Olaf the Peacock
Olaf the Peacock or Olaf Hoskuldsson (
Birth and upbringing
Olaf was the son of
At the age of seven, over his mother's objections, Olaf became the
Career abroad
Around 956, Olaf, at Melkorka's urging, decided to go abroad to seek his fortune. Hoskuld was opposed and would not provide trade wares, and the property of Olaf's foster-father Thord was mostly in immobile goods and land. In part to arrange financing for his expedition, his mother Melkorka married Thorbjorn the Feeble, a farmer who had previously assisted her in the management of Melkorkustead. Melkorka and Thorbjorn had a son named Lambi.[12] Olaf sailed to
Olaf set sail for Ireland with Orn to find his mother's people, taking with him tokens and gifts from Melkorka to her father and her nursemaid.[15] During the voyage, their ship became lost in a fog. When the fog lifted, an argument arose between Orn and most of the rest of Olaf's men about the proper course to reach Ireland. When asked if the decision should be put to a vote of the majority, Olaf is supposed to have said, "I want only the shrewdest to decide; in my opinion the counsel of fools is all the more dangerous the more of them there are." With those words, the matter was accepted as settled, and Orn took charge of the navigation.[16]
Upon arriving in Ireland they were stranded far outside the protection of the
As luck would have it, the local king arrived on the scene, and proved to be Olaf's alleged grandfather Myrkjartan. Olaf remained with Myrkjartan for a time, and the king, according to Laxdaela Saga, even offered to make Olaf his heir. Olaf, however, ultimately returned to Norway, afraid of provoking Myrkjartan's sons.[19] Olaf returned to the court of King Harald, where he was greatly honored by both the king and his mother Gunnhild.[20]
Return to Iceland
Olaf returned home around 957 with great wealth. Upon his return, his father Hoskuld arranged a marriage for him with Thorgerd Egilsdottir, the daughter of Egill Skallagrímsson.[21] Thorgerd was initially reluctant to marry the son of a slave, refusing to believe that Olaf's mother was a princess. However, she ultimately agreed to the match after an hours-long private conversation with Olaf. At the wedding Olaf gave Egill an ornate sword from Ireland.[22] Olaf and Thorgerd lived happily together at Hoskuldstead for some time. Around 962 Olaf's foster father Thord died, leaving Olaf his property and
Olaf's half-sister Hallgerd Hoskuldsdottir married Gunnar Hámundarson, a chieftain who lived at Hlíðarendi in southern Iceland, during this period.[25] Olaf and Gunnar became close friends.[26]
Hoskuld died around 965, leaving Olaf a full
Olaf and Thorgerd had a number of children after Thurid, the sons Kjartan (named after King Myrkjartan),[28] Steinthor, Halldor, Helgi, and Hoskuld and the daughters Thorbjorg, Thorgerd and Berghora. The ill-fated Kjartan would be his father's favorite.[29]
Second expedition to Norway and aftermath
Around 975, over his wife's objections, Olaf went on a second expedition to Norway. There he stayed with a
Later years
During the closing years of the tenth century, Olaf's kinsman and friend Gunnar became embroiled in a blood feud with several neighboring landowners. A settlement was reached whereby Gunnar would accept "lesser
Olaf knows that Kjartan, who was involved in a love triangle with Bolli and Bolli's wife Gudrun Osvifrsdottir, caused his own downfall by acting aggressively. In Icelandic terms, Kjartan had surpassed the acceptable limits of immoderation. Whereas Olaf wants to maintain the solidarity of the larger family, keeping workable relations with his siblings and their children, Thorgerd's concerns are different. She focuses more narrowly on the honour of her nuclear family.[35]
Olaf died in 1006, and Olaf's widow Thorgerd subsequently directed a number of revenge-killings herself, including that of Thorkel, a man who had witnessed Kjartan's death but been indifferent to it and had not intervened.[36] Bolli was killed by Olaf's sons and their allies in a raid led by Thorgerd.[37] Some twelve years later, Gudrun, with the help of her friend Snorri Goði, had a number of Bolli's murderers killed in revenge.[38]
Notes
- ^ Magnusson 267
- ^ Hoskuld was the grandson of Thorstein the Red through his daughter Thorgerd Thorsteinsdottir. Laxdaela Saga § 5 (Magnusson 53).
- ^ Lax. § 12 (Magnusson 63).
- ^ Lax. § 13 (Magnusson 67).
- ^ Ari 2:18.
- ^ Lax. § 13 (Magnusson 68).
- petty kingsby this name. Magnusson 68 at n.1
- ^ Lax. § 13 (Magnusson 69).
- ^ Lax. § 16 (Magnusson 75–77).
- ^ Byock 279-281.
- ^ Lax. § 16 (Magnusson 75–77).
- ^ Lax. § 20 (Magnusson 86–88).
- ^ Ordower 41–61; Njal's Saga §§ 3–5 (Hollander 7–13); cf. Lax. § 19 (Magnusson 82).
- ^ Lax. § 21 (Magnusson 89–90).
- ^ Lax. § 20 (Magnusson 88).
- ^ Lax. § 21 (Magnusson 90).
- ^ Lax. § 21 (Magnusson 90–91); Forte 328–329.
- ^ Lax. § 21 (Magnusson 91).
- ^ Lax. § 21 (Magnusson 93–96).
- ^ Lax. § 22 (Magnusson 96–97).
- ^ Oddr § 156 (Shepton 222).
- ^ Lax. § 23 (Magnusson 98–100); cf. Egil's Saga § 79 (Scudder 168).
- ^ Lax. § 24 (Magnusson 101–102).
- ^ Lax. § 29 (Magnusson 112).
- ^ Njal. § 33 (Hollander 61–63).
- ^ Njal. §§ 59–70 (Hollander 118–138).
- ^ Lax. § 26 (Magnusson 105).
- ^ Oddr § 156 (Shepton 222).
- ^ Lax. § 28 (Magnusson 110)
- ^ Lax. § 30 (Magnusson 112–114).
- ^ Njal. §§ 74–77. (Hollander 144–151).
- ^ Oddr § 157 (Shepton 224).
- ^ Lax. §§ 32–49 (Magnusson 117–177).
- ^ Lax. § 51 (Magnusson 179–181).
- ^ Byock 200.
- ^ Pencak 73
- ^ Lax. §§ 51–55 (Magnusson 180–188); Pencak 73-74.
- ^ Pencak 73-75.
References
- Ari the Learned; Ellwood, T. (transl.) (1898). The Book of the Settlement of Iceland (Landnámabók). Kendal: T. Wilson, Printer and Publisher.
- Byock, Jesse (2001). Viking Age Iceland. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-029115-5.
- Forte, Angelo; Oram, Richard; and Pedersen, Frederik (2005). Viking Empires. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-82992-5.
- ISBN 1-85326-785-6.
- Jones, Gwyn (1984). A History of the Vikings. 2nd ed. London: Oxford Univ. Press. ISBN 0-19-280134-1
- ISBN 0-14-044218-9
- Oddr Snorrason; Shepton, J. (transl.) (1895). The Saga of King Olaf Tryggwason who reigned over Norway: A.D. 995 to A.D. 1000. Nutt.
- Ordower, Henry. "Exploring the Literary Function of Law and Litigation in 'Njal's Saga.'" Cardozo Studies in Law and Literature, Vol. 3, No. 1 (Spring – Summer 1991), pp. 41–61.
- Pencak, William (1984). The Conflict of Law and Justice in the Icelandic Sagas. Rodopi.
- Scudder, Bernard (transl.) (2005) Egil's Saga. Penguin Classics. ISBN 0-14-044321-5