The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.1959, Blaðsíða 46

44
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Winter 1959
Mr. & Mrs. Frank Fredrickson Visit Iceland
Frank Fredrickson, who 40 years ago
was engaged to go to Iceland to fly
and give instructions in flying, was in-
vited last summer with Mrs Fred-
rickson to be among the guests of hon-
our at a gathering celebrating the
fortieth anniversary of flying in Ice-
land. The formal celebration took
place on September 3, and SigurSur
Magnusson, the Public Relations Di-
rector of the Icelandic Air Lines, was
master of ceremonies Besides delivering
an address in Icelandic, Frank made
a tape recording, now in the hands of
the Icelandic Broadcasting Corporation,
and has a copy which can be repro-
duced here in the West. The following
are extracts from Frank’s speech:
Chichi Islendingar.
Fyrir rumum 39 arum veittist -mer su
gleSi aS lita i fyrsta sinn fosturland
foreldra rninna. Aftur er eg kominn
hingaS til Jtessa lands hinna morgu
minninga og JraS a eg mi aS jra'kka
LoftleiSum, sem buSu okkur hjonun-
um yfir hafiS mikla, sem aSskilur
okkur Austur- og Vestur-Islendingana.
ViS, sem eigum foreldra, er fluttust
heSan biiferlum til hinna fjarlasgustu
landa, gerum okkur ljosa Jra jrakkar-
skuld, er viS stondum i vegna hins is-
lenzka menningararfs, sem okkur fell
i skaut, og viS erum stolt af ]avi, aS
hinn siSmenntaSi heimur veit, aS i
Jaessu landi hefir fra alda oSli dafnaS
mikil og serstaeS menning.
ViS, afkomendur utflytjendanna is-
lenzku, hofum reynt aS gjalda J>essa
skuld. . . . ViS jrekkjum 611 nofn is-
lenzkra manna, sem skaraS hafa fram
ur, gnaeft eins og tindar upp ur hinu
mikla mannhafi Vesturalfu. Eg reyni
ekki aS Jrylja Jiau. Bess gerist engin
{rorf. En hitt finnst mer astaeSa til aS
segja ykkur, aS vestra Jrykja ]raS goS
meSmaeli meS okunnum manni, aS
hann se Islendingur—og jress vegna
latum viS Jress alltaf getiS, Jregar ]:>ess
er kostur, aS raetur okkar standi i mold
Jressarar fjarlaegu eyju. Bannig hefir
foreldrum okkar tekiz-t aS skila arfin-
um aS heiman—og svona hofum viS
reynt aS avaxta hann.
ViS hofum ur fjarlaegSinni reynt aS
fylgjast meS Jovi hvernig jriS, sem
heima sitjiS, hafiS avaxtaS JraS pund,
sem ykkur fell i skaut, og viS erum
undrandi og stolt yfir jrvi hve ve-1 ykkur
hefir tekizt JraS. . . .
ViS hjonin munum sennilega aldrei
koma aftur hingaS heim. En hvort sem
Jrau ar verSa morg eSa fa, sem viS
eigum eftir olifuS, ]ra munu Jrau varS-
veita meS okkur i jaakklatum hug-urn
minninguna um Jressa indaslu heim
sokn, og viS munum nota ]rau til Jress
aS segja vinum okkar vestra fra jrvi
hversu yndisleg jjiS hafiS veriS okkur.
-hve aefintyralegt Island er, og reyna
Jrannig aS styrkja ]aau braeSrabond,
sem enn tengja saman heimajrj oSina og
frau brot hennar, sem bua vestan ha-fs-
ins, og geyma enn eitthvaS af hinni
fornu arfleifS kynsloSanna, sem her
hafa buiS i Jausund ar, stundum viS
obliS kjor, en alltaf Jdo i tru a, aS geta
skilaS framtiSinni einhverju Javi, sem
gert gaeti nafn islands i vitund -heims-
ins mikilfenglegra en {raS aSur var.
GuS blessi Island.
Visits to Iceland of people of Ice-
landic extraction born here should be