[3] The very first newspaper to be published in North America by the Icelandic immigrant population was handwritten by Jon Gudmundsson in 1876, and was called Nýi Þjóðólfur.
Heimskringla derived its name from the sagas of the Norse Kings, written in the early 13th century by Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturlusson.
It is an amalgamation of the first two words of one of the historic manuscripts, Ynglinga Saga which are "kringla heimsins", meaning "the round world".
[7] The founder of the newspaper was Frimann B. Anderson, who worked with Eggert Johannsson and Einar Hjörleifsson on the publication, which first appeared on September 9, 1886.
[8] In the first issue, the paper commits to cover the interests of Icelanders in the west, including public affairs, employment, and education.
Partly as a result of Icelandic immigrants having aligned themselves with different political parties and religions, there became a demand for another newspaper as a competitor for Heimskringla'.
[11] On January 14, 1888 the new Lögberg was launched by six men – Sigtryggur Jónasson, Bergvin Jónsson, Arni Frederickson, Einar Hjörleifsson (formerly of Heimskringla), Ólafur Thorgeirsson, and Sigurdur J.
[13] The first editor of Lögberg was Einar Hjörleifsson, who remained in his position until February 1895 and then returned to Iceland.
During his editorship, he had strengthened Icelandic cultural groups in Winnipeg, taking part in many events.
He was also a brilliant translator of books, poems, and short stories from English to Icelandic, publishing them in the paper.
[16] Both newspapers, Heimskringla and Lögberg were important influences in keeping the Icelandic community in North America informed about communities in other places, politics and culture in their homeland, literature, religion, and politics in North America.
However, due to differences in the two papers regarding politics and religious stances, some people were either fiercely in the camp of Heimskringla or vice versa.
[18] The amalgamation was finally achieved by a voluntary committee of five – Stefan Hansen, Chairman, Consul Grettir I. Johannson, Judge W. J. Lindal, Rev.
Thorlakson was the chairman, and Ingibjorg Jónsson was named editor, a post she held from August 20, 1959 until April 29, 1971.
[27] This remains the case up to the present day, and is largely a reflection of the families of the original immigrants from Iceland having become predominantly English-speaking.
The newspaper depends on subscriptions, advertisements, paid notices, donations, and government grants from both Iceland and Canada.