Jón Loftsson (1124–1197;

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 chieftain of Oddi at Rangárvellir in the south part of Iceland. Jón Loftsson was a member of the Oddaverjar family clan. His parents were

Loftur Sæmundsson Loftur Sæmundsson (died 1163; Modern Icelandic: ; Old Norse: ) was a chieftain of Oddi at Rangárvellir in the south part of Iceland. He was a member of the Oddaverjar family clan and was the son of Sæmundur fróði who had established a sc ...

and

Þóra Magnúsdóttir Þóra Magnúsdóttir (born c. 1100; Old Norse: ; Modern Icelandic: ; Modern Norwegian: ) was a daughter of King Magnus III of Norway (''Magnus 3 Olavsson Berrføtt''). Þóra married an Icelandic man and moved to Iceland. Her husband, Loftur S� ...

. His paternal grand-father was Sæmundur Sigfússon ('' Sæmundr fróði''). His maternal grand-father was King Magnus III of Norway. He was educated at Konghelle (''Kungahälla'') in

Bohuslän Bohuslän (; da, Bohuslen; no, Båhuslen) is a Swedish province in Götaland, on the northernmost part of the country's west coast. It is bordered by Dalsland to the northeast, Västergötland to the southeast, the Skagerrak arm of the North Sea ...

(''Båhuslen'') which at that time a royal center of the Kingdom of Norway. Jón Loftsson was married to Halldóra Brandsdatter with whom he had several children. Jón Loftsson was one of the most popular chieftains and politician of his age in the country. The poem '' Nóregs konungatal'' was composed for Jón Loftsson and recounts his descent from the Norwegian royal line. At a young age, the great scholar

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 ...

was fostered and educated by Jón Loftsson. In 1179, he participated and was victorious in the conflicts between bishops of the Diocese of Skálholt and secular rulers. Known as ''Staðarmál'', the conflict dealt principally with control over Church lands. After Jón died the family at Oddi was still the most powerful family in Iceland but their power soon began to go downhill after his death.

References

External links

Islendingabók (Book of Icelanders)
1124 births 1197 deaths Jon Loftsson Jon Loftsson Goðar {{Iceland-bio-stub