Crymogæa (from

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 ...

Κρυογαια, "ice-land") is a book in

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 ...

written by the Icelandic scholar

Arngrímur Jónsson Arngrímur Jónsson the Learned ( is, Arngrímur Jónsson hinn lærði; 1568 – 27 June 1648) was an Icelandic scholar and a Christian apologist. His father was Jón Jónsson, who died in 1591. Arngrímur studied in Copenhagen, completing his ...

and published in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...

in 1609 and again in 1610. It was the first historical description of

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 ...

since

Íslendingabók ''Íslendingabók'' (, Old Norse pronunciation: , ''Book of Icelanders''; ) is a historical work dealing with early Icelandic history. The author was an Icelandic priest, Ari Þorgilsson, working in the early 12th century. The work originally exi ...

and the first comprehensive book about the

history of Iceland The recorded history of Iceland began with the settlement by Viking explorers and the people they enslaved from the east, particularly Norway and the British Isles, in the late ninth century. Iceland was still uninhabited long after the rest ...

The book was aimed at foreign readers. The first part narrates the history of Iceland until the end of the

Icelandic Commonwealth The Icelandic Commonwealth, also known as the Icelandic Free State, was the political unit existing in Iceland between the establishment of the Althing in 930 and the pledge of fealty to the Norwegian king with the Old Covenant in 1262. With th ...

. The second part contains stories about the medieval Icelandic heroes. The third part continues the history of Iceland until Jónsson's time. Aside from the political and cultural history of Iceland, the book offers descriptions of the religion and language of the Icelanders.

Legacy

Presenting the medieval period as a heroic golden age, followed by a decline into corruption under foreign rule, Jónsson created an influential narrative of Icelandic history which caused a revival of Icelandic scholars' interest in their past in the 17th century, and even influenced the

Icelandic independence movement The Icelandic Independence movement (Icelandic: ''Sjálfstæðisbarátta Íslendinga'') was the collective effort made by Icelanders to achieve self-determination and independence from the Kingdom of Denmark throughout the 19th and early 20th ce ...

in the 19th century. It has been called "the manifesto of Icelandic patriotism." ''Crymogæa's'' influence stretched much farther than Iceland. Because of it, Jónsson became the best-known Icelander among the learned Europeans in the 17th century. His

humanistic Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry. The meaning of the term "humani ...

work made them aware of the Icelandic sagas and kindled a general interest in medieval Icelandic literature. ''Crymogæa'' also introduced

Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia, and into the Nordic folklore of the modern peri ...

to the rest of Europe.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Scanned original edition of ''Crymogæa''
Icelandic literature 17th-century Latin books 1609 books

Contents

Legacy

References

External links