Greinar (Vísindafélag Íslendinga) - 01.01.1943, Blaðsíða 152

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events must not be mixed up. Who dares assert that the
increasing power of the king would not have found its
way to this country, even if these warships had not
brought ‘the pure faith’ with them. Neither must we let
ourselves be deceived by the fact that the wisest men and
greatest patríots later on saw the Catholic church en-
wrapped in a halo.
We must no less bear in mind that in this dark age the
nation had been enriched with a new treasure, this being
‘the pure faith’ which according to the poet was brought
by the warships. Although the Reformation was brought
about in a manner which had little to do with an awaken-
ing of new life, yet it engendered new life, which in spite
of everything became a light, if but a dim light, in this
darkness. As the trade monopoly entrenched itself more
firmly another monopoly was lifted, the spiritual mono-
poly of late medieval Catholicism. Religious books, with
the Bible itself at the head, were sent to every home for
the public to read. Instead of being passive spectators and
listeners in church, people could now take part in the
service. Instead of Latin came the mother tongue. In
stead of pattering mechanically Pater noster and Ave-
maria, people could now read books on religious mat-
ters, and sing hymns in their own tongue; and they cer-
tainly took advantage of it. Out of the tentative ex-
periments of the first religious poets, there gradually
developed religious poetry, which, as it increased in bulk,
became more polished in respect of both form and matter.
Besides this they translated theological works and gave
free rein to their literary ambition.
III.
It is in this century that Hallgrímur Pétursson appears,
the greatest religious poet Iceland ever produced, and no
doubt one of the greatest religious poets of all times.
The story of his life is simple enough, but it is the story
of a true poet. He was a relation of the great bishop of