Páll Ólafsson

Jóhannes Helgason (University of Iceland)

Ed. by Ármann Jakobsson, University of Iceland
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.3.4: Icelandic Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Ármann Jakobsson (University of Iceland), Kjerstin Moody (Gustavus Adolphus College), Sven Hakon Rossel (Universitat Wien), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jakob Stougaard-Nielsen (University College London)

Dates

Born 8 Mar 1827
Died 23 Dec 1905

Places

Active in Iceland

Activities

Primary

Writer / Author

Resources

Ólafsson's Works

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Icelandic poet Páll Ólafsson was born in Seyðisfjörður on 8 March 1827. His father, Ólafur Indriðason, was a priest and his mother was Þórunn Einarsdóttir. Ólafur wanted his son to go to Reykjavík or Copenhagen to receive education, but Páll wanted to be a farmer (Þórarinn Hjartarson, 2010). In 1848, after his mother died and his father remarried, Páll moved from his childhood home and began working for his relatives on another farm. In 1855 Páll became a farmhand for Þórunn Pálsdóttir, a widow. A year later they married: Þórunn was 45 years old and had three children, and Páll was 29. Páll and Þórunn lived on various farms in the eastern part of Iceland, and in 1864 they moved to a big farmstead where Björn Skúlason, a friend of Páll, lived with his…

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1158 words

Citation: Helgason, Jóhannes. "Páll Ólafsson". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 11 August 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=15007, accessed 27 July 2024.]

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