Lögberg-Heimskringla - 28.07.1966, Síða 3

LÖGBERG-HEIMSKRINGLA, FIMMTUDAGINN 28. JÚLÍ 1966
3
Bréf frá séra Roberf Jack
Tjörn, Vatnsnesi,
— Business and Professional Cards —
ÞJÓÐRÆKNISFÉLAG ISLENDENGA 1 VESTURHEIMI
Fonetii SÉRA PHIUP M. PÉTURSSOH
681 Banning Street, Wmmpeg 10, Monitobo
StyTkiS félagiS með þri að gerast meSUmir.
Ajrsgjald $2.00 — Timaril télagxins frtt*
Sendist til fjármálaritara:
MR. GUÐMANN LEVY
* 85 Lindsoy Street, Winnipeg 9, Monitobo
Minnist
V.-Hún.,
10. júní 1966.
Kaldasti vetur aldarinnar
er liðinn á Norðurlandi og
eitt af þeim rigningarsömustu
vorum hérna stendur yfir.
Ekki getur neinn bóndi enn
borið á túnið, því allt er renn-
andi í vatni og ekki eru kýrn-
ar enn komnar út. Ofan á
þetta óhagstæða tíðarfar hef-
ur mjólkin verið verulega
lækkuð í verði til bænda og
nú heldur bændastétt lands-
ins víðast hvar fundi um
þessi mál. Lækkun þessi kom
mönnum á óvart og kemur sér
illa, þar sem bændur hafa
mikla fjárfestingu í nýjum
byggingum og hafa síðustu
árin verið að koma upp nýj-
um kúabúum. Smjörið hefur
nýlega verið lækkað niður
fyrir $1 pundið. Eins og er
lítur ekki vel út um rekstur
landbúnaðar á Islandi, en
menn vona, að brátt muni
birta upp í þessum málum.
Of mikil framleiðsla ætti
ekki að hafa slæmar afleið-
ingar í för með sér, þar sem
milljónir manna svetlta í
heiminum, en ef soltin þjóð
getur ekkj borgað matinn
sinn, hvað þá? Hungraður var
ég og þér gáfuð mér að eta,
þyrstur var ég og þér gáfuð
mér að drekka, voru orð
Meistarans.
The Saga of Grettir
The Strong
Translaied by G. A. Hight.
Edited w i t h Introduction,
Notes and Indexes by Peter
Foote, M. A. Everyman’s Lib-
rary (Dent: London; Dutton:
New York) 1965.
G. A. Hight’s translation of
The S a g a of Grettir the
Strong, first published in 1914
in Everyman’s Library, has
now been re-issued by the
same publishers with a brief
but very incisive introduction
by Peter Foote. This Saga
was written early in the four-
teenth century and is the last
great example of the classical
Sagas of Icelanders, and one
of the most tragic in theme
and conception. Grettir is the
most celebrated outlaw in Ice-
landic history, having spent
19 years in banishment, wan-
dering all over Iceland among
the desolate mountains and
uninhabited valleys, before
he was finally killed in the
island fastness of Drangey off
Northern Iceland in 1031. His
strength, endurance, courage
and quick wits were legend-
ary, but he was dogged by ill
luck, which was essentially a
Ég man eftir því, þegar ég
var staddur 1 hafnarborg
einni á Englandi fyrir síðasta
stríð á meðan kreppan stóð
yfir, að skip, sem gátu ekki
selt kornfarm sinn vegna ó-
hagstæðs verðs, sigldu burtu
með hann og létu síðar henda
honum í sjóinn.
í þessári hafnarborg var
þriðji hver maður atvinnu-
laus og fjöldi barna gekk um
strætin nakin og svöng.
Það var yndislegur söngur
hjá Dr. Palmason frá Seattle
með undirleik Norma Jones,
sem ég hlustaði á í útvarpi
um daginn. Læknirinn hefur
mjög hrífandi rödd og tókst
honum sérlega vel með val
sálmanna.
