Páll Melsteð (13 November 1812 - 9 February 1910) 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 historian, official, editor and member of the

Althing The (; ), anglicised as Althingi or Althing, is the Parliamentary sovereignty, supreme Parliament, national parliament of Iceland. It is the oldest surviving parliament in the world. The Althing was founded in 930 at ('Thing (assembly), thing ...

. In 1892 he was awarded 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 ...

Early life

Páll was the son of Páll Melsteð the official. At the age of 16 Páll entered the Learned School and graduated in 1834. He then went to study law at 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. ...

but also studied history and the fine arts, especially singing. He returned to Iceland in 1840 when he married his first wife, Jórunn Ísleifsdóttir. They lived in

Álftanes Álftanes () is the name of a town and a collection of small peninsulas in Iceland. It means ''swan peninsula''. The best known of these peninsulas extrudes from the eastern part of Reykjanes with the town of the same name in the Capital Region ...

for several years where Páll started working on his first book, ''Ágrip af merkisatburðum mannkynssögunnar'' A Synopsis of the Significant Events of History" which was printed in Viðey in 1844. He had also started work on a history of Iceland but in 1844 his house burnt down and his manuscripts were lost.

Editor

Páll now moved to

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

where he was the prime mover in founding ''Reykjavíkurpósturinn'' at a time when no newspaper was being published in Iceland. Páll had a role in editing the paper from 1846 through 1849. In 1848 he also played a role in founding '' Þjóðólfur''. He also had a large role in the first years of ''Íslendingur'' (1860–1863) and was the editor of ''Víkverji'' in 1873 and 1874.

Official

In 1848 and 1849 Páll was the

sýslumaður (; plural: ; , , ) is a governmental office or title used in Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and Norway. The position originated in Norway in the Middle Ages, where it was used as a noble title, and the was granted a fief called a '' sýsla'' (pl ...

(a kind of

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

) of

Árnessýsla Iceland was historically divided into 23 County, counties known as ''sýslur'' (), and 23 independent towns known as ''kaupstaðir'' (). Iceland is now split up between 24 sýslumaður, sýslumenn (magistrates) that are the highest authority ov ...

but from 1849 to 1854 he was the sýslumaður of Snæfellsnessýsla. He was elected as a representative of

Snæfellsnes The Snæfellsnes () is a peninsula situated to the west of Borgarfjörður, in western Iceland. The peninsula has a volcanic origin having the Snæfellsnes volcanic belt down its centre, and the Snæfellsjökull volcano A volcano is com ...

to the

National Assembly of 1851 The National Assembly of 1851 ( Icelandic ''Þjóðfundurinn 1851'') was a constitutional convention called to decide the political status of Iceland. The assembly was called in 1848, in the liberal atmosphere following the Spring of Nations. But ...

and to the

in 1859. In 1855 Páll again went again to Copenhagen to study law since he had not completed a degree the first time. He graduated in Danish laws in 1857. From 1858 to 1862 Páll was sýslumaður for Gullbringu- og Kjósarsýsla. In 1858 Jórunn died and Páll married his second wife, Þóra Melsteð. They were to work together on establishing Kvennaskólinn, the first girls' school of Iceland.

Historian

From 1862 to 1885 Páll worked as a lawyer in Reykjavík. In 1868 he started teaching part-time at the Learned School and in 1885 he became a full-time history professor. In the 1860s Páll wrote and published a multi-volume work on world history, ''Fornaldarsagan'' (1864), ''Miðaldarsagan'' (1866), ''Nýja sagan'' (1868). In 1891 his ''Norðurlandasaga'' History of the Nordic Countries"was published. He also wrote a number of historical articles in various periodicals. Páll's historical writings were praised for their lively and lucid writing style but criticized for their heavy emphasis on warfare and giving short shrift to cultural history. Páll's memoirs, ''Endurminningar'', were published posthumously in 1912.

References

* Ó afurD víðsson(1892). "Páll Melsteð", published i
''Sunnanfari'', July 1892
In Icelandic. (The present article is largely a translation of Ólafur Davíðsson's (1862–1903) article.) * Kr. Kaalund:
Melsteð, Páll, f. 1812
', 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. XI (1897), p. 257f. In Danish. URL last accessed 2007-09-12. * N.N.
Páll Melsteð
(2001). Published online, in Icelandic. Last retrieved on September 15, 2007. * Valtýr Guðmundsson:
Páll Melsted
', in ''

Illustreret Tidende ''Illustreret Tidende'' was a Danish weekly illustrated magazine published from 1859 to 1924 in Denmark with international news, literature and entertainment content. History and profile ''Illustreret Tidende'' was founded by Otto Herman Delbanc ...

'', vol. 34, no. 7, pp. 76–77; November 13, 1892. In Danish. URL last accessed 2007-09-18. {{DEFAULTSORT:Melsted, Pall (historian) Pall Melsted Icelandic editors Order of the Dannebrog Pall Melsted 1910 deaths 1812 births