Ska´ldin þrjú og þjóðin

Abstract

The poets Bjarni Thorarensen (1786-1841), Jónas Hallgrímsson (1807-1845) and Grímur Thomsen (1820-1896) were pioneering figures in Icelandic romantic literature, employing verse rather than prose as a way of reaching a wider audience in the community. Their origins were very different and the three men had little in common except their irregular but lifelong commitment to poetry, and their belief in the power of original verse in the nation's life. This article examines the nature and form of their poetry in the light of both medieval and modern Icelandic poetic tradition, and in the context of the poets' knowledge of works by major foreign poets. The article discusses romantic theories about poetic geniuses and the nature of genius itself, about historicism and — in connection with Icelandic folk belief — about the organic connection between man and universe.