Page:History of the Literature of the Scandinavian North.djvu/66

48 his countrymen. He was born in the year 1067 and belonged to a family that boasted a descent from Ragnar Lodbrok in Denmark, and from the royal race of Ynglings in Upsala, Sweden. From his seventh to his twenty-first year he lived with the noted chieftain Hall of Hawkdale, where he found an opportunity of being fully informed of what had happened in old days in Iceland, while he at the same time heard much about the condition and history of Norway. Thus he acquired a rich treasure of historical knowledge, which he afterward made use of in his books, and which has made his name so famous. Are was also a priest and a chief (Goði) and died in the year 1148. Of his works we possess only his "Icelendingabók" (The Book of the Icelanders), a brief, somewhat dry account of the first settlement of Iceland, and a history of the island down to the time of bishop Gissur, who died in the year 1118. It is of great importance on account of the ample and reliable genealogical data which it contains. It is, however, in fact only an abstract or a revision of a greater Islendingabók also written by him, and which in turn served as the basis for the production of the Landnamabók (Land taking book). This work, unique in the whole field of literature, treats of the discovery and settlement of Iceland. In its present form it is the work of various writers at different times, and tells of the settlers and their families with such fulness and detail, that no less than 3,000 persons and 1,400 places are named. Are's greater Islendingabók also contains a history of the kings of Norway, Denmark and England, the Konungabók (Book of Kings) which later writers frequently cite as authority, especially on account of its excellent chronological materials. The particulars in regard to this work are not known, but Keyser is doubtless