Þorlákur Skúlason (24 August 1597 – 4 January 1656) was

bishop of Hólar A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

from 1628 until his death in 1656. During his tenure, he oversaw publication of the second Icelandic translation of the full Bible.

Early life

Þorlákur was born in Eiríksstaðir in to the farmer Skúli Einarsson (d. 1612) and Steinunn Guðbrandsdóttir (b. 1571), the daughter of

Guðbrandur Þorláksson Guðbrandur Þorláksson or Gudbrand Thorlakssøn ( – 20 July 1627) was bishop of Hólar from 8 April 1571 until his death. He was the longest-serving bishop in Iceland and is known for printing the '' Guðbrandsbiblía'', first complete Ice ...

(with Guðrún Gísladóttir), bishop of

Hólar Hólar (; also Hólar í Hjaltadal ) is a small community in the Skagafjörður district of northern Iceland. Location Hólar is in the Hjaltadalur valley, some from the national capital of Reykjavík. It has a population of around 100. It is th ...

. He grew up in Hólar with his grandfather and studied under the bishop to become a priest. In 1616, he departed Iceland for Denmark where he earned a degree 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 ...

. He returned to Hólar in 1619 to oversee the Hólar College, but in 1620 he resumed his studies in Copenhagen. After returning to Iceland in 1621, Þorlákur was installed as a priest in Hólar in 1624. One of his early tasks was to seek wood for a new cathedral.

Bishop of Hólar

After the death of Bishop Guðbrandur on 20 July 1627, Þorlákur was elected as his successor. He was ordained as bishop on 16 May 1628 in Copenhagen and arrived back in Hólar on 2 August of the same year. Páll Eggert Ólason described Þorlákur as: "A gentle man and untroubled, generally more quiet than noisy. However, the church government did well under him. He was cheerful and humorous, a gentle Latin poet with brilliant talents."

Scholarly work

As bishop, Þorlákur continued the publishing of religious works as his grandfather, Guðbrandur, had done. In total about 30 books were published under his direction, most notably the second full translation of the Bible into Icelandic. Known as , it was largely a reprinting of the earlier

Guðbrandsbiblía The Guðbrand's Bible ( ; full title: ''Biblia þad er Øll heilog ritning, vtlögd a norrænu. Med formalum doct. Martini Lutheri. Prentad a Holum/Af Jone Jons Syne'') was the first translation of the full Bible into the Icelandic language. The ...

, but with revisions made based upon the Danish-language 1607 translation by . Halldór Ásmundsson, the printer at Hólar, began printing the Þorláksbiblía in 1637 and completed it on 16 June 1644. He also translated several books by the German theologian

Johann Gerhard Johannes Gerhard (17 October 1582 – 17 August 1637) was a Lutheran church leader and Lutheran Scholastic theologian during the period of Orthodoxy. Biography He was born in the German city of Quedlinburg. During a dangerous illness, at the ...

, including ''Meditationes Sacrae'' in 1630 and ''The Daily Exercise of Piety'' in 1652. Þorlákur was also interested in archaeology and natural history, keeping up active correspondence with others in Iceland and abroad, including the Danish scientist

Ole Worm Ole Worm (13 May 1588 – 31 August 1654), who often went by the Latinized form of his name Olaus Wormius, was a Danish physician, natural historian and antiquary. He was a professor at the University of Copenhagen where he taught Greek, Latin ...

. In 1647, he published in Latin a description of Iceland's natural world. Among other works, Þorlákur published was Björn Jónsson's history of the 1627 Barbary pirates' raid on Iceland.

Personal life

In 1630, Þorlákur married Kristín Gísladóttir (27 February 1610 – 10 June 1694), and they had several sons and daughters, including Gísli Þorláksson, who succeeded Þorlákur as Bishop of Hólum, and

Þórður Þorláksson Þórður Þorláksson (14 August 1637–17 March 1697), also known by the Latinized name Theodorus Thorlacius, was the Lutheran bishop of Skálholt from 1674 until his death. Under Þórður's direction, the Church of Iceland's printing pres ...

, who became Bishop of Skálholt.

References

Bibliography

* Páll Eggert Ólason: ''Íslenskar æviskrár'' V. * Páll Eggert Ólason: ''Menn og menntir siðskiptaaldarinnar á Íslandi''. {{DEFAULTSORT:Thorlakur Skulason 1597 births 1656 deaths 17th-century Icelandic people Lutheran bishops of Iceland Icelandic Lutheran clergy 17th-century Icelandic Lutheran bishops