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The Satirical poet, K.N./Káinn

Text in Icelandic, here

Kristjan Niels Jonsson Julius (1859-1936), a satirical poet, was born in Akureyri, Iceland. He immigrated to North America in 1878 spending his first few years in Canada. Known as K.N./Kainn (pronounced Kow-Enn) he labored as a farm hand for most of his adult life in rural community and was never married. Many of the graves in the Thingvalla Cemetery were dug by him.

K.N. Julius was a unique, beloved poet and humorist. His drinking songs and poems may have contributed to his reputation as a heavy drinker. A complete collection, Kvidlingar og Kveedi (Ditties and Poems) was published in 1945, edited by Richard Beck. The original book, Kvidlingar was published in 1920.

He composed many obituaries and always had a poem for every occasion. Beyond his mischievous tone in his poems, he also portrays warmth and wisdom combining both the English and Icelandic language.

In 1940, a memorial was erected in his honor at Thingvalla Church in Eyford, North Dakota, which was later rebuilt in 1999.

On Káin’s death anniversary, October 25, 2018, a monument to him was dedicated in the Innbær neighborhood of Akureyri, just south of the Akureyri Museum and close to the place where he was born on Aðalstræti. He was born on April 7, 1859, on the same lot where the house at Aðalstræti 74 stands today. This monument was a gift from Icelandic Roots, The Icelandic Communities Association of NE North Dakota, and other supporters of Káin. The monument is a basalt column topped with a cast of the relief that is on the memorial to the poet in North Dakota.

The following description of K.N. is taken from an old news clipping:

"He went at his task as if he were making up a bed for a tired friend, said his close friend, Dr. Régnvaldur Pétursson, and most of those buried there were the poet's p

ersonal friends.

Here, he too, rests now on the grassy flat, with a small stone at his head, and at the side of the church stands a stately monument bearing his likeness. It was placed there by his friends and admirers in the United States and Canada, but designed by his neighbors, who thankfully remember the poet whose gentle humor lightened their burdens and eased their struggles for half a century, brought sunshine into their homes, and was an ever active geysir of fun and easy, original wit.

Poor as he was in terms of material possessions, K.N. enriched these communities and influenced their cultural atmosphere as no other man has."

Source: IcelandicRoots.com

Further information about Káin can be found at the following link
Icelandic Connection