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Þáttr Ólafs Geirstaða Alfs
"Þáttr Ólafs Geirstaða Alfs" is a ''þáttr '', a short anecdotal story, about the semi-legendary Norse king Olaf Geirstad-Alf. It is preserved in ''Flateyjarbók'', a saga collection that was written at the end of the 14th century. Olaf Geirstad Alf, who is also one of the kings who appear in the poem ''Ynglingatal'', is said to have been king of Vestfold or Grenland in Norway in the late 9th century. Content "Þáttr Ólafs Geirstaða Alfs" consists of four short chapters. The first is about Olaf's family background and the farm of Geirstad where he reportedly lived. A verse from ''Ynglingatal'' is also reproduced here. The second chapter is about Olaf's dream. The author recounts that Olaf called a thing on his farm to tell people about a dream he had had, in which a black bull that came through the country, killing a lot of people, and at last it killed Olaf's hird. Olaf thought that this dream was a warning of disease and famine coming. He therefore asked the people at ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
þáttr
The ''þættir'' (Old Norse singular ''þáttr'', literally meaning a "strand" of rope or yarn)O'Donoghue (2004:226). are short stories written mostly in Iceland during the 13th and 14th centuries. The majority of ''þættir'' occur in two compendious manuscripts, ''Morkinskinna'' and ''Flateyjarbók'', and within them most are found as digressions within kings' sagas. Sverrir Tómasson regards those in ''Morkinskinna'', at least, as ''exempla'' or illustrations inseparable from the narratives that contain them, filling out the picture of the kings' qualities, good and bad, as well as adding comic relief.Sverrir Tómasson (2006:111-13). Íslendinga þættir The short tales of Icelanders or ''Íslendinga þættir'' focus on Icelanders, often relating the story of their travels abroad to the court of a Norwegian king. List of short tales: * ''Albani þáttr ok Sunnifu'' * '' Arnórs þáttr jarlaskálds'' * '' Auðunar þáttr vestfirzka'' * ''Bergbúa þáttr'' * '' Bolla þáttr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tumulus
A tumulus (plural tumuli) is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds or ''kurgans'', and may be found throughout much of the world. A cairn, which is a mound of stones built for various purposes, may also originally have been a tumulus. Tumuli are often categorised according to their external apparent shape. In this respect, a long barrow is a long tumulus, usually constructed on top of several burials, such as passage graves. A round barrow is a round tumulus, also commonly constructed on top of burials. The internal structure and architecture of both long and round barrows has a broad range; the categorization only refers to the external apparent shape. The method of may involve a dolmen, a cist, a mortuary enclosure, a mortuary house, or a chamber tomb. Examples of barrows include Duggleby Howe and Maeshowe. Etymology The word ''tumulus'' is Latin for 'mound' or 'small hill', which is derived from th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Heimskringla
''Heimskringla'' () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorre Sturlason (1178/79–1241) 1230. The name ''Heimskringla'' was first used in the 17th century, derived from the first two words of one of the manuscripts (''kringla heimsins'', "the circle of the world"). ''Heimskringla'' is a collection of sagas about Swedish and Norwegian kings, beginning with the saga of the legendary Swedish dynasty of the Ynglings, followed by accounts of historical Norwegian rulers from Harald Fairhair of the 9th century up to the death of the pretender Eystein Meyla in 1177. The exact sources of the Snorri's work are disputed, but they include earlier kings' sagas, such as Morkinskinna, Fagrskinna and the 12th-century Norwegian synoptic histories and oral traditions, notably many skaldic poems. He explicitly names the now lost work ''Hryggjarstykki'' as his source for the events of the mid-12th century. Although Sno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Nordic Society Of Antiquaries
