Þjóðólfr Arnórsson (

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlement ...

: ;

Modern Icelandic Icelandic (; is, íslenska, link=no ) is a North Germanic language spoken by about 314,000 people, the vast majority of whom live in Iceland, where it is the national language. Due to being a West Scandinavian language, it is most closely re ...

: ;

Modern Norwegian Modern Norwegian ( no, moderne norsk) is the Norwegian language that emerged after the Middle Norwegian transition period (1350–1536) and Dano-Norwegian. The transition to Modern Norwegian is usually dated to 1525, or 1536, the year of the Pro ...

: ) was an 11th-century Icelandic

skáld A skald, or skáld ( Old Norse: , later ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry, the other being Eddic poetry, which is anonymous. Skaldic poems were traditional ...

, who spent his career as a

court poet A poet laureate (plural: poets laureate) is a poet officially appointed by a government or conferring institution, typically expected to compose poems for special events and occasions. Albertino Mussato of Padua and Francesco Petrarca (Petrarc ...

to the Norwegian kings

Magnus the Good Magnus Olafsson (Old Norse: ''Magnús Óláfsson''; Norwegian and Danish: ''Magnus Olavsson''; – 25 October 1047), better known as Magnus the Good (Old Norse: ''Magnús góði'', Norwegian and Danish: ''Magnus den gode''), was King of Norwa ...

and

Harald Hardrada Harald Sigurdsson (; – 25 September 1066), also known as Harald III of Norway and given the epithet ''Hardrada'' (; modern no, Hardråde, roughly translated as "stern counsel" or "hard ruler") in the sagas, was King of Norway from 1046 t ...

and is thought to have died with the latter at the

Battle of Stamford Bridge The Battle of Stamford Bridge ( ang, Gefeoht æt Stanfordbrycge) took place at the village of Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, in England, on 25 September 1066, between an English army under King Harold Godwinson and an invading No ...

in 1066.

Life

Þjóðólfr was born in approximately 1010

Lee M. Hollander Lee Milton Hollander (November 8, 1880 – October 19, 1972) was an American philologist who specialized in Old Norse studies. Hollander was for many years head of the Department of Germanic Languages at the University of Texas at Austin. ...

, "Thiódólf Arnórsson", ''The Skalds: A Selection of their Poems, with Introduction and Notes'',

The American-Scandinavian Foundation The American-Scandinavian Foundation (ASF) is an American non-profit foundation dedicated to promoting international understanding through educational and cultural exchange between the United States and Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Swede ...

, 1945, repr. Princeton, New Jersey: Princeton University, 1947, , pp. 189–97, p. 189. in Svarfaðardalur, where his father was a poor farmer. Jan de Vries, ''Altnordische Literaturgeschichte'' Volume 1 ''Vorbemerkungen - Die heidnische Zeit - Die Zeit nach der Bekehrung bis zur Mitte des zwölften Jahrhunderts'', Grundriß der germanischen Philologie 15,

941 Year 941 ( CMXLI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * May – September – Rus'–Byzantine War: The Rus' and their allies, th ...

2nd ed. Berlin: de Gruyter, 1964, , p. 269 A rival skáld, Sneglu-Halli, told a coarse story about his father at court; in one report of this, he is called Þorljót rather than Arnórr. He was in Norway between 1031 and 1035, when he composed a poem about Harald Þorkelson of Denmark, who was there at that time. By 1045 he had become a court poet, and after the death of Magnus the Good in 1047, was closely associated with his successor, Harald Hardrada. A story told in both the ''

Heimskringla ''Heimskringla'' () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorre Sturlason (1178/79–1241) 1230. The name ''Heimskringla'' was first used in the 17th century, derive ...

'' and ''

Flateyjarbók ''Flateyjarbók'' (; "Book of Flatey") is an important medieval Icelandic manuscript. It is also known as GkS 1005 fol. and by the Latin name ''Codex Flateyensis''. It was commissioned by Jón Hákonarson and produced by the priests and scribes ...

'' sagas of Harald Hardrada tells how the king and Þjóðólfr were walking in

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, an ...

one day and heard a tanner and a smith having a dispute; the king challenged the skáld to make a verse about the incident, but Þjóðólfr at first declined, since it would be inappropriate to his station, "seeing that I am called your Chief Skald". The king then specified that he was to make the verses with the combatants being

Sigurðr Sigurd ( non, Sigurðr ) or Siegfried (Middle High German: ''Sîvrit'') is a legendary hero of Germanic heroic legend, who killed a dragon and was later murdered. It is possible he was inspired by one or more figures from the Frankish Merovin ...

and Fafnir and then

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, ...

and

Geirröðr Geirröðr (also Geirröd) is a jötunn in Norse mythology. He is the father of the Gjálp and Greip, who are killed by the thunder-god Thor. Geirröðr is mentioned in the skaldic poem ''Þórsdrápa'', written by Eilíf Godrúnarson (lat ...

