Torfhildur Þorsteinsdóttir

Torfhildur Þorsteinsdóttir , also known as Torfhildur Hólm (born February 2, 1845 in Kálfafellsstaður, Austur-Skaftafellssýsla district ; † November 14, 1918 in Reykjavík ) was an Icelandic writer. She is considered the first Icelander to make a living from her writing and is often referred to as Iceland's first female novelist.

Life

Torfhildur was born on February 2, 1845 in the village of Kálfafellsstaður in the municipality of Skaftafellssýsla (now part of Austur-Skaftafellssýsla ) as the daughter of Þorsteinn Einarson, the local pastor, and Guðríður Torfadóttir. At the age of 17, Torfhildur moved to Reykjavík to study English and handicraft. She later moved to Copenhagen to continue her studies.

After completing her studies, she returned to Iceland, where she briefly worked in the house as a private tutor, before returning to her home village of Kálfafellsstaður. After the death of her father in 1871, Torfhildur moved with her mother Guðríður to Höskuldsstaðir in Húnavatnssýsla, where her sister Ranghildur lived with her husband Eggert Briem. On June 29, 1873, Torfhildur married the Hólanes businessman Jakob Frederik Hólm, who died a year and a half after the marriage.

In 1876 Torfhildur's sister-in-law, Rannveig, decided to emigrate to Canada to live with her husband, Sigtryggur Jonasson , who was later known as the founder of the Icelandic settler colony of New Iceland . Torfhildur followed her, where she first lived with Rannveig and Sigtryggur in New Iceland on Lake Winnipeg and worked as a teacher. She later moved to Winnipeg in 1885 .

In 1889 Torfhildur returned to Iceland again and received a "writer's pension" from the Icelandic Althings . She was the first woman to receive such support from the Icelandic parliament. After discussions about the appropriateness of this pension in parliament and the press, it was initially reduced and then redeclared as a "widow's pension".

Torfhildur lived in Reykjavík at Ingólfsstræti 18 for the last few years, where a plaque commemorates Torfhildur today. In 1918 Torfhildur fell ill with the Spanish flu pandemic, which was also rampant in Iceland, and died on November 14, 1918.

Literary work

Torfhildur created most of her work during her time in Canada. Living in Canada in an Icelandic settler colony, she portrayed and referred to Icelandic culture and folklore in her works, both in a romanticizing and realistic style. She also collected numerous stories of Icelandic immigrants. Although she also published numerous fables and allegorical short stories, she also wrote stories with contemporary relevance, in which she particularly pointed out the importance of the education of women.

Torfhildur published her first short story in North America's first Icelandic newspaper in 1879. Her first novel, Brynjolfur Sveinsson biskup , was published by Torfhildur in Reykjavík in 1882, making it the first novel and the first ever work by a woman to be printed in Iceland. After her return from Canada she published regularly in two literary magazines in Iceland, Draupnir and Dvöl.

List of works

Novels

• Brynjólfur Sveinsson biskup (1882)
• Kjartan and Guðrún (1886)
• Elding (1889)
• Högni og Ingibjörg (1889)
• Jón biskup Vídalín ( Draupnir )
• Jón biskup Arason ( Draupnir )

Short stories

• "Spekingurinn og heimskinginn" ( Framfari , 1878)
• "Andvari" ( Illustrered Familjeblad , Chicago, 1878)
• "Guð heyrir börnin" ( Framfari , 1878)
• "Stjarnan mín" ( Framfari , 1878)
• "Seint fyrnist forn ást" ( Framfari , 1879)
• "Tárablómið" ( Framfari , 1879)
• "Heiðarbærinn" ( Framfari , 1879)
• "Gunnlög og Sigrid" ( Illustrered Familjeblad , 1880)
• Sögur og ævintýri (1884; collection)
• Smásögur handa börnum og unglingum (1886; collection of children's stories)
• Barnasögur (1890; collection of children's stories)
• Þjóðsögur og sagnir (1962; edited by Finnur Sigmundsson)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ David Buchan, Vésteinn Olason: The Traditional Ballads of Iceland: Historical Studies . In: The Journal of American Folklore . tape 100 , no. 397 , July 1987, ISSN  0021-8715 , p. 367 , doi : 10.2307 / 540353 .
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Kirsten Wolf: Writings by Western Icelandic women . University of Manitoba Press, Winnipeg, Man. 1996, ISBN 0-88755-641-8 , pp. 53 f .
3. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Kirsten Wolf: Biography - ÞORSTEINSDÓTTIR, TORFHILDUR - Volume XIV (1911-1920). Dictionary of Canadian Biography, accessed February 2, 2019 . 
4. ↑ Torfhildur Hólm. Accessed February 2, 2019 . 

Note: Icelanders are referred to by their first name or first and last name, but not just their surname. Further information can be found under Icelandic personal name .