Hallgrímur Pétursson (1614–1674) was one of Iceland's most famous poets and a priest at Hvalneskirkja and Saurbær in Hvalfjörður.

Biography

He was born a Hólar in Hjaltadal , where his father was the bell-ringer and the residing bishop his uncle. He ran away from home young and left Iceland with merchants. He was not heard from until an icelandic priest named Brynjólfur Sveinsson was travelling in Glückstadt, Germany and heard Hallgrimur swear at his employer in Icelandic. Brynjólfur took pity on the boy and sponsored him to priest school at Vor Frue Church in Copenhagen, Denmark. While studying there, he was employed to reeducate a group of Icelanders who had been kidnapped by Algerian pirates. In the group was a married woman, Guðrún Símónardóttir (16 years his senior), who Hallgrimur impregnated. When the group returned to Iceland, Guðrún found out her husband had died, and promptly married Hallgrímur. Hallgrímur then quit priest school and went to Iceland where he worked as a common worker for a number of years.

Seven years after his return to Iceland, Brynjólfur Sveinsson, who sponsored him to school earlier, becomes bishop and appoints Hallgrímur as a priest at Hvalnes . People were quite surprised at the ungraduated worker becoming priest, but Hallgrímur's excellent sermon skill. In 1651 he got reassigned to Saurbær in Hvalfjörður, a highly sought after position at that time. He served there to his death in 1674 from leprosy.

Works

Hallgrímur's most notable work are the Passion Hymns , a collection of hymns meant to be sung, one per working day, through the 9 weeks of fast before easter, 50 in all. The collection's full name is „Historia pínunnar og dauðans Drottins vors Jesú Kristí, með hennar sérlegustu lærdóms-, áminningar- og huggunargreinum, ásamt bænum og þakkargjörðum, í sálmum og söngvísum með ýmsum tónum samsett og skrifuð anno 1659.“ ("The history of the pain and death of our Lord, Jesus Christ, with its special learning, reminding, and consoling articles, with prayers and praises, in psalms and songs with misc. notes, comiled and written in 1659"). Each hymn has a title denoting what part of the Passion of Christ it refers to, and a reference to a song for it to be sung to. Other famous works of his include Aldarháttur , Rímur af Lykla-Pétri og Magellónu , Króka-Refs rímur and a collection of advisory rhymes for children.

External links

• The Icelandic National Radio's Web on the Passion Hymns (in Icelandic)