Magnús Jónsson, often nicknamed “the stout” [hinn digri], was born at Vatnsfjörður, in the Westfjords of Iceland. He became renowned for his great interest in literature, as can be seen in Jón Ólafsson’s literary history, written in the early eighteenth century. Jón Ólafsson describes Magnús as the one “er tók fyrir sig að láta uppskrifa allar sögur og handskrifaðar bækur íslenskar, sem hann fékk uppspurt” [who undertook to have copied all stories and Icelandic manuscripts that he heard about] (Jón Ólafsson, 2018, p. 229). Indeed, most of the seventeenth-century manuscripts known from the Westfjords were produced under the auspices of Magnús Jónsson, transcribed either by himself or his scribes. Around 40 existing manuscripts have been attributed to Magnús…
1691 words
Citation: Sigurðardóttir, Þórunn. "Magnús Jónsson in Vigur". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 13 September 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=15024, accessed 04 May 2024.]
