Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1905-04-13
ABOUT ICELAND.
A Tribute 10 the Worth OF the People
Their Language and Literature.

The following quotations from DR..
Geo. Webb Dasents Introduction TO
Clearby's Icalandic- English Dictionary,
is kindly sent to the News" by Mr..
John Thorgeirson, Of Thistle, Utah, Dr.
Dasent is an lcelandic scholar who has
studied his subject thoroughly. lie
says;
They Ohe IcelandersD like their
noble ancestors, are a people that
though there is none more to be desired
as friends, there are none more to be
dreaded as foes.
This work is a dictionary Of the
Icelandic language, or Hs IT may be
called the classical language OF the
Scandinavian race.
In It the English student now press
es key to that rich store Of know
ledge which the early literature Of Ice
land possesses lie may read the Ed
das and Sagas which contain sources
OF delight and treasure OF learning such
as no other language but that Of Ice
land can furnish.
THE general and particular import
ance Of the study of Icelandic for Eng
lish philOlOgists can bee understood
when we consider that mythology,
laws, customs, literature, the names of
places, and even the everyday vocab-
ulary Of life cannot be thoroughly I'M
derstood except by comparison with
those Of the north as preserved in the
language and literature Of Iceland.
There are none Of the northern lang
uages which In reality lies any closer
TO the lcelandlc than does English it.
self.
uTt 10 ,rou loou,,, tr,t tl, T.oI.,,at,
language, which has been preserved
almost ncorrupt IN that remarkable
island, has remained for many Centur-
les the depository OF lit' treasures
the common property OF the Scandi-
navian and Teutonic races, which
would otherwise have persisted, as they
have persisted in Norway Denmark,
Sweden, Germany and England.
mo other country IN Europe possess
es an ancient vernaCular literature to
be compared with this, and IL to this
be added the translation and adapta-
ton from the circle OF romance liter.
allure, and homllies and works Of relig-
ious Civilizations, az we'll as those on
physical and moral science, of which
Iceland possesses her full share, We
shall see that whether IN a literary or
in a pathological point OF view no
literature IN Europe can compete IN in
| terest with that OF Iceland.
"Nor should It be forgotten that the
| early customs and laws Of Iceland are
OF great Importance for England.
while our jurists have wearied them
selves IN tracing at hom5 he origin Of
many Of the institutions now peculiar
to England, and while our legal anti
quarIes have fathered trial by jury, the
bulwark Of Establishments rights, on
King Alfred the sources Of that mode
Of trial, as well as special demurrors,
and other subtleties Of pleadings is
to be found In Iceland, where as early
as the tenth century, a form Of trial
almost exactly answering to that in
which our juries de vicineto played a
part In the Thirteenth century, may be
seen IN fun vigor as described In tho
famous trial Of the Burners OF Njala.
From whatever point OF view, there
fore We consider the relations which
exist between England and Iceland,
whether from that of prmevial affinity,
and community Of race, religion, and
law, or from that of connection by
commerce, immigration, or conquest
we snail find that the two languages
and the peoples are so closely bound
| together that whatever throws light
on the beliefs, institutions and GUS
| toms of the one, must necessarily H.
| lustrate and explain that OF the other.
while It Is SO important for Eng
| land, that she should possess this Ice
| landIc-English dictionary It may be
| easily shown that It is no less adyan-
tageous for the world at large that
English should be the language into
which the IcelandIc is rendered and eN-
planned 1t would, for instance, bq
| little gain to the literary world II there
! had been an Iceandlc-Danish, or lee
| landic- Swedish or Icelandic- Morse die
tionary In any one Of these cases The
language OF a small people would have
been the exponent of a language and
literature which for beauty and rich
ness is worthy OF being known 10 the
greatest possible number Of readers. "
The foregoing is quoted from Dr.
George Webbe Dascnt, an oxford pro.
fessOT,
Nedway and Humans Naturay Ad-
vanced Geography page o., has this to
say about the modern lcelanders:
"They are thrifty intelligent and well
educated people, etc.