The Icelandic Canadian - 01.04.1988, Blaðsíða 21

THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
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full-time duties as a teacher and despite
frequent bouts of ill-health.
Though Bjarnason wrote much in the
tradition of his day, he was not afraid to
break new ground either. The many plays
he wrote attest to an interest in creativity
rather than fame and fortune, for he wrote
them for the schools and communities in
which he lived, with little prospect of pub-
lication. His “An Icelandic Sherlock
Holmes,” set in Markland and Shubena-
cadie, N.S., was the first detective story
ever written in Icelandic. He experimented
extensively in writing for children, trying
new forms and adapting old ones such as
the fairy tale.
In the end, Bjarnason’s most enduring
legacy, like that of Markland, was not
material. He never made much from his
writings financially. His magnum opus,
Eirlkur Hansson only netted him a hundred
dollars (and even then he had to pay for his
own copy of the second installment of the
book). All his life he was to struggle with
limited finances, despite the high regard he
was held in by Icelanders and Icelandic
Canadians alike. But through his books he
brought to life the world in which he lived
in a way few others have. And as long as
there are those who can read Icelandic,
there will be those that know Markland
was more than a few dank holes and rusted
lumps of iron. His writings have left a mark
that will remain long after the last hole fills
in and the last bit of stove rusts away.
Johann Magnus Bjarnason died in El-
fros, Saskatchewan early in September
1945, only a few days behind his wife,
Gudrun Hjorleifsdbttir. She had been his
staunch supporter through thick and thin
for 58 years.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
The best sources on Johann Magnus Bjarnason
are his diaries (preserved in the special collection
of the University of Manitoba Dafoe Library)
and his correspondence with Stephan G. Ste-
phansson (published in Bref til Stephans G.
Stephanssonar). Useful summaries of his life are
found in Beck, Richard, “Johann Magntls Bjarna-
son. skald” (found in Almanak Olafs Thorgeir-
sonar 1946) and Einarsson, Stefan, History of
Icelandic Prose Writers 1800-1940, and in the
introduction to VornaeturA Elgsheidum (Spring
Nights on the Elk Moors).
Remains of a Markland farm, Nova Scotia