Jon Espolín - Magnus Prudi #27730

Together in a fine volume are: - The story of Jón Espólín the Wise, sheriff of Hegranesþing. Written by himself in Danish, but Gísli Konráðsson translated it into Icelandic, expanded it, and continued it.


Jón was born in Espihól in Eyjafjörður and identified with that town. His parents were Jón Jakobsson, a sheriff, and his wife Sigríður Stefánsdóttir. Jón studied at home with Jón presti Jónsson in Núpufell and then went to study at the University of Copenhagen. He was appointed sheriff of Snæfellsness County from 19 September 1792. He took over the county in late November of the same year. In 1797 he had a county exchange with Finn Jónsson, sheriff of Borgarfjörður County, and remained there for five years, but then he exchanged counties with Jónas Scheving and was given Skagafjörður County, where he was then sheriff until his death. He first lived at Flugumýr in Blönduhlíð from 1803–1806, then in Viðvík in Viðvíkursveit until 1822 and lastly at Frostastaðir in Blönduhlíð.


Jón was very interested in history and genealogy from his youth and wrote extensively on these subjects. The Annals of Iceland, Yearbooks in story form, usually known as Espólín's Yearbooks, were published in 12 volumes between 1821 and 1855. The yearbooks are an overview of the history of Iceland from around 1262 to the author's time, and are a direct continuation of Sturlung. Espólín also has more genealogical information than any other person from the past, and the genealogy program Espólín is attributed to him. It has been said of Jón that he wrote exceptionally good Icelandic at a time when the language of officials was heavily influenced by Danish.


The compilation of the Yearbooks was an incredible achievement for its time, considering the circumstances in which Jón Espólín worked, and it had a great influence, as it was for a long time the only printed overview of the history of Iceland after 1262. Jón Espólín also compiled numerous works on human history, especially ancient history, but also the history of later centuries. The sagas of the Lombards, the Goths and the Huns, and the translations of Plutarch are examples of that collection.



Gísli Konráðsson, a disciple and friend of Jón Espólín, described him as follows:


"He was handsome in appearance and of great stature; his height was 73 inches, but over the shoulders and chest 50 inches in Danish; strong in arms, beautiful in hands, somewhat smaller in stature and well-heeled [...] light-eyed and his eyes larger and open-eyed and rather squinty in his later years, but for the most part he saw very well from a book."

Attached is: - The story of Magnús the Prudent, compiled by Jón Þorkelsson.
Magnús was of the Svalbard family, the son of Jón Magnússon, sheriff of Svalbard, and his wife, Ragnheiðar Pétursdóttir a raún sokkum. His brothers were Sigurður, sheriff of Reynistaður, Staðarhóls-Páll, and Jón, lawyer of Vindheimar, while his eldest sister was Steinunn, companion of Björn Jónsson, priest of Melstaður, later married to Eggert Hannesson, lawyer.


Magnus went abroad to study as a young man and spent several years in Germany. When he returned home, he first became a sheriff in Þingeyjarsýsla and lived in Rauðuskriða, but in 1564 he moved to Ísafjarðarsýsla and settled in Ögri. That land was owned by Eggert Hannesson, who was then Magnus's brother-in-law and soon became his father-in-law. When Eggert moved to Hamburg around 1580, Magnus moved to Bæ, where Eggert had lived, and became sheriff in Barðastrandarsýsla.


Magnus was considered a great man, but hard to take in a corner like his brothers and not very willing to give up his share. However, he was considered to fulfill his office well and without showing arrogance to others, as his nickname testifies. He was a skilled provincial governor and a good lawyer. There are stories that he was considered the most magnificent chief in Iceland in his day and he had a large group of armed men with him when he rode to the Thing.


He was concerned about the defense of the country and is best remembered for the so-called Arms Decree, which he had approved at the provincial assembly in Tunga in Örlygshöfn on October 12, 1581, which stipulated that every adult man should own and carry weapons. This must have had an impact because two years earlier foreign bandits had kidnapped his father-in-law, Eggert, and demanded a large sum of money as a ransom. However, this decree was never enacted into law by the Althing and it is uncertain whether people's ownership of weapons increased, except perhaps in the Westfjords, where it was greater than elsewhere in the early 17th century, as was evident in the Spanish Wars of 1615, where Ari, son of Magnus, played a leading role.


Magnus was well-educated and engaged in scholarly work and writing, but he is best known as a rhyme poet, and there are two rhyme collections by him, Amíkus rhyme and Amilíus and Pontus rhyme (although only the first thirteen rhymes), which enjoyed great popularity.