FREE BOOKS

Author's List




PREV.   NEXT  
|<   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139  
140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   >>   >|  
d Iceland moss. When well cooked, the last named is quite palatable. It is also a sovereign remedy for bronchial ailments. Notwithstanding their many privations, the people are loyal to their country and lovingly call it "The Maid of the North." They lead pastoral lives and their customs are much like those of the Homeric age. Story-telling is much appreciated by all classes. There are wandering minstrels who gain their livelihood by going from house to house to recite the stories in prose and poetry which they have learned by heart. Spindle and distaff are used in spinning the wool into yarn, which is then knit or woven into cloth on a hand loom. Education is universal, and no child of twelve years can be found who is unable to read or write. The families are so isolated that there are few schools outside of the capital; but the parents diligently teach their children whatever they themselves have learned. During the long winter evenings one member of the family reads aloud while the others are busily at work, the men making nets and ropes, or removing the wool from the sheepskins, the women embroidering, sewing, or using spindle and distaff. In no other country of Europe are so many books and papers published in proportion to the population as in Iceland. On the average one hundred books are issued annually from Icelandic presses. Several excellent newspapers and periodicals are also published. Every Icelander to-day knows perfectly the sagas, the legendary stories that commemorate heroes and heroic deeds and which are so dear to his heart. It is not uncommon to find an Icelander who is well versed in the ancient classics or one who can speak several languages. They are well acquainted with the writings of Milton and Shakespeare, which have been translated into their own language. During the twelfth and thirteenth centuries Iceland produced a literature equal to that of any other nation in Europe within the same period. CHAPTER XIV GREENLAND The history of Greenland really begins about the year 986 A. D., when Eric the Red, a chieftain who had been banished from Iceland, landed on the island with some of his followers and made it his permanent residence. At different times these hardy and daring seamen made expeditions to the eastern coast of North America, and sailed as far south as Chesapeake Bay. They attempted to found a colony on the east coast at a point thought to be on the coast of Ne
PREV.   NEXT  
|<   115   116   117   118   119   120   121   122   123   124   125   126   127   128   129   130   131   132   133   134   135   136   137   138   139  
140   141   142   143   144   145   146   147   148   149   150   151   152   153   154   155   156   157   158   159   160   161   162   163   164   >>   >|  



Top keywords:
Iceland
 

learned

 

stories

 
published
 
Icelander
 
Europe
 

During

 

distaff

 

country

 

Milton


writings
 
Shakespeare
 

Chesapeake

 

heroic

 

uncommon

 

classics

 

languages

 

ancient

 

versed

 

acquainted


heroes
 

colony

 

annually

 
Icelandic
 

presses

 
issued
 
average
 

hundred

 

thought

 

Several


excellent

 

perfectly

 
sailed
 
legendary
 

newspapers

 
periodicals
 

attempted

 

commemorate

 

language

 

residence


begins

 

permanent

 
Greenland
 

banished

 
landed
 
chieftain
 

followers

 

history

 
GREENLAND
 

thirteenth