Árni beiskur or Árni the Bitter (died 22 October 1253;
Modern Icelandic
Icelandic (; is, íslenska, link=no ) is a North Germanic language spoken by about 314,000 people, the vast majority of whom live in Iceland, where it is the national language. Due to being a West Scandinavian language, it is most closely re ...
: ;
Old Norse: ) was an
Icelander. He was a follower of
Gissur Þorvaldsson who undertook the task of killing
Snorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of the ...
.
''
Íslendinga saga'' reports the event in an almost newspaper style:
''After that they discovered where Snorri was and those entered the cellar: Markús Marðarson, Símon knútur, Árni beiskur, Þorsteinn Guðinason, Þórarinn Ásgrímsson. Símon knútur asked Árni beiskur to kill him.
''Thou shalt not hew, said Snorri.''
''Hew thou, said Símon.''
''Thou shalt not hew, said Snorri.''
''Then Árni dealt him a fatal blow, and after that both he and Þorsteinn added further injuries.''
It would have been an act of irony, if the killer of Iceland's greatest writer of the
Middle Ages had escaped punishment. He didn't.
He was captured in another battle and executed (
Flugumýrarbrenna). He didn't ask for mercy, and the last words spoken of him were those of Kolbeinn Dufgusson: ''Nobody remembers Snorri Sturluson, if you are to be spared.''
Árni beiskur is otherwise an obscure character in Icelandic history, but his own last words, as recorded, point to a certain strength of character. In the words of
Íslendinga saga, after he had run out from
Flugumýrarbrenna, being aged, he stumbled and lay defenseless:
''Árni beiskur is here, says he, and I will not ask for clemency. I also see that not far from me lies another whom I wish to follow.'' (The one lying beside him was Hallur Gissurarson, son of Gissur Þorvaldsson).
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13th-century Icelandic people
1253 deaths
Year of birth unknown
Place of birth unknown