Þorlákur Skúlason was bishop of Hólar from 1628 until his death in 1656. During his tenure, he oversaw publication of the second Icelandic translation of the full Bible.
Early life
Þorlákur was born in Eiríksstaðir in to the farmer Skúli Einarsson and Steinunn Guðbrandsdóttir, the daughter-in-law of Guðbrandur Þorláksson, bishop of Hólar. He grew up in Hólar with his grandfather and studied under the bishop to become a priest. In 1616, he departed Iceland for Denmark where he earned a degree at the University of Copenhagen. He returned to Hólar in 1619 to oversee the Hólar College, but in 1620 he resumed his studies in Copenhagen. After returning to Iceland in 1621, Þorlákur was installed as a priest in Hólar in 1624. One of his early tasks was to seek wood for a new cathedral.
Bishop of Hólar
After the death of Bishop Guðbrandur on 20 July 1627, Þorlákur was elected as his successor. He was ordained as bishop on 16 May 1628 in Copenhagen and arrived back in Hólar on 2 August of the same year. Páll Eggert Ólason described Þorlákur as: "A gentle man and untroubled, generally more quiet than noisy. However, the church government did well under him. He was cheerful and humorous, a gentle Latin poet with brilliant talents."
As bishop, Þorlákur continued the publishing of religious works as his grandfather, Guðbrandur, had done. In total about 30 books were published under his direction, most notably the second full translation of The Bible in Icelandic. Known as known as, it was largely a reprinting of the earlier Guðbrandsbiblía, but with revisions made based upon the Danish-language 1607 translation by. Halldór Ásmundsson, the printer at Hólar, began printing the Þorláksbiblía in 1637 and completed it on 16 June 1644. He also translated several books by the German theologianJohann Gerhard, including Meditationes Sacrae in 1630 and The DailyExercise of Piety in 1652. Þorlákur was also interested in archaeology and natural history, keeping up active correspondence with others in Iceland and abroad, including the Danish scientist Ole Worm. In 1647, he published in Latin a description of Iceland's natural world. Among other works, Þorlákur published was Björn Jónsson's history of the 1627 Barbary pirates' raid on Iceland.
