Oddur Gottskálksson (1495/1496 – 1556) was the translator of the first book printed in Icelandic, the New Testament. Oddur was born in

Hólar Hólar (; also Hólar í Hjaltadal ) is a small community in the Skagafjörður district of northern Iceland. Location Hólar is in the valley Hjaltadalur, some from the national capital of Reykjavík. It has a population of around 100. It is t ...

where his father, Gottskálk grimmi Nikulásson was bishop. After his father died in 1520, Oddur was sent to live with his paternal family in

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

, Norway. When he was a young adult, he went to study in Germany, where he became acquainted with the ideas of the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

. Before 1535, he returned to Iceland to serve as a scribe for the Catholic Bishop 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 ...

, Ögmundur Pálsson. It was there that he befriended Gissur Einarsson and other Reform-minded clergy and began his translation of the New Testament. According to Oddur's own account, he did his translation work secretly in a barn: ''"Jesus, Our Redeemer, was laid in a donkey's crib, but now I lay in a barn to put his Word in my native language."'' Oddur's translation of the New Testament was published with the approval of King Christian III and the

Church of Denmark The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Denmark or National Church ( , or unofficially ; ), sometimes called the Church of Denmark, is the established, state-supported church in Denmark. The supreme secular authority of the church is composed of ...

in 1540, marking the acknowledgement by the church of the Icelandic language. By 1554, Oddur had been elected as a jurist ('' lögmaður'') for the north and west of Iceland, serving until his death in 1556. Oddur drowned while crossing the

Laxá í Kjós Laxá í Kjós (; Laxá in Kjós) is a river in the Kjósarhreppur municipality of southwestern Iceland. It flows about from the , a small lake northwest of the Þingvallavatn, into the , a cove on the Hvalfjörður fjord. It is known for its ...

river.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oddur Gottskalksson Translators of the Bible into Icelandic 1514 births 1556 deaths 16th-century Icelandic people