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Björn Magnússon Ólsen (14 July 1850 – 16 January 1919) was an
Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...
ic scholar and politician. He was a member of the , the first rector of the
University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland, and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' school to a modern co ...
, and a professor of Icelandic language and culture there.


Life and career

Björn M. Ólsen was born in the farming community of
Þingeyrar Þingeyrar (Thingøre in some older texts) is a farm in Iceland's Northwestern Region. It lies adjacent to the sandy coastal plain of Þingeyrasandur (or Thingøresand), between the Skagi and Vatnsnes peninsulas and just northeast of lake Hóp. ...
in
Austur-Húnavatnssýsla Iceland was historically divided into 23 counties known as ''sýslur'' (), and 23 independent towns known as ''kaupstaðir'' (). Iceland is now split up between 24 sýslumenn (magistrates) that are the highest authority over the local police ( ...
."Dr. Björn M. Ólsen"
''
Morgunblaðið ''Morgunblaðið'' (, ''The Morning Paper'') is an Icelandic daily newspaper. ''Morgunblaðið''s website, mbl.is, is the most popular website in Iceland. It is currently the country's only daily printed newspaper and the newspaper of record. Hi ...
'', 17 January 1919 .
R. N-g, "Ólsen, Björn Magnússon", ''
Nordisk familjebok (, 'Nordic Family Book') is a Swedish language, Swedish encyclopedia that was published in print from between 1876 and 1993, and that is now fully available in digital form via Project Runeberg at Linköping University. The public domain edit ...
'' (1914 ed.) Volume 20 ''Norrsken – Paprocki''
p. 647
.
His father, Magnús R. Ólsen (1810–1860), represented the district in the Alþingi; his mother was Ingunn Jónsdóttir Ólsen (1817–1897)."Björn M. Ólsen"
Alþingi The (; ), anglicised as Althingi or Althing, is the supreme national parliament of Iceland. It is the oldest surviving parliament in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at (' thing fields' or 'assembly fields'), about east of what la ...
, 26 June 2001 .
He finished at the Reykjavík School in 1869, and after a break in his studies due to poor health went to Copenhagen in 1872 and in spring 1877 earned his master's degree in language and history from the
University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen (, KU) is a public university, public research university in Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia, after Uppsala University. ...
. In 1878 he made a study trip to Italy and Greece with the help of public funds. He later earned a doctorate from the University of Copenhagen, in 1883 with a thesis on the
runes Runes are the Letter (alphabet), letters in a set of related alphabets, known as runic rows, runic alphabets or futharks (also, see ''#Futharks, futhark'' vs ''#Runic alphabets, runic alphabet''), native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were ...
. In 1879 he became an adjunct teacher at the Reykjavík School; in summer 1895 he became rector there. In spring 1904 he retired from that job and was at the same time given the title of professor; he then began to devote his time primarily to studying Icelandic literature and history. That was the year Iceland achieved
home rule Home rule is the government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governan ...
, and it is likely that increasing national scholarship in these areas seemed like a duty. He was a member of the Alþingi under the King of Denmark from 1905 to 1908, representing the Home Rule Party in the government of
Hannes Hafstein Hannes Þórður Pétursson Hafstein (4 December 1861 – 13 December 1922) was an Icelandic politician and poet. In 1904 he became the first Icelander to be appointed to the Cabinets of Denmark, Danish Cabinet as the minister for Iceland in the ...
. When the University of Iceland was founded in 1911 he became Professor of Icelandic there, and also served as the first rector, from 1911 to 1912. He was awarded honorary doctorates by the
University of Christiania The University of Oslo (; ) is a public research university located in Oslo, Norway. It is the oldest university in Norway. Originally named the Royal Frederick University, the university was established in 1811 as the de facto Norwegian conti ...
in 1911 and by the University of Iceland on 17 June 1918. He was president of the
Icelandic Literary Society The Icelandic Literary Society (), founded in 1816, is an organization dedicated to promoting and strengthening Icelandic language Icelandic ( ; , ) is a North Germanic languages, North Germanic language from the Indo-European languages, Indo-E ...
in 1894–1900 and 1909–1918; the Reykjavík and Copenhagen branches were combined in Iceland during his tenure. From 1895 to 1919 he was on the distribution committee for the
Jón Sigurðsson Jón Sigurðsson (17 June 1811 – 7 December 1879) was the leader of the 19th century icelandic nationalism, Icelandic independence movement. Biography Born at Hrafnseyri, in Arnarfjörður in the Westfjords area of Iceland, he was the son of ...
bequest. He was an honorary member of the
Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters ({{Langx, da, Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab or ''Videnskabernes Selskab'') is a Danish academy of science. The Royal Danish Academy was established on 13 November 1742, and was create ...
and other learned societies. He wrote many papers on Icelandic literature and history.
Finnur Jónsson Finnur Jónsson (May 29, 1858 – March 30, 1934) was an Icelandic philologist and Professor of Nordic Philology at the University of Copenhagen. He made extensive contributions to the study of Old Norse literature. Finnur Jónsson was born a ...
stated in an obituary that his best works were his studies of ''
Sturlunga saga ''Sturlunga saga'' (often called simply ''Sturlunga'') is a collection of Icelandic Norse saga, sagas by various authors from the 12th and 13th centuries; it was assembled in about 1300, in Old Norse. It mostly deals with the story of the Sturlun ...
'' and of ''
Landnámabók (, "Book of Settlements"), often shortened to , is a medieval Icelandic written work which describes in considerable detail the settlement () of Iceland by the Norse in the 9th and 10th centuries CE. is divided into five parts and ov ...
'', but that his articles on '' Gunnlaugs saga'' and on
Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of th ...
as author of ''
Egils saga ''Egill's Saga'' or ''Egil's saga'' ( ; ) is an Icelandic saga (family saga) on the lives of the clan of Egill Skallagrímsson (Anglicised as Egill Skallagrimsson), an Icelandic farmer, viking and skald. The saga spans the years c. 850–1000 ...
'' were also noteworthy.
Finnur Jónsson Finnur Jónsson (May 29, 1858 – March 30, 1934) was an Icelandic philologist and Professor of Nordic Philology at the University of Copenhagen. He made extensive contributions to the study of Old Norse literature. Finnur Jónsson was born a ...
, "Mindeord",
Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters The Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters ({{Langx, da, Det Kongelige Danske Videnskabernes Selskab or ''Videnskabernes Selskab'') is a Danish academy of science. The Royal Danish Academy was established on 13 November 1742, and was create ...
He also wrote two articles positing Icelandic origins for the Eddic poems, "Hvar eru Eddu-kvæðin til orðin?" and "Svar til dis Finns Jónssonar", and studies of the conversion of Iceland and its submission to the Norwegian king. He retired from his professorship on 3 July 1918, six months before his death. He never married.


