Skírnir - 01.04.2001, Page 38

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STEINUNN INGA ÓTTARSDÓTTIR
SKÍRNIR
Pascal, Roy. 1960. Design and Trutb in Autobiography. Massachusetts.
Sigurður Þórarinsson. 1983. Bellmaniana. Árni Sigurjónsson annaðist útgáfuna.
Reykjavík.
Sverrir Tómasson. 1988. Formálar íslenskra sagnaritara á miðöldum. Rannsókn
bókmenntahefðar. Reykjavík.
Tómas Sæmundsson. 1947. Ferðabók Tómasar Scemundssonar. Jakob Benediktsson
bjó undir prentun. Reykjavík.
Völundur Óskarsson. 1992. „Inngangur." Reisubók Jóns Ólafssonar Indíafara,
samin af honum sjálfum (1661): xii-xxxi. Reykjavík.
Þorsteinn Þorsteinsson. 1935. Magnús Ketilsson sýslumaður. Reykjavík.
Summary
Travel literature is a genre in its own right, often describing encounters of differ-
ent cultures, voyages over sea or land and survival in foreign countries. Travel
writers have different reasons for writing their stories and their vision of the world
differs in many respects. It is worthwhile to take a close look at the language and
style in travel literature, especially with respect to what is told and what is kept
hidden. The text can be objective on the surface, but in places the reader can catch
a glimpse of the writer’s personality, his feelings, points of view, tastes, and so on.
In Icelandic travel literature one can see traces of both contemporary events (it is
in this respect unlike romances, with which travel stories can partly be compared)
and growing self-consciousness, not least during the Enlightenment. The travel
stories studied here, one by a farmer named Árni Magnússon (1726-180?) and the
other by a blacksmith apprentice called Eiríkur Björnsson (1733-1791), show this
very clearly. Both stories deal with reality, language, tradition and self. Árni and
Eiríkur write about themselves, their adventures and experiences, but their
approach is different. Árni’s story can be read as a kind of confession, while Eirík-
ur’s is in a way an apologia.