Ólafur Jónsson

Þórunn Sigurðardóttir (University of Iceland)

Ed. by Ármann Jakobsson, University of Iceland
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.3.4: Icelandic Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Ármann Jakobsson (University of Iceland), Sven Hakon Rossel (Universitat Wien), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jakob Stougaard-Nielsen (University College London)

Dates

Born 1560
Died 1627

Places

Born in Iceland
Active in Iceland

Activities

Primary

Writer / Author

Resources

Jónsson's Works

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At the beginning of August 1675, Bishop Brynjólfur Sveinsson of Skálholt asked those attending his deathbed to join him in singing “heart-rending” repentance hymns by Reverend Ólafur Jónsson from Sandar (c. 1560–1627), which the bishop had long been prone to sing and have people sing for him (Torfi Jónsson, 1949, pp. 38, 41). The bishop’s fascination with Ólafur’s hymns is a testimony to the popularity of his poetry in the seventeenth century.

Indeed, Ólafur Jónsson was one of the most prolific poets in Iceland of his time, composing numerous religious poems of various kinds, as well as some secular poems. However, despite his great popularity in early modern times, Ólafur Jónsson’s poems were rarely printed. Instead, his poems circulated in Iceland in manuscripts and

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1790 words

Citation: Sigurðardóttir, Þórunn. "Ólafur Jónsson". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 February 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=14854, accessed 21 November 2024.]