Finnur Magnússon

Finnur Magnússon, sometimes referred to by the Danish version of his name under which he published, Finno Magnusun,[1] Finn Magnussen or Magnusen, (27 August 1781 – 24 December 1847)[2] was an Icelandic scholar and archaeologist who worked in Denmark.

[4][5] Finnur studied law at the University of Copenhagen and returned to Iceland to work in Reykjavík, where he became a clerk in the superior court in 1806.

[6] He was a founder member of the Icelandic Literary Society (Hið Íslenzka Bókmenntafélag, Det Islandske Litterære Selskab),[6] for ten years summarised domestic and world news for its annual publication, Íslenzk sagnablöð, and wrote the first issue when it became Skírnir.

[11] With Carl Christian Rafn and others, he founded the Royal Norse Ancient Writings Society (Det Kongelige nordiske Oldskriftselskab).

[16][17] He was involved in an academic controversy when he claimed to have deciphered a skaldic verse in runes on the Runamo rockface in Sweden; in 1844 the marks were shown to be natural.