Early life
Bo Gunnar Almqvist was born on 5 May 1931 in Edsgatan, a small community in Alster, a farming district in the province of Varmland, Sweden, an area noted for its old customs and traditions. He was the youngest child, born eleven years after his siblings, in the family of two sons and three daughters of Oskar Almqvist, a 'landfiskal', effectively the police superintendent of the rural area, and Hulda Almqvist (née Rydberg). Oskar Almqvist died when Bo was fourteen and mother and son moved to the town of Karlstad, where he attended Karlstad Läroverk, the local secondary school. Hulda Almqvist worked for a time in her family's hat making business. She had a remarkable repertoire of traditional proverbs to be used on any occasion, and her knowledge of folklife crafts and calendar customs deepened her son's interest in the folkways and oral culture of his native region.Career
In 1950 Bo enteredLater life
In his long involvement with ''Béaloideas'', the journal of the Folklore of Ireland Society, he monitored and encouraged study of all aspects of Irish and comparative folklife studies. He was editor of ''Béaloideas'' in 1971–3 and 1977–9, advisory editor from 1981, and from 1972 general editor of the publications of Comhairle Bhéaloideas Éireann. He also wrote a history of the Irish Folklore Commission (1979). Almqvist trained most of the folklore scholars of the next generation. His influence on them and popularity with international colleagues was evident in two festschriften, ''Viking ale'' (1991) a collection of his own major articles published to honour his sixtieth birthday, and Northern lights (2001) for his seventieth. Collaborative publications included material recorded from Peig Sayers (I will speak to you all (2009)). Almqvist was a member of the Royal Irish Academy (elected 1981) and of the Swedish Kungliga Gustav Adolfs Akademien, as well as other learned societies. Almqvist also had a notable interest in philology and comparative literature; his enthusiasm for tracing the not always obvious connections between medieval literature and contemporary folklore led to the introduction of a new course in UCD. One of his students on that course was Éilís Ní Dhuibhne, a writer and folklorist. She and Almqvist married years later in 1982 after his first marriage ended, and they had two sons, Ragnar and Olaf. Almqvist's first marriage, in Iceland, had been to Jane Houston (d. 2018), an American textile artist and photographer, who became an expert on traditional Irish white embroidery; they had one daughter, Marja. After a short illness, Bo Almqvist died on 9 November 2013 in Loughlinstown Hospital, Dublin. His funeral was from the Church of our Lady Seat of Wisdom, Belfield, to Mount Jerome crematorium.Selected works
''Norrön niddiktning''. Vol. 1 ''Nid mot furstar''. Vol. 2 ''Nid mot missionärer''. (Stockholm : Almqvist & Wiksell, 1965, 1972). 'The Uglier Foot (AT 1559B*). An Anecdote in Old Icelandic Literature and Its Counterpart in Irish Folk Tradition' ''Béaloideas'' 27–28 (1973) 1–58 (first published in Swedish in ''Scripta Islandica'' 17 (1966)). (with David Greene (eds.)), ''Proceedings of the Seventh Viking Congress. Dublin 15–21 August 1973''. (London: Viking Society for Northern Research, 1976). ''An Béaloideas agus an Litríocht''. (Baile an Fheirtéaraigh, Co. Chiarraí, Ireland : Cló Dhuibhne, 1977). ‘The Irish Folklore Commission. Achievement and Legacy’ ''Béaloideas'' 45–47 (1977–79) 