Ég hitti í Reykjavík fyrir
skömmu Kjartan Ólafsson frá
Grand Rapids. Hann er fædd-
ur í Dalasýslu og fluttist
vestur um haf níu ára að
aldri. Hann er nú að heim-
sækja gamla landið sér til
til hressingar. Honum líður
vel og hefur haft mikla
ánægju af heimsókninni. Ég
vona, að allir hinir, sem
koma í heimsókn í sumar,
verði eins glaðir í lund og
Kjartan.
Með beztu kveðjum frá
okkur öllum á Tjörn.
consequence of his character,
his rash and uncontrollable
temperament. The Saga is un-
usually rich in graphic des-
criptions of everyday life in
Iceland and a veritable the-
saurus of hard-headed peas-
ant proverbs, b u t its most
distinctive feature is the por-
trayal of the hero who is on
the scene almost continuously.
The Saga of Grettir has en-
joyed great popularity in Ice-
land, mainly because the hero
became the symbol for long
centuries of his frustrated na-
tion whose bad luck was not
in keeping with her good en-
dowments. Mr. Foote’s intro-
duction throws clear light on
some of the dominant themes
of the Saga, tracing parallels
in other works, both foreign
and native, among them the
Old English epic Beowulf.
—Iceland Review
The Saga of Gisli
Transliated by George
Johnsson. With Notes and Es-
say on The Saga of Gisli by
Peter Foote, J. M. Dent &
Sons Ltd. University of
Toronto Press 1963.
Gisli is thg second most
famous outlaw in Icelandic
history, and his story is one of
the very best Sagas of Ice-
landers, a hauntingly tragic
tale, modeled on the heroic
poems of the Edda to an even
greater extent than The Lax-
doela Saga (see ICELAND
REVIEW Nr. 1 1965), with
which it also shares a pro-
nounced interest in dreams.
The whole action is concen-
trated around two themes:
personal and family honour,
and personal and family love.
The highly charged dramatic
tension is sustained through-
out the story by the clash of
honour and love, both of
which are looked upon as
equally powerful — an un-
usual conception in Saga lit-
erature. The Saga of Gisli is
very well composed and close-
ly knit, the action is swift
and unified, and its most last-
ing impression is that of the
hounded outlaw who after
years of ceaseless pursuit and
agony seems almost to wel-
come the peace of death, while
he makes a courageous last
stand against his pursuers on
the ledge of a high cliff near
his last hideout. In spite of
the Saga’s dark and tragic
theme there are several hum-
orous episodes for comic re-
lief, and the whole account is
coloured by the author’s hu-
man warmth, most explicitly
reflected in the relations be-
tween Gisli and his wife. Mr.
Foote’s essay on the Saga is a
succinct and thoroughly schol-
arly piece of work, which
should prove of great value
to anyone wanting to acquire
a more comprehensive know-
ledge of the literary merits of
the Saga and its historical and
social background.
—Iceland Review
SKRÍTLA
Sigmundur prentari vann
lengi í ísafoldarprentsmiðju í
tíð Björns Jónssonar. Hann
var gáfumaður og vel hag-
mæltur.
Auk ísafoldar voru önnur
helztu blöð, er þá komu út,
þessi: „Dagskrá", sem Einar
Benediktsson gaf út, „Þjóð-
ólfur“, sem af mörgum var
kallaður „Stúfur“, „Fjallkon-
an“ og „Kvennablaðið“, sem
þau hjónin Valdimar Ás-
mundsson og Bríet Bjarnhéð-
insdóttir gáfu út.
Um þessi blöð gerði Sig-
mundur eftirfarandi vísu:
Einn í dagsins skröltir skrá,
skrimtir Stúfur þunni,
Kvennablaðið baki á
bisar Fjallkonunni.
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Ykkar einlægur,
Roberi Jack.