Guðbrandur went abroad and attended university there, returned home in 1562 and became the first school master at Skálholt, for a period of 3 years. He was ordained to the parish of Breiðabólstaður in Vesturhóp in 1567, and a year later he became the school master at Hólar. In 1569 he was appointed bishop at Hólar by the Danish king, and invested in Copenhagen by the Bishop of Seeland, Dr. P. Madsen; he returned to Iceland in 1571 aged 29. Highly educated ho fe was a good poet and craftsman and a tireless worker. He compiled and perpared several books for print, both spiritual and secular, among them the first Icelandic edition of the Bible, printed at Hólar in 1584. He served as bishop for 56 years until his death.