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Af Jóni Ólafssyni Grunnvíkingi

Abstract

This article begins by pointing to the influence of the novel Islandsklukka on the historical consciousness of the people. An attempt is made to explain why Jón Ólafsson of Grunnavík, an antiquarian working in Copenhagen, was the model for the elderiy man in the service of Arnas Arnæus, who himself is modelled on the description by Jón Ólafsson of Professor Árni Magnússon. Jón Ólafsson was in fact a young student during the time of Árni Magnússon. The friendship between Halldór Kiljan Laxness and Professor Jón Helgason had an effect on the comic features in the presentation of the servant: in his doctoral dissertation Jón Helgason made fun of some the things that Jón Olafsson wrote in his old age. A short biographical summary of Jón is given, followed by an account of the conditions under which lived in Copenhagen — the streets where he lived and the people he had contact with. Then comes a brief descríption of the pieces that he copíed from Copenhagen newspapers — these are preserved in the Árni Magnússon Institute in Iceland in more than four thousand pages in his own hand (AM 994 4to, AM 995 4to, AM 997 4to). Jón made summaries on the basis of these copies and either sent them himself or loaned them to his friends to send on special news pages accompanying letters to friends and relatives in Iceland. Most of Jón's circle were men in high office: bishops, lawmen and provosts. From all this we can see how news about war and other eighteenth century events came from Copenhagen to many large farms in Iceland, and then spread around the country as men moved about. For his scholarly work Jón Ólafsson was esteemed by distinguished men among his contemporaries.