Bibliotheca Arnamagnæana - 01.06.1957, Page 96
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INTRODUCTION
later, he refers again to AJ1 and also asks Worm to deliver him
his greetings2. A number of English scholars made use of AJ’s
work later in the seventeenth century3. In addition, Worm’s writ-
ings were widely circulated and his frequent quotations from AJ
and the dues of honour he never failed to pay to his name must
have been a contribution which strengthened AJ’s position in the
world of learning. It can scarcely be doubted that it must have
been a source of joy and consolation for AJ in his old age to see
the respect paid to his name in Worm’s writings and to know of
the interest kindled in foreign countries by his account of Ice-
landic history.
When we now address ourselves to the other side of AJ’s in-
fluence, the side which was turned towards his countrymen, we
are forced to admit that it is much more difficult to follow its
course in detail. It was a more indirect influence and there were
other parallel factors which contributed towards the same end.
In the first place, we must remember that AJ’s Latin works were
accessible to a comparatively small proportion of the Icelandic
reading-public4, and in the second place, that they would supply
little new historical material to an Icelander well-read in the old
literature. What was really new was the form of presentation,
the general historical attitude and the survey in Crymogæa’s first
book; in addition, his sketch of the history of more recent times
was new in the sense that it was considerably fuller than his prin-
cipal source, Gottskålksannall.
We spoke above of the third chapter in the first book of
Crymogæa, where AJ discusses the Icelandic language, and
pointed out the significance this had for the development of
Icelandic philological studies abroad. This section was also im-
portant for the Icelanders themselves, for two reasons: first, Ice-
landic was assigned a more distinguished place than ever before
1 See Wormii Epistolæ, pp. 424, 434.
! Ibid., 448-
3 See E. Seaton, op. cit., 213, 249-50, 259-61, 263.
4 It must though be observed that the first book of Crymogæa was translated into
Icelandic in the seventeenth century, see below p. 271, and AJ’s giant-theory crops
up in rimur from the middle of that century, see note to II 3o30ff. Gronlandia, on
the other hånd, was published in Icelandic in 1688, see below.