PETURSSON, HALLGRIMUR

born 1614, Hlar, Ice. died Oct. 27, 1674, Ferstikla poet, one of the greatest religious poets of Iceland. Though he came from a good family, Hallgrmur lived an errant life; as a boy he ran away to Copenhagen and became a blacksmith's apprentice. Through the influence of Bishop Brynjlfur Sveinsson he was later enrolled in the Danish Frar Skli ("Our Lady's School"), where he received a Latin humanist education. In 1636 he was entrusted with the re-Christianizing of a party of Icelanders who had been held captive by Algerian pirates for nine years. Among them was a 38-year-old woman, Gudridur Smonardttir, who bore a child by Hallgrmur and later married him. Returning to Iceland, Hallgrmur worked as a labourer and a fisherman but eventually became a parson at Saurbr (1651-69). He contracted leprosy and out of this misery produced his Passiuslmar (1666; The Passion Hymns of Iceland), which ranks among the best religious poetry of the world. In each hymn the poet merges his personal suffering with that of Jesus. The effect of the Passion Hymns in bolstering the morale of a desperate people was attested to by the immediate widespread popularity of the hymns. First printed in 1666 and for the 64th time in 1957, they remain the most cherished devotional songs of the Icelanders. The Hallgrmskirkja, a memorial church built in the poet's honour at Saurbr, is one of the largest and finest churches in Iceland.