THORARENSEN, BJARNI VIGFUSSON

born , Dec. 30, 1786, Brautarholt, near Reykjavk, Ice. died Aug. 24, 1841, Modhruvellir first Romantic nationalist poet of Iceland. The precocious son of a prominent family, at age 20 Thrarensen completed law studies in Copenhagen, where he also attended the lectures of the German philosopher Henrik Steffens, who introduced Romanticism to Denmark. His stay abroad increased his nostalgic devotion to Iceland, which he regarded as the birthplace of heroism, in contrast to cosmopolitan Denmark. He returned to serve as deputy justice in 1811, and as justice of the Supreme Court from 1817 to 1833, when he became governor of North and East Iceland. Thrarensen's enthusiasm for Iceland's primitive traditions and his reintroduction of the simple Eddaic metres were instrumental in turning the Icelanders' attention away from Europe and back to their own past. His songs, such as Th nafnkunna Landid (You Renowned Land), in which he eulogizes Iceland's poverty and isolation for preserving its people from softness, made him revered as a poet.