The Icelandic Canadian - 01.04.2006, Síða 17

Vol. 60 #1
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
15
Copenhagen - Winnipeg - Reykjavik.
Now we have mentioned three
Icelandic capitals. Copenhagen, which was
Iceland's capital for more than 400 years,
Winnipeg which was the capital of the
Icelandic settlements in North America
and Reykjavik, the one true capital of
Iceland. In this talk of mine I wanted to
connect these cities and I found this
approach handy. It shows us, I hope, how
siblings who grew up in different countries
could be closely connected; he alone, drift-
ing along, and poor some of the time, she
born in the back-bushes at Gimli with lov-
ing parents. They loved and respected each
other all their lives both before and after
they met, when GuSrun was 17 years old
and Valtyr 37. He wrote before he left
Iceland that he was most looking forward
to meeting his sister, GuSrun, whom he
had never seen until he arrived in Canada.
He was clearly not disappointed. He met a
17 year old lady who was teaching in Arnes
Manitoba and trusted her to go to Indiana,
USA to become a private teacher in
Icelandic. She was so successful with this
project that her student Caroline became
fluent in Icelandic and a specialist in Njals
Saga and the Laxdxla Saga.
One hundred years ago Copenhagen
was an important part of the Icelandic
world and so was and is Winnipeg.
Copenhagen was the capital of Iceland for
more than 400 years. Today there are more
students furthering their education in
Denmark than in any other country in the
world outside of Iceland, and Danish is still
taught in all Icelandic primary schools.
Valtyr GuSmundsson refused to leave
with his family to the New World. They
settled in Winnipeg, while he struggled to
get an education and lived most of his life
in Copenhagen. He always thought of
Iceland, but his closest relatives lived far
away. Still he had close connections to his
family in the West; he was a kind of a
metaphor of the fate awaiting many
Icelanders at that time. The triangle
Copenhagen, Winnipeg, Reykjavik put
their mark on his life.
Svavar and I feel fortunate to have been
appointed to serve our nation in all these
three countries/capitals, two in the past
tense, one in the near future.
Editor’s Note: This address was given
at the Johnson Hall in Gimli, Manitoba
after the Walk to the Rock on October 21,
2005.
Sources:
Jon P.For. Dr.Valtyr. Akureyri (2004).
Dr.Valtyr segir fra. Finnur
Sigmundsson editor (1964)
Icelandic Pioneers of 1874, from the
Reminiscences of Simon Simonson.
Translated by W.Kristjanson (an artals).
Junius Kristinsson. Vesturfaraskra (A
record of emigrants from Iceland to
America 1870 - 1914) (1983).
Letters from Valtyr GuSmundsson to
his sister and parents. Private collection.
Letters from GuSrun Skaptason to her
parents and family. Private collection.
Letters from Caroline Foulke Urie to
GuSrun Skaptason. Private collection.
GuSrun Skaptason’s diary from her
trip to Iceland in 1958. Private collection.
GuSrun Skaptason’s own description
of her life. Private collection.
"MinningarorS um GuSrunu
Skaptason," The Icelandic Canadian
(1960).
Hof . . . “Merk kona I heimsokn til
Islands”, MorgunblaSiS (31. jull 1958).
A love story: Gudrun and Joseph
Skaptason, A Genealogy, compiled by
Margeret Stevens (1980).
Bogi Th.MelsteS: Willard Fiske,
asfiminning. Kaupmannahofn (1907).
Urklippur ur Islenskum, donskum og
norskum bloSurn ur forum Johonnu
Wilson, Sar sem skrifaS er um Valty. Mest
fra andlati hans 1928 og a aldarafmadinu.