Greinar (Vísindafélag Íslendinga) - 01.01.1943, Blaðsíða 170

166
Sveinsson persuaded him to write a commentary on
obscure stanzas in the History of King Olaf Tryggvason,
which Þormóður Torfason was then editing. Hallgrímur
Pétursson seems to have been occupied with this for some
time, and it is therefore most likely that during these
years he wrote one of his most famous poems: “Manners
of the Age”, in which he compares the glorious past, seen
through the spectacles of Romanticism, with his own shab-
by, slothful and immoral generation, as it appeared to the
naked eye of the critic. During these years, however, he
composed a great deal,andnodoubt some of his best poems,
for instance after the fire at Saurbær, which was men-
tioned above and various satires and poems describing
disappointment and sorrows, because now life began to
get difficult. His health fails, he must resign. His wife
and son, it is true, were still living, but they do not seem
to have been any great comfort to him. He had to leave
his beloved Saurbær. But bishop Brynjólfur Sveinsson,
who formerly had been hard on him, now showed him
great kindness. He saw to it that he was given an able
curate and successor and that he could settle at a small
farm, Ferstikla, near Saurbær, where he remained with
his son during the rest of his life. This place commands a
glorious view of Hvalfjördur and surroundings. But in
spite of all this, these years, when everything was on the
decline, were no doubt difficult and distressing. During
these years he most likely composed some of his long
didacitic poems, but these will not be dealt with here.
XIII.
Here a mention might be made of Hallgrímur’s prose
works. A good deal of theological and edifying works in
prose had been published, most of which were transla-
tions. Men were afraid of the rigidity of orthodoxy, and
found it safer to translate the works of great theologians
than write anything themselves, and besides their know-
ledge of theology was hardly so great that they could
write anything of importance. Some of these works were