About Nýall

Nýall is the overall title for the principal writings of Dr. Helgi Pjeturss, published in the period from 1919 to 1947. First Nýall was published in three volumes in 1919-1920 and 1922, followed by Ennýall 1929, Framnýall 1941, Viðnýall 1942, Sannýall 1943 and finally Þónýall 1947. The content of the books can be divided into three principal categories: firstly, general articles and essays published in journals and newspapers in Iceland and abroad; Pjeturss took a keen interest in every aspect of human life. Secondly, articles on geology, which was his main field of work in the early part of his career; he continued to take an interest in geology, together with other subjects, throughout his life. The third category is the subject of this website, i.e. Dr. Pjeturss’s theories, conclusions and arguments for what he terms, on the title pages of Nýall and Ennýall: “Some Icelandic attempts at cosmology and biology,” and “ Some Icelandic attempts to understand life in the universe.”

The meaning of the word Nýall is something new which is presented, derived from the words for new and annals. In the epilogue to the first book, Nýall (The Discovery of the Way Out) Pjeturss writes: “Nýall is above all a scientific work. It is based upon all that has been best achieved in science and philosophy in the past, and it amends it and adds to it, in such a way that it heralds the dawn of an age of science here on earth.”

As stated above, Nýall was published in three volumes in 1919-1920 and 1922, by the Guðmundur Gamalíelsson bookshop. Ennýall was published by Félagsprentsmiðjan, while the Guðjón Ó. Guðjónsson publishing house published Framnýall in 1941, Viðnýall in 1942, Sannýall in 1943 and Þónýall in 1947.

In 1955 Nýall was published by the Nýall Society in a six-volume collected edition. In 1991 the same establishment, together with Skákprent, published the works in a six-volume edition, with the addition of a selection of Helgi’s essays. That edition (in Icelandic only) is still in print: see Books on this page.