Eysteinn Ásgrímsson (c. 1310 – March 14, 1361) 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 monk, ecclesiastical inspector, and ''

skald A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry in alliterative verse, the other being Eddic poetry. Skaldic poems were traditionally compo ...

'' (poet); ', the best known and possibly the best medieval Icelandic Christian poem, is attributed to him.

Life

Eysteinn Ásgrímsson was at the until 1343, when he was sent to prison for beating up the abbot and possibly also for breaking his vow of

chastity Chastity, also known as purity, is a virtue related to temperance. Someone who is ''chaste'' refrains from sexual activity that is considered immoral or from any sexual activity, according to their state of life. In some contexts, for exampl ...

. This may have been when he composed ''Lilja'', which is marked by a deep concern with sinfulness. After his release he was sent to the monastery at

Helgafell Helgafell may refer to: * Helgafell (Hafnarfjörður), a mountain , on the Reykjanes peninsula, south-west Iceland * Helgafell, a mountain , in Mosfellsbær north-east of Reykjavík * Helgafell, a mountain at , in Rangárþing eystra, south-cen ...

and then became an official at the see of

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

. He went to Norway in 1355 with the bishop and returned in 1357 as an inspector of the Skálholt see; the bishop was so angry at this appointment that he

excommunicated Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to deprive, suspend, or limit membership in a religious community or to restrict certain rights within it, in particular those of being in communion with other members of the con ...

him. After returning to Norway in 1360, Eysteinn died the following March at the Helgisetr monastery in Niðarós (Trondheim).

''Lilja''

''Lilja'' ("the lily", in medieval Christian imagery symbolizing purity and thus also the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

), is generally attributed to Eysteinn and is the best known and possibly the best of the medieval Icelandic poems that adapted the complex structure and diction of

skaldic poetry A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry in alliterative verse, the other being Eddic poetry. Skaldic poems were traditionally compo ...

to Christian subjects. It consists of 100 verses surveying the religious history of man, with the Passion and Crucifixion in the center.Stefán Einarsson, p. 75. Eysteinn avoided both complicated

kenning A kenning ( Icelandic: ) is a figure of speech, a figuratively-phrased compound term that is used in place of a simple single-word noun. For instance, the Old English kenning () means , as does (). A kenning has two parts: a base-word (a ...

s and loan-words as far he could, modifying the skaldic tradition on classical models based on the Christian ideal of ''claritas'' as enunciated by St.

Thomas Aquinas Thomas Aquinas ( ; ; – 7 March 1274) was an Italian Dominican Order, Dominican friar and Catholic priest, priest, the foremost Scholasticism, Scholastic thinker, as well as one of the most influential philosophers and theologians in the W ...

, and rather than

dróttkvætt Old Norse poetry encompasses a range of verse forms written in the Old Norse language, during the period from the 8th century to as late as the far end of the 13th century. Old Norse poetry is associated with the area now referred to as Scandinav ...

, composed the poem in the hrynhent meter, which was closer to Latin hymnody and was subsequently nicknamed ''liljulag'' after the poem. The poem's

numerology Numerology (known before the 20th century as arithmancy) is the belief in an occult, divine or mystical relationship between a number and one or more coinciding events. It is also the study of the numerical value, via an alphanumeric system, ...

includes the hundred verses corresponding to the number of letters in ''

Ave Maria The Hail Mary or Ave Maria (from its first words in Latin), also known as the Angelic or Angelical Salutation, is a traditional Catholic prayer addressing Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary, the mother of Jesus. The prayer is based on two biblical pa ...

'', and so the poem has traditionally been interpreted as dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The poem was emulated in the 15th century and an edited version included in the 1612 Icelandic Protestant anthology '.Stefán Einarsson, p. 76.

References

Editions

* (Volume with Danish translation viewable online in the US a
the Hathi Trust
. * * Icelandic male poets 1310 births 1360 deaths Skalds 14th-century Icelandic people 14th-century Icelandic poets {{Iceland-writer-stub