Sigurður Breiðfjörð

Sigurdur Eiriksson Breidfjord (* March 4, 1798 on an island in Breiðafjörður, † 1846 in Reykjavík ) is an Icelandic poet who enjoys fame not only because of his work but not least because of his adventurous life run in his country.

Life

Sigurdur was born on an island in Breiðafjörður - hence the artist name - which belongs to the archipelago Rifseyjar and is located at the point where the side of the fjord branches Hvammsfjörður. On Helgafell on Bíldsey he grew up. At the age of 16 he went to Copenhagen, where he received training as a carpenter. There he met the Danish poetry of the time and got to know from now on, especially under the influence of Jens Baggesen.

Back in Iceland, he settled down first in Isafjordur. There he worked as a carpenter and earned the same notoriety as a poet of the people, especially as he was quick-witted and acted as occasional poet.

As Sigurd Breidfjord was 26 years old, he moved to the Westman Islands. He married Sigríður Níkulásdóttir and had a child with her. At the same time, he gained a reputation as a womanizer, he also has two children by other women who were born in the same year, but, granted. In 1828 he left the Westman Islands, actually initially only meet someone, but it turned out later that he would never come back there.

After a short stay in Helgafell he went again to Copenhagen and from there to Greenland, where he worked for 3 years for the Danish merchants, but also as a carpenter, and also taught the Greenlanders, according to the Icelandic way to fish shark.

Then he settled in Stykkishólmur, where he. , Thanks to a rich patron, the merchant Árni Ó Thorlacius, finally was able to work only as a poet. In 1836 no less than 5 books came out under his name. He eventually became famous.

This fame brought him into contact with a rich young widow, in turn, gladly wrote and Kristín Illugadóttir said. She lived at the now -defunct farm Grímsstaðir near Arnarstapi on Snæfellsnes. This woman wrote him a love letter in 39 verses and the advertising ended with a wedding on January 7, 1837 in Helgafell. Sigurdur had a previous marriage with the woman in the Westman Islands not yet been legally dissolved. Since double marriages in Iceland, however, were not allowed and were punished with death, followed by a year of litigation, which meant financial ruin of the spouses.

Sigurdur left in 1840, the court Grímsstaðir and died a few years later depleted in Reykjavík. His grave is in the cemetery on the road Suðurgata.

Works

Under the influence of Romanticism Sigurdur wrote especially Rímur, a kind of Nordic ballad, and is considered a specialist in it. It is known, for example, the ballad about the legendary figure Gisli Súrsson.