The Icelandic Canadian - 01.06.1973, Síða 76

74
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
SUMMER 1973
were 1440 guests.
It was an age of violence, with much
fighting. Nevertheless, there were
men of peace who deplored bloodshed.
The people were notably hospitable.
Three instances are mentioned where
a settler built a hall across the road-
way, with tables always laid for travel-
lers.
Clothes of the well-to-do were rich
and colorful. The Hjaltasons arrived
at an assembly so elegantly dressed that
the people thought that the Gods had
come, (s-207).
Women had a respected and often
prominent position in the home and
the community. At the lower end of
the scale were some concubines and
bondwomen.
A Commonwealth. An aristocratic-
democratic commonwealth evolved.
First after settlement there were dist-
itric assemblies, then assemblies for
each Quarter. Finally, in 930 AT)., a
national assembly, Althing, was form-
ed, with a code of laws and a law-
speaker to preside, and a law-court.
Political power was shared by 39 chief-
tains, but commoners were represent-
ed. Not an armed force but a common
law and Althing gave the country co-
hesion.
The Icelandic people had a poetic
imagination, as is revealed in the
poetry and occasional verse quoted,
and in the nicknames universally as-
signed, concrete, biting, descriptive;
e.g. Ljot the Unwashed. There are
numerous examples of clairvoyance,
premonition, and second sight. Super-
stitious beliefs included sorcery, ghosts
and omens.
The translation is true to the origin-
al. The style is natural, simple, con-
cise. In appearance the book is beauti-
ful, including paper, print, colored
landscape and maps. It is a veritable
work of art.
The Book of Settlements is a valu-
ablet addition to our Canadian liter-
ature.
The Book of Settlements was published to
commemorate the 20th anniversary of the
founding of a Chair of Icelandic Language
and Literature at the University of Manitoba.
Its publication was supported by organiz-
ations within the Manitoba Icelandic com-
munity.
—The Alumni Journal, University of Manitoba
-30-
LIFE’S MANY MOODS
by Solveig Sveinsson
Vantage Press, New York, 1971
243 pp. $3.95
“I glanced at the clock. It was
quitting time. Thank goodness! I had
no idea why I was so tired today. So
anxious for -the day to be done. As a
rule I was not a clock watcher and I
detested those who were. And why
should I ever become one? Even if
just for this one day.
“Everyone knew that I loved my
job. Loved the school and all the
children I patiently struggled with
day after day and year after year. All
my friends knew that I was born an
old maid—a born schoolteacher that
just loved teaching other women’s
kids,, not caring in the least that none
of them were mine.
“Oh, well. Most of the time I
thought exactly that too . . . but this
morning . . .”
The speaker of the opening words
in the story was Katherine Haggard.
Was she really a -born old maid? Does
the story as it unfolds show something
else? We soon learn of her deep-felt
love for a young man, “the young God
to her simple -heart’’. What caused the
tragedy in her life? How did she face