Video clip from Our Valuable Inheritance, 1976

A video clip from the television documentary series Our Valuable Inheritance (1976) about the Icelandic-Canadian poet Guttormur J. Guttormsson. The video’s dialogue is translated from Icelandic to English in the descriptive transcript below. 

Video runtime: 5:25 

Descriptive Transcript: 

[The video fades from black to show an author photo of a young man and then shows the cover pages of several of poetry books.] 

Narrator: The art of poetry has always been dear to Icelanders. This didn’t change when they migrated westward. A talent for poetry continued among the descendants of the Icelandic settlers. Guttormur J. Guttormsson, born in 1878, is the best known of the Western Icelandic poets. 

[The video fades to a woman with short gray hair wearing a pale blue jacket and red and white scarf standing in a field.] 

Narrator: We asked Bergljot, the daughter of the farmer-poet, what she remembers best about her father from her years growing up at Víðivellir in Riverton. 

Bergljót: He composed all of his poems while working. He kept them in his head until he had finished a poem. Or, I should say, until he was happy with it. Then he wrote it down and maybe changed a word here or there. He liked being a farmer and composing as he worked. He had no time to sit at a table, idly waiting for inspiration. He enjoyed being a farmer. We often worked with him in the summer, gathering the hay. We could see his lips moving as he worked. But, he never wrote anything down until we came in at night. And then, he would often write long into the night. Or he would read until very late at night. It was a lot of fun when we worked with him. Sometimes, it would take him a long time to form one stack. 

Interviewer: A stack? 

Bergljót: Yes, shocks of hay would be formed into a stack. And then, the stack would be loaded onto a hay wagon. Sometimes, it took him a long time to form one stack because he was thinking so much. I don’t remember that he ever wrote a poem down until he was finished with it. 

Interviewer: Do you think your mother had much influence on him? 

Bergljót: Oh, she was a lovely woman and very good for Father. She helped him a lot and did so much for him. Dr. Johannes Palsson said of her: “She finds everything that the farmer misplaces.” But she did so much more than that. She was a wonderful woman. Our father taught us to appreciate good books. We read all the best books when we were young … the classics. It was the same with music. Only classical music was played in our home. We read all the best books because he never allowed us to read anything that was not good … not good enough, yes. 

[The video cuts to the cover page of Guttormur’s poetry book Gaman og Alvara fading out to show a fountain pen beside it.] 

Narrator: Guttormur J. Guttormsson wrote a great deal of material including poems and plays. Dr. Magnus Jonsson said of him: “Guttormur is a wonderful poet. 

[The video cuts to two medals each in a display box and then to a decorative handwritten certificate in the Icelandic language.] 

Narrator: He is sensitive and often humorous with his compatriots. It is amazing how Icelandic Guttormur is in his poetry, thoughts and his innermost being.” Guttormur was invited to Iceland in 1939 and travelled around the country. 

[The video cuts to the top of wooden writing desk with several books and the same two medals placed on it. The video cuts to a wider shot of the desk.] 

Narrator: No one who met him would guess that he was born abroad and spent his entire life abroad. The poet’s desk and various memorabilia are on display in Winnipeg at the University of Manitoba library. 

[The video cuts to a black and white oval photo of a young Guttormor in a dark wooden frame.] 

Narrator: His most famous work is the original poem “Sandy Bar,” but at Guttormur J. Guttormsson’s funeral, a young Western Icelander, Erla Gunnarsdottir recited his poem, “Goda Nott,” (Good Night). She recited a part of the poem for us, as well. 

[The video fades to a panning shot of a dirt road and flat rural farmlands with trees in the distance. It then cuts to a closer shot of rural farmlands and then a closeup of a yellow flower.] 

Erla: The breezes are still. The winds are resting for the night. Now the continent is preparing for bed. The last rays quickly disappear. Twilight’s dark, silky covering embraces our farm. The earth is like a bed made up for rest. Good night. The earth is prepared to rest. Good night. 

[The video cuts to a closeup of a woman with long brown hair and glasses standing in front of a tree] 

Erla: Calm of heaven, stream down. Stop with us, peace of night. My thoughts kneel down and pray. My warm sighs lift quietly. All pain no longer aches. It will be good to wait for the sun. There is no need to dread the cold. The sunshine will come. Good night. No one needs to fear. The angel of day comes. Good night. 

[The video fades to black.]