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Jón Loftsson (; ; c. 1124–1197) was chieftain of
Oddi Oddi ( Icelandic: ) is a small village and church at Rangárvellir in Rangárvallasýsla, Iceland. Oddi at Rangárvellir was a cultural and learning center in South Iceland during the Middle Ages. There has been a church at Oddi since the introd ...
at Rangárvellir in the south part of
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 ...
. Jón Loftsson was a member of the Oddaverjar family clan. His parents were Loftur Sæmundsson and Þóra Magnúsdóttir. His paternal grandfather was Sæmundur Sigfússon (''
Sæmundr fróði Sæmundr Sigfússon, better known as Sæmundr fróði (''Sæmundr the Learned''; 1056–1133), was an Icelandic priest and scholar. Biography Sæmundr is known to have studied abroad. Previously it has generally been held that he studied in Fra ...
''). His maternal grandfather was King Magnus III of Norway. He was educated at Konghelle (''Kungahälla'') in
Bohuslän Bohuslän () is a Provinces of Sweden, Swedish province in Götaland, on the northernmost part of the country's west coast. It is bordered by Dalsland to the northeast, Västergötland to the southeast, the Skagerrak arm of the North Sea to the ...
(''Båhuslen'') which at that time a royal center of the Kingdom of Norway. Jón Loftsson was married to Halldóra Brandsdatter with whom he had several children. Jón Loftsson was one of the most popular chieftains and politician of his age in the country. The poem '' Nóregs konungatal'' was composed for Jón Loftsson and recounts his descent from the Norwegian royal line. At a young age, the great scholar
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 ...
was fostered and educated by Jón Loftsson. In 1179, he participated and was victorious in the conflicts between bishops of the
Diocese of Skálholt The Diocese of Skálholt ( ) is a suffragan diocese of the Church of Iceland. It was the estate of the first bishop in Iceland, Isleifr Gizurarson, who became bishop in 1056. (Christianity had been formally adopted in 1000). His son, Gizurr, do ...
and secular rulers. Known as ''Staðarmál'', the conflict dealt principally with control over Church lands. After Jón died the family at Oddi was still the most powerful family in Iceland but their power soon began to go downhill after his death.


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Islendingabók (Book of Icelanders)
1120s births 1197 deaths Jon Loftsson Goðar {{Iceland-bio-stub