Gripla - 01.01.2001, Síða 149

LÆRÐUR ÍSLENDINGUR Á TURNI
147
Sveinbjöm Rafnsson. „Heimild um Heiðarvíga sögu.“ Gripla III. Ritstj. Jónas Kristj-
ánsson. Rvk. 1979.
Upplýsingaröldin - Úrval úr bókmenntum 18. aldar. Víkingur Kristjánsson og Þorfmn-
ur Skúlason tóku saman. Rvk. 2000.
Þórhallur Vilmundarson. „Bruninn mikli í Kaupmannahöfn 1728.“ Söguslóðir. Af-
mælisrit helgað Olafi Hanssyni. Rvk. 1979.
SUMMARY
This article begins by pointing to the influence of the novel Islandsklukka on the his-
torical consciousness of the people. An attempt is made to explain why Jón Olafsson of
Gmnnavík, an antiquarian working in Copenhagen, was the model for the elderly man
in the service of Amas Amæus, who himself is modelled on the description by Jón
Ólafsson of Professor Ámi Magnússon. Jón Ólafsson was in fact a young student dur-
ing the time of Ámi 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
Ólafsson wrote in his old age.
A short biographical summary of Jón is given, followed by an account of the con-
ditions under which lived in Copenhagen — the streets where he lived and the people
he had contact with. Then comes a brief description of the pieces that he copied from
Copenhagen newspapers — these are preserved in the Ámi Magnússon Institute in Ice-
land 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 offíce: bishops,
lawmen and provosts. From all this we can see how news about war and other eigh-
teenth 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.
Guðrún Asa Grímsdóttir
Stofnun Arna Magnússonar
Arnagarði við Suðurgötu
101 Reykjavík
gudrungr@am.hi.is