Olaus Magnus (born Olof Månsson; October 1490 – 1 August 1557) was a Swedish writer, cartographer, and Catholic clergyman.
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👉 Olaus Magnus in the context of Temple at Uppsala
The Temple at Uppsala was long held to be a religious centre in the Norse religion once located at what became Gamla Uppsala (Swedish "Old Uppsala"), Sweden attested in Adam of Bremen's 11th-century work Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum and in Heimskringla, written by Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century. Uppsala has for long been exposed to fanciful theories about the implications of these descriptions of the temple and of the findings of archaeological excavations in the area, including findings of extensive wooden structures and log lines from the 5th century which allegedly played a supporting role to activities at the site, including ritual sacrifice. According to sources from the later Middle Ages the temple was destroyed by King Inge the Elder in the 1080s, but there are no contemporary sources to support that.
In this Dossier
Olaus Magnus in the context of Sea serpent
A sea serpent is a type of sea monster described in various mythologies and religious texts, most notably Mesopotamian (Tiamat), Ugaritic (Yam, Tannin), Judaic (Leviathan, Rahab), ancient Greek (Cetus, Echidna, Hydra, Scylla), Vedic (Vritra,Surasa) and Norse (Jörmungandr).
Olaus Magnus in the context of History of Iceland
The recorded history of Iceland began with the settlement by Viking explorers, mostly Norwegian, and the people they enslaved from Western Europe, particularly the British Isles, in the late ninth century. Iceland was still uninhabited long after the rest of Western Europe had been settled. Recorded settlement has conventionally been dated back to 874, although place names and storytellings indicate Gaelic monks from Ireland, known as papar from sagas, may have settled Iceland earlier.
The land was settled quickly, mainly by Norwegians who may have been fleeing conflict (the unification of Norway) or seeking new land to farm. By 930, the chieftains had established a form of governance, the Althing, making it one of the world's oldest parliaments. Towards the end of the tenth century, Christianity came to Iceland through the influence of the Norwegian king Olaf Tryggvason. During this time, Iceland remained independent, a period known as the Old Commonwealth, and Icelandic historians began to document the nation's history in books referred to as sagas of Icelanders. In the early thirteenth century, the internal conflict known as the age of the Sturlungs weakened Iceland, which eventually became subjugated to Norway over the 13th century. The Old Covenant (1262–1264), and the adoption of Jónsbók (1281) effectively ended the Icelandic Commonwealth. Norway, in turn, was united with Sweden (1319) and then Denmark (1376). Eventually all of the Nordic states were united in one alliance, the Kalmar Union (1397–1523), but on its dissolution, Iceland fell under Danish rule. The subsequent strict Danish–Icelandic Trade Monopoly in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was detrimental to the economy. Iceland's resultant poverty was aggravated by severe natural disasters like the Móðuharðindin or "Mist Hardships". During this time, the population declined.
Olaus Magnus in the context of Historia de omnibus Gothorum Sueonumque regibus
The Historia de omnibus Gothorum Sueonumque regibus (History of all the kings of the Geats and the Swedes) is a posthumously published, partly pseudo-historical work by Johannes Magnus, Sweden's last Catholic archbishop. In 1554 (ten years after his death), it was published in Latin by his brother Olaus Magnus.
The Historia was implicitly critical of King Gustav Vasa, who had introduced the Protestant Reformation in 1527 and caused the exile of Johannes Magnus. It was nevertheless used widely by Gustav Vasa's sons and successors, to whom it had been dedicated, since it extolled the glorious past of the Swedish kingdom. In particular, the sons used the (fictitious) king-list which began with Magog, grandson of Noah. As a consequence, Eric XIV and Charles IX adopted much higher regnal numbers than warranted by the historical sources. A Swedish translation was published by Ericus Benedicti Schroderus in 1620. A modern Swedish version, translated by Kurt Johannesson and with comments by Johannesson and Hans Helander, was published in 2018 by Michaelisgillet and the Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities.