Árni Magnússon of Geitastekkr

Ármann Jakobsson (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

Activity 1726-1807

Places

Active in Iceland

Activities

Primary

Prose writer

Resources

Magnússon's Works

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Árni Magnússon from Geitastekkur was an Icelandic traveller and travel writer who was born in 1726 and died in 1807. For a long time he was a little known figure, since his travelogue was not published until 1945 (and reprinted in 2000 in the anthology

Upplýsingaröldin

) although it was composed in the final years of the eighteenth century.

Árni Magnússon left Iceland in 1753 and the book covers all his extensive travels abroad up to 1797. He was probably the most widely travelled Icelander of his time and the first Icelander to reach China. The reasons why Árni Magnússon originally left Iceland are unclear, although in his text he alludes to a guilty secret and claims that the authorities in Dalasýsla were against him. He left a wife and children in Iceland and had no contact with

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935 words

Citation: Jakobsson, Ármann. "Árni Magnússon of Geitastekkr". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 15 January 2025 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=15268, accessed 18 January 2025.]