Skallagrímur Kveldúlfsson

Skallagrímur Kveldúlfsson (actually Grímur Úlfsson ) (863–930s) was a Norwegian Viking , skald and one of the first settlers in Iceland . He was married to Bera Yngvarsdóttir and father of Egill Skallagrimson , the main character in the Egils saga . He was actually called Grímur, but since he was bald (Altisl. Skalli 'bald') at a young age , he was called Skallagrímur.

Skallagrímur was the son of Kveldúlfur Bjálfason and Salbjörg Káradóttir . Skallagrímur's brother Þórólf Kveldúlfsson was a bodyguard of the Norwegian king Haraldr hárfagri and had distinguished himself in the battle in Hafrsfjord. After disagreements with King Harald, he had Þórólf killed. Skallagrímur then left Norway with his entire family . He was related to Ketill hængur Þorkelsson on his mother's side.

Since Skallagrímur was a friend of Ingólfur Arnarson , he had heard of his trip to Iceland. Skallagrímur and his father Kveldúlfur (“evening wolf” because he is said to have become as shy and misanthropic as a wolf at nightfall) then traveled to Iceland, each in his own ship. Kveldúlfur died on the arduous journey. His coffin was thrown overboard and drifted into the bay of Borgarnes . Skallagrímur followed the coffin and sat down in Borgarnes, more precisely in Borg á Mýrum .

The following stanza is attributed to Skallagrímur. With its end-to-end rhymes , it is a specialty. End rhymes appear for the first time in Nordic skaldic poetry in the poem Höfuðlausn , written by Skallagrímur's son Egill Skallagrímsson . Egill was influenced by England, where end rhymes were found in Latin poetry. It is conceivable that Skallagrímur introduced the end rhymes into the Nordic Skaldic poetry. He knew how to make up stanzas, and Egill might have inherited his talent; What seems more credible, however, is that Egill put the stanza into his father's mouth in later stories.

Nú's hersis hefnd

við hilmi efnd;

gengr ulfr ok ǫrn

of ynglings bǫrn.

Flugu hǫggvin hræ

Hallvarðs á sæ.

Grár slítr undir

ari snarfara.

literature

• Egil's saga Skalla-Grímssonar

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Egils saga , § 1

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 .