Sturla Þórðarson

Sturla Þórðarson (Old Norse pronunciation: Old Norse pronunciation: [ˈsturlɑ ˈθoːrðɑrˌson]; Icelandic pronunciation: ​[ˈstʏ(r)tla ˈθourðarˌsɔːn]; 29 July 1214–30 July 1284) was an Icelandic chieftain and writer of sagas and contemporary history during the 13th century. ^[1]

Biography[]

The life of Sturla Þórðarson was chronicled in the Sturlunga saga. Sturla was the son of Icelandic chieftain and his mistress Þóra, and grandson of . He was a nephew and pupil of the famous saga-writer Snorri Sturluson. His brother was Icelandic skald and scholar Ólafur Þórðarson hvítaskáld. ^[2]

He fought alongside Þórður kakali Sighvatsson during the Age of the Sturlungs. Sturla was appointed law speaker over all of Iceland for a brief period after the dissolution of the Icelandic Commonwealth, and wrote the law book Járnsíða.

Like his uncle, Snorri, and his brother, Óláfr, Sturla was a prolific poet. He is reported in Sturlu þáttr as telling a saga called Huldar saga.^[3] He is best known for writing Íslendinga saga, the longest saga within Sturlunga saga, and Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar, the story of Haakon IV of Norway. He also wrote a saga of Haakon's son, Magnus the lawmender (Magnúss saga lagabœtis), of which only fragments have survived. Some scholars also believe him to have written Kristni saga and , a transcript of Landnáma. He is moreover listed in Skáldatal as the court skald of the Swedish ruler Birger Jarl.

References[]

Other sources[]

• Jón Viðar Sigurðsson; Sverrir Jakobsson (2017) Sturla Þórðarson: Skald, Chieftain and Lawman (Boston: Brill) ISBN 9789004342361

External links[]

• Works by Sturla Þórðarson at Project Gutenberg
• Works by or about Sturla Þórðarson at Internet Archive

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