Ásbirningar Family Clan
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The Ásbirnings or Ásbirningar (
Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was 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 ...
: ;
Modern Icelandic Icelandic ( ; , ) is a North Germanic language from the Indo-European language family spoken by about 314,000 people, the vast majority of whom live in Iceland, where it is the national language. Since it is a West Scandinavian language, it ...
: ) were a powerful family clan in the medieval
Icelandic Commonwealth The Icelandic Commonwealth, also known as the Icelandic Free State, was the political unit existing in Iceland between the establishment of the Althing () in 930 and the pledge of fealty to the Norwegian king with the Old Covenant in 1262. W ...
. They dominated
Skagafjörður Skagafjörður () is a deep fjord and its valley in northern Iceland. Location Skagafjörður, the fjord, is about 40 km long and 15 km wide, situated between Tröllaskagi to the east and the Skagi, Skagi Peninsula to the west. Ther ...
in the 12th and 13th centuries until their last leader died in the
Battle of Haugsnes The Battle of Haugsnes () was fought at Haugsnes, a low peninsula south of Flugumýri in Skagafjörður, Northern Iceland. The battle took place on April 19, 1246 between the forces of Þórður kakali Sighvatsson and those of Brandur Kolbeinsso ...
(''Haugsnesbardagi'') in 1246. The Ásbirnings were well-known warriors and politicians. The best known Ásbirning is probably
Kolbeinn Tumason Kolbeinn Tumason (Old Norse: ; Modern Icelandic: ; 1173–1208) was a member of the Ásbirningar family clan, and was one of the most powerful chieftains in Iceland around the turn of the 13th century. His power was probably at its height around 12 ...
, a famous Icelandic poet. Other well known Ásbirningur were Kolbeinn ungi Arnórsson, nephew of Kolbeinn Tumason, and scholar
Ingunn Arnórsdóttir Ingunn Arnórsdóttir (12th century; Old Norse: ; Modern Icelandic: ), was an Icelandic scholar. She belonged to the Ásbirningar family clan and was the daughter of Arnór Ásbjarnarson and sister of Kolbeinn Arnórsson. She was the first woman ...
.


References

* Árni Daníel Júlíusson, Jón Ólafur Ísberg, Helgi Skúli Kjartansson ''Íslenskur sögu atlas: 1. bindi: Frá öndverðu til 18. aldar'' Almenna bókafélagið, Reykjavík 1989 Icelandic family clans 12th century in Iceland 13th century in Iceland {{Europe-hist-stub