Gripla - 2022, Síða 374

GRIPLA372
They remained together for the rest of their lives until Guðrún died in
1668, two years before Guðmundur. Together they had eight children
between 1621 and 1631, although only six of them survived to adulthood.
While still fairly young, Guðmundur seems to have been wayward and
argumentative, character traits which got him into trouble on more than
one occasion. The result of one of his conflicts was his being more or less
exiled to the parish of Grímsey between 1631 and 1634.30 His later life
seems, however, to have been much calmer.
Guðmundur’s literary production, composed between 1615 and 1668,
has not received a particularly warm reception from later critics, pos-
sibly in part due to his fairly simple style when compared with that of
some of his contemporaries.31 Perhaps his most popular work, judg-
ing by the number of manuscript witnesses, was Einvaldsóður (Poem on
Monarchy), a reworking into Icelandic of a pre-existing Danish transla-
tion of the Scot Sir David Lyndsay’s Ane dialogue betuix Experience and
ane Courteour (1554) (commonly known as The Monarche).32 In addition
to this long poetic work, however, Guðmundur produced a wide array of
other writings, among which can be mentioned two poetic anthologies,
Gígja and Fagriskógur, the latter unfortunately non-extant.33 Guðmundur
was also particularly active in producing religious rímur, often based on
Old Testament narratives: twelve or so of these exist, among which can
be mentioned Forfeðrarímur (i.e. on the Biblical patriarchs), the Rímur
af Móses, Samsonar rímur sterka and the Rímur af Jónasi spámanni.34 He
also published poems about calamities and current affairs (for example
on the Turkish raids, an Italian earthquake, the execution of Charles I in
England), poems based on Aesopic fables, numerous short religious poems
and occasional poetry. Páll Eggert Ólason made the claim that “veraldlegs
kveðskapar gætir ekki að marki eftir síra Guðmund” (no secular poetry
30 See Katelin Parsons, “Gagn, gæði og gömul vísa um Grímsey,” Són 10 (2012): 41–60.
31 Þórunn Sigurðardóttir, “Hallgrímur með ‘síra Guðmund Erlendsson í Felli,ʼ” 49–50.
32 See Robert Geiger Cook, “A Critical Edition of Einvaldsóður (Poem on Monarchy) by séra
Guðmundur Erlendsson (c. 1595–1670)” (PhD thesis, Johns Hopkins University, 1962).
33 See Parsons, “Songs for the End of the World,” especially ch. 5, for an extensive discussion
of Gígja and p. 218 for her conclusions on the survival (or lack thereof) of Fagriskógur.
34 For the full list, see Finnur Sigmundsson, Rímnatal, II:50–51. The prophet Jónas is Jonah
in English.