The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.1955, Page 39

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
37
to the islanders but refers as well to
seamen from other lands who at times
sought shelter in Grimsey. There is
the harrowing story of a Norwegian
fisherman whose wife and three child-
ren had been killed when the Nazis
invaded Norway. When the man had
finished his sad story Robert Jack
felt that he should do something to
comfort him. They went to the church
where Robert prayed to God to give
this man strength and faith. This is
one of the best passages in the book;
the writing rises to the level of abiding
literature.
At other times the author drops
down to the vernacular and even slang:
“I cracked up”; “I almost put my foot
in it”; “let off steam”. Some of his des-
criptive phrases, however, are very
vivid: “his huge banana hands”. A
minor criticism may be made.
The author seeks to anglicize Icelandic
words and names. In this modern “one-
world” a person becomes accustomed
to foreign words and names. In the
reviewer’s opinion the unchanged Ice-
landic words would have served the
author equally well and been more
natural. Even the Icelandic letters
should have been retained: “reiS” in-
stead of “reit-h”, “jrorp” instead og
“thorp”. If changes were made the
usual practice might well have been
followed: “Stodvarfiord” for StoSvar-
fjdrSur”, not “Stothvarfirth”.
The Rev. Robert Jack feels very
strongly that “a Higher hand” has
guided him to serve for -the Kingdom
of God where he is most needed—in
Grimsey for instance. This fact is borne
out not only by what he says in the
book but also by his actions. He came
to Canada but after serving the Ar-
borg Lutheran congregation for two
years accepted a call from Iceland. He
relates an incident which clearly re-
veals his deep sense of mission and
service. He had been asked to come
to Reykjavik to help out a friend.
While in the capital he enjoyed Ice-
landic hospitality in a modern city.
He was sitting at breakfast one morn-
ing when an acquaintance handed him
a paper saying:
“Cold at Grimsey. News of ice. Read
it yourself”.
Robert Jack could have stayed a
few days more in the comfort and lux-
ury of Reykjavik. He returned to
Grimsey at once.
Not only did he serve his parishion-
ers, he lived with them, was one of
them. He includes himself when he
says:
“Our clothes are ordinary, our
amusements simple and our mode of
transport rudimentary. We know of
modern things, but they are not with-
in reach. The thought of the islanders
is moulded by this atmosphere of
elementary things”.
By way of footnote it may be added
that Robert Jack is a missionary for
the Icelandic language and literature.
By now he speaks Icelandic as well,
if not better, than English. He says:
“They (the Icelanders) can read and
understand their literature of the
twelfth and thirteenth centuries more
easily than an educated man in Britain
can follow -the writings of Shakespeare.
Old and Modern Icelandic are not,
as is sometimes said, two different
languages”.
This book is a valuable addition to
existing literature in English on Ice-
land and its people. W. J. L.