The Icelandic Canadian - 01.11.2006, Page 23

Vol. 60 #3
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
109
Translation mystery solved
by Nelson Gerrard
During The Icelandic Canadian
Magazine's recent serial publication of let-
ters by pioneer entrepreneur Fridjon
Fridriksson, it became apparent that the
English translation could not have been
done by Sigurbjorg Stefansson of Gimli, as
originally believed. This was evident not
only from various misunderstandings
regarding names and places integral to the
history of New Iceland, but also from the
diction and non-standard syntax, punctua-
tion, etc. used by the translator.
Sigurbjorg Stefansson, an individual very
much at home in the history of New
Iceland and an English teacher of high
standards, could not have produced this
translation.
Accordingly, The Icelandic Canadian
Magazine recently carried a note that the
attribution of this translation to Sigurbjorg
Stefansson was in question. This, in turn,
resulted in some speculation as to who in
fact had translated the letters.
Now the answer has been found. In
August, while working at the Icelandic
Emigration Centre at Hofsos in Northern
Iceland, I came across a binder with the
typed transcripts (in Icelandic) of Fridjon's
letters all neatly sequenced. An introducto-
ry note signed by Ingveldur
Sveinbjornsdottir explained the circum-
stances (in Icelandic):
"While I was studying in St. Louis,
Missouri, from 1976-1980, I was
approached by Dr. Larson, one of my pro-
fessors at the University of Missouri, who
said that he had an odd request. A
woman had phoned the university to find
out if anyone knew Icelandic. She claimed
that she had been in touch with other uni-
versities, but to no avail. The reason this
woman, whose name was Virginia
McDaniel (nee Johnson), wanted to meet
someone who spoke Icelandic was that she
had letters in Icelandic, from her great-
grandfather Fridjon Fridriksson to Rev.
Jon Bjarnason. To make a long story short,
I got in touch with Virginia and we became
good friends. I translated the letters into
English for her."
Ingveldur concluded her introductory
note by mentioning that Virginia had sub-
sequently visited Iceland twice, in 1979 and
again in 1987, but died in 1988. She
added that she was donating the typed
Icelandic transcripts of the letters to the
Emigration Center at Hofsos in the hope
that "Fridjon’s letters would sharpen the
image that people have of the Icelandic pio-
neer experience in America."
In keeping with this aim, some correc-
tions and alterations have been made to
these translations during the course of pub-
lication in The Icelandic Canadian.