Gissur Teitsson (

Modern Icelandic Icelandic ( ; , ) is a North Germanic language from the Indo-European language family spoken by about 314,000 people, the vast majority of whom live in Iceland, where it is the national language. Since it is a West Scandinavian language, it ...

: ) or Gissur the White was a chieftain or ''

goði Gothi or (plural , fem. ; Old Norse: ) was a position of political and social prominence in the Icelandic Commonwealth. The term originally had a religious significance, referring to a pagan leader responsible for a religious structure and com ...

'' in

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

at the turn of the 10th and 11th centuries. He played a preeminent role in the

Christianisation of Iceland Iceland was Christianized in the year 1000 AD, when Christianity was legally adopted as the official religion by decision of the Althing. In Icelandic, this event is known as the (literally, "the taking of Christianity"). The vast majority of ...

. He was the father of

Ísleifur Gissurarson Ísleifur Gissurarson (c. 1006 – 5 July 1080), an Icelandic clergyman, became the first bishop of Iceland, following the adoption of Christianity in 1000 AD. His parents were Gissur Teitsson and Þórdís Þóroddsdóttir. After studying in ...

and the grandfather of

Gissur Ísleifsson Gissur Ísleifsson (c. 1042–1118; Modern Icelandic: ; Old Norse: ) was an Icelandic clergyman who, in 1082, became the second Catholic bishop of Iceland in the aftermath of the adoption of Christianity by the island's inhabitants. He followed ...

, who served as the first two bishops of Iceland.

Footnotes

References

* Converts to Christianity from Germanic paganism Icelandic Christians Gissur Teitsson Goðar {{Europe-hist-stub