ICELANDIC LITERATURE

The selection of Sigurthur Nordal of the University of Iceland as the fifth lecturer to hold the Charles Eliot Norton Professorship of Poetry will attract general attention to a field of literature which at present is little known except to scholars. It is perhaps especially fortunate that Professor Nordal should come to Harvard following the addition of the Schofield collection of books in Widener, since they might be more fully appreciated in the light of his lectures.

One of chief features of the Norton Professorship is that the donator has left room for a liberal interpretation of its provisions. Although in the past the lectures have varied wided between poetry and art, the subjects themselves have not been ones which were entirely new to the Harvard curriculum. This fact, of course, did not necessarily tend to lessen their interest of value. However when such a relatively unappreciated field as Icelandic literature is brought before the public, it is an indication that the Norton lectures will become of still further service in the coming winter. There are few opportunities for the general student to come in contact with remoter branches of learning, unless it be under these general circumstances.