The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.1955, Síða 28

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THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Winter 1955
The National Museum, truly “a
picture-book of the history of culture”,
in many-sided and colorful manifest-
ations; The Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek,
characterized as “one of the finest and
most representative museums of Sculpt-
ure in the world”; and last but not
least, Thorvaldsen’s Museum. Natural-
ly, this unique collection had a special
interest for us, as the great Bertel
Thorvaldsen was Icelandic on his
father’s side. His museum not only
houses his numerous works, famed for
their classic beauty and plastic per-
fection, but is also his final resting
place. His tomb is in the court-yard
of the Museum, where he was buried
beneath a bed of roses in accordance
with his wishes.
While in Copenhagen we spent a
most pleasant afternoon at the resi-
dence of Dr. SigurSur Norda'l, the dis-
tinguished scholar and Icelandic Min-
ister to Denmark, and Mrs. Nordal.
On the way from our hotel Dr. Nor-
dal thoughtfully took time to show us
some of the sights of Copenhagen, in-
cluding the beloved and much photo-
graphed bronze figure of “The Little
Mermaid”, inspired by H. C. Ander-
sen’s story of the same name. Dr. Nor-
dal informed us that the Mother of
Edvard Eriksen, the sculptor, had been
Icelandic.
Naturally, we did not visit Copen-
hagen without paying our respects to
The Arne-Magnean Collection of Old
Icelandic manuscripts, where the Cur-
ator, Professor Jon Helgason, another
noted Icelandic scholar, was kind
enough to show us personally some of
the most 'treasured of these manu-
scripts, including the one of Snorri
Sturluson’s Prose Edda. Dr. Helgason
also took us on a tour of the famed
Student Residence (Regensen-GarSur)
at the University of Copenhagen, the
home, in their student days, of a great
many of our Icelandic poets and polit-
ical and cultural leaders. Prof. Helga-
son further directed us to the house
where Jon SigurSsson, the great Ice-
landic statesman and champion of Ice-
landic independence, resided during
his many years in Copenhagen. Al-
though we only had an opportunity
to view his long-time home from the
outside, we felt as if we were standing
on sacred ground.
A highlight of our stay in Denmark
was a special tour from Copenhagen
to Trelleborg, a viking fortress dating
from about the year 1000, located
near -the City of Slagelse in Western
Zealand. On the return trip stops
were made at Ringsted, for 'the
purpose of visiting its -noteworthy St.
Bendts (Benedict’s) Church, the burial
place of several Danish kings, and at
Roskilde, to visit its famous Ca-thedral,
where -the majority of Danish mon-
archs have their final resting place
in surroundings of rare ecclesiastical
splendor and magnificence.
This tour across Zealand gave us
an opportunity -to see something of
rural Denmark and its idyllic charm,
well described as follows: “Here are
no breath-taking beautiful landscapes,
but the countryside almost everywhere
is so welcoming and pleasant -that one
has the impression of wandering in a
carefully cultivated garden.” (Dore
Ogrizek.)
A day spent in the attractive Uni-
versity town of Lund in Sweden was
a memorable experience, and not
least our visit to the celebrated Lund
Cathedral. Romanesque in architectur-
al style, this impressive stone edifice
was founded late in the 11th century
and completed about the year 1200,