The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1956, Side 56

54
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Summer 1956
ing. In addition to the game at hand,
the pemmican of the Canadian North-
West becomes the eplorers’ basic con-
centrated ration. There is a revolution
in clothing and means of transport.
Peary and Amundsen illustrate graph-
ically this development, as did Stef-
ansson himself, although he does not
mention it.
There are numerous glimpses of the
history of peoples and countries, in-
cluding the pre-historic Norse, King
Arthur’s conquest of Iceland, a great
northern “empire”, long before the
time of Canute, the deep sea voyages
of the Irish and their knowledge of Ice-
land in the sixth century, the Green-
land settlement, and Magnus Eriksson’s
plan, about 1547, to bring Russia into
the fold of the Roman Catholic
Church. There is an illuminating
study of the fate of the Greenland col-
ony and a sweep of Dutch history
reveals the impelling motive of these
sturdy people in their extensive explor-
ation.
Those who read the Icelandic sagas
in the original are on familiar ground
when they come to a direct translation
from the Saga of Erik the Red, parts
that tell of the landing of Leif the
Lucky on the shores of Vinland, the
land of self-sown wheat and wine ber-
ries and the maple tree, and of the
attempt at colonization by Thorfinn
Karlsefni. But, whether in the origin-
al or in translation, the story is of
never failing interest. For those who
have not the benefit of the original,
here is an excellent translation.
Of special interest to Canadians is
the story told briefly but in good per-
spective of the rivalry of the Hudson
Bay and North-West Companies. Also,
in the account of the exploration of
the North-West passage there emerges
the figure of Thomas Simpson, nephew
of Sir George Simpson, whose journey
of 1836 is referred to as one of the
great feats in the history of discovery.
There is a story remembered by your
reviewer from his childhood days, of
two tiny children who set out to find
the end of the world. It is called “The
Journey to the World’s End.” Stef-
ansson’s book closes with a dramatic
and deeply moving account of Antarct-
ic exploration and the discovery of
the South Pole. Explorers had finally
reached the “world’s end.”
Great Adventures and Explorations
is the work of a craftsman. The concept
of a single history of world exploration
from the earliest times is in itself
imaginative and the numerous threads
of narration are woven into one coher-
ent whole. In his writing and editing
Stefansson is master of economy. The
personages whom we encounter, explor-
ers and native people alike, are alive
and very human. This is an extremely
interesting and at times a fascinating
account of world exploration by one
who himself is recognized as one of
the great explorers of all time. —W. K.
★
IN DAYS GONE BY
by Rannveig K. G. Sigbjornsson
Arthur H. Stackwell Ltd.,
Devon, England, Publishers.
This little book is a translation of
five stories, written in Icelandic, three
translated by the author herself, one
by the late Professor Skuli Johnson
and one by Johanna F. Sigbjornsson.
The first story entitled TIIE GIFT
is really told in the first four words,
“God, I am hungry.” It is a true story
and relates an event which happened
in Iceland at Christmas time over a
century ago. The man, who, when a
boy, suffered the hunger, told the story
to the author and she has written it in
very realistic language. One can al-
most feel the child’s hunger. The story
combines the resourcefulness even of