Faroe stamp 495 Djurhuus poems - tronds chanting

Tróndur í Gøtu ( Icelandic: Þrándur í Götu,

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

Þrǫ́ndr í Gǫtu) (c. 945 – 1035) was a

Viking era The Viking Age () was the period during the Middle Ages when Norsemen known as Vikings undertook large-scale raiding, colonizing, conquest, and trading throughout Europe and reached North America. It followed the Migration Period and the Ger ...

chieftain from the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

Biography

Tróndur í Gøtu lived at his father's home in the village of Gøta on the island of

Eysturoy Eysturoy (pronounced estroimeaning 'East Island') is a region and the second-largest of the Faroe Islands, both in size and population. Description Eysturoy is separated by a narrow sound from the main island of Streymoy. Eysturoy is extremely ...

. Initially Tróndur and his brother Thorlac drew lots to decide who should inherit the estate. After losing, Thorlac went to live in neighbouring islands with his wife. The siblings eventually lived together at Gøta with their children. Tróndur opposed

Christianization Christianization ( or Christianisation) is to make Christian; to imbue with Christian principles; to become Christian. It can apply to the conversion of an individual, a practice, a place or a whole society. It began in the Roman Empire, conti ...

of the Faroes and pronounced a curse against the religion and rival chieftain Sigmundur Brestisson who was promulgating it. He and Sigmundur Brestisson are central figures in the ''

Færeyinga saga The Færeyinga saga (), the saga of the Faroe Islands, is the story of how the Faroe Islanders were converted to Christianity and became a part of Norway. Summary It was written in Iceland shortly after 1200. The author is unknown and the original ...

'', which tells the early history of the Faroe Islands and the coming of Christianity to the islands. This is also the subject of the poem "Gandkvæði Tróndar" by the Faroese poet Janus Djurhuus (1881–1948).

Icelandic saying

Færeyinga saga was written in Iceland shortly after 1200. The saga is the oldest recorded source of the history of the Faroe Islands. It is commonly believed to have relied upon oral testimonies from the Faroe Islands. Tróndur í Gøtu himself was probably unknown to most Icelanders, explaining why the words ''þrándur'' and ''götu'' may be commonly lower cased. Because Tróndur opposed royal taxation, Icelanders might think that ''þrándur'' literally means an obstacle. The

saying A saying is any concisely written or spoken expression that is especially memorable because of its meaning or style. Sayings are categorized as follows: * Aphorism: a general, observational truth; "a pithy expression of wisdom or truth". ** Adag ...

in the

Icelandic language Icelandic (; is, íslenska, link=no ) is a North Germanic language The North Germanic languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages—a sub-family of the Indo-European languages—along with the West Germanic lan ...

, ''vera einhverjum Þrándur í Götu'' (e. being someones Þrándur í Götu) or just ''að ''vera þrándur í götu'' (e. to be a þrándur í götu), means to be an obstacle to somebody.

In popular culture

To present day Faroese Tróndur í Gøtu is considered a national hero. The Faroese music band

Týr (; Old Norse: , ) is a god in Germanic mythology, a valorous and powerful member of the and patron of warriors and mythological heroes. In Norse mythology, which provides most of the surviving narratives about gods among the Germanic people ...

wrote a song called "Tróndur í Gøtu" in honor of this famous Faroese warrior which was released in 2009 on the album '' By the Light of the Northern Star.''

References

External links

Blásastova Museum and Tróndur í Gøtu’s Farm
11th-century Faroese people 1035 deaths 940s births Legendary Norsemen 10th-century Vikings 11th-century Vikings {{Faroes-bio-stub