Tíminn - 17.06.1930, Side 23

TlMINN
, Sweden and
Norway (for physicai sciences, technical subjects, foreign
languages).
Since the middle of the 16th. century two grammar
schools have been in existence in Iceland, which prepared
students for the ministery and pre-university standing for
foreign universities. Later on, about the close of the 18th.
century, the two schools were combined, but there are
two now, again, which prepare students for graduate
degrees. On the other hand, schools for children did not
exist for a long time, but gradually, these were sgt up in
the towns, during the 19th. century. *
The first high school was founded in 1880, which was
soon followed by agricultural and navigators schools,
Compulsory education, with the age limit, frorn 9 years to
14 years, was enacted in 1907 which established a regulnr
school system.
Great strides in education have been taken since
that time, high schools have increased in number. Modern
school houses have been built in rnany districts for
general education, and special schools have increased, and
efforts are being made to establish a uniform and com-
plete school system, throughout the land, whereby high
schools succeed common schools, as also technical schools
and grammer schools of various kinds.
The Icelanders now understand quite well that in
order to cope with the competition of the bigger nations
and maintain their own rights and existence as an inde-
pendent people in spite of their small numbers, every
effort must be made to educate as best possible the
youth of the nation of every class. Without doubt the
future culture of the nation will be developel along mo-
dern lines, especially in so far as promotion of technical
knowledge is concerned.
have gone to England, Fi'ance, Germai
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G-ULLSMIÐUB
ARNI B. BJORNSSON
CStzlanbix íyzits iu (£1x9(10(3
“töt) ptofessor “055- 2%. (Staigie
íslenzk ljóð, frumkvæði og þýðingar.
(Icelandic I.yrics, Originals and
Translations, selected and edited í ■ y
Richard Beck;.
Is was an excellent idea on the part of Þórhaliur
Bjarnarson to add to the interesting events of the present
year by the publication of a collection of English transla-
tions of Icelandic poems. The very existence of rnodern
Icelandic poetry is too little known in other countries even
among those who take some interest in northern studies
or the literature of Scandinavia. There are certainly few
who realize that one of the great achievements of Ice-
land in the nineteenth century is the production, by a
people so limited in numbers, of so much verse of a high
quality, keeping in touch with the general development of
European poetry while preserving distinctive features
which link it closely with the past.
The task of Professor Beck in compiling this col-
lection has not been a light one. It is not a collection of
the best Icelandic lyrics, but a selection frorn the best
English translations of these, and could only have been
made by one possessed of a good knowledge of both
languages and of a sound critical sense. Fortunately the
best Icelandic pieces and the best translations frequently
denote the same thing, as translators have naturally been
desirous of rendering the poems which they regarded as
Stærsta lyfjabúð á Islandi.
Laugaveg 16. Beykjavlk.
Hefir tekið að sér
f
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lyfjabúðina á Þingvöllum
sumar um Alþingisháfíðina.
Laugavegs Apótek %
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í
Allar þær vörutegundir, sem lyfjabúð-
ir verzla með, svo sem lyf, hjúkunar
gögn, gleraugu, fegurðarvörur, filmur og
annað sem tilheyrir myndasmíði, eru
sendar hvert á land, sem vera skal gegn
póstkröfu.
Landsmenn! Þið, sem eigið langt
til lyfjabúðar, sendið okkur recept yðar
eða glös, og skulum við svo um hæl
senda yður það, sem yður vanhagar um.
among the best in the language. Whatever may be want-
ing in the book, for iack of good translations, a glance
over the table of contents wili show how much there is
in it that one would expect or wish to find there. in tiie
compass of seventy-nine pieces, it iliustrates some of the
best work of thirty poets, beginning with Bjarni Thor-
arensen and ending with Einar P. Jónsson. The poets are
arranged in order of date, and the brieí introduction ís
supplemented by short biographies preceding the work of
each, and accompanied by portraits drawn by Tryggvi
iVIagnússon.
The translators number twelve in all, and it is note-
worthy that with one exception they are all of Icelandic
stock, and (again with one exception) resident in Canada
or the United Stades. No fmer testimony to theii' patriot-
ism on the one hand and their mastery of Enghsh on the
other, could be desired tlian what is furnished by these
translations. Love for the tongue of their parents and
kinsfolk, keen appreciation of the speciai chaims of Ice-
landic poetry, and slri.ll in rendering these in another lang-
uage, are all clearly manifested in their work. Where all
have done so well it is ahnost invidious to distinguisli,
but no one can turn over the pages without noticing the
frequency with which the names of Skuli Johnson and
Jakobina Johnson recur. How large their share in the
work is would have been at once apparent if an mdex of
translators had been provided.
