Sturlunga saga

from All About History Viking Sagas- 4th-Edition-2022

by Xuân Lê

The beginning of history

Songs of Ice & Fir e

Sturlunga saga tells the stories of the political and personal struggles, particularly of the Sturlung clan, near the end of the Icelandic Commonwealth

Written by Michael Haskew

he Icelandic Commonwealth lasted for

Tmore than 300 years, ending in the mid13th century with the island nation’s final subjugation to the Norwegian throne. As the Commonwealth matured and then waned from 1100 to 1264, it was wracked by internal strife, division and civil war that presented opportunities for the Norwegian kings to exert greater control and intervention in Icelandic affairs.

Sturlunga saga, a vast compilation of numerous sagas written by many authors that were assembled and tailored into a chronological progression, tells the stories of the most influential clans of Iceland during this violent period. Evidence suggests that it was collected and edited around 1300 by Þórðr Narfason, a lawman who died in 1308, although this conclusion is uncertain. More than half of Sturlunga saga recounts the story of the Sturlung clan, one of at least six prominent families in Iceland at the time. It is contained in Íslendinga saga, which was probably written by Sturla Þórðarson, a prominent Icelandic chieftain and political figure credited with authoring several sagas during the mid- to late-13th century. Sturla describes the individual struggles and intrigue along with the strife and shifting balance of power in the political arena that characterised the twilight of the Icelandic Commonwealth period. Often referred to simply as Sturlunga, the compilation opens with Geirmundar þáttr heljarskinns, a legend of the emigration to Iceland of Geirmundr Heljarskinn, a nobleman of Norway who sought to escape the burgeoning authority of King Harald Fairhair.

From this tale that is believed to include folklore and fables that are unverified, Sturlunga moves to more definitive historical texts. The compiler chose to replace some beginnings and endings, while also extracting excerpts from more than one component in the individual sagas and placing them elsewhere to fit more seamlessly into the chronological text. Sturlunga is the primary source of the history of Iceland during the 12th and 13th centuries and ends with the assertion of Norway’s authority over the island around 1264. Two period examples of the manuscript, Króksfjarðarbók and Reykjafjarðarbók, both considered defective, vary in content, suggesting that gaps may exist due to lost information or mistakes in transcription. Króksfjarðarbók includes information from Hákonar saga about King Haakon IV of Norway, while Reykjafjarðarbók contains additional sagas, two of which are not typically considered components of Sturlunga.

The Age of the Sturlungs spanned nearly 50 years of Icelandic history in the mid-13th century. It was a period of tremendous upheaval and bloodshed, as prominent local chieftains called goðar retained most of the power during the Icelandic Commonwealth. Iceland was split into fjörðungar (farthings, which were essentially quarters), and within each quarter Goðorð, or dominions, were established. The largest territory in the north encompassed 12 dominions, while the others each had nine – a total of 39 Goðorð. In exchange for the chieftain’s protection, villagers and farmers would vote in favour of their chieftain for a seat in the Alþingi, the Icelandic parliament.

to Snorri’s home and killed him in his cellar. The last words of the piteous Snorri were: “Do not strike!”

Vengeance became the overriding theme when Þórður kakali Sighvatsson, another son of Sighvatur, returned home from Norway in 1242 and began to marshal forces around Iceland to retaliate against his enemies for the deaths of his brother and father, who had fallen in the Battle of Örlygsstaðir. In a bid to reclaim lands that had belonged to his family, Þórður encountered the forces of Kolbeinn while at sea. The outcome of the naval Battle of the Gulf in Iceland’s Húnaflói bay was a bloody draw, but Kolbeinn did suffer greater casualties. Kolbeinn died a year later, and his army fell under the command of a relative, Brandur Kolbeinsson, but Þórður’s forces continued to grow in strength.

The Battle of Haugsnes, fought April 19, 1246, was the bloodiest armed contest in the history of Iceland, and more than 100 men died on the field. Þórður claimed victory, gained his revenge, and became the strongest chieftain in Iceland. He never fought Gissur Þorvaldsson. Since both were bound in fealty to King Haakon of Norway, the two chieftains appealed to the king to settle their differences. Haakon sided with Þórður, who controlled Iceland from 1247 to 1250, but Gissur was given an office in Norway. Soon enough, though, King Haakon summoned Þórður back to Norway, where he could more easily control the greatest threat to his own overarching authority. Þórður died in Norway about six years later. He had never returned to Iceland.

