Jón Arason from Vatnsfjörður

Þórunn Sigurðardóttir (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 1606
Died 1673

Places

Active in Iceland

Activities

Primary

Poet
Religious writer
Translator

Resources

Arason's Works

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In the autumn of 1636, a double wedding was celebrated at the farm Reykhólar in the Westfjords in Iceland. One of the bridegrooms was Jón Arason, the other his brother, Þorlákur. The former’s bride was Hólmfríður Sigurðardóttir, granddaughter of Bishop Oddur Einarsson at Skálholt and great-granddaughter of the celebrated poet Einar Sigurðsson at Eydalir. Contemporary sources describe this wedding as a splendid affair with an unusually large number of guests attending and generous treatment in food and drink (

Annálar 1400–1800

III, 112). Both couples were from wealthy and powerful families and the guests belonged to the upper crust of Icelandic society, as a line in a commemorative poem about Jón Arason demonstrates: “Litu menn þar hóp tiginna manna” [(At the…

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2039 words

Citation: Sigurðardóttir, Þórunn. "Jón Arason from Vatnsfjörður". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 27 November 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=15122, accessed 04 May 2024.]

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