It would be easy to criticize details in the transla-
tions. No good poetry can be transíerred from one lang-
uage to another without some loss, and this is especially
true of Icelandic, where form is so essential a feature in
all verse. Minor improvements could be suggested in many
of the renderings, either to bring them closer to the Ice-
landic, or to remove a word or phrase which sounds un-
poetic to the English ear, and sometimes to improve the
metre or rhythm. Such improvements are often more
obvious to the reader than to the translator, whose atten-
tion fixed too closely upon the wording of the orlginal,
or who is induced by some tempting easiness of rhyme
to substitute an idea of his own for that of the poet.
The printing of the originals with the translations,
which is done throughout on opposite pages, has a double
value. It enables those already acquainted with Icelandic
to compai'e the two, and to judge iine by line how far the
translators have successfully overcome the difficulties >f
their task, but it will also undoubtedly lead to a wider
interest in, and study of, Icelandic. No possessor of the
book who has a real appreciation of poetry will be content
to remain entirely ignorant of a language which can
furnish so many remarkable specimens of the art. In pre-
paring and publishing a book which will increase che
interest in Icelandic among the English-speaking peoples
both editor and publisher have done good service to their
country.
Greinarnar: Alþingi, Icelandic Literatur and Art, Ice-
landic Industries, Co-operation in Iceland, Icelandic
Schools and Common Education, Some Notes on Iceland,
hefir Þorkell Jóhannesson skólastjóri frumsamið á ís-
lenzku. Þýðingamar hefir gjört Þoi*vaidur Pétursson
(sonur dr. Rögnvalds Péturssonar), að tveim undantekn-
um, sem gjörðar eru af W. A. Craigie professor frá Chi-
cago og Snæbirni Jónssyni skjalaþýðanda.
öomu Díoto0 ou ekoícmb
Icelandic Fannsteads.
Tiie Icelandic famisteads have an old and interesting
history. A great number had their beginnings a thousand
years ago, and some of them have been in the possession
of the same families for generations, for as long as 700
years, as far back as can be traced with certainty.
A great change has come over the Icelandic farm-
steads during the last fifty years. Formerly, the farm
houses were built from uncut rock and turf, in a peculiar
and strange fashion, which in many places, harmonised
with the landscape. Of late years houses are being built,
in increasing numbers, from wood and cement, of similar
form as prevail in towns and cities. These changes ai*e
no doubt for the better, and provide more comfort and
sanitation. But in most places the modern style of archi-
tecture does not harmonize with the sourounding land-
scape.
One of the distinctive features of the Icelandic farm-
stead is the tun, a cultivated ai'ea of iand sourounding the
buildings, which is fenced off from the rest of the land
by stone walls or turf hedges. The tun is usually about
5 to ten hektares in size, but with greater cultivation evi-
dent lately, some are 30 to 40 hektares in extent. Beyond
the tun, lies uncultivated areas of land, in all directions,
for many kilometres distance, which is used as pasturage
for sheep, cattle and horses. But the tun is the backbone
of the farmstead. The thick, green grass provides
excellent rodder for the farmer’s stock.
The tun, with its cultivated grass and pretty flowers
beautifies the farmstead. In the mind of the child, it is
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Hljóðfærí frá Grotrian-Steinweg, bæði Flygel og
1 Piano eru að mínu áliti afbragsgóð, hljóðin mjúk
[: og hlómfögur. Haraldur Sigurdsson
r
Brasted piano, góð, mjög ódýr, afar útbreidd enda
þægilegt að eignast þau. Niendorf piano eru ágæt.
Lindholm orgelin,
| sérstaklega falleg og vönduð, enga Lindholm verk-
smiðjan af mörgum talin best í þeirri grein íEvrópu.
His Masters Voice
grammófónar og plötur ávalt fyrirliggjandi ásamt
I öðrum ódýrum tegundum — (sennilega mest úr-
j val af grammófónplötum). — Fiðlur, gitarar, flaut-
ur, munuhörpur, orgelstólar, nótualiyllur o. fl.
o. fl. Nótur allskonar.
| Verzlunin hefir frá byrjun kappkostað að selj,a
I góðar vörur (hljóðfæri og annað) enda notið
| fylsta trausts.
Kynnið yður verzlunina. Biðjið um verðlista.
Hagkvæmir greiðsluskilmálar á hljóðfærum.
Vörur sendar um alt land.
K
| Hljóðfæraverzl. Helga Hallgrímssonar
j Bankastræti (Aður verzlun L. 6. Lúðvigsson) Sími 811
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