The President of Iceland recently conferred the Knight's Cross of the Order of the Falcon on Professor Emerita Marianne Kalinke for her research, scholarship, and teaching of medieval Icelandic literature.

 

President Guðni Th. Jóhannesson, who also is the Grand Master of the Order of the Falcon, conferred the honor upon Kalinke, CAS (Center for Advanced Study) Professor and Trowbridge Chair in Literary Studies, Emerita, and Professor Emerita of Germanic Languages and Literatures.

 

The ceremony took place on Aug. 13. Kalinke noted that when the President—who has a doctorate from University College London—pinned the cross on her, “he had difficulty doing so and said under his breath, first in Icelandic, then in English, ‘Patience is a virtue.’"

 

The Order of the Falcon, established in 1921, is the highest honor that the Icelandic state can bestow on individuals, both Icelandic and foreign.

 

According to the Presidential Letter establishing the Icelandic Order of the Falcon, “The Order may be conferred on Icelandic or foreign individuals for achievements to the benefit of the Icelandic people, specific sections of the community or parts of the country, or to the benefit of important and worthy causes in Iceland or in the international arena.”