Benedikt Gröndal was probably the most versatile of all nineteenth-century Icelandic writers and certainly among the most prolific. He looked upon himself primarily as a poet, but he also wrote prose of many kinds--stories, short plays, a book of memoirs, scholarly works and essays, textbooks, press articles, and pamphlets on various current issues. He was a translator as well; his most important translations were of Homer. In addition, Benedikt was quite talented at drawing, and his expertise in calligraphy was sought after. Halldór Laxness wrote of him in an essay published in Morgunbladid in 1924: "Madur gæddur öllu stórkostlegri gáfum, öllu fjölhlidadri og vídtækari þekkíngu, hefur varla verid uppi á Íslandi á öldinni, og þad þótt vídar væri leitad...