Sveinbjörn Egilsson (24 February 1791 – 17 August 1852) was an

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

ic theologian,

classicist Classics or classical studies is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, classics traditionally refers to the study of Classical Greek and Roman literature and their related original languages, Ancient Greek and Latin. Classics ...

, teacher, translator and poet. He is best known for the work he did during his time as the

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of The Learned School of Reykjavík (''Lærði skólinn í Reykjavík''), particularly his translations of

Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...

's ''

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; grc, Ὀδύσσεια, Odýsseia, ) is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Iliad'', th ...

'' and ''

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; grc, Ἰλιάς, Iliás, ; "a poem about Ilium") is one of two major ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the '' Odys ...

'' into Icelandic.

Life

Sveinbjörn was born in Innri-Njarðvík in Gullbringusýsla, Iceland. He was the son of Egill Sveinbjarnarson, a little-known but wealthy farmer. Sveinbjörn was fostered by Magnús Stephensen and was educated by a number of different individuals. In 1810 he graduated from the tutelage of

Árni Helgason Árni Helgason (c. 1260 – 21 January 1320; Modern Icelandic: ) was an Icelandic Roman Catholic clergyman, who became the eleventh bishop of the Icelandic diocese of Skálholt in 1304. He served until his death in 1320. See also *List of Skál ...

and started his studies in theology at the

University of Copenhagen The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public research university in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia after Uppsala Unive ...

in 1814, completing his degree in 1819. Returning to Iceland, he received a position at Bessastaðaskóli, and when the school moved to

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

he was made

. He was a founding member of Fornfræðafélagið, a society of ancient studies. When troubles arose in the school, with students protesting their treatment (''" The Pereat"''), Sveinbjörn left for

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

to seek the assistance of

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

educational authorities. Although he received their support, he left his position as rektor in 1851 and died a year later. Sveinbjörn was married to Helga Gröndal, daughter of high judge Benedikt Gröndal the elder.

Works

Translations

His main subject as a teacher was

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

. During his position at the school, he worked on a number of translations, translating amongst other things

Plato Plato ( ; grc-gre, Πλάτων ; 428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BC) was a Greek philosopher born in Athens during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. He founded the Platonist school of thought and the Academy, the first institution ...

's ''

Meno ''Meno'' (; grc-gre, Μένων, ''Ménōn'') is a Socratic dialogue by Plato. Meno begins the dialogue by asking Socrates whether virtue is taught, acquired by practice, or comes by nature. In order to determine whether virtue is teachabl ...

'' and

's ''

'' and ''

'' into Icelandic. In his capacity as a member of The Society of Ancient Studies, he translated the

Icelandic sagas The sagas of Icelanders ( is, Íslendingasögur, ), also known as family sagas, are one genre of Icelandic sagas. They are prose narratives mostly based on historical events that mostly took place in Iceland in the ninth, tenth, and early el ...

into

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

-- ''Scripta historica Islandorum''. Later he compiled a dictionary of Icelandic skaldic language, ''Lexicon Poëticum'', which formed the basis of future scholarship concerning ancient Icelandic poetry. He also translated Snorra-Edda into

and published the original text along with clarifications and comments. When Sveinbjörn died, he was working on a poetic translation of

's ''

'' into Icelandic. His son, Benedikt Sveinbjarnarson Gröndal the younger, finished the task. His prose translations are still the only readily available Icelandic versions of the ''

'' and ''

''.

Original works

Sveinbjörn wrote a number of well-known Icelandic poems and hymns, including the lyrics to the Icelandic

christmas carol A Christmas carol is a carol (a song or hymn) on the theme of Christmas, traditionally sung at Christmas itself or during the surrounding Christmas holiday season. The term noel has sometimes been used, especially for carols of French ori ...

''Heims um ból''.

References

''Skólaræður Sveinbjarnar Egilssonar''. Almenna bókafélagið. Reykjavík, 1968.

Other sources

*Gudmundson, Finnbogi (1969) ''Sveinbjörn Egilsson og Carl Christian Rafn'' (Odense Universitetes forlag) {{DEFAULTSORT:Egilsson, Sveinbjorn 1791 births 1852 deaths 19th-century Latin-language writers Sveinbjorn Egilsson Sveinbjorn Egilsson Translators from Icelandic Translators to Latin 19th-century Icelandic people 19th-century Icelandic poets 19th-century translators Icelandic translators 19th-century male writers Translators of Homer