"Konumyndin á að tákna Ísland, því hefur hún ískórónu á höfði, sem eldar gjósa upp úr..."
.......................................................
"The picture of the women is to represent Iceland, because she has a crown of ice on her head, from which fire erupts..."
Even though I did it last
week, I'm not going to try and pronounce this one, and this painting doesn't
quite allow for my usual light hearted nature, so pls bare with me :)
The
lady of the mountain, a symbolic image that represents not only Iceland as a
pure nation but what they strive to be. Stories
claim that she is the female incarnation of Iceland, an unattainable woman,
symbolizing the desire for independence of Iceland.
Finally,
1944 they achieved independence and this goal, and the lady was satisfied.
Iceland
as a lady was first expressed through a poem Ofsjónir
við jarðarför Lovísu drottningar,
and has since then become a symbol
for Icelandic poetry. It was not an Icelandic native who first put to
creating a visual image of the lady, but a German in
an English translation of an Icelandic book of poetry.
"Þetta átti svo sem að vera symbolum (tákn) bókmenntalandsins og sögulandsins okkar"
..........................................................
"This is indended as a symbol of our literary land and our historical land"
It was not
uncommon at all for European countries to represent their country with a woman
to express purity, and to express the history of place.
Does Australia have such a figure of the land? Or was Julia the closest thing we will get to that? I know the history of Australia is rich, but the foreign nature of these places are so intriguing it makes this giant island seem a bit dull.
Anyway, until next week!
Chai latte :)
Max
