coxs’s TRAVELS IN DENMARK.

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liffiment of chriftianity. Iflief was born in 1006; and, having received the firft rudi-ments of learning from his father, was fent, in the fixteenth year of his age, into Saxony ,for the purpofe of completing his education, and made rapid advances in feveralbranches of knowledge *. Being ordained prieft, he returned to Iceland ; fixed his re^fidence at Skal’nolt, where his father had eredted a church, and preached the Gofpelwith fervent and perfuafive eloquence. Iflief was the firft native bifhop of Iceland : hewas railed to that dignity in the fiftieth year of his age, at the requeft of the inhabitants,by particular defire of the Emperor Henry III. and during the pontificate of Leo IX .Ele was confecrated by the Archbilhop of Bremen, on the fixth of January 1056 ; andreturning the fame year to Iceland, fixed the fee at Skalholt , where he continued until hisdeath, which happened in 1080, in the feventy fifth year of his age. Iflief is defcribedas a perfon of a dignified afpeft, affable, juft, and upright in all his addons, liberal andbeneficent, though, from the fcantinefs of his income, frequently expofed to extremepenury. The fame of his learning and piety being widely diffufed, many foreignbifhops vifited Iceland , for the purpofe of receiving his inftrudlions ; and his memoryWas fo highly revered among his countrymen, that his name was efteemed fynoniinousto fandlity and erudition. He married Dalla, daughter of Thorwal, by whom he hadthree foils, all celebrated for their talents and knowledge; but particularly Giffur, whofucceeded his father in the bifhopric, and inherited his zeal for the propagation of theGofpel, and the promotion of learning. Iflief guarded againft the decline of literaturein Iceland , by affiduoufly inftruding many pupils, foine of whom became eminentlydiftinguifhed, and two were advanced to the epifcopal dignity. He was well verfed inthe hiftory of the north, and compiled feveral annals, which, though now loft, furnifhedmaterials for the chronicles of the earlieft Icelandic authors, whofe works are extant.

I allude to Are, furnamed the Sage, who was educated by Teitus, fon of Iflief; Sas-mund Sigfurfon, for his great erudition denominated Polyhiftor, and Snorro Sturlefon,ftyled by his learned editor, the Herodotus of the north ; all of whom immediately fuc-ceeded Iflief, and wrote on the hiftory of Norway .

Many fubfequent annalifts made their appearance, of whom it would be fuperfluousto give an account. Several of their writings, compofed in the Icelandic tongue, havebeen given to the public, fome printed in Iceland t, others in Sweden ; but the greaterpart in Denmark , accompanied with Swedifh, Danifii, or Latin tranflations J. The moftimportant of thefe publications is a folio edition of the chronicle of Snorro, printed atCopenhagen in 1778, accompanied with a life of the author. He was born in 1178,received his education, and completed his ftudies in Iceland ; became chief magiftrateof the country, and was killed in an infurre&ion in li+i, in the fixty-third year of hisage. According to his biographer, he was an excellent poet, an accurate hiftorian, afkilful lawyer, a proficient in the Greek and Latin tongues, and not ignorant of ma-thematics and mechanics §, From his chronicle, Torfacus, the late annalift of the north,..

* This account of Iflief I have extrafted from Kriftni Saga, p. 106 to 109, 130 to 141. HnngervakaSaha, p. 13 to 25.

t Von Troil informs us, that printing was introduced into Iceland by John (or Jonas) Arefon, bifhopof Holun ; that John MathiefTon, a Swede , was the firft printer; and that the firlt book was the Breviari-una Nidarofienfe, printed in 1531 at Holun. He adds, that new types were brought thither in 1574 ; andthat the Icelandic bible was printed in 1584. See Letters on Iceland , p. 182.

f For a lift of the Icelandic authors, lee Preface to Annales Biornornis de Skardfa, p. 5. North. Ant.

P- 52. et paffim. Letters on Iceland , letter xiv. The library of the Britilh Mufcum contains about onehundred and eighty Icelandic manufcripts. See Ayfcough’s catalogue of the manufcripts of the Britifli •Mufeum, p, 890, § Preface, p ix. • _

chiefly

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