Einar Ólafur Sveinsson
Einar Ólafur Sveinsson, often abbreviated Einar Ól. Sveinsson (12 December 1899 – 18 April 1984) was an Icelandic scholar of Old Norse literature who was Professor of Icelandic Literature at the University of Iceland. His writings on and editions of sagas were particularly influential. Life and career Einar Ólafur was born in Mýrdalur, where his father, Sveinn Ólafsson, was a farmer and smith. His mother was Vilborg Einarsdóttir, and he had two older brothers. He became a student at the University of Copenhagen in 1918, but earned his master's degree only in 1928, after a severe bout of tuberculosis, with a thesis on trolls in the folklore of Iceland and Norway. He received his Ph.D. in 1933 from the University of Iceland with a thesis on Njáls saga, Um Njálu. He worked initially at the National Library of Iceland while teaching Icelandic, then became librarian of the Faculty of Arts at the university. From 1940 (the year it was formally established) to 1945 he was head of the university library, now combined with the national library as the National and University Library of Iceland. From 1945 to 1962, he was Professor of Icelandic Literature, during much of which time he