The legacy is deeply embedded in Iceland’s cultural heritage and has been kept alive since the early twelfth century when the Sagas and the mythological Eddic poems were written. Heroes and Villains of the Sagas live on in our ancient language and are the inspiring factors in my pictorial journey into these mysterious and dramatic times in Europe’s historical past.

 

My father grew up in the western outskirts of Iceland in the early part of the 20th century. Sharing a bed with his grandmother for the first years of his life he learned to speak a beautiful old language, untouched by modern influences. He passed on to me an appreciation for this poetic and highly descriptive language.  Icelandic, in all its incredible richness, has always inspired me and captured my imagination. The old fables and tales that my great grandmother passed onto my father were laden with references to the heathen times, from long before the Christian rule outlawed any such references. Although as a child I was aware that my father spoke a rare and unique language, it was not until my adult years here in Canada, when coming across an old book on Norse mythology, that I realized the origin of many of the words and places he frequently used and referred to in his language.  

 

Many of the pieces in this series are linocuts, created in 2007 for my exhibition titled “SAGAS” at the 

Paul H. T. Thorlakson Gallery at the University of Manitoba. Some are copper etchings from an exhibition titled “Ode to Odin” which was exhibited  in 2004 at the same Gallery and a few are from an exhibition titled “ Odur til Odins, exhibited in 2003 at Gallery 11, in Reykjavik.