The highlight of the month of January is Gunnlaugur Briem's ​​essay (1773-1834), Quid sentimus? Quid faciendum? (What do we think? What should be done?) Gunnlaugur compiled the essay following the coup of Jörundur Hundadagakonungur (1780–1841) in the summer of 1809.

Jörundur arrived in Iceland in June 1809 as an interpreter with the soap merchant Samuel Phelps and his men. They abolished Danish rule in Iceland, arrested F.C. Trampe stiftamtmann (1779-1832), and Jörundur appointed himself "Iceland's supreme ruler for sea and land." News of this event spread across the country and the citizens were quite confused on how to react.

Gunnlaugur, who was then a magistrate in Eyjafjarðarsýsla, decided to write an essay to reach a rational conclusion about whether officials in Iceland should follow Jörund's orders - it was unclear whether Jörund was a representative of the British government, as he himself claimed, or whether the coup was entirely of his own making. Gunnlaugur considered resistance out of the question, as Jörundur wore the uniform of a British naval officer and British warships were within reach that could come to Jörund's aid if a conflict broke out.

In the essay, Gunnlaugur came to the conclusion that officials could not break the oath they had sworn to the Danish king and therefore should not work under Jörund's rule. He therefore resigned as county commissioner and drafted his departure from office.

However, nothing came of Gunnlaug's retirement, as a British warship arrived in Iceland late that summer where no one recognized that Jörundur was working on behalf of the British authorities. Jörundur was arrested, the Danish king's administration was re-established and Gunnlaugur continued his duties as magistrate.

The essay is preserved in the manuscript collection of the National and University Library of Iceland under the shelfmark Lbs 197 fol.

The Society for Eighteenth Century Studies is holding a symposium on Gunnlaugur on the occasion of the 250th anniversary of his birth on January 14, 2023.