The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1967, Page 76

74
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Summer 1967
the art of capping verses: one contest-
ant presenting his opponent with the
beginning of a verse which the latter
has to complete in accordance with the
rules of both rhyme and alliteration.
Occasionally the two contestants ex-
change their positions as is required
by the rules of the contest.
This particular verse-making contest
which is designed to destroy the loser
goes on until Kolbeinn manages to
present Satan with opening lines under
a new metre called Kolbeinslag (Kol-
beinn’s Metre). Satan is not prepared
for this innovation and is unable to
complete the verse using this new
metre. As a result of this he loses the
contest. The lack of adaptability which
is a “characteristic feature of the de-
structive forces in the world” (cf. Sig.
FriSJrjblfsson: Studia Islandica 19, 180)
is among the reasons for Satan’s de-
feat. It must also be conceded that in
the contest Kolbeinn wielded the most
powerful weapon of the Icelandic
arsenal, namely the resilient poetic
sword.
Kolbeinn’s method of protecting
himself against the forces of evil is
therefore the very same method which
the Icelandic nation has always used
in its acrimonious struggle down
through the centuries. It is the kind of
defense which consists of the cultivat-
ing of the best traits of one’s heritage.
Thus Kolbeinslag not only provides an
answer to the historian’s question; it
contains an important lesson based
on the poet’s own experience.
Stephan G. Stephansson had pro-
found respect for his native land, Ice-
land, even though he admitted that in
kindness it had not been as generous
to him as to many others; “only death
will part us,” he wrote (I, 116). He
was fully aware of his responsibilities
as a representative of Iceland in his
adopted land. This is borne out by
the last lines of a poem from 1894
which can be paraphrased as follows:
“Wherever I may travel, I shall cherish
the hope that my motherland will
never receive anything but pleasing
news about my conduct.” (I, 117).
In describing his attachment to his
adopted land (or lands), Stephansson
spoke of bonds of kinship (brbSurhug).
His feelings for Iceland were, accord-
ing to his own account, of a similar
nature except that they had an element
of sensitivity which one’s homeland
alone can foster. The poet related in
a symbolic manner his personal experi-
ence in his poem BarSardalur (BarS-
ur’s valley, III, 289-291), and owing to
his own involvement this poem must
be regarded as an interpretation of an
episode from one of Iceland’s oldest
books, Landnamsbok (The Book of the
Settlements from the 12th century.)
The poem recounts the experience
of one of the settlers of ancient Iceland
by the name of BartSur. This pioneer
settled in a valley in the north of Ice-
land, but after a brief stay there he
found that the cold gusts of wind
from the north did not agree with him
and moved to the southern part of Ice-
land. The ancient source from Land-
namaibdk and Stephansson’s poem are
in agreement that Barffur’s brief stay
in the northern valley was not in vain.
At the time of his departure from there
he had stored a good supply of pro-
visions which he could take with him
to his new settlement in the south. “I
know one who filled his knapsack in
the same way,” (III, 290) Stephansson
tells us, keeping in mind that he him-
self brought with him to North Amer-
ica an inherent interest in literature
and language which later became a
powerful means of expression in his
best poems.