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 Icelandic translation of the Bible.

Early life

Guðbrandur was the son of Þorláks Hallgrímssonar, a priest based at in

Miðfjörður Miðfjörður () is a small fjord as well as a conjoined valley in the northwest of Iceland.Íslandshandbókin. Náttúra, saga of sérkenni. Reykjavík 1989, pp.329-330 The fjord has a length of 14 km and a width of up to 3,5 km. The v ...

, and Helga Jónsdóttir, the daughter of the lawyer . Guðbrandur studied at Hólar College from 1553 to 1559 and then went to the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public research university in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia after Uppsala Unive ...

where he studied theology and logic. Guðbrandur was one of the first Icelanders to study in Denmark instead of in Germany. After returning to Iceland in 1564, he served as rector of the Skálholt School for three years before becoming a priest at historic Breiðabólstaður in Vesturhóp.

Bishop

In 1571, the Danish King Frederick II named Guðbrandur Bishop of Hólar on the recommendation of Poul Madsen,

bishop of Zealand The Diocese of Zealand (Danish: ''Sjællands Stift'') was a protestant diocese in Denmark that existed from 1537 to 1922. The diocese had been formed in 1537 following the Reformation in Denmark–Norway and Holstein, Reformation of Denmark, and wa ...

, who had been his teacher in Copenhagen. Guðbrandur served as bishop of Hólar for 56 years; no Icelander has held the position longer. As bishop, Guðbrandur focused on cementing the

Reformation in Iceland The Icelandic Reformation took place in the middle of the 16th century. Iceland was at this time a territory ruled by Denmark-Norway, and Lutheran religious reform was imposed on the Icelanders by King Christian III of Denmark. Resistance to ...

in part by working to publish holy works in Icelandic. He brought the printing press originally brought to Iceland by the Catholic priest

Jón Arason Jón Arason (1484 – November 7, 1550) was an Icelandic Roman Catholic bishop and poet, who was executed in his struggle against the imposition of the Protestant Reformation in Iceland. Background Jón Arason was born in Gryta, educated at Mu ...

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 ...

, printing nearly 100 books during his time as bishop. He wrote and translated many works himself, including hymns and The Bible. Thanks to his printing work, as well as his focus on ensuring accuracy in translation, Guðbrandur is credited with helping strengthen the Icelandic language. Printing of the Guðbrandsbiblía, or "Guðbrandur's Bible," was completed in 1584. Portions included previous translations, including

Oddur Gottskálksson Oddur Gottskálksson (1495/1496 – 1556) was the translator of the first book printed in Icelandic, the New Testament. Oddur was born in Hólar where his father, Gottskálk grimmi Nikulásson was bishop. After his father died in 1520, Oddur ...

's translation of the New Testament, along with new translations by Guðbrandur based on Latin, Germany, and Danish translations. Although he worked with trained printers, Guðbrandur engraved some of the book's adornments himself. Five hundred copies were printed, which were sold for the price of two or three cows. The Guðbrandsbiblía was the basis for most Icelandic biblical translations until 1826. Other works published by Guðbrandur include a translation of

Niels Hemmingsen Niels Hemmingsen (''Nicolaus Hemmingius'') (May/June 1513 – 23 May 1600) was a 16th-century Danish Lutheran theologian. He was pastor of the Church of the Holy Ghost, Copenhagen and professor at the University of Copenhagen. Biography B ...

's '' Liffsens Vey'' ("Way of Life") in 1575, the first Icelandic hymnal in 1589, an Icelandic

Gradual The gradual ( la, graduale or ) is a chant or hymn in the Mass, the liturgical celebration of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, and among some other Christians. It gets its name from the Latin (meaning "step") because it was once chanted ...

in 1594, and the ''Vísnabók'', a collection of spiritual songs, in 1612. He also published several writings by Arngrímur Jónsson. Guðbrandur was a well-rounded scholar with an interest in natural history, astronomy, and surveying, among other fields. This led to his drafting of a new map of Iceland, which was published in

Abraham Ortelius Abraham Ortelius (; also Ortels, Orthellius, Wortels; 4 or 14 April 152728 June 1598) was a Brabantian cartographer, geographer, and cosmographer, conventionally recognized as the creator of the first modern atlas, the '' Theatrum Orbis Terra ...

's ''Theatrum Orbis Terrarum'' in 1590, as well as fixing the location of the island in the North Atlantic with greater accuracy than previous maps. He also worked to ensure descriptions of Iceland were presented accurately to the world.

Gallery of notable works

Image:Gudbrandsbiblia.jpg, Guðbrandur published the first complete Icelandic translation of

The Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...

in 1584. File:Guðbrandur's bible.jpg, Guðbrandsbiblía in

National Museum of Iceland National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

, in Reykjavík, Iceland. Image:Island 1590 Theatrum Orbis Terrarum Ortelius.jpg, One of his most important works: Map of Iceland

Personal life

Soon after becoming bishop, Guðbrandur had a child with Guðrún Gísladóttir. Their daughter, Steinunn Guðbrandsdóttir, married the farmer Skúla Einarsson, and one of Skúla and Steinunn's sons, Þorlákur Skúlason, succeeded Guðbrandur as bishop of Hólar. On 7 September 1572, Guðbrandur married on Halldóra Árnadóttir (1547–1585), the daughter of Árni Gíslason, magistrate of Hlíðarenda, and Guðrún Sæmundsdóttir. Their children included Páll Guðbrandsson (1573–1621), Halldóra Guðbrandsdóttir (1574–1658), and Kristín Guðbrandsdóttir (1574–1652).

50 króna banknote

In 1981, the

Central Bank of Iceland The Central Bank of Iceland ( is, Seðlabanki Íslands) is the central bank or reserve bank of Iceland. It has served in this capacity since 1961, when it was created by an act of the Alþingi out of the central banking department of Landsbank ...

introduced a new series of

banknotes A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued ...

with Guðbrandur on the front of the note and a fragment of the Guðbrandsbiblía and an image of early printers at work on the reverse. In 1987, the paper banknote was replaced with an

coin A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order t ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gudbrandur Thorlaksson Thorlaksson, Gudbrandur Thorlaksson, Gudbrandur Lutheran bishops of Iceland 16th-century Icelandic people 17th-century Icelandic people Thorlaksson, Gudbrandur Thorlaksson, Gudbrandur Thorlaksson, Gudbrandur Translators of the Bible into Icelandic 17th-century Lutheran bishops Icelandic cartographers