Olafur Davidsson (1862–1903), Icelandic: ''Ólafur Davíðsson'', was an Icelandic
natural scientist,
ethnographer and folklore collector.
Davidsson was born on 26 January 1862 at Fell in Sléttuhlíð. He was a student at
The Learned School
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in E ...
in
Reykjavik from 1874 to 1882 and kept a diary of his last year of study there.
Davidsson studied natural sciences at the
University of Copenhagen but then immediately turned to ethnology, working at the
Arnamagnæan Institute.
In 1897, Davidsson returned to Iceland and was a part-time teacher at Möðruvellir in Hörgárdal, where he also engaged in folklore collecting and other scholarly work. Ólafur drowned in Hörgá, single and childless, on 6 September 1903.
Works
* ''Íslenskar gátur, skemtanir, vikivakar og þulur: safnað hafa J. Árnason og Ó. Davíðsson'' ("Icelandic Riddles, Entertainment, Weekends and Rhymes: collected by J Arnason and O. Davidsson"), 1–4, Kaupmannahöfn, Bókmenntafélagið, 1887-1903
* ''Galdur og galdramál á Íslandi'' ("Magic and Sorcery in Iceland"), 1–3, Reykjavík, Sögufélag, 1941-1943
* ''Ég læt allt fjúka: sendibréf og dagbókarbrot frá skólaárunum'' ("I let Everything Blow: Letters and Diary Extracts from the School Years"), Reykjavík, Ísafoldarprentsmiðja, 1955
* ''Íslenskar þjóðsögur'', 1–4, Reykjavík, Þjóðsaga, 1978-1980
*''Hundakæti: Dagbækur Ólafs Davíðssonar 1881-1884.'' ("Hundakaeti: the Diaries of Olaf Davidsson, 1881-1884"). Reykjavík, Mál & menning, 2018
References
External links
Grímseyjarför comedy letter by Olafur Davidsson written 8.8.1898, published in ''Lesbók Morgunblaðsins'', 23rd Issue, (08.06.1941), p. 193
{{DEFAULTSORT:Olafur Davidsson
Olafur Davidsson
Olafur Davidsson
Olafur Davidsson
1862 births
1903 deaths
19th-century memoirists