Guðmundur Erlendsson (c.

1595 Events January–March * January 16 – Mehmed III succeeds Murad III, as Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and begins a reign of almost nine years. Upon ascending the throne, Mehmed orders that all 19 of the other sons of Murad III a ...

–

1670 Events January–March * January 17 – Raphael Levy, a Jewish resident of the city of Metz in France, is burned at the stake after being accused of the September 25 abduction and ritual murder of a child who had disappeared ...

) was an Icelandic poet and clergyman. He was born on the church farm of

Fell A fell (from Old Norse ''fell'', ''fjall'', "mountain"Falk and Torp (2006:161).) is a high and barren landscape feature, such as a mountain or Moorland, moor-covered hill. The term is most often employed in Fennoscandia, Iceland, the Isle of M ...

Sléttuhlíð Sléttuhlíð is a district on the east side of Skagafjörður, close to Höfðahólar and out towards the Stafá river. The coast there runs considerably toward the west. The mountain, however, curves rather toward the east so that the lowland w ...

, where he later served as parson. His best-known work is ''Einvaldsóður'', a translation of David Lyndsay's poem ''Ane Dialog betwixt Experience and ane Courteor'' (or the ''Monarchie''). In 2017, Icelandic composer

Guðmundur Steinn Gunnarsson Guðmundur Steinn Gunnarsson (born 1982) is an Icelandic composer, performer and a founding member of S.L.Á.T.U.R., an experimental arts organization in Reykjavík. In his compositions he has developed a rhythmic language devoid of regular beat ...

used the full text of the poem for the chamber opera ''Einvaldsóður'', which premiered at the 2017 Sláturtíð festival. Guðmundur Erlendsson was a versatile and prolific poet who achieved considerable popularity in his day. Although primarily known as a religious poet, he also composed

rímur In Icelandic literature, a ''ríma'' (, literally "a rhyme", pl. ''rímur'', ) is an epic poetry, epic poem written in any of the so-called ''rímnahættir'' (, "rímur meters"). They are rhymed, they alliterative verse, alliterate and consist of ...

and other poems on subjects as diverse as the life of

Aesop Aesop ( ; , ; c. 620–564 BCE; formerly rendered as Æsop) was a Greeks, Greek wikt:fabulist, fabulist and Oral storytelling, storyteller credited with a number of fables now collectively known as ''Aesop's Fables''. Although his existence re ...

Grýla In Icelandic folklore, Grýla is a monstrous entity who lives in the wilderness of Iceland. The name Grýla is first attested in medieval sources. However, the earliest unambiguous references to Grýla's gender and her association with Christmas ...

and the events of the so-called Tyrkjarán in 1627.

References

Year of birth uncertain 1670 deaths Skagafjörður Icelandic male poets 17th-century Icelandic poets 17th-century Christian clergy Icelandic Christian clergy {{Iceland-poet-stub