Þangbrandr

Þangbrandr (New Icelandic Þangbrandur, German also Dankbrand, Thangbrand; * in the 10th century ; † after 999 ) was a nobleman and priest who was sent as a missionary to Iceland by the Norwegian King Olav I. Tryggvason in 997 to Christianize the country . Þangbrandr stood out for his violence and returned to Norway after two years, apparently without much success, but Christianity was accepted as a religion in Iceland a little later by resolution of the Althing .

Life

The origin of Þangbrandr is uncertain. According to the Brennu Njáls saga and the Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta , he was the son of an otherwise unknown Vilbaldus (Willebald), a Saxon or Bremen count. By Theodoricus Monachus , who calls him Theobrandus , however, he is referred to as a "priest from Flanders ". Þangbrandr could have been a secretary to the Bishop of Bremen. In any case, his name seems to be of German origin and could have been Old High German * Dankbrant .

When the Bishop of Bremen was invited to England by the Archbishop of Canterbury , Þangbrandr traveled with him. In England, Þangbrandr received a shield depicting Christ crucified. When they returned to Saxony, they met Olav Tryggvason, who admired Þangbrandr's shield. Þangbrandr gave him the shield, and Olav promised him his help and protection in return.

When Þangbrandr killed a man while fighting over a woman, he was forced to flee. He joined Olav in England who accepted him into his service. When Olav returned to Norway, Þangbrandr was commissioned to baptize the residents of Hordaland . However, according to the Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta , he soon ran into shortages of money and began robbing people who still adhered to the pagan faith. The king no longer wanted him around and sent Þangbrandr to Iceland to Christianize the country.

Þangbrandr succeeded in baptizing the Goden Síðu-Hallur , his household members and other chiefs - according to the Brennu Njáls saga also Njáll and his house; however, he met with strong opposition from other Icelanders and reacted violently. According to the saga of Olav Tryggvason in Heimskringla , Þangbrandr is said to have killed the skalds Vetrliði Sumarliðason and Þorvaldr veili after they had composed songs of mockery on him. Overall, he is said to have killed three men after this saga before he left Iceland after two years. The detailed, strongly romanticizing portrayal of Þangbrandr's mission in the Brennu Njáls saga describes, among other things, a duel between Þangbrandr and a certain Þorkell (Thorkel) from Stafafell í Lóni , who was "a great adversary of faith" and called for Þangbrandr to join the Holmgang . Þangbrandr was victorious and killed Þorkell, although instead of the shield he only held a crucifix in front of him. The Njáls saga depicts the death of Þorvaldr veili in such a way that Þorvaldr gathered a strong team to fight Þangbrandr, but was ultimately slain by Þangbrandr and his companion Guðleifur Arason.

In Norway, Þangbrandr reported to the king that there was little prospect of a Christianization of Iceland. Olav Tryggvason responded by threatening to have all Icelanders killed in Norway, but was reassured by the Christian chiefs Gissur Teitsson and Hjalti Skeggiason , who promised him the imminent introduction of Christianity in Iceland. After the saga of Olav Tryggvason in Heimskringla, which also counts Kjartan Ólafsson , who is also known from the Laxdæla saga and who was baptized in Norway, among the king's advocates of the Icelanders, Gissur and Hjalti argued with Olav that Þangbrandr - of which they themselves “the Supposed to have accepted Christianity "- there, as here with you too, proceeded with violence and manslaughter, and this the men of him could not put up with."

literature

Tore Nyberg: Thank you very much . In: Lexicon for Theology and Church . 3., completely reworked. Edition. tape 3 , demon to fragments dispute. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1995, ISBN 3-451-22003-2 , Sp. 18 .

Remarks

↑ Þ is pronounced as [θ] , that is, like the th as in English. think .
↑ Most Norwegian and Old Icelandic sources call him Þangbrandr, in Theodoricus Monachus ' Historia de antiquitate regum Norwagiensium he is referred to as Theobrandus and in Þórðarbók, a late version of Landnámabók , as Þorbrandr.
^ Tore Nyberg: Dankbrand . In: Lexicon for Theology and Church . 3., completely reworked. Edition. tape 3 , demon to fragments dispute. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1995, ISBN 3-451-22003-2 , Sp. 18 .
↑ Njal's saga . The saga of Njal and the murderous fire. 3. Edition. LIT, Vienna / Zurich / Berlin / Münster 2011 (edited and translated by Hans-Peter Naumann), ISBN 978-3-03735-139-0 (Switzerland), ISBN 978-3-8258-8416-1 (Germany), p 177.
↑ ^a ^b ^c ^d Theodoricus Monachus: An account of the ancient history of the Norwegian kings . 2nd Edition. Viking Society for Northern Research, University College London, London 2006, ISBN 978-0-903521-40-6 , pp. 66 (Original title: Historia de antiquitate regum norwagiensium . Translated by David McDougall, Ian McDougall).
^ Theodoricus Monachus: An account of the ancient history of the Norwegian kings . 2nd Edition. Viking Society for Northern Research, University College London, London 2006, ISBN 978-0-903521-40-6 , pp. 11 (Original title: Historia de antiquitate regum norwagiensium . Translated by David McDougall, Ian McDougall).
↑ Njal's saga . The saga of Njal and the murderous fire. 3. Edition. LIT, Vienna / Zurich / Berlin / Münster 2011 (edited and translated by Hans-Peter Naumann), ISBN 978-3-03735-139-0 (Switzerland), ISBN 978-3-8258-8416-1 (Germany), p 180.
↑ Snorri Sturluson: The Story of King Olaf Tryggvissohn . In: Snorris Königsbuch (Heimskringla) (= Thule. Old Norse poetry and prose; 2nd row, vol. 14 ). 1. Vol. Diederichs, Jena 1922, p. 277 .
↑ Njal's saga . The saga of Njal and the murderous fire. 3. Edition. LIT, Vienna / Zurich / Berlin / Münster 2011 (edited and translated by Hans-Peter Naumann), ISBN 978-3-03735-139-0 (Switzerland), ISBN 978-3-8258-8416-1 (Germany), p 179.
↑ Njal's saga . The saga of Njal and the murderous fire. 3. Edition. LIT, Vienna / Zurich / Berlin / Münster 2011 (edited and translated by Hans-Peter Naumann), ISBN 978-3-03735-139-0 (Switzerland), ISBN 978-3-8258-8416-1 (Germany), p 180-182.
↑ Jenny Jochens: Late and Peaceful: Iceland's Conversion Through Arbitration in 1000 . In: Speculum . vol. 74, no. 3 , July 1999, p. 653 , doi : 10.2307 / 2886763 .
^ Jón R. Hjálmarsson: The History of Iceland . Iceland Review, Reykjavík 1994, ISBN 9979-51-093-5 , pp. 30 .
↑ ^a ^b Snorri Sturluson: The story of King Olaf Tryggvissohn . In: Snorris Königsbuch (Heimskringla) (= Thule. Old Norse poetry and prose; 2nd row, vol. 14 ). 1. Vol. Diederichs, Jena 1922, p. 288 .
↑ Snorri Sturluson: The Story of King Olaf Tryggvissohn . In: Snorris Königsbuch (Heimskringla) (= Thule. Old Norse poetry and prose; 2nd row, vol. 14 ). 1. Vol. Diederichs, Jena 1922, p. 285 .

