Jón Helgason

Who was Jón Helgason?

Jón Helgason was an Icelandic philologist and poet. He was head of the Danish Árni Magnússon Institute from 1927 to 1971 and professor of Icelandic studies at the University of Copenhagen from 1929 to 1970. He made significant contributions to his field. As a poet he was not prolific but noted for his highly polished and effective traditional poetry. His best-known poems are Áfangar and Í Árnasafni.

One of his discoveries at the institute is the pair of glossaries that are the only documentation on Basque-Icelandic pidgin.