Olaf ''Feilan'' Thorsteinsson (

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 ...

: ,

Modern Icelandic Icelandic (; is, íslenska, link=no ) is a North Germanic languages, 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 langua ...

: ; c. 890–940) was an

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 ...

gothi Gothi or (plural , fem. ; Old Norse: ) was a position of political and social prominence in the Icelandic Commonwealth. The term originally had a religious significance, referring to a pagan leader responsible for a religious structure and com ...

of the Settlement period. He was the son of Thorstein the Red, jarl of

Caithness Caithness ( gd, Gallaibh ; sco, Caitnes; non, Katanes) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Caithness has a land boundary with the historic county of Sutherland to the west and is otherwise bounded b ...

, and his wife Thurid Eyvindsdottir.''

Landnámabók (, "Book of Settlements"), often shortened to , is a medieval Icelandic written work which describes in considerable detail the settlement () of Iceland by the Norse in the 9th and 10th centuries CE. is divided into five parts and over ...

'', (translations: ) The

byname An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...

"'' feilan''" is derived from the

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writte ...

'' fáelán'', meaning ''wolfling'' or ''little wolf''. After the death of his father Olaf was reared by his grandmother Aud the Deep-minded, and emigrated with her to

, where they settled at the estate called Hvamm in the Laxardal region. Olaf married a woman named Alfdis of Barra, around 920. According to the '' Laxdæla saga'' Aud (called "Unn" in the saga) held Olaf dearer than anyone else, and bequested the Hvamm estate to him after her death. She arranged Olaf's betrothal to Alfdis, and planned the wedding feast for the end of summer (or autumn), which she predicted "would be the last feast I would hold". She indeed died during the festivities that lasted 3-days, but the feast was continued to commemorate both Olaf's marriage and Aud's death. The ''

'' gives briefer notice on this, merely stating she died during the funeral feast she held for herself in anticipation of her own death.''

'' (, "arval feast (funeral feast)"; ) The children of Olaf and Alfdis were Thord Gellir, Thora, Helga, Thorunn, and Thordis.''

'' ( ) Olaf died around 940. Shortly after his death, his nephew Hoskuld Dala-Kollsson named his illegitimate son

Olaf the Peacock Olaf the Peacock or Olaf Hoskuldsson (Old Norse: ; Modern Icelandic: ; c. 938–1006) was a merchant and chieftain of the early Icelandic Commonwealth, who was nicknamed "the Peacock" because of his proud bearing and magnificent wardrobe. He ...

as namesake, p.27 "Hoskuld's mistress gave birth to a male chidld.. He said it should be named Olaf, for Olaf Feilan had died a little time before, who was his mother's brother." (

had a son Kjartan Óláfsson, who was the beloved of Guðrún Ósvífrsdóttir, heroine of '' Laxdæla saga'').

Descendants

; Lines from Thord Gellir * — Eyjolf the Gray Thordarson — Thorkel Eyjolfsson (4th husband of Gudrun Osvifsdottir late in ''Laxdæla saga'')(Footnote to ''Laxdaela'' () * — Eyjolf the Gray Thordarson — Gellir — Thorgils — Ari the Learned. * — Thorkel Kuggi Thordarson — Thorstein Kuggason (also late in ''Laxdæla saga'') * — Thorhild Rjupa (the Ptarmigan), wife of Snorri — Thord Horsehead —

Thorfinn Karlsefni Thorfinn Karlsefni Thórdarson was an Icelandic explorer. Around the year 1010, he followed Leif Eriksson's route to Vinland in a short-lived attempt to establish a permanent settlement there with his wife Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir and their f ...

the explorer to

Vinland Vinland, Vineland, or Winland ( non, Vínland ᚠᛁᚾᛚᛅᚾᛏ) was an area of coastal North America explored by Vikings. Leif Erikson landed there around 1000 AD, nearly five centuries before the voyages of Christopher Columbus and Jo ...

Citations

References

;Texts and translations ;Ari the Learned, ''

'' * * * ;'' Laxdæla saga'' *; also "The Vinland Sagas," pp. 626–676 * * Njordur P. Njardvik cand. mag. Laxdaela saga Prentsmidjan Oddi 1970 Note s. 24 ;Other sagas * * Hollander, Lee, transl. ''Njal's Saga''. Wordsworth, 1999. *Scudder, Bernard, transl. ''Egil's Saga''. Penguin Classics, 2005. ;Studies *Byock, Jesse. ''Viking Age Iceland''. Penguin Books, 2001. *Forte, Angelo, Richard Oram and Frederik Pedersen.
Viking Empires
'. Cambridge University Press, 2005 . *Jones, Gwyn. ''A History of the Vikings.'' 2nd ed. London: Oxford Univ. Press, 1984. *Ordower, Henry. "Exploring the Literary Function of Law and Litigation in 'Njal's Saga.'" ''Cardozo Studies in Law and Literature'', Vol. 3, No. 1 (Spring – Summer 1991), pp. 41–61. {{DEFAULTSORT:Olaf Feilan Olaf Feilan Olaf Feilan 890s births Year of birth uncertain 940 deaths Goðar