Greinar (Vísindafélag Íslendinga) - 01.01.1943, Síða 158

154
had exceptional gifts. It was said that she had already
begun making verse. Her father loved her dearly. It can
safely be said, that more heartfelt and sublime memorial
poems have never been composed in Iceland, considering
that they were written to commemorate a child.
These hymns which certainly are composed at Hvals-
nes, are an invaluable document, showing to what a height
Hallgrímur Pétursson had already attained, although he
was later to rise still higher.
I.
In 1651 Saurbær at Hvalfjarðarströnd fell vacant, in
the vicinity of which Pétursson’s friend Árni Gíslason
was living. It was no doubt at his instigation that Hall-
grímur Pétursson was elected by the parishioners and
appointed to the living. Saurbær, indeed, was not a rich
benefice, but sufficient for the maintenance of life. Hval-
f jörður is a place of great natural beauty and the people
who lived there seem to have been quite different from
those living around Hvalsnes. Hallgrímur Pétursson was
genuinely relieved to be able to get away from Hvalsnes,
and according to an old tradition, he is said to have made
a solemn vow to write about the sufferings and death of
our Saviour in gratitude to God for having delivered him
from his former parishioners.
Hallgrímur’s financial position now improved rapidly.
He no doubt continued to be equally averse to farming,
but his wife was an excellent manager, and his income
was much greater, so there is no reason to doubt that
they managed fairly well. When he left Hvalsnes, he
managed to pay all his debts.
The decade 1651—61 after Hallgrímur Pétursson had
settled down in Saurbær is probably the most productive
period of his life. He has now reached full maturity and
has gained much experience. He is at peace with himself
after all the vicissitudes of life, and full of gratitude to
God and man. His financial circumstances are good, the