BRYNJÓLFUR SVEINSSON

Brynjólfur was born in 1605. He was a bishop at Skálholt in southwestern Iceland. His most important contribution to posterity has been to carry forward much of what has become our knowledge of Norse mythology and history. He is currently depicted on the Icelandic 1000 króna banknote.

In 1650, he was appointed by King Frederick III to succeed the deceased Stephen Hansen Stephanius as the royal Danish antiquarian, but he declined the position. However, he asked the king to allow an Icelander to be responsible for translating the old manuscripts into Danish or Latin, and at the same time promised to do what he could to collect old manuscripts in Iceland.

One of his first actions was to encourage everyone in his diocese to give the king all old manuscripts, whether they were originals or copies, as a gift or for a symbolic price. The most monumental manuscript collected in this way was the Flateyjarbók, which got its name from the northwestern Icelandic island where it had long been kept, Flatey in Breiðafjörður. Brynjólfur Sveinsson first obtained the book when he made a personal visit to the book's then-owner, the farmer Jón Torfason at Flatey. The farmer was initially reluctant to part with the valuable manuscript, but after some pressure, he eventually complied with the bishop's request.

Brynjólfur Sveinsson died in 1675.

Article by Sigvald Grøsfjeld