The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1967, Blaðsíða 74

72
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Summer 1967
Where the Limitation of Language and Geography Cease to Exist
(Continued from page 53
In a dialogue which takes place be-
tween these two men the minister ac-
cuses SigurSur trolli of being al-
together lacking in gratitude and
humility towards his creator to which
accusation SigurSur replies by telling
his own story.
From SigurSur’s account we learn
that he was born in the valley in which
he later decided to settle permanently.
While he was still in his youth, Sig-
urSur moved with his parents out of
the valley down to the sears'hore. A
short time later his father was drown-
ed and his mother died from exposure
while on her way to church. These
tragic events gave young SigurSur
reason to believe that fate was making
a senseless attempt to exterminate his
kinfolk. Therefore he made up his
mind to launch a counter attack
against fate and to avenge the heavy
loss he had sustained. At this point,
however, SigurSur was faced with the
problem of deciding against whom he
should wreak his vengeance.
Having considered this problem
carefully, SigurSur came to the con-
clusion that catastrophes that befall
innocent and defenseless people must
be the doings of the ruler of the uni-
verse. He therefore decided to chal-
lenge this ruler by moving back to his
native valley and try to prevent further
catastrophes on the treacherous moun-
tain roads. At the time of the dialogue
between the church minister and Sig-
urSur trolli the latter is able to report
that he has avenged the death of two
by saving the lives of eight.
Stephansson’s poem about SigurSur
trolli emphasizes that on the battle-
field of life self sacrifice is the only
means by which victory can be gained;
the protagonist of this drama is the
spokesman for the author’s own con-
victions and beliefs, (cf. Hannes Peturs-
son, op. cit).
SigurSur trolli represents an indi-
vidual who in spite of extremely dif-
ficult circumstances succeeds in
putting his capabilities to good use.
In the snowstorms of the mountains
this man shows superhuman strength.
This kind of strength which increased
with every challenge is the theme with
which Stephansson, on many occasions,
either conciously or sulbconciously,
appears to have identified his own at-
tributes and circumstances. In many
of his poems the proportion between
achievement and circumstance is of
great significance, i.e., the first can-
not be properly assessed without tak-
ing the other into account. Thus, the
Viking sailor Grimur loSinkinni
(Grimur the Shaggy Cheek) who be-
came the first man to make full use
of the sail is worthy of higher recog-
nition than Robert Fulton the builder
of the first steamship. In the poet’s
opinion both men deserve recognition.
Nevertheless, the accomplishmen|t of the
pioneer who had only had his own in-
genuity to draw on is to be judged as
proportionately greater than that of
the person who merely perfected the
work begun by others, (cf. Sig Nordal,
Andvokur, 1939, XXVIII).
Of particular interest are poems in
which natural phenomena symbolize
aspects of human life, as for instance
Greniskogurinn (The Spruce Forest,
cf. I, 317-319) where the poet draws
a singularly graphic picture of a tall
and splendid looking spruce tree Which