An exhibition marking 150 years since the collection was published
Jón Árnason (1819–1888) compiled and published the folk tale collection Íslenskar þjóðsögur og ævintýri (Icelandic Folk Tales and Fairy Tales) in 1862–1864. The first volume has tales of elves, trolls, ghosts and other strange beings, and of magic, animals and natural phenomena. The second volume has myths, fairy tales, outlaw stories, superstitions, accounts of real events and comic tales. The books were an immediate success and played an important part in the Icelanders’ growing national feeling.
An exhibition on Jón Árnason’s folk tale collection opened on 24 November 2012 in Þjóðarbókhlaða, the library building at Arngrímsgata 3. The National and University Library of Iceland’s partners in the exhibition are the Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies, the National Museum of Iceland and the National Archives of Iceland.
Symposium programme (PDF, in Icelandic)
Exhibition panels (PDF, in Icelandic)