Jakobína Johnson

By Kristen Wolf

** This article about Jakobina Sigurbjörnsdóttir Johnson (I55440) was reprinted with permission from Icelandic Connection vol.71, no.2, pp. 54–47, 2020.

Jakobína Sigurbjörnsdóttir (later Johnson) (1883–1977) was born at Hólmavað in Aðaldalur, Suður-Þingeyjarsýsla, the daughter of the poet Sigurbjörn Jóhannesson (1839–1903) and María Jónsdóttir (1860–1916). She emigrated to Canada with her family in 1889, settling in the Argyle district in Manitoba, where she grew up. After graduating from the Collegiate Institute in Winnipeg, she was for some years a public-school teacher in Manitoba. Soon after her marriage, in 1904, to Ísak Jónsson (Johnson), a builder by profession and the brother of the poets Gísli Jónsson (1876–1974) and Einar Páll Jónsson (1880–1959), the couple moved first to Victoria, British Columbia, and, in 1908, to Seattle, Washington. There they raised seven children: Kári, Ingólfur, Konráð Ari, Haraldur Björn, María Guðrún, Jóhann Ísak, and Stephan Jón.

Both in Victoria and Seattle, Jakobína Johnson was active in cultural and literary societies and lectured extensively on Iceland and Icelandic literature and culture. Her community work and her contributions to Icelandic literature were recognized on her fiftieth birthday in 1933, when she was awarded the Icelandic Order of the Falcon, and again in 1935, when she visited Iceland as the special guest of the Young People's League (Ungmennafélag Íslands) and the Women's Society (Kvenfélagasamband Íslands). Apart from the English-writing Laura Goodman Salverson (1890–1970), Jakobína Johnson is undoubtedly the North American-Icelandic woman writer who has received most attention both in the West and the East.

Inspired no doubt by her father, and encouraged by the minister Rögnvaldur Pétursson (1877–1940), editor of Tímarit Þjóðræknisfélags Íslendinga (1919–1939), and her brother- and sister-in-law Gísli Jónsson and Guðrún H. Finnsdóttir (1884–1946), both talented writers, Jakobína Johnson published her first poems in 1913, and from then on her poetry appeared regularly in Icelandic and North American Icelandic newspapers, notably Tímarit Þjóðræknisfélags Íslendinga, but also Lögberg, Heimskringla, Eimreiƒin, Dvöl, and Lesbók Morgunblaðsins. It was not until 1938 that a selection of her poetry appeared under the title Kertaljós: Úrvalsljóð, which in 1942 was followed by Sá ég svani, containing poems for children, and in 1956 by the collection Kertaljós: Ljóðasafn (1956). In addition, she translated into English a large number of poems by leading Icelandic poets. These have appeared in various North American literary magazines including The

From: Icelandic Connection vol.71, no.2, pp. 54–47, 2020.

Icelandic Canadian, American-Scandinavian Review, and The Literary Digest; a considerable number of them are contained in the collections Icelandic Lyrics (Reykjavík: Þórhallur Bjarnarson, 1930) and Icelandic Poems and Stories (Princeton: Princeton University Press for the American-Scandinavian Foundation, 1943), both edited by Richard Beck (1897–1980), in Thorstína Jackson Walter's (1891–1959) Modern Sagas (Fargo: North Dakota Institute for Regional Studies, 1953), and in her own Northern Lights (1959). She also translated into English a number of children's stories, which appeared in the children's section of Freyja, a women's magazine edited by Margrjet J. Benedictsson (1866–1956), as well as the dramas Lénharƒur fógeti by Einar H. Kvaran (1859–1938), Galdra-Loftur by Jóhann Sigurjónsson (1880–1919), and Nýársnóttin by Indriƒi Einarsson (1851–1939), and a number of short stories by Elínborg Lárusdóttir (1891>), Svanhildur Þorsteinsdóttir (1905–1966), and Ólafur Jóhann Sigurðsson (1918>).

Jakobína Johnson's collections testify to her versatility as a poet; she wrote personal poems, nature descriptions, historical poems, patriotic poems, and children's verses with equal facility. Yet, critics have often drawn attention especially to those poems that, light and mellow in mood, portray the role of the mother, such as"Gestur í vöggu" (A Guest in the Cradle; Kertaljós: Úrvalsljóð ƒ, 52-53), "Jú, ég hefáður unnað" (Yes, I Have Loved Before; Kertaljós: Úrvalsljóð, 54-55), and to her nature poems, many of which are rich in pictorial quality and reveal her deep attachment to her home, such as "Hugsað á heimleið" (Thoughts when Homeward Bound; Kertaljós: Úrvalsljóð, 60-62). All her poems speak of contentment and happiness in her adopted country; she is American (cf. her use of "amerísk" [American] in her description of her daughter in "Hún elskaða Sylvia" (Beloved Sylvia; Sá ég svani, 9-10) and does not ponder the immigrant's lot as did Guðrún H. Finnsdóttir. Yet, her collections also contain a number of poems, including her longest, in which she expresses her deep-rooted love of Iceland and the Icelandic cultural heritage. In addition to the poems composed during her visit to Iceland in 1935 can be mentioned "Íslenzk örnefni" (Icelandic Place Names; Kertaljós: Úrvalsljóð, 15-18), in which the names of places and natural phenomena are skillfully interwoven to create a charming metrical picture of Iceland. Her indebtedness to her literary heritage, the sagas and the poets (although her poetic talents are also inspired by other sources), is expressed in poems such as "Fornmenn" (Men of Old; Kertaljós: Úrvalsljóð, 19-22), "Leifur heppni" (Leif the Lucky; Kertaljós: Úrvalsljóð, 23-25), "Íslendingur sögufróði" (The Learned Icelander; Kertaljós: Úrvalsljóð, 26-28), and not least "Harpan"(The Harp; Kertaljós: Úrvalsljóð, 92-93), for in Old Icelandic literature and in other Icelandic lore she found themes for many of her most powerful and original poems.

