Skalla-Grímr
Grímr Kveldúlfsson,
Grímr Kveldúlfsson | |
---|---|
Born | Grímr Kveldúlfsson 863 Salbjorg Karadottir |
Biography
Family
Skalla-Grímr was the son of
Feud with King Harald
Skalla-Grímr's brother Þorolfr was a member of King Haraldr Fairhair's retinue, although Kveldúlfr refused to swear allegiance to the king.[5] When Haraldr had Þorolfr killed, Skalla-Grímr and Kveldulfr attacked a ship, this belonging to the brothers Sigtryggr and Hallvarðr, these brothers had been the cause of Haraldr's distrust with Þorolfr, spreading lies and rumors to convince their king to let them take Þorolfr's land. Skalla-Grimr knew of this and saw their ship flying their banner not far from the coast. Skalla-Grimr took the chance and set out for the brothers with his father and other warriors, and killed all but two of those on the ship, including two of the King's cousins.[1][6]
Settlement in Iceland
Following these killings, Skalla-Grímr and Kveldúlfr set out for
Skalla-Grímr lived to an old age and died at Borg.
Poetry
This section needs additional citations for verification. (June 2012) |
Skalla-Grímr was a prolific poet, and composed this stanza:
Nú's hersis hefnd
við hilmi efnd;
gengr ulfr ok örn
of ynglings börn.
Flugu höggvin hræ
Hallvarðs á sæ.
Grár slítr undir
ari Snarfara.[6]
Now the nobleman (Kveldúlfr) has exacted revenge upon the king (Harald Fairhair);
now wolf and eagle tread on the king's children.
The hewn corpses of Hallvarðr (Hallvarðr Harðfari and his people, that is the enemies) flew into the sea;
the grey eagle tears the wounds of Snarfari (Sigtryggr Snarfari was the brother of Hallvarðr Harðfari).
According to the late scholar Bjarni Einarsson this poem, by using end rhyme, "if authentic" is a unique phenomenon in late ninth-century Old Norse poetry.[9]
References
- ^
- Old Norse: Grímr Kveldúlfsson [ˈɡriːmz̠ ˈkweldˌuːlvsˌson]
- Modern Icelandic: Grímur Kveldúlfsson [ˈkriːmʏr ˈkʰvɛltˌul(f)sˌsɔːn]
- Modern Norwegian: Grim Kveldulvsson
- ^
- Old Norse: Skalla-Grímr [ˈskɑlːɑ-ˌɡriːmz̠]
- Modern Icelandic: Skalla-Grímur [ˈskatla-ˌkriːmʏr̥]
- Modern Norwegian: Skallagrim
- ^ a b Landnámabók, § 18
- Egils saga, § 1
- ^ Egils saga, § 31
- ^ Pálsson, Hermann. "The Sami People in Old Norse Literature." Nordlit 3.1 (2012): 29-53. "The following nouns were used about people of mixed parentage:".."halftroll 'a half troll'. This is used as the nickname of Hallbjorn of Ramsta in Namdalen, father of Ketill hoengr, and ancestor of some of the settlers of Iceland, including Skalla-Grimr."
- ^ Egils saga, § 5
- ^ a b Egils saga, § 27
- ^ Landnámabók, § 19
- ^ Egils saga, § 28
- ^ See Egils saga (tr. of Bjarni Einarsson 2003), p. 187, available at www.vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Egla/Egils_saga.pdf. Einarsson states: “The third preserved major poem, Head-ransom, is in the runhenda metre (i.e. with end-rhyme), which would be a unique phenomenon in tenth-century Old Norse poetry (apart from the second stanza of Egils saga, spoken by Skalla-Grímr, which, if authentic, would belong to the late ninth century)."