Peter Erasmus Christian Kaalund (19 August 1844 – 4 July 1919; also spelled ''Kristian'' or ''Kålund'') 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 ance ...

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...

who specialized in

Scandinavian studies Scandinavian studies is an interdisciplinary academic field of area studies, mainly in the United States and Germany, that primarily focuses on the Scandinavian languages (also known as North Germanic languages) and cultural studies pertaining to ...

Biography

Kristian Kaalund was born at

Søllested Søllested was the administrative centre of the former Højreby Municipality in Denmark. Since 1 January 2007, it has been a part of the new Lolland Municipality. The town lies 9 km east of Nakskov. Søllested has a population of 1,345 (1 J ...

Lolland Lolland (; formerly spelled ''Laaland'', literally "low land") is the fourth largest island of Denmark, with an area of . Located in the Baltic Sea, it is part of Region Sjælland (Region Zealand). As of 1 January 2022, it has 57,618 inhabitant ...

, Denmark. He became a student at the Military Academy in 1863, then went to 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 received his cand. mag. in Norse and Danish philology in 1869 and his philosophical doctorate in 1879. Between 1872 and 1874, he made a scientific trip to Iceland to study the country's topography and culture. He subsequently authored a historical-topographical description of Iceland ''En historisk-topografisk Beskrivelse af Island i to bind'' (1877–1882). He was appointed in 1883 as the main librarian of the '' Arnamagnæanske håndskriftsamling'', the collection of Icelandic manuscripts of

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, ...

. In 1907 Kaalund received 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 ...

. He died during 1919 in

Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is formally an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the City of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of ...

References

Other sources

*Dahlerup, Verner:
Kaalund, Peter Erasmus Kristian
', entry in C. F. Bricka (ed.): '' Dansk biografisk lexikon: tillige omfattende Norge for Tidsrummet 1537–1814''; Gyldendal, Copenhagen 1887–1905; vol. IX (1895), p. 50f. URL last accessed 2007-09-16. *Bogi Th. Melsted: ''Kristian Kålund'' (Yearbook of the Icelandic Academic Society. 1920) 1844 births 1919 deaths People from Lolland Municipality People from Lolland University of Copenhagen alumni Danish classical scholars Danish librarians 19th-century Danish philologists 20th-century Danish philologists Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog {{denmark-bio-stub