Carl Christian Rafn
Encyclopedia
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
historian, translator and antiquarian
Antiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient objects of art or science, archaeological and historic sites, or historic archives and manuscripts...
. His scholarship to a large extent focused on translation of Old Norse
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
literature and related Northern European ancient history. He was also noted for his early advocacy of the recognition of Viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
explorations of North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
Biography
Carl Christian Rafn was born on the island of FynFYN
Proto-oncogene tyrosine-protein kinase Fyn is an enzyme that in humans is encoded by the FYN gene.This gene is a member of the protein-tyrosine kinase oncogene family. It encodes a membrane-associated tyrosine kinase that has been implicated in the control of cell growth...
, in Funen County
Funen County
Fyns Amt is a former county in central Denmark, comprising the islands of Funen, Langeland, Tåsinge, Ærø, and approximately 90 other islands, of which only 25 are inhabited. The county was formed on 1 April 1970, comprising the former counties of Odense and Svendborg. The county was abolished...
, Denmark. After attending the Cathedral School
Cathedral School
Cathedral School is a school established and administered by the Catholic Diocese of Lucknow, India, a religious and charitable society engaged in educational, medical and social work in eight districts of Lucknow. It is registered under the Registration of Societies Act No. XXI of 1860. The school...
in Odense (Odense Katedralskole), he entered the University of Copenhagen
University of Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen is the oldest and largest university and research institution in Denmark. Founded in 1479, it has more than 37,000 students, the majority of whom are female , and more than 7,000 employees. The university has several campuses located in and around Copenhagen, with the...
where he earned his law degree and graduated (1816). After having been employed as a lieutenant with the Funen light dragoons in Odense
Odense
The city of Odense is the third largest city in Denmark.Odense City has a population of 167,615 and is the main city of the island of Funen...
. In 1820, he became a teacher at the 1820 Army Cadet Academy (Landkadetakademiet) in Copenhagen in Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
and grammar
Grammar
In linguistics, grammar is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology, syntax, and phonology, often complemented by phonetics, semantics,...
.
Rafn was particularly interested in discovering the location of the Vinland
Vinland
Vinland was the name given to an area of North America by the Norsemen, about the year 1000 CE.There is a consensus among scholars that the Vikings reached North America approximately five centuries prior to the voyages of Christopher Columbus...
mentioned in Norse saga
Norse saga
The sagas are stories about ancient Scandinavian and Germanic history, about early Viking voyages, the battles that took place during the voyages, about migration to Iceland and of feuds between Icelandic families...
s. With Finnur Magnússon and Rasmus Rask , he founded the Royal Norse Ancient Writings Society (Det Kongelige nordiske Oldskriftselskab). He was a member of the Arnamagnæan Commission (Den Arnamagnæanske Kommission) which managed the Arnamagnæan Foundation ( Det Arnamagnæanske Legat), custodians for the collection of manuscripts from Icelandic scholar Árni Magnússon
Árni Magnússon
Árni Magnússon was an Icelandic scholar and collector of manuscripts. He assembled the Arnamagnæan Manuscript Collection.-Life:...
.
Rafn published much of his work in 1837 in the Antiquitates Americanæ. It is considered the first scholarly exposition of the Pre-Columbian
Pre-Columbian
The pre-Columbian era incorporates all period subdivisions in the history and prehistory of the Americas before the appearance of significant European influences on the American continents, spanning the time of the original settlement in the Upper Paleolithic period to European colonization during...
Norse exploration. At the time of Rafn's research, the Norse sagas concerning Vinland were considered by most scholars to be mere legends. The ideas advanced by Rahn found new support since the 1960s with the discovery of the Viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows
L'Anse aux Meadows
L'Anse aux Meadows is an archaeological site on the northernmost tip of the island of Newfoundland in the Canadian province of Newfoundland and Labrador. Discovered in 1960, it is the only known site of a Norse or Viking village in Canada, and in North America outside of Greenland...
in northern Newfoundland, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
In 1836, he was admitted as a member of the Royal Danish Society of Homeland History (Det kongelige danske Selskab for Fædrelandets Historie). He was a member of numerous foreign associations and societies and received the philosophical and legal doctorate from abroad.
Committee
- 1821-1826 - Nordiske Kæmpehistorier (3 vols.)
- 1824 - Jomsvikingesaga
- 1825-1837 - Fornmanna sögur (12 vols.)
- 1826 - Krákumál
- 1826 - 1827 - Kong Olaf Tryggvesøns Saga (3 vols.)
- 1829-1830 - Fornaldarsögur Norðrlanda (3 vols.)
- 1829-1830 - Nordiske Fortidssagaer (3 vols.)
- 1832 - Færeyínga saga
- 1837 - Antiqvitates Americana
- 1838-1854 - Grønlands historiske Mindesmærker (3 vols.)
- 1850-1858 - Antiquités Russes d'après les monuments historique des anciens et des Islandais Scandinaves (2 vols.)
- 1852 - Saga Játvarðar konúngs Hin Helga (with Jón Sigurðsson)
- 1856 - Antiquités de l'Orient
Journals
- 1832-1836 - Nordisk Tidsskrift for Oldkyndighed (3 vols.)
- 1836-1863 - Annaler for nordisk Oldkyndighed (og Historie) (23 vols.)
- 1836-1860 - Mémoires de la société des antiquaires du Nord
- 1843-1863 - Antikvarisk Tidsskrift (7 vols.)
Other sources
- Jespersen, Knud J.V. (1990) Carl Christian Rafn og det Fyenske Militair-Bibliothek (Odenses bibliotekshistorie, Odense Universitetsforlag) ISBN 87-7492-772-8
Related reading
- Borring, Laurits Stephan (1864) Notices on the life and writings of Carl Christian Rafn: Permanent secretary of the Royal Society of Northern Antiquaries, Counsellor of Conference
- Gröndal, Benedikt (1869) Breve fra og til Carl Christian Rafn med en Biographi
- Widding, Ole (1964) Carl Christian Rafn – Biographie of Old Nordic-Icelandic Studies