The Icelandic Canadian - 01.03.1955, Page 29

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
27
Iceland, other governmental leaders,
loreign representatives, a very large
number of clergy, and the general
public. All in all a most memorable
occasion. In the evening, the Minister
of Education and Church Affairs,
Steingrhnur SteinJjorsson, gave a
magnificent banquet in honor of the
new bishop and his wife.
The annual SkalholtshatiS, held on
July 18, and as always at Skalholt it-
self, for centuries the famed seat of the
bishopric in the south of Iceland, was
also an unusually memorable one, for
Skalholt is now rising from its ruins
in a twofold sense of the word. In the
first place, investigations under way
there have unearthed some very im-
portant historic relics; secondly, thanks
to the contributions of the Icelandic
government and the untiring efforts
of interested individuals, this ancient
historic site, long neglected, will now
be restored, so that a church, worthy
of the rich traditions of the place, will
have been erected there when the
900th anniversary of the founding of
Skalholt bishopric will be commemor-
ated in 1956. (For an excellent account
of Skalholt, see the detailed and auth-
oritative article under that title by
Pr6f. Sigurbjorn Einarsson, in Judge
W. J. Lindal’s splendid translation in
the winter 1954 number of The Ice-
landic Canadian.)
Iceland is not, however, only a land
of varied and impressive scenic beauty
and of notable historic places and rel-
ics. It is as well the home of a modern
nation, which, though numbering only
150 thousand, lives a rich cultural life
and is advancing rapidly in other
realms of activities.
Icelandic literature, both in verse
and prose, flourishes abundantly, as
does Icelandic theatrical art, with its
banner held high both by the National
Theatre (bjoSleikhusiS) and the
Dramatic Society of Reykjavik (Leik-
felag Reykjavikur). Nor can anyone
visit the Museum of Art in the Nation-
al Museum without realizing that
modern Icelandic art, painting and
sculpture alike, is both varied and
noteworthy in many respects.
Speaking of Icelandic art, it need
hardly be emphasized that no one
should journey to Iceland without vis-
iting in Reykjavik the Museum of Ein-
ar Jonsson, the great sculptor, who
passed away last fall, leaving his na-
tion a monumental heritage of works
of art, marked by striking originality
and commensurate inspirational and
symbolic quality.
Both the National Theatre and the
National Museum in Reykjavik, built
in the course of the past few years, do
great honor to the Icelandic people.
The latter contains much material
that throws bright light on the history
and the cultural development of the
nation; among its most significant
features is a special section devoted to
the memory of Jon SigurSsson, Ice-
land’s great statesman and leader in
its struggle for regained freedom
(Minjasafn Jons SigurSssonar).
No less impressive and amazing to
me was the material progress which
has taken place in Iceland since my
visit there ten years ago. Not only
Reykjavik, now a city of 60,000 in-
habitants, is largely heated by hot wa-
ter from the hot springs in the vicinity,
but more and more towns are getting-
hot water out of the ground. Rivers
and waterfalls are increasingly being
harnessed for the production of electr-
icity, and long-range plans are under
way for electrifying nearly all the
country within the next ten years.
Last year a fertilizer plant, located
at Gufunes near Reykjavik, was com-
pleted and began producing fertilizer
(nitrogen) from the air. It was built