Around 1252, Haakon called upon Gissur to exert more influence in Iceland on his behalf, sending him home from Norway. Gissur tried to make peace with the Sturlungar clan, and married off his eldest son, Hallur, to Ingibjörg, the daughter of Sturla Þórðarson (the presumed author of Íslendinga saga) of the Sturlungar clan. Not everyone in the Sturlungar clan approved of the match, however, and, a couple of days after the wedding, they burned down Gissur’s homestead. Twenty-five people died in the fire, including Gissur’s wife, Gróa, and three sons. Gissur survived by climbing into a barrel of whey. He sought revenge on the perpetrators but Eyjólfur, the leader of the attackers, escaped him. Gissur was recalled to Norway to face the wrath of Haakon, but instead of meting out harsh punishment, the king dispatched Gissur to Iceland once again in 1258, this time with the title Earl of Iceland, hoping that he could negotiate a peaceful transfer of full Norwegian sovereignty over the country. Later, an envoy named Hallvarður gullskór was sent to hasten in the negotiations. Finally, in 1264, the Icelandic Commonwealth came to an end with the Old Covenant agreement (also known as Gissurarsáttmáli, after Gissur) affirming the dominion of King Haakon of Norway over Iceland.

Among the numerous sagas – at least eight of them – that constitute Sturlunga saga, Guðmundar saga biskups is an example of a tale that is told in several different versions. Because several variants of the story survive today, it is also common to speak of this saga in the plural. The saga tells the story of Bishop Guðmundur Arason, who lived from 1161 to 1237.

The first version was written after Guðmundur’s death, probably at the request of another bishop. It describes Guðmundur’s childhood, life as a young man, and joining of the priesthood. However, it ends rather abruptly while discussing Guðmundur’s voyage in 1202 from Iceland to Norway for consecration, and some historians consider it to be an unfinished manuscript, which survives through its incorporation with later versions of the biography and its inclusion in Sturlunga saga.

The complete series of Guðmundar saga biskups was written between 1314 and 1344, probably amid a vigorous campaign to promote Guðmundur for sainthood. Often referred to as Guðmundar the Good, the bishop was generous and displayed real concern for the common people of Iceland. He believed that by amassing wealth, the church had gone astray from its central purpose, and sought to relieve suffering through kindness. In doing so, he advanced the stature of the Roman Catholic Church in Iceland. While he was a champion of the poor, Guðmundur gained the enmity of some chieftains who felt their authority was being eroded. Controversy ensued, and after spending the years 1214 to 1218 in Norway under the supervision of the archbishop, he approached his task on a more prudent and measured basis.

Despite the fact that Sturlunga saga is a compilation of several sagas that have been edited, spliced and chronologically joined, while containing some elements that are linked to legends and others that are firmly rooted in truth, it remains an invaluable historical document, offering the best available resource on the turbulent period of civil war in Iceland that preceded the absolute domination of the country by Norway.

The ambitious King Haakon IV of Norway is depicted on the left in this colourful 14th-century illustration from the Flateyjarbók manuscript

The author Sturla Þórðarson From a skaldic clan

Sturla Þórðarson was the most likely author of Íslendinga saga, which makes up more than half of Sturlunga saga, and it’s considered to be his best-known and most widely read work. Aside from writing sagas of King Haakon IV of Norway and his son, Magnus the Lawmender, he may also have written Kristni saga, an account of the coming of Christianity to Iceland in the 10th century. He’s also believed to have written Sturlubók, a transcription of the ancient Landnáma, which recounts the settlement of Iceland by Nordic peoples in the 9th and 10th centuries.

Sturla was born in 1214, the son of a nobleman and his mistress. He was named Law Speaker of Iceland for a time shortly after the Icelandic Commonwealth came to an end and the island nation was subjugated under the rule of King Haakon. He also authored Járnsíða, a law book used by Magnus the Lawmender to reform the justice code of Norway. Sturla was instrumental in introducing reforms to the Alþingi, the Icelandic national assembly. In Skáldatal, he is listed as a skald in the court of the Swedish ruler Birger Jarl. Sturla, who died in 1284, was also the brother of Óláfr Þórðarson, another prominent skald who lived from 1210 to 1259. Both men were nephews of famed skald and politician Snorri Sturluson and gained much of their education from him.