Greinar (Vísindafélag Íslendinga) - 01.01.1943, Síða 169

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and foes. He learns everything one needs to know for this
life and the life to come. His art not only gives him
the eapacity to see and understand, to digest and meditate,
but also to impart it to others, make others see and under-
stand, think and feel more or less what he sees and feels
himself.
XII.
As stated above Hallgrímur Pétursson finished the
Passion-Hymns in 1659. We know that already early in
1660 and later he autographed some copies of them and
sent them to his lady friends in particular. They were the
wives and daughters of prominent men, and it is not un-
likely that Hallgrímur Pétursson expected them and their
husbands to see to it that the Passion-Hymns were pu-
blished. One of these autographs he sent to Ragnheiður,
the beautiful but unhappy daughter of Brynjólfur Sveins-
son. This autograph has been preserved up to the present
day, being one of the greatest treasures of the National
Library of Iceland. It also contains the great funeral
hymn “Allt eins og blómstrið eina”, which together with
the Passion-Hymns is the poet’s most famous masterpiece.
There was some delay before the Passion-Hymns
Were published, and now there was some break in his
poetical activity. He knew perfectly well that he had
reached the summit.
The disease became more malignant, the farmhouse of
Saurbær was burnt down in 1662, and it was out of the
Question that he could undertake such a task again. At that
time there came to this country an Icelander by the name
°f Þormóður Torfason, who had become famous in Den-
ruark for his studies in antiquarian lore, and had had the
honour of becoming the king’s historiographer. Antiquar-
ian lore was at that time in great vogue, which was partly
^Ue to this visit of Þormóður Torfason.
Lishop Sveinsson was in this field, as in most others,
a great authority, but we can see from different sources
^at Hallgrímur Pétursson was versed in ancient Icelandic
^°re> and more especially in old Icelandic Poetry.