The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.1955, Blaðsíða 27

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
25
large number of rich and powerful
chieftains migrated to Iceland.
King Haraldur harfagri (the Fair-
haired) is buried in Haugesund, and
on his burial mound the Norwegians
erected to his honor an impressive
monument in 1872, on the thousandth
anniversary of the great battle of
Hafrsfjord, according to the tradition-
al date of that fateful event in Nor-
wegian history. For the battle in
question marked the final victory of
King Haraldur over his opponents
and the unification of Norway under
his rule, which, in turn, resulted in
a veritable exodus of leading Nor-
wegians and their followers to Iceland.
The boat trip from Haugesund to
Stavanger, across Boknefjord, on a
warm, calm summer day, such as we
were favored with, is a delightful
experience; the fjord country, with its
magic, passing in a richly varied pan-
orama, is a sight to remember.
Stavanger, about the size of Reykja-
vik, is the capital of the district of
Rogaland and is the present-day center
of the Norwegian fish-canning trade. It
has a history spanning more than a
thousand years, and, as in the case of
Bergen, the commingling of the old
and the modern gives to the city a
character all its own.
Its most important historical monu-
ment is the Cathedral, one of the most
beautiful stone churches in Norway,
erected in the 12th century. Several
sculptured figures adorn its interior,
including a head-portrait of Magnus
lagabastir (the Law Mender), noted,
as his surname implies, for his law-
making activity, which basically con-
cerned Iceland.
When one drives from Stavanger
out to the Sola Airfield, a few miles to
the South, the road skirts Hafrsfjord,
the scene, as already indicated, of the
great naval battle so decisive for the
settlement of Iceland. Somewhat
farther south is Jaeren, in the district
of Agder; along with other settlers of
Iceland from that area was horvaldur,
the father of Eric the Red.
On a beautiful summer evening we
flew from Sola Airfield to Oslo.
Norway, seen in all its grandeur from
the air, was certainly a majestic sight,
and Oslo, nestling among its hills on
the gleaming fjord, presented a lovely
picture in the evening sun.
After a short visit in the Norwegian
capital, we continued by ship to Den-
mark, where new and enriching
experiences awaited us after our
glorious month in Norway.
In as much, however, as this account
is supposed to deal especially with our
Norway visit, I am constrained to des-
cribe only briefly our equally reward-
ing though much shorter stay in Den-
mark, largely limited to a week in
Copenhagen.
Our primary purpose in going there
was to attend the Second International
Congress of Classical Studies, where
I had the honor of representing the
University of North Dakota. It was a
truly international gathering, with
some 500 participants representing
institutions of higher learning and
learned societies of thirty countries
throughout the world.
And Copenhagen, Denmark’s beauti-
ful and historic capital, a cosmopolitan
city of more than one million people,
was an excellent choice for such a
conclave of scholars in the classics and
the humanities, for it is a great cultur-
al center of long standing, with num-
erous excellent museums. Mrs. Beck
and I made good use of the opportun-
ity to visit the most important of these.