Gripla - 20.12.2016, Page 15

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of essays dedicated to the intellectual life and pursuits of bishop Þórður,
Guðrún Ingólfsdóttir examines in detail his work with the press. He went
out of his way to obtain the king’s permission to print the five historical
titles that appeared between 1688–1690 and which were edited by him and
Einar Eyjólfsson (c. 1641–1695), because he did not want to be accused of
betraying the sacred purpose of the press by the printing of history on his
own initiative.24
as early as 1589, Bishop Guðbrandur Þorláksson (1541/2–1627) exco-
riated his flock for their love of narratives of “trỏlla og fornmanna” [‘of
trolls and of ancient heroes’].25 Despite the hostility of Guðbrandur and
the clerical elite whose position in this regard does not seem to have been
in any way mollified during the seventeenth century, narratives about
trolls and ancient heroes flourished in both prose and verse. But at least
these stories were not committed to the permanency and prestige of print.
When this did happen with the appearance of Gautreks saga and Hrólfs saga
Gautrekssonar in 1664, edited by olof Verelius (1618–1682), followed by
Bósa saga og Herrauðs in 1666 and Hervarar saga og Heiðreks in 1672,26 it is
Þorlákssonar,” in Frumkvöðull vísinda og mennta: Þórður biskup Þorláksson biskup í Skálholti,
ed. Jón Pálsson (reykjavík: Háskólaútgáfan, 1998), 161–77 at 165.
24 Sagan Landnama vm fyrstu bygging Islands af Nordmønnum [ed. Einar Eyjólfsson] (Skálholt:
[Hendrick] Kruse, 1688); Schedæ Ara prestz froda Vm Island, [ed. Þórður Þorláksson]
(Skálholt: Hendrick Kruse, 1688); Christendoms saga Hliodande um þad hvornenn Christen
Tru kom fyrst a Island [ed. Þórður Þorláksson] (Skálholt: Hendrick Kruse, 1688); Gronlandia
Edur Grænlandz saga Vr Islendskum Sagna Bookum og Annalum samanntekin og a Latinskt
maal Skrifud af … Arngrime Jonssine, trans. Einar Eyjólfsson (Skálholt: Hendrick Kruse,
1688); Sagan Þess Haloflega Herra Olafs Tryggvasonar Noregs kongs [ed. Þórður Þorláksson]
2 vols. (Skálholt: Hendrick Kruse, 1689–1690).
25 [Guðbrandur Þorláksson,] Ein ny Psalma Bok, Med morgum andlegum Psalmum Kristilegum
Lofsaunguum og Vijsum, skickanlega til samans sett og Auken og endurbætt (Hólar: n.p., 1589;
rpt. reykjavík: Ólafur J. Hvanndal, 1948), [aa viv]. To be sure, Guðbrandur is here
specifically referring to rímur, but there is no indication that he or the clerical elite were
more favourably disposed to such narratives in prose.
26 Gothrici et Rolfii Westrogothiæ regum historia lingua antiqua Gothica conscripta [Gautreks
saga and Hrólfs saga Gautrekssonar], ed. olof Verelius (uppsala: Henricus Curio, 1664);
Herrauds och Bosa saga med en ny vttolkning iämpte Gambla Götskan. Hoc est Herravdi et
Bosæ historia cum nova interpretatione iuxta antiquum Textum Gothicum, ed. Olof Verelius
(uppsala: Henricus Curio, 1666); Hervarar saga på Gammal Götska, ed. Olof Verelius
(uppsala: Henricus Curio, 1672). In these editions the Icelandic of the sagas is characterized
as “ancient Gothic,” i.e. “old Swedish.” for a detailed analysis of these editions see Busch,
Grossmachtstatus und Sagainterpretation, 35–49. She also has detailed discussions of the
numerous other editions of old norse material published in Sweden in the seventeenth
HALLDóR JAKOBSSON ON TRUTH AND FICTION