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born. Even if the Grímur referred to is not Grímur Bessason but rather
another clergyman named Grímur who lived in the seventeenth century
and made a poetic translation, it need not mean that we should displace
Jón Magnússon í Laufási or Guðmundur Erlendsson as the more probable
authors of the core Grobbians rímur, since it is perfectly plausible for two
individuals to try their hand at translating or adapting one and the same
interesting foreign text.20 And although the word þýtt (translated/inter-
preted) in Þorvarður Hallsson’s poem suggests that Grímur was involved in
a work of translation, this term could have been used loosely there to refer
to an act of converting material (written or otherwise) into verse. If that is
the case, Grímur might have been yet another individual who attempted
to compose his own fitt as a continuation of the core rímur. If we read
Þorvarður Hallsson’s verse as such, it is moreover possible that the refer-
ence is to Grímur Bessason, and that there was at one time a continuation by
him which is simply no longer extant. Due to these uncertainties, it seems
reasonable to exclude “Grímur klerkur” from the discussion of authorship
here unless further evidence is found.
Jón Magnússon and Guðmundur Erlendsson
Guðmundur Erlendsson’s involvement in producing Grobbians rímur can-
not, however, be so easily ignored owing to the appearance of his name
in one of the earliest manuscripts. Nor, however, can Jón Magnússon’s,
because of the conviction concerning his involvement as shown by early
Icelandic literary historians. Thus some additional information on their
life and work is in order.21
Jón’s father was Magnús Eiríksson (c. 1568–1652) who was the
pastor at Auðkúla (Austur-Húnavatnssýsla) from 1596 to 1650. Thus he
was living there when Jón was born in 1601. Jón did not stay there long,
however, as he was fostered by the married couple Magnús Ólafsson í
20 It is worth noting, however, that Finnur Sigmundsson does not list any other rímur-poet
named Grímur, apart from Grímur Bessason, either from the seventeenth century or any
other period.
21 For information on Jón Magnússon í Laufási’s life, see Páll Eggert Ólason, Íslenzkrar
æviskrár, III:218. See also Páll Eggert Ólason, Saga Íslendinga, Fimmta bindi: Seytjánda
öld (Reykjavík: Menntamálaráð og þjóðvinafélag, 1942), 337–38, and Sigurður Nordal,
Samhengi og samtíð, I:397–99.
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