The Icelandic Canadian - 01.08.2001, Side 9

Vol. 56 #3
THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
91
Heritage Gift from People of Iceland
by Sigrid Johnson
The first European voyage to North
America was made in the year 1000 by
Leifur Eiriksson and described in detail in
the Sagas of the Icelanders.
Nearly 900 years later, large numbers of
Icelanders emigrated to North America
settling in various parts of Canada and the
United States. Among the few possessions
these emigrants took with them was invari-
ably a collection of books. Their love of
books enabled the Western Icelanders (as
the emigrants came to be referred to as) to
preserve their heritage while establishing
themselves as good citizens in their new
countries.
In 1997, Leifur Eiriksson Publishing of
Reykjavik published the five volume work,
The Complete Sagas of Icelanders, contain-
ing the first co-ordinated English transla-
tion of all forty Sagas of Icelanders, and
thereby providing the English-speaking
world with the opportunity to experience
these literary treasures in their entirety.
The Sagas describing the first voyages to
North America feature prominently in the
first volume.
To commemorate the millenium of
Leifur Eiriksson’s discovery of North
America, the People of Iceland have given
500 sets of The Complete Sagas of
Icelanders to their Canadian cousins in the
hope that they will be proud to introduce
their fellow countrymen to the literary
roots of the written history of the North
American continent. Eighty-one Icelandic
businesses, organizations, government
bodies and individuals have contributed to
this Heritage Gift. The Gift was organized
by The Icelandic National League, the
Leifur Eiriksson Millenium Commission
and Leifur Eiriksson Publishing.
The Saga sets are being presented to uni-
versities and colleges, public schools,
Department of Education, and legislative
libraries across Canada.
The distribution is being co-ordinated
by The Icelandic National League of North
America and its chapters, together with the
Consulate General of Iceland in Winnipeg
and the Embassy of Iceland in Ottawa.
Icelandic National League chapters have
also each been given a set to be placed
either in their chapter library or presented
to a local library.
President of Iceland, Svavar Gestsson and
Manitoba Premier, Gary Doer at the Manitoba
Legislative building during the presentation of
The Complete Sagas of Icelanders to the leg-
islative library.