Þuríður Hjálmsdóttir shared a burning interest in literature with her husband, Björn Þorsteinsson. Björn had earned a good reputation in the homes in Borgarfjörður and read books and newspapers both in English and Icelandic. Their home in the Lundar settlement was open to people who read a lot, because all kinds of magazines and books filled every nook and cranny. Undoubtedly, Þuríður had long been interested in herbs and their healing powers, because her knowledge came in handy early on in the early settlement years in Manitoba. In the last decade of the 19th century, there was no medical service in the Shoal Lake (Grunnvatn) and Swan Lake (Álfvatn) settlements. Neither a doctor nor nurses came there, and therefore the frequency of infant deaths was high, both due to the lack of hygiene and also frequent stomach problems. Although Þuríður had no education in the profession, mothers turned to her with their sick children, and soon Þuríður assisted with births. She herself said many years later that she probably birthed to 80 children without the help of a doctor, but she herself gave birth to five sons in the decade in question. It was common that mothers-to-be did not have to leave home, so Þuríður often had to gather her techniques and tools, day or night, and rush out into the settlement to a woman in need. One Christmas night she spent in a log cabin with a woman who on Christmas morning gave birth to a healthy baby boy. It happened that Þuríður was away from her home for a few days and had taken her youngest child with her who was still nursing. She could boast that she had never lost a mother in childbirth.
Þuríður felt her way with herbal remedies, looking for herbs out on the plains and in the woods. This endless interest led men and women to come to her with all kinds of wounds and ailments. A young woman was badly burned one spring and Þuríður was called. She practically lived in the woman’s home during the healing process, because every day she had to clean the wounds and apply the ointments that she prepared herself on the spot from herbs she found nearby. Everything went better than expected and the woman made a full recovery. She then gave birth to her first child a year later and of course Þuríður welcomed her. (Based on the story of Emil Guðmundsson, whom I met during my student years in Winnipeg: JÞ).
English version by Thor group.