Sæmundur fróði

Sæmundur Sigfússon ( inn fróði ) (* 1056 in Oddi ; † May 22, 1133 ), usually simply "Sæmundur fróði" (= German Sæmundur, the scholar ) called, was a priest and scholar in Iceland .

Family and origin

He was the son of the priest Sigfús Loðmundarsson in Oddi and his wife Þórey Eyjólfsdóttir. This came from Guðmundr the rich (hinn ríki) and Hall Þorsteinsson , the most powerful gods in the country, who were supposedly related to the kings of Norway . His two brothers were Valgarðr and Rúnólfr, who both appear in the Njáls saga . Rúnólfr was an opponent of Christianity. He was married to the daughter of Andres Brunsson and his wife Solveig from Kongehelle in Bohuslän . Her sons were Pål Flip, Gunnar Fis and Lopt. He also had an illegitimate son, Åsmund.

Sæmundur is said to have been married to a Guðrún who is said to have written most of the myths about him after his death, in particular that he had mastered the "black art", as the Icelandic bishops say.

Study abroad and relationships abroad

Sæmundur fróði is said to be one of the first Icelanders to travel abroad to study. Ari inn fróði writes that he came home from southern France . The episcopal saga "Jóns saga helga" states that Saint Jón Ögmundsson brought him back from abroad, but without specifying where from. The younger source Oddaannálar og Oddverjaannáll claims that he came back from Paris . There is also the assumption that he was in the border area between Germany and France, others suspect him in the cathedral school of Notre Dame and also in other places.

His son Lopt married Þora Magnusdatter, the illegitimate daughter of King Magnus Berrføtt . At the end of his life he had good connections with Archbishop Asker in Lund and King Sigurd Jorsalfare . This can also be seen in the fact that his son, Sæmundur fróðis grandson Jón Loptsson, grew up in Kongehelle in Bohuslän near Gothenburg , i.e. near the king.

Probable works

Sæmundur fróði soon became famous for his scholarship and especially for his knowledge of history.

But nothing in writing has survived from him. On the other hand, there is agreement that he wrote a story of the Norwegian kings. Probably, like most other scholars of the time, he wrote his writings in Latin; because Ari inn fróði claims that he himself wrote a story on Norrøn for the first time. In the first stanzas of the " Nóregs konunga tal ", in which the Norwegian kings are listed, Sæmundur is mentioned as an informant for the royal line from Halfdan the Black to Magnus the Good . The information in the " Nóregs konunga tal " is very short, but from the Óláfs ​​saga of Oddr Snorrason, which also mentions the Sæmundur, it can be inferred that he had written much more about the individual kings.

He is also said to have participated in the Íslendingabók and in the formulation of the Christian Law of 1033 and the Titles of 1096.

In learned writings of the 17th century, other texts were ascribed to him that can be proven not to be from him, such as the Sæmundar Edda . This theory about the authorship of the Edda probably came from the scholar Jón lærði Guðmundsson († 1648). After him, they adopted many scholars.

Folk legend figure

There are many folk tales about Sæmundur, some of which are said to date back to the 13th century.

Soon after his death, he was considered a "troll-savvy" man and was associated with occult practices. He supposedly could fly through the air, and there are some fist motifs in the myths about him. The most famous is that on the way home Sæmundur made a pact with the devil that he would bring him dry from France to Iceland in return for his soul. The devil then turns into a large seal on which Sæmundur rides. Shortly before the Icelandic shore, he pulls out a Bible and hits the seal devil on the head, causing it to sink. In doing so, Sæmundur outwits the devil and saves his soul.

Ásmundur Sveinsson depicted this legend with a sculpture in front of the University of Reykjavík.

literature

• Sverrir Tómasson: Sæmundr Sigfússon . In: Reallexikon der Germanischen Altertumskunde, vol. 26, p. 76 f. Berlin 2004.
• Björn Þorsteinsson: Historieskrivning, Iceland . In: Kulturhistorisk leksikon for nordisk middelalder. Vol. 6, Col. 597-602. Copenhagen 1961.
• Jon Megaard: The Man Who Did Not Write the Edda. Sæmundr fróði and the Birth of Icelandic Literature . 12th International Saga Conference. Bonn July 28 - August 2, 2003.
• Njörður P. Njarðvik: The devil's pipe - Saemundur the scholar and his business with the devil . Iceland Review, Reykjavík 1995
• Rudolf Simek: Saemundr Sigfússon hinn fróði . In: Lexikon des Mittelalters, Vol. 7 (Planudes bis Stadt (Rus')), Darmstadt undated, Sp. 1249.
• Jürg Glauser: ISLAND - A History of Literature , JB Metzler, Stuttgart 2011.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Glauser p. 90 f.

Note: Icelanders are referred to by their first name or first and last name, but not just their surname. Further information can be found under Icelandic personal name .