Candlelight

(from Kertaljós: Ljóðasafn, pp. 3-4)

Everything I loved passionately

in the morning of my youth

is precious to me

in my memories:

the crimson of the dawn,

the rainbow in the sky,

the first flowers of spring,

violets in the hollow.

Autumn-colored forests,

ice-ferns,

lamplight in the evening

and the reading of stories.

– Christmas is coming,

the most welcome joy!

On the tables

candles are burning!

And though electric lights

pierce the darkness

of a whole continent

on the holy night,

dearest to me

is the candlelight

of good memories.

– Merry Christmas!

Leif the Lucky

(from Kertaljós: Ljóðasafn, pp. 17-19)

I'm allured by the times of the past

with dark or bright pictures and more.

In the twilight the mind quenches its thirst

at the holy well of ancient lore.

– I'm allured by the times of the past

with living pictures of a life of yore.

Tonight there is a storm in the north,

I enjoy the power of your tale.

When the ocean thunders ashore

I brave the dangers of sea and sail.

– Tonight there is a storm in the north

and a shower of hail;

from the fires of song and fame

– for around me now are burning

the fires of a bygone era.

See, the awesome waves churning

which Leif the Lucky dares

his need to explore so yearning.

From the niggardly sea god Ægir

he gained a boon one fateful hour

to explore the land of his dreams,

though waves and cliffs did tower.

A sailor's need to travel beyond

proves again its eternal power.

Leif could hardly dream that Vinland

would so mighty and famous be

–or that his voyage would be renowned

above all of his era's history –

and that Iceland's name and repute

would bear his name over many a sea.

But here there was a free spirit,

which trusted the call when it came,

and found, that a sublime premonition

was a heaven-sent flame

from the fire of immortality

and released his will for fame.

Which knows of even greater tasks

beyond the high oceans we know

and looks for new horizons

far from the graves of long ago,

and finds sweet balm for the soulin the stars in the night sky aglow.

Lullaby

(from Kertaljós: Ljóðasafn, p. 48)

I hold your small hands, because the road here is rough,

and because I need to know if you are warm enough.

I know it's my duty to your ruler and guide to be

– but it's really you, who are leading me.

Oh, did you touch a thorn, which the pretty flower did hide?

and your beautiful tears the light of your eyes so chide.

I feel the pang in my heart, as I try to bring back your glee

– but it's really you, who are consoling me.

You ask about the dark cloud hiding the sun it follows,

and the dead maple leaves, which fly over hills and hollows.

I try to answer your questions truthfully

– but it's really you, who are educating me.

Now your small feet are tired, so I offer you my arms.

I hold you close to my heart, a moment full of charm.

You breathe quietly and peacefully, as your worries cease

– so it's really you, who is bringing me peace.

__________________

Bibliography

Primary Works

Johnson, Jakobína. Kertaljós: Úrvalsljóð. Reykjavík: Ísafold, 1938.

_____. Sá ég svani: Barnabók. Reykjavík: Tórhallur Bjarnason, 1942.

_____. Kertaljós: Ljóðasafn. Reykjavík: Leiftur, 1956.

_____, trans. Northern Lights. Reykjavík: Meningarsjóƒur, 1959.

Anthologies

Einar H. Kvaran and Guðm. Finnbogason, ed. Vestan um haf. Ljóð,leikrit, sögur og ritgerðir eftir Íslendinga íVesturheimi. Reykjavík: Menningarsjóƒur,1930.

Helga Kress, ed. Stúlka: Ljóðeftir Íslenskar konur. Reykjavík: Bókmenntafråðistofnun Háskóla Íslands,1997.

Wolf, Kirsten. Writings by Western Icelandic Women. Winnipeg: University of Manitoba Press, 1996.

Secondary Works

Beck, Richard. History of Icelandic Poets, 1800-1940. Islandica 34. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1950.

Editor's Note: The Icelandic Connection magazine began publishing in 1942 as The Icelandic Canadian magazine. The name was changed in 2010 to reflect the diversity of the readership. Icelandic Roots is a supporter of The Icelandic Connection and is sharing archival articles with the permission of the magazine. To learn more, visit the website at Icelandic Connection Magazine .