The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1963, Page 21

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
19
Hdskuldur Dalakollsson was the
great-grandson of two kings,—king
Cearbhall of Leinster and king Claf
the White of Dublin. On one of his
trips overseas he bought a beautiful
Irish girl, Melkorka, who had been
enslaved in a raid, a daughter of king
Muircertach (Myrkjartan), a king in
Ireland. Their son was Olafur Pa. He
married a daughter of Egill, the great
poet of Egils Saga. Their son Kjartan,
a great athlete, and one of three best
swordsmen in Iceland, was the hero
of Laxdasla Saga.
GuSbrandur Jonsson says in the chap-
ter which he inserted in the trans-
lation of the book referred to above:
“There seems no doubt that we have
to thank the Irish for the culture and
literature which has brought such wide
fame to Iceland.” Possibly this should
be modified to: The mixture of the
two cultures has made a sound foun-
dation for the literary achievements
of the Icelanders.
Mindful of the learning which flour-
ished in Ireland for a period of three
hundred years preceding the migration
of settlers from Ireland to Iceland, it
seems reasonable to assume that a heri-
tage of Irish learning was transmitted
to Iceland along with the Norse cul-
ture and played a prominent part in
developing the classical literature of
Iceland. .
A LIST OF REFERENCE BOOKS USED FOR THIS ARTICLE
History of Ireland, by Boyer Chauvire, Prof, of the National University of Ireland,
1952.
The Glories of Ireland, Edited by Joseph Dun, Ph.D. and P. J. Lennox, Litt.D.
Early Christians in Ireland, by Maire and Liam de Paor.
Phases of Irish History, by Eoin MacNeill, Prof, of Ancient Irish History, National
University of Ireland, 1937.
Insula Sanatorium Et Doctorum, or
Ireland's Ancient Schools and Scholars, by Most Reverent John Healy, D.D. L.L.B.,
M.R.I.A., 1902 4th edition. Kindly loaned by the Congress Library in Wash-
ington, D.C.
Irish Saga and Folk-Tales, by Eileen O’Faolain, 1960, 4th edition.
Ireland, by Chartres Malony.
View of the State of Ireland, by Edmund Spenser.
Italy and Ireland in the Middle Ages, by Vin Cenzo Berardis, 1950. At the Time
he wrote the book, he was Minister Plenipotentiary of Italy in Dublin,
Ireland. He quotes 100 references; books, documnts and chronicles, many
of them in libraries in Rome.
Landnama, (Book of Settlement, in Iceland).
Orkneyinga Saga,
Vikinga Saga, by Jon Jonsson, Profastur aS Stafafelli, 1915.