Thorolf Skallagrímsson (
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 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 ...
: ) is an Icelandic character in
Egils saga. He is brother of
Egill Skallagrímsson
Egil Skallagrímsson (Old Norse: ; Modern Icelandic: ; 904 995) was a Viking Age war poet, sorcerer, berserker, and farmer.Thorsson, 3 He is known mainly as the anti-hero of ''Egils saga, Egil's Saga''. ''Egil's Saga'' historically narrates a p ...
and oldest son of
Skallagrím Kveldulfsson and Bera Yngvarsdóttur. He closely resembles in looks and manner his uncle and namesake,
Thorolf Kveldulfsson
Thorolf Kveldulfsson was the oldest son of Kveldulf Bjalfasson and brother of the Norwegian/Icelandic goði and skald Skalla-Grimr. His ancestor (great uncle) Hallbjorn was nicknamed "halftroll", possibly indicating Norwegian-Sami ancestry.
H ...
.
Thorolf is well known for his travels with Bjorn and giving his own ship to
Eric Bloodaxe to help lessen the grudge held against him by Eric’s father
Harald Fairhair
Harald Fairhair no, Harald hårfagre Modern Icelandic: ( – ) was a Norwegian king. According to traditions current in Norway and Iceland in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, he reigned from 872 to 930 and was the first King of Nor ...
. This grudge was in place due to Thorolf’s father and grandfather seeking revenge by killing Harald’s servants for Thorolf Kveldulsson’s murder.
The feud between Skallagrim and Bloodaxe, however, continued with the present of a poorly crafted axe that Skallagrim tried to return to Bloodaxe but Thorolf instead intercepted the return and in turn gave Harald thanks instead. Thorolf’s downfall came during a battle fighting for King
Athelstan against King Olaf’s army, after which his brother Egil buried him.
References
*Thorsson, Örnólfur, et al. "Egil's Saga." ''The Sagas of the Icelanders.'' trans: Bernard Scudder (Penguin Classics, 2000).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thorolf Skallagrimsson
10th-century Icelandic people