Stofnun Árna Magnússonar

Árni Magnússon Institute is a research institute exhibiting medieval Icelandic manuscripts, preserving the Sagas and the Eddas that have inspired people's imagination for centuries. Icelanders' biggest claim to cultural fame (before Björk), are the Sagas, a collection of medieval prose narratives. These were composed or compiled in the thirteenth century, but the action usually takes place during the first century of the Icelandic commonwealth. The institute is named after Árni Magnússon (1663-1730) who collected these Icelandic manuscripts, thus certainly saving them from complete destruction.