, but using

kenning A kenning ( Icelandic: ) is a figure of speech in the type of circumlocution, a compound that employs figurative language in place of a more concrete single-word noun. Kennings are strongly associated with Old Norse-Icelandic and Old English ...

s suited to the men's actual professions, both of which Þjóðólfr did, in a "playful tour de force". His last verse was composed at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, so he is often believed to have died there with Harald."Þjóðólfr Arnórsson", Rudolf Simek and Hermann Pálsson, ''Lexikon der altnordischen Literatur'', Kröners Taschenausgabe 490, Stuttgart: Kröner, 1987, , p. 348 According to the saga, the wounded king called to him, "Come here and support my head ...—long have I held up your head .e., supported and favored you"Hollander, p. 195; his translation from ''

Hauksbók Hauksbók (; 'Book of Haukr'), Reykjavík, Stofnun Árna Magnússonar AM 371 4to, AM 544 4to and AM 675 4to, is an Icelandic manuscript, now in three parts but originally one, dating from the 14th century. It was created by the Icelander Haukr E ...

''.

Works

25 stanzas survive of a poem which Þjóðólfr composed in 1045 in '' dróttkvætt'' metre about Magnus, the ''Magnúsflokkr''.Hollander, p. 191. This covers the king's whole career, from his journey to

Garðaríki (anglicized Gardariki or Gardarike) or is the Old Norse term used in medieval times for the states of Kievan Rus. As the Varangians dealt mainly with Northern Kievan Rus' lands, their sagas regard the city of (, Veliky Novgorod) as the capi ...

after the defeat of his father King Olaf to the

Battle of Helganes A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

in 1044. Stylistically, it resembles the court poetry of

Arnórr jarlaskáld Arnórr Þórðarson jarlaskáld (''Poet of Earls'') (c. 1012 – 1070s) was an Icelandic skald, son of Þórðr Kolbeinsson. Arnórr travelled as a merchant and often visited the Orkney Islands where he composed poems for the Earls, receiving his ...

, his close contemporary. Fragments of four stanzas of a poem in ''runhent'' metre about Harald Hardrada survive. We also possess 35 stanzas of his ''Sexstefja'', a poem about Harald's career composed some 20 years after the ''Magnúsflokkr'', which must have been far longer, since the title implies that it had six burdens, or ''stefjur''. This must have been "a glorious piece of courtly panegyrics".de Vries, p. 270. It can be noted that the term " Serkland" is mentioned in ''Sexstefja'' (verse 2), which is relatively rare in contemporary sources from the Viking Age. In addition, several single stanzas ('' lausavísur'') by him occur in the kings' sagas, dealing with the two kings' campaigns against the Danes. The last is his final verse at Stamford Bridge, showing both loyalty to Harald (whom he speaks of as dead) and disapproval of the expedition to England (hitherto unheard-of respect for the English as foes). Þjóðólf's verse is notable for its metrical perfection, so much so that it can give an impression of coldness or colourlessness. (However, another anecdote in ''Morkinskinna'' has King Harald chide him for not rhyming correctly in another challenge verse.) In the ''Magnúsflokkr'', his style has "baroque" features: he emphasises the burning of farms, states that these were the greatest battles yet fought, and has the stormy waves rolling the skulls of the Danish slain across the sea-floor. By comparison the ''Sexstefja'' shows a riper, more classical mastery, which is also to be seen in his matching of imagery to subject in the later ''lausavísur''. Much of his work is preserved as a record of historical events, as Jan de Vries put it, "one might say ... the work of a royal historiographer, composed in ''

drápa A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: , later ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry, the other being Eddic poetry, which is anonymous. Skaldic poems were traditionall ...

'' form". This does not, however, mean that it and the historical saga accounts based on it are always reliable; the events in the East alluded to in poems such as the ''Sexstefja'' must be at least partly based on Harald's own version of his deeds—another poet's statement that Harald conquered Jerusalem is an example that is clearly untrue. Also the saga authors sometimes have difficulty interpreting the poems; in the case of ''Sexstefja'', they are confused by references to "French", "Lombards" and "Bulgurs" into wrongly locating events.

Shami Ghosh Shami Ghosh is an Indian-born historian who is Associate Professor at the Centre for Medieval Studies and Department of History at the University of Toronto. He researches Marxist history and the history of Germanic-speaking Europe. Biography Sh ...

, ''Kings' Sagas and Norwegian History: Problems and Perspectives'', Northern world 54, Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2011,
pp. 73–74

Life

Works

References

Further reading

External links