The Royal Nordic Society of Antiquaries ( da, Det Kongelige Nordiske Oldskriftselskab; is, Hið konunglega norræna fornfræðafélag) was founded in Denmark on 28 January 1825 by among others Carl Christian Rafn and Rasmus Rask. The company's aim is to promote Norse literature, history and archaeology. The society was first royal on 9 May 1828. The Society publishes ''Aarbøger for nordisk Oldkyndighed og Historie'' The Society has also published works by Christian Jürgensen Thomsen, ''Ledetraad Nordic Oldkyndighed'' (1836), Carl Christian Rafn, ''Antiquitates Americanae'' (1837), ''konung skuggsjá (Kongespeilet)'' in Danish translation by Finnur Jónsson Finnur Jónsson (May 29, 1858 – March 30, 1934) was an Icelandic-Danish philologist and Professor of Nordic Philology at the University of Copenhagen. He made extensive contributions to the study of Old Norse literature. Finnur Jónsson was b ... (1926) and his ''Lexicon poeticum antiquæ linguæ septentrionalis: Ordbo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saint Olaf
Olaf II Haraldsson ( – 29 July 1030), later known as Saint Olaf (and traditionally as St. Olave), was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. Son of Harald Grenske, a petty king in Vestfold, Norway, he was posthumously given the title ''Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae'' ( en, Eternal/Perpetual King of Norway) and canonised at Nidaros (Trondheim) by Bishop Grimkell, one year after his death in the Battle of Stiklestad on 29 July 1030. His remains were enshrined in Nidaros Cathedral, built over his burial site. His sainthood encouraged the widespread adoption of Christianity by Scandinavia's Vikings/Norsemen. Pope Alexander III confirmed Olaf's local canonisation in 1164, making him a recognised saint of the Catholic Church and started to be known as ''Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae'' – ''eternal king of Norway''. Following the Reformation he was a commemorated historical figure among some members of the Lutheran and Anglican Communions. The saga of Olav Haraldsson and the legend of Olaf the Sai ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Åsta Gudbrandsdatter
Åsta Gudbrandsdatter (c. 975/980 – c. 1020/1030) was the mother of two Norwegian kings, King Olaf II of Norway and King Harald III of Norway. The primary source for the life of Åsta is Snorri Sturluson's saga Heimskringla, a 13th-century collection of tales about the lives of the Norwegian kings. In the chronicle, Åsta is described as "generous and high-minded" and as a keen political player and guiding influence on her royal husbands and children. Her parents were Gudbrand Kula and Ulfhild. Wife of Harald Grenske Åsta Gudbrandsdatter first appears in Snorri's 'Saga of King Olaf Tryggvason' as the wife of Harald Grenske (Grenski), ruler of Vestfold. In the summer of 994, although already married to Åsta, Harald traveled to the Baltic and proposed marriage to his foster-sister Sigrid. He had learned that her landholdings in Sweden were no less extensive than his own in Norway, and promised to abandon Åsta, who although "good and clever" was not as well-born as he was ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Viken, Norway
Viken (Old Norse: Vík or Víkin), or Vika, was the historical name during the Viking Age and the High Middle Ages for an area of Scandinavia that originally surrounded the Oslofjord and included the coast of Bohuslän. Its definition changed over time, and from the Middle Ages, Viken included only Bohuslän. During the Viking Age, Viken was defined as the strait running between Norway and the southwest coast of Sweden and the Jutland peninsula of Denmark. It is located in what is now southeastern Norway and the southwestern Swedish province of Bohuslän. During the Viking Age, Viken was the northernmost Danish province. Control over Viken shifted between Danish and Norwegian kings in the Middle Ages, and Denmark continued to claim Viken until 1241. ''Viken'' was also controversially chosen as a neologistic name for the administrative region consisting of a merger of the counties of Akershus, Buskerud, and Østfold. History The cultural hub is centred in Oslo, but the capital of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Olaf Tryggvasson
Olaf Tryggvason (960s – 9 September 1000) was King of Norway from 995 to 1000. He was the son of Tryggvi Olafsson, king of Viken (Vingulmark, and Rånrike), and, according to later sagas, the great-grandson of Harald Fairhair, first King of Norway. He is numbered as Olaf I. Olaf is seen as an important factor in the conversion of the Norse to Christianity. He is said to have built the first Christian church in Norway, in 995, and to have founded the city of Trondheim in 997. A statue of Olaf Tryggvason is located in the city's central plaza. Historical information on Olaf is sparse. He is mentioned in some contemporary English sources, and some skaldic poems. The oldest narrative source mentioning him briefly is Adam of Bremen's ''Gesta Hammaburgensis ecclesiae pontificum'' of ''circa'' 1070. In the 1190s, two Latin versions of ''"Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar"'' were written in Iceland, by Oddr Snorrason and by Gunnlaugr Leifsson – these are now lost, but are thought to for ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harald Grenske
