1907).
83 Sögusafn Þjóðólfs (1889), 41.33–34: 118–23; Sögusafn Þjóðólfs (1889), 41.35,37: 128–31.
Icelandic reading societies in immigrant communities could subscribe to periodicals pub-
lished in Iceland, but Þjóðólfur circulated on a more informal basis on Hecla Island. The
Morgunstjarnan reading society did not have a regular subscription and owned only copies
from the years 1853–1856, 1860–1862, 1864–1867 and 1891.
84 “Lifðu þau saman mörg ár með yndi og ánægju og áttu mörg börn saman,” NIHM, 513r.