Title page of Oddur Gottskálksson's 1540 translation of the New Testament into Icelandic

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

the New Testament The New Testament grc, Ἡ Καινὴ Διαθήκη, transl. ; la, Novum Testamentum. (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus, as well as events in first-century Christ ...

. 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 Hjaltadalur valley, some from the national capital of Reykjavík. It has a population of around 100. It is th ...

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 (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...

, 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 (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and ...

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

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

Ögmundur Pálsson Ögmundur Pálsson, O.E.S.A. (c. 1475 – 13 July 1541; Modern Icelandic: ) was an Icelandic Roman Catholic prelate, who was the last Catholic bishop of the Icelandic diocese of Skálholt, from 1521 until 1540. He was the son of Páll Gu� ...

. It was there that he befriended

Gissur Einarsson Gissur Einarsson (c. 1512 – 24 March 1548; Modern Icelandic: ) was a bishop in Skálholt from 1540 to his death, and the first Lutheran bishop in Iceland. Gissur was the son of Einar Sigvaldason on Hraun í Landbroti and of Gunnhildur Jónsd� ...

and other Reform-minded clergy and began his translation of the New Testament. Acccording 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 Christian III (12 August 1503 – 1 January 1559) reigned as King of Denmark from 1534 and King of Norway from 1537 until his death in 1559. During his reign, Christian formed close ties between the church and the crown. He established ...

and the

Church of Denmark The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Denmark or National Church, sometimes called the Church of Denmark ( da, Folkekirken, literally: "The People's Church" or unofficially da, Den danske folkekirke, literally: "The Danish People's Church"; kl, ...

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 river.

References

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