Gripla - 20.12.2013, Blaðsíða 225

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this was not Ásgrímur’s only connection to the Reverend Guðmundur,
however, as he was also Guðmundur erlendsson’s brother-in-law.33
In an entry on the word jólasveinn in jón ólafsson from Grunnavík’s
dictionary, the comment is made that “Grímur Magnússon í Höfða” is the
author of a grýlukvæði that ólafur davíðsson was later unable to identify, al-
though he mentioned the reference in Þulur og þjóðkvæði.34 jón samsonarson
was largely able to confirm jón ólafsson’s statement in the same dictionary
entry that Hallgrímur Pétursson had composed Leppalúðakvæði, but he
added that (Ás)grímur’s grýlukvæði remained a lost work.35
As mentioned earlier, Höfðaströnd adjoins sléttuhlíð. the minister at
fell traditionally served at the outlying church at Höfði in Höfðaströnd,
and even if Ásgrímur Magnússon had composed a grýlukvæði in which
Grýla pays a visit to Höfði (and not fell), the local minister would still be
séra Gvöndur. In other words, Grýlukvæði does not need to be composed
by Guðmundur erlendsson himself for the parson to make an appearance
in the poem.
In the case of the disputed authorship of Leppalúðakvæði, jón sam-
sonar son’s main argument in favour of Hallgrímur Pétursson is that the
speaker’s three children are called eyjólfur, Guðmundur (Gvöndur) and
steinunn — names that correspond to those of Hallgrímur Pétursson and
Guðríður símonardóttir’s daughter and two sons. As stated earlier, jón
samsonarson dates it to 1648–49.36 He noted a similar parent-child con-
nection between Ókindarkvæði and its probable author, Björg Pétursdóttir
(1749–1839), who ends the cautionary verse with a warning addressed to
her daughter sigríður, advising the young girl to mind her manners.37
By contrast, none of the three girls mentioned in Grýlukvæði (Valka/
Valgerður, Herdís and sólveig) can be identified as Guðmundur erlends-
son’s own children: his eldest daughter was named Margrét (b. 1625), and
33 His first wife was Guðmundur’s sister Þóra, and they had at least one child together,
sigríður (1626–d. after 1703). After Þóra’s death, Ásgrímur married sveinn jónsson’s sister
Þuríður.
34 „jón ólafsson frá Grunnavík segir í orðabók sinni jólasveinar, að [Ás]Grímur Magnússon í
Höfða á Höfðaströnd hafi ort Grýlukvæði, en ekki þekki eg það.“ Þulur og þjóðkvæði, 144.
35 “Grýlukvæði eftir Ásgrím Magnússon í Höfða hefur ekki komið fram.” jón samsonarson,
“Leppalúði Hallgríms Péturssonar,” 43.
36 Ibid., 48. the terminus post quem for the composition of Leppalúðakvæði is 1644, the year
when Hallgrímur Pétursson was ordained as minister for Hvalsnes.
37 jón samsonarson, “ókindarkvæði,” 23–33.
GRýLA In sLÉttuHLíÐ