Peter Erasmus Christian Kaalund (19 August 1844 – 4 July 1919; also spelled ''Kristian'' or ''Kålund'') was a Danish

philologist Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources. It is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics with strong ties to etymology. Philology is also defined as the study of ...

who specialized in

Scandinavian studies Scandinavian studies or ''Scandinavistics'' is an interdisciplinary academic field of area studies, mainly in the United States and Germany, that primarily focuses on the Scandinavian languages (also known as North Germanic languages) and cultura ...

Biography

Kristian Kaalund was born at

Søllested Søllested was the administrative centre of the former Højreby Municipality in Denmark. Since 1 January 2007, it has been a part of the new Lolland Municipality. The town lies 9 km east of Nakskov. Søllested has a population of 1,365 (1 ...

Lolland Lolland (; formerly spelled ''Laaland'', literally "low land") is the List of islands of Denmark#List of 100 largest Danish islands, fourth largest island of Denmark, with an area of . Located in the Kattegat, Belts and Sund area, it is part of Re ...

, Denmark. He became a student at the Military Academy in 1863, then went to 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. ...

. He received his cand. mag. in Norse and Danish philology in 1869 and his philosophical doctorate in 1879. Between 1872 and 1874, he made a scientific trip to Iceland to study the country's topography and culture. He subsequently authored a historical-topographical description of Iceland ''En historisk-topografisk Beskrivelse af Island i to bind'' (1877–1882). He was appointed in 1883 as the main librarian of the '' Arnamagnæanske håndskriftsamling'', the collection of Icelandic manuscripts of

Árni Magnússon Árni Magnússon (; 13 November 1663 – 7 January 1730) was an Icelandic scholar and collector of manuscripts who assembled the Arnamagnæan Manuscript Collection. Early life and education Árni was born in 1663 at Kvennabrekka in Dalasýsl ...

. In 1907 Kaalund received the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V of Denmark, Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single cla ...

. He died during 1919 in

Frederiksberg Frederiksberg () is a part of the Capital Region of Denmark. It is an independent municipality, Frederiksberg Municipality, separate from Copenhagen Municipality, but both are a part of the region of Copenhagen. It occupies an area of less tha ...

References

Other sources

*Dahlerup, Verner:
Kaalund, Peter Erasmus Kristian
', entry in C. F. Bricka (ed.): ''

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 ...

: tillige omfattende Norge for Tidsrummet 1537–1814''; Gyldendal, Copenhagen 1887–1905; vol. IX (1895), p. 50f. URL last accessed 2007-09-16. *Bogi Th. Melsted: ''Kristian Kålund'' (Yearbook of the Icelandic Academic Society. 1920) 1844 births 1919 deaths People from Lolland Municipality People from Lolland University of Copenhagen alumni Danish classical scholars Danish librarians 19th-century Danish philologists 20th-century Danish philologists Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog {{denmark-bio-stub