Jón Ögmundsson
Male, Deceased Person
1052 – 1121
Who was Jón Ögmundsson?
Jón Ögmundsson or Ogmundarson, also known as John of Holar and Jon Helgi Ogmundarson, was an Icelandic bishop and local Icelandic saint. In 1106, the second Icelandic diocese, Hólar, was created in the north of Iceland, and Jón was appointed its first bishop. He served as bishop there until his death.
A religious purist, Jón made it his mission to uproot all remnants of paganism. This included changing the names of the days of the week. Thus Óðinsdagr, "day of Odin", became miðvikudagr, "mid-week day" and the days of Týr and Thor became the prosaic "third day" and "fifth day".
Jón's names for the days are still in use in Iceland today but despite the success of this cosmetic reform it appears that Jón did not manage to uproot the memory of the heathen gods. More than a century after his death the Prose Edda and Poetic Edda were written, preserving large amounts of pagan myth and poetry.
Jón’s relic was translated to the cathedral of Hólar on 3 March 1200, a process called "translation" which made him a local saint. His feast day, 23 April was decreed a Holy Day of Obligation for all Iceland at the Althing in the summer of 1200.
We need you!
Help us build the largest biographies collection on the web!
- Born
- 1052
- Also known as
- Jon Ogmundsson
- Nationality
- Iceland
- Died
- Apr 23, 1121
Submitted
on July 23, 2013
Citation
Use the citation below to add to a bibliography:
Style:MLAChicagoAPA
"Jón Ögmundsson." Biographies.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 7 May 2024. <https://www.biographies.net/people/en/jon_ogmundsson>.
Discuss this Jón Ögmundsson biography with the community:
Report Comment
We're doing our best to make sure our content is useful, accurate and safe.
If by any chance you spot an inappropriate comment while navigating through our website please use this form to let us know, and we'll take care of it shortly.
Attachment
You need to be logged in to favorite.
Log In