Þorvaldr (inn) veili ("the Ailing") was an

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...

skald 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 ...

who lived in the last part of the 10th century. The '' Brennu-Njáls saga'' relates the circumstances of his death. Þorvaldr was pagan and opposed the conversion to Christianity. According especially to

Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of th ...

's '' Ólafs saga Tryggvasonar'', he had composed defamatory verses ('' níð'') about

Þangbrandr Þangbrandr was a missionary sent to Iceland by king of Norway Óláfr Tryggvason to convert the inhabitants to Christianity. Snorri Sturluson described him as follows: Origins Þangbrandr's origins are uncertain. According to some sources, ...

, a missionary sent to Iceland by Óláfr Tryggvason. When Þangbrandr arrived in his area, in

Grímsnes Grímsnes () is a fissure or crater row volcanic system located in South Iceland, a relatively small volcanic system located SE of Thingvallavatn lake east of an en echelon group of volcanic fields extending across the Reykjanes Peninsula. The ...

, Þorvaldr gathered a troop to slay him and his companion Guðleifr Arason. But the priest was forewarned and Þorvaldr was eventually killed: :Thangbrand shot a spear through Thorwald, but Gudleif smote him on the shoulder and hewed his arm off, and that was his death. : : ::—''The Story of Burnt Njal'' (98)
Dasent's translation
As he was setting his trap, Þorvaldr had asked the skald Úlfr Uggason to lend him assistance against the "effeminate/sodomitic wolf to the agangods"Sayers, William. Onomastic Paronomasia in Old Norse: Technique, Context, and Parallels. ''Tijdschrift voor Skandinavistiek''. 2006 (27). (''argr goðvargr''), but Úlfr refused to be involved. This request, which takes the form of a '' lausavísa'', is all that survives of his work. But according to Snorri's ''

Háttatal The Háttatal (Old Norse: 'Tally of Metres'; c. 20,000 words; Old Norse: , Modern Icelandic: ) is the last section of the ''Prose Edda'' composed by the Icelandic poet, politician, and historian Snorri Sturluson. Using, for the most part, his own ...

'', he was also the author of a '' drápa'' about the story of Sigurðr. This ''drápa'' was remarkable for being refrainless (''steflaus'') and composed in a variant of '' skjálfhent''.

Notes

External links

Þorvaldr's ''lausavísa''
999 deaths 10th-century Icelandic poets Year of birth unknown {{Iceland-bio-stub