Studia Islandica - 01.06.1961, Page 94

Summary
Stephan G. Stephansson, the poet, was born at Kirkjuhóll, Skaga-
fjörd, in the North of Iceland in 1853. At the age of twenty he
emigrated together with his parents and some other relatives to
America where he settled as a farmer in the State of Wisconsin.
He lived there until 1880, when he moved to Pembina County,
North-Dakota, where he became a settler for the second time. He
lived there until 1889, when he moved again, this time to Canada.
He became a settler for the third time, building his farm near the
foot of the Rocky Mountains in the State of Alberta. There he
found peace of mind until he died in 1927.
Stephansson did not receive any schooling, but of his own accord
he acquired such knowledge and maturity that he must be ranked
among highly educated people. He was only young when he started
writing poetry, but he did not write much until his late thirties. At
that time, however, his poems began to appear in Icelandic publica-
tions in America, establishing Stephansson firmly as a great poet for
the rest of his life. To his posterity he left a large collection of
poems, in addition to a number of letters, essays and newspaper
articles.
Stephan G. Stephansson wrote only in Icelandic, and is considered
one of the greatest poets in the history of Icelandic literature. His
collections of poems he called Andvökur (“Hours of Sleeplessness").
The name suggests that this great, but poor, settler-farmer had
seldom any other time than the night at the close of a hard day’s
work in which he could devote himself to his literary pursuits.
Á ferð og flugi (“On the Move”) is narrative poetry, based on
the poet’s recollections of his travels through the early settlements
of Canada during the last two or three decades of the 19th century.
The travel episodes are not inter-dependent, but all the same they
serve as a framework for the essence of the whole: the life and
destiny of Ragnheiður, the daughter of Icelandic immigrants. In
her youth she works to support her father and younger brothers, as
her father cannot find work in the city. Her loyalty and filial respect
is vividly depicted. Later on, when her parents do not need her help
any more, the ties between her and her family break and she passes