An Icelandic Noctuary of 1794
The Rev. Sæmundur Magnússon Hólm (1749–1821) is mostly known for portraits of prominent Icelanders as well as for several colourful pictures of volcanoes and phantasmagoric landscapes. He spent fifteen years in Copenhagen where he studied theology at the University and fine arts at the Royal Academy...
| Published in: | Scripta Islandica: Isländska Sällskapets Årsbok |
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| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
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University of Iceland
2020
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| Online Access: | http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-429322 https://doi.org/10.33063/diva-429322 |
| Summary: | The Rev. Sæmundur Magnússon Hólm (1749–1821) is mostly known for portraits of prominent Icelanders as well as for several colourful pictures of volcanoes and phantasmagoric landscapes. He spent fifteen years in Copenhagen where he studied theology at the University and fine arts at the Royal Academy of Arts – the first Icelander to graduate from that school. He wrote some poetry, most of it still unpublished, but the most noteworthy item of his writings is a notebook containing a diary of his dreams or noctuary, preserved from the year 1794. Indeed, Sæmundur seems to have made such notes over many decades, though only this notebook and a few later accounts survive. These texts have now been published and this article presents an overview of their contents as they relate to Sæmundur Hólm’s life and works, most importantly the period from his traumatic arrival at the parish of Helgafell in the autumn of 1789 to his dreams of 1794. Most of those dreams concerned his worries and quarrels in daily life at Helgafell, some of them interspersed with fantastic elements, or they echoed childhood memories or his longing for some sort of return to his former and more enjoyable life in Copenhagen. Very few of them are meant to be predictive and hardly any contain religious undertones. Numerous of the dreams are illustrated with small and simple drawings or signs, a few of them included here. https://doi.org/10.33063/diva-429322 |
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