The
Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies
(Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum) is an
institute of the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture of
Iceland
which conducts research in Icelandic and related
academic studies, in particular the Icelandic language and Icelandic literature, to disseminate
knowledge in those areas, and to protect and develop the
collections that it possesses or those placed in its care.
It is named after
Árni
Magnússon, a 17th-18th century collector of medieval Icelandic
manuscripts.
The
Árni Magnússon Institute ( ) was an academic
institute located in Reykjavík
, Iceland. The
institute had the task of preserving and studying
medieval Icelandic
manuscripts containing
Landnáma,
Heimskringla and the
Icelandic sagas. On September 1, 2006, this
institute was merged with the
Icelandic Language
Institute, the
University of Iceland Institute of
Lexicography, the
Sigurður Nordal
Institute, and the
Place-Name Institute of
Iceland to create the current Árni Magnússon Institute for
Icelandic Studies. It is a university institution with its own
board and financing. The Minister of Education, Science and Culture
appoints a five-member board for four-year terms. Three members are
appointed according to nomination by the University Senate and two
without nomination, with one of those two acting as chairman. The
Minister appoints a director for five-year terms on the
recommendation of the board.
Dr. Vésteinn Ólason was appointed director of the Institute of
Icelandic Studies on September 12, 2006. Vésteinn had been the
director of the Árni Magnússon Institute from May 1, 1999 until
September 1, 2006, after which it was merged with four other
institutes to create the Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic
Studies. Professor Guðrún Nordal took over as director of the
institute on March 1 this year, appointed for a period of five
years.
History
After
Iceland received home rule from the Danish
government
in 1904, the Icelandic parliament (Alþingi) began to petition for the return to
Iceland of at least a significant portion of the Arnamagnæan Manuscript
Collection, the manuscripts and other documents collected in
the late 17th and early 18th centuries by the Icelandic antiquarian
and scholar Árni
Magnússon. In 1927-28 four manuscripts and some 700
charters and other legal documents were returned to the Icelandic
National Archives. In 1962 a special institute was set up under the
name
Handritastofnun Íslands (English: "Icelandic
Manuscript Institute"). Ten years later, after the transfer of
manuscripts from Copenhagen had begun in earnest, the laws
concerning the institute were changed and it was renamed
Stofnun Árna Magnússonar á Íslandi (generally referred to
as
Árnastofnun).
It was administratively associated with the
University of
Iceland
until 1 September 2006, when it merged with four
other institutes in Iceland to create a larger independent
institute of Icelandic studies, the Árni Magnússon Institute for
Icelandic Studies.
Location
The
institute is located in the Árnagarður
building on the campus of the University of
Iceland by Suðurgata in Reykjavík.
Manuscripts
The institute houses a number of historically and culturally
important manuscripts, the bulk of them from the
Arnamagnæan Manuscript
Collection. Among these are:
External links
Wikis
Map
Search
