The Icelandic Canadian - 01.11.2007, Side 20

62
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 61 #2
violent action and romantic suspense, but
to reach a higher level of literature, one that
pinpoints human emotion and at the same
time provokes thought and philosophical
questioning. We are dealing with a vision-
ary character, one that has become the
most famous of all saga females.
Perhaps Gudrun moves us because we
are like her, because we all dream. What is
sad is that Gudrun understands herself and
knows there will be much pain in her life.
We do not know our futures. If it were so;
would we make decisions to try and avoid
pain, privation and suffering? Of course we
would try. We do try so hard to under-
stand our nature and ourselves but often,
this ends in discouragement. The life of our
visionary prophet is an example of how we
should not ask too much of ourselves, as so
many of us do, especially in the winter
when we have too much time to think.
Bibliography
Adalsteinsson, Jon Hnefill. Under the
Cloak; A Pagan Ritual Turning Point in the
Conversion of Iceland. Hakolautgafan
Felagsvlsindastofnun, Reykjavik, 1999.
Louis-Jensen, Jonna. “A Good Day’s
Work: Laxdada Saga, ch. 49.” In Cold
Counsel; Women in Old Norse Literature
and Mythology. Ed. by Sarah M.
Anderson with Karen Swenson.
Routledge, New York and London, 2002.
Andersson, Theodore M. The
Icelandic Family Saga. Harvard
University Press, Cambridge,
Massachusetts, 1967.
O’Donoghue, Heather. Old Norse-
Icelandic Literature; A Short
Introduction. Blackwell Publishing, 2004.
Magnusson, Magnus and Palsson,
Hermann. Laxdxla Saga. Penguin Books,
1969.
Jakobsson, Armann. “Some Types of
Ambiguities in the Sagas of the
Icelanders”Photocopy provided by Birna
Bjarnadottir, University of Manitoba,
2006.
Laxdxla Saga, pp 238.
Laxdxla Saga, pp 121.
Agnes Bardal Comack
has generously donated proceeds
from her book of memories to the
Icelandic Canadian Magazine.
The book is being distributed
through H.P. Tergesen & Sons,
Gimli, Manitoba
For more information on obtaining
a book, call (204) 642-5958
or email: tergesen@mts.net