Einar Ólafur Sveinsson

Oddur Pálsson (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 12 Dec 1899
Died 18 Apr 1984

Places

Active in Iceland

Activities

Primary

Scholar

Resources

Sveinsson's Works

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Einar Ólafur Sveinsson was a leading scholar of Icelandic literature and folklore in twentieth century Iceland and an active editor of medieval Icelandic literature. He was born in the south of Iceland in 1899. In 1918 he graduated from college in Reykjavík (Menntaskólinn í Reykjavík) and went to Denmark to study at the University of Copenhagen. Einar’s studies in Copenhagen were delayed due to his bad health (he suffered from tuberculosis) and in 1925 he took a break from the school and headed back to Iceland. Nevertheless he was able to finish a master’s degree in Nordic studies in 1928, with his master thesis a study of giants in Norse mythology. Five years later in 1933 he defended his doctoral thesis at The University of Iceland, published as

Um Njálu

[Concerning Njáls…

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915 words

Citation: Pálsson, Oddur. "Einar Ólafur Sveinsson". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 09 July 2024 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=15210, accessed 07 September 2024.]

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