''Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta'' or ''The Greatest Saga of Óláfr Tryggvason'' is generically a hybrid of different types of sagas and compiled from various sources in the fourteenth century, but is most akin to one of the

kings' sagas Kings' sagas ( is, konungasögur, nn, kongesoger, -sogor, nb, kongesagaer) are Old Norse sagas which principally tell of the lives of semi-legendary and legendary (mythological, fictional) Nordic kings, also known as saga kings. They were comp ...

. It is an extended biography of King

Óláfr Tryggvason Olaf Tryggvason (960s – 9 September 1000) was King of Norway from 995 to 1000. He was the son of Tryggvi Olafsson, king of Viken (Vingulmark, and Rånrike), and, according to later sagas, the great-grandson of Harald Fairhair, first King of No ...

and relates in detail the conversion to Christianity of Óláfr Tryggvason and

Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld Hallfreðr Óttarsson or Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld (''Troublesome Poet'') (c. 965 – c. 1007) was an Icelandic skald. He is the protagonist of ''Hallfreðar saga'' according to which he was the court poet first of Hákon Sigurðarson, then of Ó ...

. Composed around 1300 it takes '' Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar'' in Snorri Sturluson's ''

Heimskringla ''Heimskringla'' () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorre Sturlason (1178/79–1241) 1230. The name ''Heimskringla'' was first used in the 17th century, derive ...

'' as its base but expands the narrative greatly with content from the previous biographies of the king by Oddr Snorrason and Gunnlaugr Leifsson as well as less directly related material. The saga is preserved in a number of manuscripts which can be divided into two groups; an earlier redaction preserved in the manuscripts ''AM 53 fol.'', ''AM 54 fol.'', ''AM 61 fol.'', ''

Bergsbók ''Bergsbók'' is an Icelandic manuscript from the early 15th century. It contains the kings' sagas ''Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta'', a long version of ''Óláfs saga helga'' and several short texts and poems, mostly associated with the two ...

'' and ''Húsafellsbók''. The second group is a later redaction preserved in ''AM 62 fol.'' and ''

Flateyjarbók ''Flateyjarbók'' (; "Book of Flatey") is an important medieval Icelandic manuscript. It is also known as GkS 1005 fol. and by the Latin name ''Codex Flateyensis''. It was commissioned by Jón Hákonarson and produced by the priests and scribes ...

''. The saga incorporates a number of '' þættir'' and shorter

sagas is a series of science fantasy role-playing video games by Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the creation of Akitoshi Kawazu at Square. It has since continued across multiple platforms, from the Super NES to th ...

, some preserved nowhere else.

Manuscripts

* AM 53 fol. * AM 54 fol. * AM 61 fol. * GKS 1005 fol. (''

'') * Stock. Perg. fol. no. 1 (''

'')

Editions

* * * *

References

External links

The Saga of King Olaf Tryggwason
An 1895 English translation (als
at the Internet Archive

Hèr hefr upp Sögu Ólafs konúngs Tryggvasonar
Text based primarily on ''AM 61 fol.''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Olafs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta Kings' sagas Flateyjarbók

Manuscripts

Editions

See also

References

External links