Jón Runólfsson was born on August 31, 1855 in Snjóholt in Eiðaþinghá in S. Múlasýsla. He died on September 12, 1930.
Unmarried and childless.
He emigrated to Minneota, Minnesota in 1879 and lived with his parents who had emigrated in 1877. Jón moved to Manitoba and became a teacher in Mikley in 1883.
Jón was a well-known poet, “öllum þorra Íslendinga, bæði austan hafs og vestan, vel kunnur fyrir ljóð sín og gáfur” (“all daring Icelanders, both east and west, well known for their poems and talents”).
He published the book of poetry Þögul Leiftur which includes Tennyson’s “Enoch Arden” which Jón translated.
Lára Guðjónsen, wife of Jón Bjarnason, published the book Lauf-Blöð, “á söngvum með íslenzkum textum” (“on songs with Icelandic lyrics”) in 1899. In it, Jón Runólfsson contributed original material and translations.