personal data
SURNAME	Þangbrandr
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Þangbrandur (New Icelandic); Dankbrand (German); Theobrandus (with Theodoricus Monachus); Þorbrandr (in Þórðarbók)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Christian missionary in Iceland
DATE OF BIRTH	10th century
DATE OF DEATH	10th century or 11th century

[1] Þ is pronounced as [θ] , that is, like the th as in English. think .

[2] Most Norwegian and Old Icelandic sources call him Þangbrandr, in Theodoricus Monachus ' Historia de antiquitate regum Norwagiensium he is referred to as Theobrandus and in Þórðarbók, a late version of Landnámabók , as Þorbrandr.

[3] Tore Nyberg: Dankbrand . In: Lexicon for Theology and Church . 3., completely reworked. Edition. tape 3 , demon to fragments dispute. Herder, Freiburg im Breisgau 1995, ISBN 3-451-22003-2 , Sp. 18 .

[4] Njal's saga . The saga of Njal and the murderous fire. 3. Edition. LIT, Vienna / Zurich / Berlin / Münster 2011 (edited and translated by Hans-Peter Naumann), ISBN 978-3-03735-139-0 (Switzerland), ISBN 978-3-8258-8416-1 (Germany), p 177.

[tm66-5] Theodoricus Monachus: An account of the ancient history of the Norwegian kings . 2nd Edition. Viking Society for Northern Research, University College London, London 2006, ISBN 978-0-903521-40-6 , pp. 66 (Original title: Historia de antiquitate regum norwagiensium . Translated by David McDougall, Ian McDougall).

[6] Theodoricus Monachus: An account of the ancient history of the Norwegian kings . 2nd Edition. Viking Society for Northern Research, University College London, London 2006, ISBN 978-0-903521-40-6 , pp. 11 (Original title: Historia de antiquitate regum norwagiensium . Translated by David McDougall, Ian McDougall).

[7] Njal's saga . The saga of Njal and the murderous fire. 3. Edition. LIT, Vienna / Zurich / Berlin / Münster 2011 (edited and translated by Hans-Peter Naumann), ISBN 978-3-03735-139-0 (Switzerland), ISBN 978-3-8258-8416-1 (Germany), p 180.

[snorri-8] Snorri Sturluson: The Story of King Olaf Tryggvissohn . In: Snorris Königsbuch (Heimskringla) (= Thule. Old Norse poetry and prose; 2nd row, vol. 14 ). 1. Vol. Diederichs, Jena 1922, p. 277 .

[9] Njal's saga . The saga of Njal and the murderous fire. 3. Edition. LIT, Vienna / Zurich / Berlin / Münster 2011 (edited and translated by Hans-Peter Naumann), ISBN 978-3-03735-139-0 (Switzerland), ISBN 978-3-8258-8416-1 (Germany), p 179.

[10] Njal's saga . The saga of Njal and the murderous fire. 3. Edition. LIT, Vienna / Zurich / Berlin / Münster 2011 (edited and translated by Hans-Peter Naumann), ISBN 978-3-03735-139-0 (Switzerland), ISBN 978-3-8258-8416-1 (Germany), p 180-182.

[11] Jenny Jochens: Late and Peaceful: Iceland's Conversion Through Arbitration in 1000 . In: Speculum . vol. 74, no. 3 , July 1999, p. 653 , doi : 10.2307 / 2886763 .

[12] Jón R. Hjálmarsson: The History of Iceland . Iceland Review, Reykjavík 1994, ISBN 9979-51-093-5 , pp. 30 .

[snorri288-13] Snorri Sturluson: The story of King Olaf Tryggvissohn . In: Snorris Königsbuch (Heimskringla) (= Thule. Old Norse poetry and prose; 2nd row, vol. 14 ). 1. Vol. Diederichs, Jena 1922, p. 288 .

[14] Snorri Sturluson: The Story of King Olaf Tryggvissohn . In: Snorris Königsbuch (Heimskringla) (= Thule. Old Norse poetry and prose; 2nd row, vol. 14 ). 1. Vol. Diederichs, Jena 1922, p. 285 .