Title page of Oddur Gottskálksson's 1540 translation of the New Testament into Icelandic

Oddur Gottskálksson's New Testament (; full title: ) is a translation of the New Testament into Icelandic. It is the oldest preserved book printed in the

Icelandic language Icelandic (; is, íslenska, link=no ) is a North Germanic language spoken by about 314,000 people, the vast majority of whom live in Iceland, where it is the national language. Due to being a West Scandinavian language, it is most closely re ...

History

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 ...

likely began translating the New Testament in

Skálholt Skálholt (Modern Icelandic: ; non, Skálaholt ) is a historical site in the south of Iceland, at the river Hvítá. History Skálholt was, through eight centuries, one of the most important places in Iceland. A bishopric was established in Sk� ...

in 1534 or 1535, working in a cowshed to hide his work from the Roman Catholic bishop

Ögmundur Pálsson Ögmundur Pálsson, O.E.S.A. (c. 1475 – 13 July 1541; Modern Icelandic: ) was an Icelandic Roman Catholic prelate, who was the last Catholic bishop of the Icelandic diocese of Skálholt, from 1521 until 1540. He was the son of Páll Gu� ...

, whom Oddur worked for as a scribe. In spring 1539, Oddur travelled to Denmark and presented King

Christian III Christian III (12 August 1503 – 1 January 1559) reigned as King of Denmark from 1534 and King of Norway from 1537 until his death in 1559. During his reign, Christian formed close ties between the church and the crown. He established ...

with a copy of his translation. On 9 November of that year, Christian III approved its printing after having scholars compare it to the Latin text. The printing was completed in Roskilde, Denmark, on 12 April 1540 as a 330-page ''

octavo Octavo, a Latin word meaning "in eighth" or "for the eighth time", (abbreviated 8vo, 8º, or In-8) is a technical term describing the format of a book, which refers to the size of leaves produced from folding a full sheet of paper on which multip ...

'' small format. It is not known how many copies were printed, but Oddur intended for every priest in Iceland to receive a copy.

Influence

Oddur's translation is believed to be made primarily from a 1530 edition of Martin Luther's German translation with comparison to the Latin

Vulgate The Vulgate (; also called (Bible in common tongue), ) is a late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bible. The Vulgate is largely the work of Jerome who, in 382, had been commissioned by Pope Damasus I to revise the Gospels u ...

and perhaps

Erasmus of Rotterdam Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (; ; English: Erasmus of Rotterdam or Erasmus;''Erasmus'' was his baptismal name, given after St. Erasmus of Formiae. ''Desiderius'' was an adopted additional name, which he used from 1496. The ''Roterodamus'' wa ...

's translation from Greek. Oddur included Luther's prefaces to each of the books, except the Book of Revelation, as well as Luther's marginal notes. The 1540 New Testament includes indicators of the transition from

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

to a more modern form of the language, although it is heavily influenced by the Latin Vulgate. It marked an official recognition by the Danish church of Icelandic as a separate language and influenced the style of future

Bible translations into Icelandic The history of Bible translations into Icelandic began with the country's conversion to Christianity around but efforts accelerated with the Icelandic Reformation in the mid-16th century. Since then, 11 complete translations of the Bible have ...

References

External links

Nýja testamenti Odds Gottskálkssonar scanned copy
{{authority control Icelandic literature Bible versions and translations History of Christianity in Iceland 1540 books 16th century in Iceland New Testament editions