Page:History of the Literature of the Scandinavian North.djvu/96

78 on the basis of the monuments of the past. But the literature now produced was of a wholly different character from that of the Middle Ages, inasmuch as it was not popular but bore the impress of the learned period. The first eminent writer in this new field was the Dean (1568-1648), the progenitor of the celebrated Vidalins, one of the most prominent families of modern Iceland. The difference between the manner and attitude with which the old memories were now approached and that which characterizes the bloom epoch of popular literature, appears conspicuously in the circumstance that Arngrim was called "hinn lærdi" (the learned) by his contemporaries, while on the other hand Sæmund and Are were surnamed "hinn fróði " (the wise). Arngrim is justly styled "the restorer of Icelandic literature," and he gained great honor by collecting manuscripts and facts in regard to the antiquity of Iceland. The results of his investigations published in Latin marked in some respects a new era in the study of northern antiquities. He also translated old documents (e.g. the Jomsvikinga Saga) into Latin or epitomized them, and laid upon the whole an excellent foundation for other scholars and investigators to build upon. The interest for the old literature thus awakened in Iceland spread rapidly over the other countries of the North, and the study of antiquities, which again resulted in a thorough study of Iceland's ancient history and language, and for which all means had hitherto been wanting, was now pursued by a whole school of learned men in the North. There was also a great rivalry between Denmark and Sweden, in which latter country the zeal was so great that people would lie in wait to intercept Icelanders who were on their way to Denmark with manuscripts, etc. Thus it came to pass that Jon Rugman, who in 1658 was on his way from Iceland to Copenhagen, was intercepted by the Swedes and brought to Upsala, where he received an appointment. Afterward he secured several Icelandic manuscripts for the Upsala university.