Ólafur Davíðsson (1862–1903) was one of the three main pioneers of national Icelandic folklore collection in the 19th century, alongside Magnús Grímsson and his relative Jón Árnason, whose prominent role he took over after the latter’s death in 1888 (even though Ólafur’s scholarship cannot be considered to have been up to the standard of his predecessor). Ólafur was born in Sléttuhlíð in Skagafjörður in the north of Iceland in 1862, the son of a cleric; among his relatives was also Sigurður Guðmundsson, the painter. After attending the Reykjavík Latin school, he went on to study natural sciences in Copenhagen in 1882, but never completed these studies in spite of spending 15 years in the capital. It was during this time that he began serious work on folklore, a field he continued to work in after returning home in 1897. His work was cut short when he drowned in 1903.

Of Ólafur Davíðsson’s key work in this field, one can mention the following: his own collection of folk tales, published in complete form for the first time in 1945 (although a small volume had previously appeared in 1895, and more material appeared as part of the Huld collection of folk tales edited by a group of Icelandic scholars in 1890-98); his continued collection of Icelandic vocabulary; his key four-volume collection Íslenskar gátur, skemmtanir, vikivakar og þulur (“Icelandic riddles, games, dance songs and rigmaroles”, 1887-1903; built on material earlier collected by Jón Árnason); his work on Icelandic magic and witchcraft (published in 1940-43); and various articles on sea monsters, magical symbols and superstitions, all of which led the way towards later scholarship.