Brynjólfur Sveinsson (14 September 1605 – 5 August 1675) served as the

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the see of Skálholt in

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 ...

. His main influence has been on modern knowledge of

Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was 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 ...

literature. Brynjólfur is also known for his support of the career of the Icelandic poet and hymn writer Hallgrímur Pétursson. Brynjólfur Sveinsson is currently pictured on the banknote. Brynjólfur was born in Önundarfjörður in the Westfjords of northwestern

. He studied at 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. ...

from 1624 to 1629 and was Provost of Roskilde University from 1632 to 1638. In 1643, he named the collection of Old Norse mythological and heroic poems '' Edda''. Brynjólfur attributed the manuscript to Sæmundr fróði, but the scholarly consensus is that whoever wrote the Eddic poems, whether in the sense of being the compiler or the poet, it could not have been Sæmundr. It is believed that the manuscript has multiple authorship from over a long span of time. In 1650 King Frederick III appointed Brynjólfur to succeed the late Stephanius as Royal Danish Historian. He declined the post but promised the king to do what he could to collect manuscripts in Iceland. One of his first acts was to request all people residing in his diocese to turn over to the King any old manuscripts, either an original or a copy, as a gift or for a price. Among the most monumental of the Icelandic manuscripts thus collected is the '' Flateyjarbók'', which was secured only after a personal visit to the owner from Brynjólfur. Jón Finnsson of Flatey, Breiðafjörður, who owned the manuscript, was initially unwilling to give up his precious heirloom. After a personal visit and persuasion from Brynjólfur, Finnsson gave up the valuable manuscript. The manuscript was given to King Frederick III in 1656, and placed in the Royal Library of Copenhagen.

Brynjólfur Sveinsson in fiction

The novel ''Brynjólfur Sveinsson biskup'' by Torfhildur Þorsteinsdóttir Hólm, first published in 1882, is based on the life of the historical Brynjólfsson Sveinsson.Dagný Hokm: ''Holm Torfhildur Þorsteinsdóttir'' (The History Of Nordic Women's Literature, 2012. Published By: Kvinfo, Copenhagen & Kvinnsam, Gothenburg)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sveinsson, Brynjolfur 1605 births 1675 deaths Brynjolfur Sveinsson Brynjolfur Sveinsson