The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.1964, Síða 18

16
Winter 1964
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
say the Viking tradition because I
think the term Viking should be in-
terpreted in the widest sense not only
as discoverers and plunderers, if you
will, but also as explorers and settlers,
and as the progenitors of the thousand-
year old Icelandic identity and culture.
I had my first view of Iceland some
twenty years ago from a military air-
craft that circled the island. I saw
snow-capped peaks and mountains,
valleys and rivers with waterfalls along
the coast, and a barren, bleak volcanic
interior. Yet it was a scene of in-
describable beauty bathed in colour-
ing whose distinct clarity I have seen
nowhere else. No wonder Icelandic
poets have been granted tongues of
eloquence in reciting the beauty of
their country.
I thought of a poem with the line:
“A meSan glitrar gull a hverjum tindi”.
But I recalled also a poem written by
an Icelandic-Canadian poet, Stephan
G. Stephansson, who on a farm in the
shadow of the Rocky Mountains
penned these lines of haunting senti-
ment and beauty:
f>6 Jur langforull legiSir
serhvert land undir f6t,
bera hugur og hjarta
samt {tins heimalands mot,
fraenka eldfjails of ishafs!
sifji arfoss og livers!
dottir langholts og lyngmos!
sonur landvers og skers!
A few month ago I stood for the
first time on the hallowed ground of
Thingvellir where more than a thou-
sand years ago the world’s first parli-
ament or Althing, as it was called,
was assembled. It is a moving experi-
ence to stand there and to recall even
those few fragments of the Icelandic
Sagas which still cling to one’s mem-
ory. In these days when the conflict
between law and disorder seems on the
increase in many parts of the world,
it is worth recalling that it was a great
Icelandic chieftain, Njall, who nearly
a thousand years ago and on that spot,
exhorted his people that by law should
the land be built—“MeS logum skal
land byggja, enn me© ologum eySa”.
I think that exhortation was taken to
heart. The first independent Icelandic
Republic or Commonwealth which
lasted from 930 A.D. to 1262 was a
period when law and justice as a way
of life began to take root. Respect for
law is therefore one of the great tra-
ditions which has come to us from our
forefathers and I think Icelandic
people can be proud that throughout
centuries they have remained true to
that tradition.
THE CANADIAN SCENE
But we who are here are Canadians
first even though we are proud of our
Icelandic origin. We are proud of this
origin because our Icelandic heritage
has provided us with a background
which we believe contributes a great
deal to good Canadianism. At this
point I should like to express a few
thoughts as a Canadian whose privilege
it has been to serve Canada for a num-
ber of years in foreign countries. In
these assignments it has been my
responsibility to interpret Canada and
the policies of the Government of
Canada to the governments and
peoples of the countries in which I
have served, and at the same time to
interpret their policies, their hopes
and their ambitions to the Government
of Canada.
In the performance of their duties
Canadian representatives have much to
be thankful for. The image of Canada
in the minds of foreign governments