Hypothesis Islandica: Icelandic-Latin Historiography on Early Danish history

Aktivitet: Tale eller præsentation - typerForedrag og mundtlige bidrag

Gottskálk Jensson - Andet

Two early modern Icelandic historians, Arngrímur Jónsson (1568–1648) and Þormóður Torfæus (1636–1719), became widely known in Europe for their many publications on the history of Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, and the Orkneys (including fragments from the histories of many other countries). The latter, indeed, was the most productive Scandinavian historian ever writing in Latin. Their authority in the field of history rested on their mediation in Latin of the contents of medieval Icelandic sagas and poetry. Their writings were defining for Norwegian and even Swedish history from early on, but their impact on Danish history was belated and fraught with difficulties, despite the ample sources these authors had at their disposal; Torfæus’ hypothesis Islandica, partly based on the work of his predecessor Arngrímur, was much slower in gaining acceptance than the rest of his work. At issue was the succession of early Danish kings, according to Icelandic sources, which was in direct conflict with that of Saxo Grammaticus (first published in Paris 1514). Arngrímur Jónsson’ Rerum Danicarum Fragmenta (1594), which was first printed in the twentieth century, was originally intended as working papers for Danish historians, who mostly ignored it, and while Torfæus' treatise Series dynastarum et regum Daniæ (1664) was written at the request of Frederik III, it circulated in manuscript copies for several decades before it was heavily edited by Professor Árni Magnússon and printed in Copenhagen 1702. The main focus of my paper will be on the political dynamics at play in Denmark, and the differences between these early modern works of historiography in Latin and the medieval vernacular sources they were intended to mediate.
12 apr. 2019

Begivenhed (Konference)

TitelThe History of Historical Thought in early modern Scandinavia
Dato11/04/201912/04/2019
AfholdelsesstedThe University of Lund
ByLund
Land/OmrådeSverige
Grad af anerkendelseInternational begivenhed

ID: 308900787