Selected publications


Books and extended articles

* "Runerne i den oldislandske literatur". Doctoral thesis, University of Copenhagen, 1883. * ''Rasmus Kristján Rask 1787–1887: Minningarrit''. Reykjavík: Icelandic Literary Society, 1887. * ''Um kristnitökuna árið 1000 og tildrög hennar''. Reykjavík, 1900. * "Um Sturlunga sögu". '' Safn til sögu Íslands og íslenskra bókmennta'' 3 (1902–04) 193–510. * "Om Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu. En kritisk undersøgelse". Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, 1911. * ''
Sólarljóð The ''Sólarljóð'' (''The Song of the Sun'') is an Old Norse poem, written in Iceland ca 1200. It is written in the traditional metric style of the ''Poetic Edda'', but with content from Christian visionary poems. The poem is anonymous, even thou ...
''. Edition. Reykjavík: Hið íslenska bókmenntafélag, 1915.
pdf online
at Septentrionalia.net) * "Um Íslendinga sögur, kaflar úr háskólafyrirlestrum". ''Safn til sögu Íslands'' 6 (1937–39).


Articles

* "Er Snorri Sturluson höfundur Egils sögu?" ''Skírnir'' 1905, 363–68. * "Landnáma og Egils saga". '' Aarbøger for nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie'' 1904, 167–247. * "Landnáma og Eyrbyggja saga". ''Aarbøger for nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie'' 1905. * "Landnáma og Hænsa-Þóris saga". ''Aarbøger for nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie'' 1905, 63–80. * "Landnáma og Laxdæla saga". ''Aarbøger for nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie'' 1908. * "Landnáma og Gull-Þóris (Þorskfirðinga) saga". ''Aarbøger for nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie'' 1910, 35–61. * "Landnámas oprindelige disposition og Landnáma og Eiríks saga rauða". ''Aarbøger for nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie'' 1920, 283–307. * "Um kornirkju á Íslandi að fornu". ''Búnaðarrit'' 1910. * "Um silfurverð og vaðmálsverð, sérstaklega á landnámsöld Íslands". ''Skírnir'' 1910, 1–18.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Olsen, Bjorn Magnusson 1850 births 1919 deaths Old Norse studies scholars Bjorn Magnusson Olsen Bjorn Magnusson Olsen Bjorn Magnusson Olsen University of Copenhagen alumni Bjorn Magnusson Olsen Corresponding fellows of the British Academy