Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1874-08-27
Iceiand'S Great Festival.

THE festival which the people of iso-
! lated and barren Iceland were to cele-
| brate Saturday is an event worthy of at
| tentiOn from the more busy and social
nations Of the earth 1t is their mile
nary of existence; for in 874 A D. Ingolf
sailed thither, with other pagan chiefs of
Norway, to escape the restraints Of the
centralized sovereignty built up by Har-
Old the Fair-haired, and the mightier in
fuences of Christianity encouraged by
st. Olaf, his successor. These Morse VI
kings were thus, however different in ma
ture and tendency, the prototypes of the
Plymouth pilgrims in that they sought in
exile civil and religious freedom denied
them at home. There, out of the beaten
track of the world, they made a Repub-
lie; their Althing embodied popular gov
ernment and their laws first instituted
trial by jury For four centuries this
lasted; an age during which great liter
allure was made, distinguished by epic
poets, philosophers and historians; in
which commerce and exploration gave
the nation fame. Then at last the re-
! ligiOn that Ingolf and his fellows fled
| from sought ard conquered their poster
| ity; envies aud jealousies rent the fabric
of liberty, &c the government the faith
ers rebelled against stretched its power
over the unresisting children. Their lit
erature died, and their once-cherished
rights vanished one by one. Andso since
their light ages, Iceland has been but a
tradition Of history and poetry.
! Now dawnS new day; or rather now
a slow dawn bursts into full light
Thirty years ago the spirit of the Ice
landic people was so well revived that
once again they got their Althing; in ten
years more they gained free trade. and
one by one, as they went, the privileges
of freedom return. Their festival thus
celebrates also a renewed as we'll as
commentaries a historic national life,
and King Christian of Denmark, the first
of their sOyereigns tC visit them, comes
with a free constitution in his hand for
largesse to his distant subjects He finds
a revived nation in every point; their
culture betokened by newspapers and
libraries and rising men III many walks,
from poetry and criticism to science and
politics; finds too a sense Of entity so
| strong that even the shadow of depend
ence gals and the popular ambition
: reaches beyond the concessions Of the
King to an absolute cutting loose from
his dominion.
To us this millennial festival bears a
z double interests a republican sympathy
and an intellectual gratitude. Iceland is
Il land of marvels, an abode of poetic
meaning that adhereS in the tremendous
: thrOes of nature, and is interpreted in the
wild and stern imaginations of northern
mythology. From the crowding vol
| canoes, the devastating lava, the treeless
and desert surface, with scarce patches
: of soil and scanty heritage for fiocks and
, herds, the great rivers, the broad fjords
from the whole weird scenery of a land
: that fire and frost continually quarrel
! Over-there has come an influence that
nearly all modern literatures have felt
I that nodded all Scandinavian life, in.
=, spired the German thought, and has its
!, share in English letters to this day We
[ owe the Icelanders a hearty fellowship
! for these things, and, besides, there is
2 that casual tie of Left Ericson's early
2 visit to our shores. 1t is well that we
were represented at Reykyavik on this
t rare festal anniversary. 1t is a courtesy
t that Iceland will perhaps repay to oul
, now young Republic 900 years hence
we trust, at all events, that Bayard Tay
7 Tor, Mr. Halsted and Mr.. Field will no
t fail to invite delegation of her journa,
7 lists and notables to our nearing centen
a nial.-Spring1ieLd (HdSs) Republican.