The Icelandic Canadian - 01.04.2009, Side 45

Vol. 62 #2
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
87
is evident through her allusions to Norse
mythology, folklore, legend, genealogy,
history, etymology, ghost stories, poetry,
kcnnings and skalds. She highlights the
love of books and literature, reading, writ-
ing and the reverence for writers, publish-
ing, Havamal, the eddas, the sagas, the
booksellers, librarians, the keepers of man-
uscripts, historical material and archival
photographs fraught with memory. She
reminds us of paganism, elves, hidden folk,
that weird and wonderful Icelandic lan-
guage with all its declensions and of the
importance of dreams.
Descriptions of food from vinarterta
and ponnukokkur to hakarl leave us hun-
gry for more. We explore Gimli, Nyja
Island and the West End of Winnipeg and
attractions and scenery both in Canada and
Iceland. We feel at home with the commu-
nity in both places. We are reacquainted
with the midnight sun, fog, Reykjavik
night life, Icelandic attractions, geothermal
heat and, of course, sheep!
As the tapestry takes shape, Freya
moves to New York and doesn’t return to
Gimli until the celebration for her Amma’s
100th birthday. She is still trying to unrav-
el secrets that she intuits beneath the sur-
face of the version of her family story that
has been deemed acceptable for her to
know. It is on a second trip to Iceland that
things finally make sense and the family
myth is shattered.
If you wanted to give your family a
crash course in the Icelandic culture in a
way that would be understandable and eas-
ily accessible in the spirit of Women’s
History Month, look no further. Weave a
Homespun cloth to meet your individual
family needs by sharing The Tricking of
Freya and making it a stepping stone to
sharing the stories of your own family.
TERGESEN’S
GENERAL MERCHANT • GIMLI, MB
DOOM
in the Deep
A story of tragic con-
sequences and
miraculous
endurance and res-
cue just off the coast
of Iceland in 1968.
$29-95
The Tricking
of Freya
Sunley's debut novel
is an intricate family
travelogue - a
surprisingly lush
experience."
- Publisher’s Weekly
$28-95
82 First Avenue Gimli, MB ROC 1B0
(204) 642-5958
tergesen@mts.net
The Tricking of Freya
BOOKS FEATURED IN THIS ISSUE
PHONE ORDERS WELCOME