Ólafía Einarsdóttir (28 July 1924 – 19 December 2017) was an Icelandic archaeologist and historian, specialising in Icelandic chronology. She was the first Icelander to complete a degree in
archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...
. After completing her PhD from Lund University in 1964, she taught at the University of Copenhagen and published many works about
Icelandic sagas
The sagas of Icelanders ( is, Íslendingasögur, ), also known as family sagas, are one genre of Icelandic sagas. They are prose narratives mostly based on historical events that mostly took place in Iceland in the ninth, tenth, and early el ...
and
Viking
Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...
Reykjavík
Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...
, on 28 July 1924. Her parents were Einar Þorkelsson, Secretary General of the
Althing
The Alþingi (''general meeting'' in Icelandic, , anglicised as ' or ') is the supreme national parliament of Iceland. It is one of the oldest surviving parliaments in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at ("thing fields" or "assembly ...
, and Ólafía Guðmundsdóttir. One of six children, her mother died in childbirth when Ólafía was five; soon after her father became blind. She was then adopted by some friends of her mother's and raised by them. She was educated at Reykjavik High School and graduated from there in 1944.
Career
Ólafía moved to London and began a degree in archaeology at the
University of London
The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...
, studying under V. Gordon Childe. She graduated in 1948 and became the first Icelandic person to earn a degree in archaeology.
After graduation she returned to Iceland and worked at the National Museum of Iceland, excavating pagan remains at the town of Brennistaði ( is) in Eiðaþinghá (i s). She then moved to Sweden to study for a MA in medieval history at
Lund University
, motto = Ad utrumque
, mottoeng = Prepared for both
, established =
, type = Public research university
, budget = SEK 9 billion She returned to work at National Museum of Iceland as a curator, but later resigned in protest at the conservative reforms the institution was making. Ólafía began her doctoral research at the Lund University where she examined Icelandic sagas as historical texts. She completed her PhD in 1964.
In 1963 she began work as an assistant professor at the
University of Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in ...
and held the position until her retirement.
Research
Ólafía’s research was concerned with the chronology and temporal structure of Icelandic saga literature. She recognised three different dating systems used by Ari in the
Íslendingabók
''Íslendingabók'' (, Old Norse pronunciation: , ''Book of Icelanders''; ) is a historical work dealing with early Icelandic history. The author was an Icelandic priest, Ari Þorgilsson, working in the early 12th century. The work originally ex ...
. She was also a proponent for an earlier timing for the conversion to Christianity in Iceland. Her research also encompassed the use of Latin by Icelandic writers, the cult of Guðmundr Arason, Archbishop
Absalon
Absalon (21 March 1201) was a Danish statesman and prelate of the Catholic Church who served as the bishop of Roskilde from 1158 to 1192 and archbishop of Lund
List of (arch)bishops of Lund. Until the Danish Reformation the centre of a gr ...
, and many other subjects, including the role of women.
Honours
Ólafía was awarded an honorary doctorate by the Faculty of History and Philosophy at the
University of Iceland
The University of Iceland ( is, Háskóli Íslands ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' s ...
in 2009.
Legacy
The journal ''Ólafía'', published by the Icelandic Association of Archaeologists since 2013, is named after her.
Personal life
Ólafía was married to
Bent Fuglede
Bent Fuglede (born 8 October 1925) is a Danish mathematician and, since 1992, professor emeritus at the University of Copenhagen.
Biography
He is known for his contributions to mathematical analysis, in particular functional analysis, where he ...
, a mathematician, who she met whilst on a trip to
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
, Denmark. Their son, Einar, was born in 1966. Ólafía died in Copenhagen on 19 December 2017.