The Icelandic Canadian - 01.12.2003, Side 48

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THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 58 #2
Book Reviews
The White Strand: An
Homage to the ancient Norse
By Ellinor Thun Ueland, poet and A.
Warren Oddsson, artist. Edited by:
Robert J. Asgeirsson
Penman Digital Inc, 2002
ISBN 0-9730968-0-2
Reviewed by Betty Jane Wylie
THE WHITE STRAND is a labour of
love, painstakingly created: beautiful paper;
handsome fonts (wih serifs); 29 reproduc-
tions of original drawings especially creat-
ed for the book by the artist—almost one
per episode—with an opaque protective
cover page on each one; a colour photo-
graph of the poet and artist accompanying
a full biography of each; the English and
Runic alphabets; a complete Glossary in
Icelandic spelling and a recommended
reading list (but without publishing infor-
mation).
A note about the Glossary: it’s useful
and informative and allows the writer to
use words otherwise unfamiliar to the read-
er. However, there are two words she uses
that aren’t in the glossary and also not in
the dictionary. She uses “oar” and “knell”
as verbs. “Row” is a perfectly good verb
and so is “toll” or “ring.” Both are mono-
syllabic and would not spoil her metre
(which is somewhat capricious anyway.)
The narrative is wonderful and authen-
tic and it is broken down into chronologi-
cal episodes, charting the emotional as well
as the physical progress of the early Norse
people to Iceland. Their human history is
set into th web of fate woven by the three
Norns, the ancient seers of Past, Present
and Future, which ends with Ragnarok, the
end of time—not quite. The white strand,
of the three colours the Norns use (black,
grey and white) remains cloud-like, drift-
ing, promising hope for another future, a
Gimli, a heavenly home. If only I could
give this effort an unqualified rave!