Harald Grenske (10th century) was a petty king in Vestfold in Norway. Harald Grenske was the son of Gudrød Bjørnsson. Gudrød is claimed to have been grandson of Harald Fairhair and the king of Vestfold. Harald's cognomen ''Grenske'' is due to his being raised in the district of Grenland, Norway. When Harald was only 11 years old, his father was slain by the sons of Gunnhild Gormsdóttir (i.e. Harald Greyhide and his brothers). Harald fled to Oppland and from there to Sweden, where he stayed with the powerful strongman Skagul Toste. They went on Viking expeditions together, principally within areas of the Baltic Sea. When the sons of Gunnhild had been banished, Harald Grenske followed Haakon Sigurdsson who ruled Norway as a vassal of the Danish king Harald Bluetooth. Harald became the king of Vestfold and Agder. He married Åsta, the daughter of Gudbrand Kula. Harald subsequently abandoned Åsta to woo Sigrid the Haughty, the daughter of Skagul Toste. She was the wealthy wid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hird
The hird (also named "Håndgangne Menn" in Norwegian), in Scandinavian history, was originally an informal retinue of personal armed companions, hirdmen or housecarls, but came to mean not only the nucleus ('Guards') of the royal army, but also developed into a more formal royal court household. Etymology The term comes from Old Norse ''hirð'', (meaning Herd) again from either Old English ''hir(e)d'' 'household, family, retinue, court'See for instance, 'hirð' in Cleasby-Vigfusson, ''Icelandic-English Dictionary''online copy/ref> or perhaps the old German cognate ''heirat'' 'marriage', both of which can mean "body of men" or more directly linked to the term for hearthguard, or men of one's own home and hearth. History While the term is often used in Norse sagas and law codices, it is a medieval term – the sagas were primarily written down in the 12th century using the language of their own time. There is some uncertainty as to what the term replaced, although the term ''h ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anecdote
An anecdote is "a story with a point", such as to communicate an abstract idea about a person, place, or thing through the concrete details of a short narrative or to characterize by delineating a specific quirk or trait. Occasionally humorous, anecdotes differ from jokes because their primary purpose is not simply to provoke laughter but to reveal a truth more general than the brief tale itself. Anecdotes may be real or fictional; the anecdotal digression is a common feature of literary works and even oral anecdotes typically involve subtle exaggeration and dramatic shape designed to entertain the listener. An anecdote is always presented as the recounting of a real incident involving actual people and usually in an identifiable place. In the words of Jürgen Hein, they exhibit "a special realism" and "a claimed historical dimension" . Etymology and usage The word ''anecdote'' (in Greek: ἀνέκδοτον "unpublished", literally "not given out") comes from Procopius of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thing (assembly)
A thing, german: ding, ang, þing, enm, thing. (that is, "assembly" or folkmoot) was a governing assembly in early Germanic society, made up of the free people of the community presided over by a lawspeaker. Things took place at regular intervals, usually at prominent places that were accessible by travel. They provided legislative functions, as well as being social events and opportunities for trade. In modern usage, the meaning of this word in English and other languages has shifted to mean not just an assemblage of some sort but simply an object of any sort. Earliest reference and etymology The first detailed description of a thing was made by Tacitus in AD 98. Tacitus suggested that the things were annual delegate-based meetings that served legal and military functions. The oldest written reference of the thing is on a stone pillar found along Hadrian's Wall at Housestead in the UK. It is dated AD 43-410 and reads: "DEO MARTI THINCSO ET DUABUS ALAISIAGIS BEDE ET FI ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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