Carl Christian Rafn (January 16, 1795 – October 20, 1864) was a

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

historian, translator and

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...

. His scholarship to a large extent focused on translation of

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

literature and related Northern European ancient history. He was also noted for his early advocacy of the recognition of

Norse colonization of North America The Norse exploration of North America began in the late 10th century, when Norsemen explored areas of the North Atlantic colonizing Greenland and creating a short term settlement near the northern tip of Newfoundland. This is known now as L'Ans ...

Biography

Carl Christian Rafn was born in Brahesborg on the island of

Fyn Funen ( da, Fyn, ), with an area of , is the third-largest island of Denmark, after Zealand and Vendsyssel-Thy. It is the 165th-largest island in the world. It is located in the central part of the country and has a population of 469,947 as ...

Funen County Funen County ( da, Fyns Amt) is a former county (Danish: ''amt'') in central Denmark, comprising the islands of Funen, Langeland, Tåsinge, Ærø, and approximately 90 other islands, of which only 25 are inhabited. The county was formed on 1 Ap ...

, Denmark. After attending the Odense Cathedral School (''Odense Katedralskole''), he entered 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 ...

where he earned his law degree and graduated (1816). After having been employed as a lieutenant with the Funen light dragoons in

Odense Odense ( , , ) is the third largest city in Denmark (behind Copenhagen and Aarhus) and the largest city on the island of Funen. As of 1 January 2022, the city proper had a population of 180,863 while Odense Municipality had a population of 20 ...

, in 1820, he became a teacher in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

and

grammar In linguistics, the grammar of a natural language is its set of structure, structural constraints on speakers' or writers' composition of clause (linguistics), clauses, phrases, and words. The term can also refer to the study of such constraint ...

at the Army Cadet Academy (''Landkadetakademiet'') in Copenhagen. Rafn was particularly interested in discovering the location of

Vinland Vinland, Vineland, or Winland ( non, Vínland ᚠᛁᚾᛚᛅᚾᛏ) was an area of coastal North America explored by Vikings. Leif Erikson landed there around 1000 AD, nearly five centuries before the voyages of Christopher Columbus and John ...

as mentioned in

Norse saga is a series of science fantasy role-playing video games by Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the creation of Akitoshi Kawazu at Square. It has since continued across multiple platforms, from the Super NES to the Play ...

s. Together with Icelandic scholar

Finnur Magnússon Finnur Magnússon, sometimes referred to by the Danish version of his name under which he published, Finno Magnusun, Finn Magnussen or Magnusen, (27 August 1781 – 24 December 1847) was an Icelandic scholar and archaeologist who worked in Denm ...

and Danish linguist

Rasmus Rask Rasmus Kristian Rask (; born Rasmus Christian Nielsen Rasch; 22 November 1787 – 14 November 1832) was a Danish linguist and philologist. He wrote several grammars and worked on comparative phonology and morphology. Rask traveled extensively to ...

, he founded the Royal Norse Ancient Writings Society (''Det Kongelige nordiske Oldskriftselskab''). He was also a member of the

Arnamagnæan Institute The Arnamagnæan Institute ( da, Den Arnamagnæanske Samling, formerly ''Det Arnamagnæanske Institut'') is a teaching and research institute established in 1956 to further the study of the manuscripts in the Arnamagnæan Manuscript Collection, th ...

(''Den Arnamagnæanske Kommission'') which managed the Arnamagnæan Foundation (''Det Arnamagnæanske Legat''), custodians for the collection of manuscripts from 17th-century Icelandic scholar

Árni Magnússon Árni Magnússon (13 November 1663 – 7 January 1730) was a scholar and collector of manuscripts from Iceland who assembled the Arnamagnæan Manuscript Collection. Life Árni was born in 1663 at Kvennabrekka in Dalasýsla, in western Iceland ...

. Rafn published much of his work in 1837 in the ''Antiquitates Americanæ''. It is considered the first scholarly exposition of

pre-Columbian In the history of the Americas, the pre-Columbian era spans from the original settlement of North and South America in the Upper Paleolithic period through European colonization, which began with Christopher Columbus's voyage of 1492. Usually, th ...

Norse exploration. At the time of Rafn's research, the Norse sagas concerning

were considered by most scholars to be mere legends. The ideas advanced by Rafn found new support since the 1960s with the discovery of the Norse settlement at

L'Anse aux Meadows L'Anse aux Meadows ( lit. Meadows Cove) is an archaeological site, first excavated in the 1960s, of a Norse settlement dating to approximately 1,000 years ago. The site is located on the northernmost tip of the island of Newfoundland in the ...

in northern

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

, Canada. In 1836, he was admitted as a member of the Royal Danish Society for History (''Det kongelige danske Selskab for Fædrelandets Historie''). In 1836 he was also elected a member of the

American Antiquarian Society The American Antiquarian Society (AAS), located in Worcester, Massachusetts, is both a learned society and a national research library of pre-twentieth-century American history and culture. Founded in 1812, it is the oldest historical society in ...

. He was a member of numerous other foreign associations and societies and received the philosophical and legal doctorate from abroad. ''Breve fra og til Carl Christian Rafn“ med en biografi''
(Bendict Grøndal: 1869) Rafn became a Knight of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known a ...

in 1828 and was awarded the Grand Cross of the Dannebrog (''Dannebrogsmand'') in 1842. He died in 1864 at the age of 69 and was buried at Assistens Cemetery in Copenhagen.

Selected works

Committee

* 1821–1826 – ''Nordiske Kæmpehistorier'' (3 vols.) * 1824 – ''Jomsvikingesaga'' * 1825–1837 – ''Fornmanna sögur'' (12 vols.) * 1826 – ''Krákumál'' * 1826 – 1827 – ''Kong Olaf Tryggvesøns Saga'' (3 vols.) * 1829–1830 – ''Fornaldarsögur Norðrlanda'' (3 vols.) * 1829–1830 – ''Nordiske Fortidssagaer'' (3 vols.) * 1832 – ''Færeyínga saga'' * 1837 – ''Antiqvitates Americana'' * 1838–1854 – ''Grønlands historiske Mindesmærker'' (3 vols.) * 1850–1858 – ''Antiquités Russes d'après les monuments historique des anciens et des Islandais Scandinaves'' (2 vols.) * 1852 – ''Saga Játvarðar konúngs Hin Helga'' (with Jón Sigurðsson) * 1856 – ''Antiquités de l'Orient''

Journals

* 1832–1836 – ''Nordisk Tidsskrift for Oldkyndighed'' (3 vols.) * 1836–1863 – ''Annaler for nordisk Oldkyndighed (og Historie)'' (23 vols.) * 1836–1860 – ''Mémoires de la société des antiquaires du Nord'' * 1843–1863 – ''Antikvarisk Tidsskrift'' (7 vols.)

References

Other sources

*Jespersen, Knud J.V. (1990) ''Carl Christian Rafn og det Fyenske Militair-Bibliothek'' (Odenses bibliotekshistorie, Odense Universitetsforlag)

External links

Facsimile of a map from the works of Carl Christian Rafn
(London: Norrœna Society. 1906. Rasmus B. Anderson, editor in chief) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rafn, Carl Christian 1795 births 1864 deaths People from Assens Municipality University of Copenhagen alumni Danish antiquarians Danish classical scholars 19th-century Danish educators 19th-century Danish historians Members of the American Antiquarian Society Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog Grand Crosses of the Order of the Dannebrog Burials at Assistens Cemetery (Copenhagen)