Oddi ( Icelandic: ) is a small village and church at Rangárvellir in

Rangárvallasýsla Iceland was historically divided into 23 counties known as ''sýslur'' (), and 23 independent towns known as ''kaupstaðir'' (). Iceland is now split up between 24 sýslumenn (magistrates) that are the highest authority over the local police ( ...

, Iceland. Oddi at Rangárvellir was a cultural and learning center in South

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

. There has been a church at Oddi since the introduction of Christianity. The current church at Oddi dates from 1924. For centuries Oddi (

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

: ) was the central home of the powerful family,

Oddaverjar The Oddaverjar (Old Norse: ; Modern Icelandic: ) were a powerful family clan in the medieval Icelandic Commonwealth. They were based in Oddi at in South Iceland. Their ascendancy was during the second half of the 12th century, but their power subs ...

. The two best known leaders in Oddi were Sæmundur Sigfússon the Learned (1056-1133) and his grandson

Jón Loftsson Jón Loftsson (1124–1197; Modern Icelandic: ; 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 and Þóra M ...

(1124-1197). The famous historian

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 ...

(1178-1241) was brought up and educated in Oddi by Jón Loftsson. It has been suggested that the name of the

Edda "Edda" (; Old Norse ''Edda'', plural ''Eddur'') is an Old Norse term that has been attributed by modern scholars to the collective of two Medieval Icelandic literary works: what is now known as the ''Prose Edda'' and an older collection of poem ...

is derived from Oddi. The derivation of ''Edda'' from ''Oddi'' proposed in 1895 by Eiríkr Magnússon is discussed and rejected by Anatoly Liberman, "Ten Scandinavian and North English Etymologies,
''Alvíssmál'' 6 (1996): 63–98
here pp. 67–70. On the derivation of ''Edda'' see also Anatoly Liberman, "An Addendum to 'Ten Scandinavian and North English Etymologies' (''Edda'' and ''glide/gleiten''),
''Alvíssmál'' 7 (1997): 101–4
here pp. 101–2. Iceland's patron saint Þorlákur Þórhallsson received his education at Oddi from the age of nine (1142-1147) and looked upon the priest Eyjólfur Saemundsson as his foster-father. Þorlákur received Holy Orders in the Diaconate at the age of fifteen and then the Catholic priesthood at age eighteen.

References

Medieval Iceland Geography of Iceland {{Iceland-geo-stub