Árbók Landsbókasafns Íslands - Nýr flokkur - 01.01.1993, Síða 102

102
ENGLISH SUMMARY
Icelandic subjects, and in Original Verses and Translations (1895) about half of the
poems in the book are translations of »celandic poetry or otherwise connected
with Iceland. Among other works by Mrs Disney Leith are Northern Lights and
Other Verses (1920), Three Visits to Iceland (1897), and Peeps at Many Lands. lceland
(1911). She also wrote a book about her nephew A.C. Swinburne, the poet, The
Boyhood of A.C. Sivinburne.
Mrs Disney Leith was a religious person as reflected among other things in her
interest in Icelandic church history. She translated the stories of the fírst
Icelandic bishops, Stories of the Bishops of Iceland (1895), and made a point of
visiting churches on her travels around the country. Her gesture in 1899 to buy
the old altar-piece of the church of Thingvellir may have saved it from
destruction. She gave the altar-piece to the church on the Isle of Wight in
memory of her son Robert, and by a special agreement it was given back to
Iceland in 1974 and is now preserved in the church at Thingvellir. Mrs Disney
Leith was a member of the Church of England, but her memorial to Bishop Jón
Arason may reflect her Catholic sympathies, and it is suggested that she may have
been influenced by ideas of the Oxford movement.
Gunnar Harðarson: Sveinbjörn Egilsson 1791—1991. Landsbókasafn íslands.
Árbók. Nýr flokkur 18 (1992). Rv. 1993, pp. 41-50.
[A lecture held at a meeting in the Society of Icelandic Studies in 1991 to
commemorate the bicentenary of the birth of Mr Sveinbjörn Egilsson.]
Sveinbjörn Egilsson (1791-1852) studied theology at the University of
Copenhagen for five years, and after obtaining his degree in 1819 he became
teacher in the Latin School at Bessastaðir, a post he held until the school was
transferred to Reykjavík and he became rector. Sveinbjörn Egilsson taught
mostly Greek and history and was an influential teacher, and much of his writings
is in one way or another connected with his work in the school. Best known are his
translations of Homer, but he also made translations of other Greek authors
including Plato, Theophrastus, Xenophon, Lucian, Plutarch, and Aeschylus.
Much of this has not been published, which also applies to his lectures on history
and a history of old Icelandic literature still awaiting publication. Sveinbjörn
translated some of the books of the Bible for the 1841 edition. Being a poet
himself, the literary merit of his translations is undisputed.
Sveinbjörn Egilsson made significant contribution to Icelandic studies with his
translation into Latin of several of the volumes in the series of The Royal Society
of Northern Antiquaries in Copenhagen, and other work for the society.
Another important achievement was the compilation of the famous Lexicon
poeticum, a dictionary of the old Icelandic poetic language. Among his editions
of the old Icelandic texts is one of the Prose Edda. His speeches, which were
printed, are important in that they reflect his views on education and the school.
Sveinbjörn Egilsson: Bréf til Bjarna Þorsteinssonar. Aðalgeir Kristjánsson og
Eiríkur Þormóðsson bjuggu til prentunar. Landsbókasafn íslands. Árbók. Nýr
flokkur 18 (1992). Rv. 1993, pp. 51-85.
The letters printed here are all written in the period 1822-1847 by Mr
Sveinbjörn Egilsson (1791-1852), teacher in the Bessastaðir Latin School and
later, after the transfer of the school to Reykjavík, rector, to sub-governor Bjarni