The Icelandic Canadian - 01.09.1968, Síða 13

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
11
taining many of his own articles and
observations.
Dr. Kristjan Eldjarn was born in
1916 at Tjorn in SvarfaSardalur in
northern Iceland. His parents were
Mr. and Mrs. horarinn Kristjansson
Eldjarn (Mrs. Eldjarn: fru Sigrun
Sigurhjartardottir). In 1947 he mar-
ried Halldora Ingolfsdottir, born in
1923, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs.
Ingolfur Arnason (Mrs. Arnason: frii
Olof Jdnasdottir) at Isafjorffur. Dr.
and Mrs. Eldjarn have a family of
four: Olof, bdrarinn, Sigrun, and Ing-
olfur.
★
As has already been indicated, Dr.
Kristjan Eldjarn received his academic
training in both Denmark and Iceland.
This explains in part his firm belief
that while the Icelanders must cul-
tivate their own national heritage,
they must also take good care not to
forget that they are a part of a larger
community of nations. Before he ab-
dicated his post as Curator of the Na-
tional Museum, Dr. Eldjarn made this
discerning analysis of the cultural
significance of that institution:
“. . ., the museum should first and
foremost be a cultural institution
for the Icelanders themselves—a
place of education in Icelandic hi-
story and national culture. Ice-
landers, young and old, should
have the opportunity of studying
their own history and their own
way of life as if in a mirror. A
small people like the Icelanders
needs every support possible so as
not to lose sight of their destiny
to live as an independent, modern
nation in the family of nations and
at the same time preserve its an-
cient and remarkable cultural
heritage, for it is only the Iceland-
ic nation itself that can do this
and benefit from it.”
(Iceland Review No. 2, 1968)
On the first day of August this year,
the day of his inauguration as Pres-
ident, Dr. Eldjarn included the follow-
ing comments in his address to the na-
tion:
“Few nations can give an account
of their own origins in a way
similar to that of the Icelanders.
But it is of greater significance
that they have always rested upon
the foundations of national cul-
ture brought into existence by the
settlers of Iceland and their des-
cendants. As one may expect, our
nation has experienced both peri-
ods of success and times of hard-
ship. But irrespective of this
changeable nature of our fate, we
have preserved the heritage which
our ancestors brought with them
to their new land. This unbroken
continuity in our culture manifests
itself in many different ways.
Though few in number, we pos-
sess a keen awareness of our duties
and responsibilities as a separate
nation. We are also determined
to preserve our independence and
our rights to dispose of our own
affairs. Neither should we fail to
mention Old Icelandic, the lan-
guage of our fathers, which not
only forms a close relation with
our literary tradition, but has also
served us to this day as a means of
articulate expression. Our present
attitudes and mode of thinking
are traceable to an ancient heri-
tage in an even larger measure
than is commonly believed. All
these attributes combine to form
a unified whole which is identified
as Icelandic culture. As a nation
we have set ourselves the objective
of preserving this culture and of
securing a continuing enrichment