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Eiríkr or Eiríkur Magnússon (1 February 1833 – 24 January 1913) 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 at the
University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
, who taught
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 ...
to
William Morris William Morris (24 March 1834 – 3 October 1896) was an English textile designer, poet, artist, writer, and socialist activist associated with the British Arts and Crafts movement. He was a major contributor to the revival of traditiona ...
, translated numerous Icelandic sagas into English in collaboration with him, and played an important role in the movement to study the history and literature of the
Norsemen The Norsemen (or Northmen) were a cultural group in the Early Middle Ages, originating among speakers of Old Norse in Scandinavia. During the late eighth century, Scandinavians embarked on a Viking expansion, large-scale expansion in all direc ...
in Victorian England.


Biography

Born in
Berufjörður Berufjörður () is a fjord in Eastern Region (Iceland), Eastern Iceland. It is about long and wide. The village Djúpivogur (pop. 456) is located on its western shores. Mt. Búlandstindur which is above sea level is located west of the fjord. ...
in the east of Iceland, Eiríkr was sent to England in 1862 by the Icelandic Bible Society, and his first translations there were of mediaeval Christian texts. In 1871, with the assistance of
Sir Henry Holland, 1st Baronet Sir Henry Holland, 1st Baronet, FRS (27 October 1788 – 27 October 1873) was an English physician and travel writer. Early life Born in Knutsford, Cheshire, Holland was the son of the physician Peter Holland (1766–1853) and his wife Mar ...
and of
Alexander Beresford Hope Sir Alexander James Beresford Beresford Hope PC (25 January 1820 – 20 October 1887), known as Alexander Hope until 1854 (and also known as A. J. B. Hope until 1854 and as A. J. B. Beresford Hope from 1854 onwards), was a British author and C ...
, MP for Cambridge, he became an under-librarian at the
Cambridge University Library Cambridge University Library is the main research library of the University of Cambridge. It is the largest of over 100 libraries Libraries of the University of Cambridge, within the university. The library is a major scholarly resource for me ...
, where he worked until the end of 1909. In 1893 he also became lecturer in Icelandic. Eiríkr lectured and organised famine relief for Iceland in 1875 and 1882 and fell out with
Guðbrandur Vigfússon Guðbrandur Vigfússon, known in English as Gudbrand Vigfusson, (13 March 1827 – 31 January 1889Jón þorkelsson, "Nekrolog över Guðbrandur Vigfússon" in ''Arkiv för nordisk filologi'', Sjätte bandet (ny följd: andra bandet), Lund, 18 ...
, a fellow Icelandic scholar who was at Oxford and had been his friend, over that and his preference for modernised Icelandic in translating the Bible; Guðbrandur was a purist. Like many Icelandic scholars in Britain at the time, Eiríkr gave Icelandic lessons as a source of income; his first pupil was probably
Sir Edmund Walker Head, 8th Baronet Sir Edmund Walker Head, 8th Baronet, KCB (16 February 1805 – 28 January 1868) was a 19th-century British politician and diplomat. Early life and scholarship Head was born at Wiarton Place, near Maidstone, Kent, the son of the Reverend Sir J ...
in 1863, and he taught some by post. Another was George E. J. Powell, who had supported him financially when he first came to England and with whom he translated Jón Arnason's Icelandic folktales and worked on a translation of '' Hávarðar saga Ísfirðings'' that remained unpublished. Most famously, he taught William Morris and collaborated with him on translating a number of sagas. Within a year of Morris beginning his studies with Eiríkr, their ''Story of Grettir the Strong'' was published (1869). In 1870 they published the first English translation of '' Völsungasaga''. In 1871 Eiríkr and his wife accompanied Morris to Iceland, where Eiríkr went with Morris on a tour of "saga steads" and other places of interest. Between 1891 and 1905 they published a six-volume Saga Library, which included ''
Heimskringla () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland. While authorship of ''Heimskringla'' is nowhere attributed, some scholars assume it is written by the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson (117 ...
'' and the first English translations of '' Hávarðar saga Ísfirðings'', '' Hænsa-Þóris saga'' and ''
Eyrbyggja Saga ''Eyrbyggja saga'' (; ) is one of the Icelanders' sagas; its title can be translated as ''The Saga of the People of Eyri.'' It was written by an anonymous writer, who describes a long-standing feud between Snorri Goði and Arnkel Goði, two stron ...
''. Eiríkr defended Morris against York Powell's criticism of his archaic style. Volume 6 of the Saga Library, volume 4 of the ''Heimskringla'', is an index that is entirely Eiríkr's work, published in 1905 after Morris's death. Eiríkr was married to Sigríður Einarsdóttir, a descendant of
Egill Skallagrímsson Egil Skallagrímsson ( ; Modern Icelandic: ; 904 995) was a Viking Age war poet, sorcerer, berserker, and farmer.Thorsson, 3 He is known mainly as the anti-hero of '' Egil's Saga''. ''Egil's Saga'' historically narrates a period from approx ...
. She campaigned to improve education for girls in Iceland. He is buried in the Mill Road cemetery, Cambridge.


Publications

;The Saga Library series * * * * * ;Other Saga *
e-text
*
e-text
* ** , introduction by H. Halliday Sparling
e-text
** , introduction by H. Halliday Sparling *
e-text
* , ''Gunnlaug the Worm-tongue and Raven the Skald''; ''Frithof the Bold''; ''Viglund the Fair''; ''Hogni and Hedinn''; ''Roi the Fool''; ''Thorstein Staff-smitten'' * ;Other * , ''Elves''; ''Water-Monsters''; ''Trolls''; ''Ghosts and Goblins''; ''Misc.'' * , ''God and the Evil One''; ''Paradise and Hell''; ''Divine Punishment''; ''Historical Legends''; ''Outlaws''; ''Tales''; ''Comic Stories''; ''Appendix'' * , as editor and translator * ;Journal articles * * * , reprinted from Proc. Cambridge Philogical Society, October 1884, No.IX * , paper for the Viking Club Society for Northern Research ;Icelandic * * * *


References


Sources

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Further reading

* * **Reprinted in : *


External links



at
Dansk Biografisk Lexikon ''Dansk Biografisk Leksikon'' (usually abbreviated DBL; title of first edition written ''Dansk biografisk Lexikon'') is a Danish biographical dictionary that has been published in three editions. The first edition, ''Dansk biografisk Lexikon, til ...
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Magnusson, Eirikr 1833 births 1913 deaths 19th-century translators Cambridge University Librarians Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog Old Norse studies scholars Eirikr Magnusson Eirikr Magnusson Eirikr Magnusson Eirikr Magnusson