Sigvatr Þórðarson or Sighvatr Þórðarson or Sigvat the Skald (995–1045) 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 ...

ic skald. He was a court poet to King Olaf II of Norway, as well as

Canute the Great Cnut (; ang, Cnut cyning; non, Knútr inn ríki ; or , no, Knut den mektige, sv, Knut den Store. died 12 November 1035), also known as Cnut the Great and Canute, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norway ...

, Magnus the Good and

Anund Jacob Anund Jacob or James, Swedish: ''Anund Jakob'' was King of Sweden from 1022 until around 1050. He is believed to have been born on July 25, in either 1008 or 1010 as ''Jakob'', the son of King Olof Skötkonung and Queen Estrid. Being the second ...

, by whose reigns his floruit can be dated to the earlier eleventh century. Sigvatr was the best known of the court skalds of King Olaf and also served as his marshal (''stallare''), even baptizing his son Magnus. Approximately 160 verses of Sigvatr's poetry have been preserved, more than any for other poet from this period. The style of Sigvat's poems is simpler and clearer than that which generally characterises older compositions. Although his verse is still dense, he uses fewer complex poetic circumlocutions than many of his predecessors, and as a Christian poet, he by and large avoids allusions to pagan mythology. Most of his surviving poems were texts that praised King Olaf. Many of the poems from St. Olaf's saga in ''

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 ...

'' are by Sigvatr. ''Víkingarvísur'', composed ''c''. 1014–15, is the oldest of the surviving long poems attributed to him. The poem tallies King Olaf's battles on his Viking expeditions until 1015, when he returned to Norway to carve out a kingdom for himself. In ''Nesjavísur'', the next oldest poem by Sigvatr, the skald describes the naval battle between Olaf and Sveinn Hákonarson at the Battle of Nesjar outside Brunlanes in 1016, the key moment in Olaf's ascent to power in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. ''Nesjavísur'' (Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages)
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Preserved poetry

# '' Víkingarvísur'' (‘verses of a Viking-raid’) — on the early deeds of King Olaf # '' Nesjavísur'' (‘verses of Nesjar’) — on the Battle of Nesjar # '' Austrfararvísur'' (‘verses of an eastern journey’) — on a diplomatic journey to Sweden # A drápa about King Olaf # '' Vestrfararvísur'' (‘verses of a western journey’) — on a journey to

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

# Two poems about Erlingr Skjalgsson # '' Tryggvaflokkr'' (‘a flock about Tryggvi’) — on Tryggve the Pretender # A poem about Queen Astrid # ''Knútsdrápa'' (‘''Drápa'' of Knút’) — in memory of King

# '' Bersöglisvísur'' (‘verses of plain-speaking’) — reprimand to King Magnus # ''Erfidrápa Óláfs helga'' (‘Saint Olaf's inheritance-''drápa''’) — in memory of King Olaf # Numerous '' Lausavísur'' # ''Brot'' - fragments

Notes

References

Other sources

*Whaley, Diana (editor) ''Poetry from the Kings' Sagas 1, From Mythical Times to c. 1035'' (Brepols Publishers. 2013) *O'Donoghue, Heather (2005) ''Skaldic Verse and the Poetics of Saga Narrative'' (Oxford University Press)

External links

Index of Sigvatr Þórðarson's poetry
Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages.
Index of Sigvatr Þórðarson's poetry
Jörmungrund. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sigvatr Thordarson Icelandic male poets 11th-century Icelandic poets 995 births 1045 deaths Skalds