6–26. ‘Scandinavian and Celtic Folklore Contacts in the Earldom of Orkney’ ''Saga-Book'' 20 (1978–81) 80–105. (with Séamas Ó Catháin and Pádraig Ó Héalaí (eds.)), ''Fiannaíocht: Essays on the Fenian Tradition of Ireland and Scotland''. (Dublin: Folklore of Ireland Society, 1987). (with Séamas Ó Catháin and Pádraig Ó Héalaí (eds.)), ''The Heroic Process: Form, Function, and Fantasy in Folk Epic. The Proceedings of the International Folk Epic Conference, University College, Dublin, 2–6 September 1985''. (Dublin: Glendale Press, 1987). ‘Of Mermaids and Marriages. Séamus Heaney’s ‘Maighdean Mhara’ and Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill's ‘An Mhaighdean Mhara’ in the Light of Folk Tradition.’ ''Béaloideas'' 58 (1990) 1–74. ‘The Mysterious Mícheál Ó Gaoithín, Boccaccio and the Blasket Tradition. Reflections Occasioned by James Stewart’s “Boccaccio in the Blaskets”’ ''Béaloideas'' 58 (1990) 75–140. ‘Irish Migratory Legends on the Supernatural. Sources, Studies and Problems’ ''Béaloideas'' 59 (1991) (special issue: The Fairy Hill Is on Fire!) 1–44. ‘Waterhorse Legends (MLSIT 4086 & 4086B). The Case for and against a Connection between Irish and Nordic Tradition’ ''Béaloideas'' 59 (1991) 107–120. ''Viking Ale: Studies on Folklore Contacts between the Northern and Western Worlds. Presented to the Author on the Occasion of his 60th Birthday''. ed. Éilís Ní Dhuibhne-Almqvist and Séamas Ó Catháin. (Aberystwyth: Boethius Press, 1991). ''Färingasagan. Faereyínga saga''. Hedemora 1992. ‘Fylgjor, livsfjärilar och livsfiskar. Några bidrag till isländsk-irisk själstro’ in Ailbhe Ó'Corráin (ed.), ''Proceedings of the Third Symposium of Societas Celtologica Nordica''. Uppsala Uppsala Universitet 1994, 115–145. (With Dáithí Ó hÓgáin)'' Skálda: éigse is eachtraíocht sa tSean-Lochlainn''. (Indreabhán, Co. na Gaillimhe: An Clóchomhar, 1995). ‘Gaelic/Norse Folklore Contacts: Some Reflections on Their Scope and Character’ ''Bildung und Literatur'' (1996) 139–172. ‘Before Columbus. Some Irish Folklore Motifs in the Old Icelandic Traditions about Wineland’ in Folke Josephson (ed.), ''Celts and Vikings''. Göteborg: Göteborgs Universitet 1997, 225–252. ‘Is Búkolla a Celtic Cow?’ in Ailbhe Ó Corráin (ed.), ''Proceedings of the Fifth Symposium of Societas Celtologica Nordica''. Uppsala: Uppsala Universitet 2001, 101–116. ‘C. W. von Sydow agus Éire: scoláire Sualannach agus an léann Ceilteach (C. W. von Sydow and Ireland: a Swedish Scholar and Celtic Studies)’ ''Béaloideas'' 70 (2002) 3–49. (with Roibéard Ó Cathasaigh (eds.)), ''Ó Bhéal an Bhab: Cnuas-scéalta Bhab Feiritéar'' (From Bab's Mouth. A Collection of Bab Feiritéar's Stories). Indreabhán 2002. ‘The Scholar and the Storyteller: Heinrich Wagner’s Collections from Peig Sayers’ ''Béaloideas'' 72 (2004) 31–59. (with Roibéard Ó Cathasaigh (eds.)), 'Paidreacha agus Orthaí ó Bhab Feiritéar (Prayers and Charms from Bab Feiritear)' ''Béaloideas'' 73 (2005) 135–171. ‘Arastotail ar an mBlascaod (Aristotle in the Blasket Islands)’ in Dónall Ó Baoill, Donncha Ó hAodha and Nollaig Ó Muraíle (eds.) ''Saltair Saíochta, Sanasaíochta agus Seanchais. A Festschrift for Gearóid Mac Eoin''. Dublin: Four Courts Press, 2013, 6–16. (with Pádraig Ó Héalaí (eds.)), Peig Sayers, ''Labharfad le cách: scéalta agus seanchas taifeadta ag Radio Éireann agus BBC/I will speak to You All: Stories and Lore Recorded by Radio Éireann and the BBC''. Dublin: RTÉ 2009.References
Relevant literature