The bishops' saga (Old Norse and modern Icelandic ''biskupasaga'', modern Icelandic plural ''biskupasögur'', Old Norse plural ''biskupasǫgur'') is a genre of medieval Icelandic

saga 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 the Pl ...

s, mostly thirteenth- and earlier fourteenth-century prose histories dealing with bishops of Iceland's two medieval dioceses of

Skálholt Skálholt (Modern Icelandic: ; non, Skálaholt ) is a historical site in the south of Iceland, at the river Hvítá. History Skálholt was, through eight centuries, one of the most important places in Iceland. A bishopric was established in Sk� ...

and

Hólar Hólar (; also Hólar í Hjaltadal ) is a small community in the Skagafjörður district of northern Iceland. Location Hólar is in the Hjaltadalur valley, some from the national capital of Reykjavík. It has a population of around 100. It is th ...

Sagas about Skálholt bishops

* '' Hungrvaka'' (short biographies of the first five bishops of Skálholt, 1056–1176) * ''

Þorláks saga helga ''Þorláks saga helga'' (the saga of St Þorlákr) is a saga about Saint Þorlákr Þórhallsson (1133–93) and the main source of evidence for his life. Versions and attestations The earliest fragment of the saga is in Latin, surviving most i ...

'' (three redactions, including the earliest of the ''biskupa sögur'') * ''

Páls saga biskups ''Páls saga biskups'' (The Saga of bishop Páll) is an Old Norse account of the life of Páll Jónsson, bishop of the Icelandic episcopal see Skálholt. The saga is recorded in three seventeenth century manuscripts and subsequent copies: Stock. ...

'' (the saga of Þorlákr's successor

Páll Jónsson Páll Jónsson (1155 – November 29, 1211; Old Norse: ; Modern Icelandic: ) was an Icelandic Roman Catholic clergyman, who became the seventh bishop of Iceland from 1195 to 1211. He served in the diocese of Skálholt. His life is recorded in '' ...

, d. 1211) * ''

Árna saga biskups Arna ( el, Άρνα) is a village on the eastern slopes of the Taygetus mountain range, at an altitude of . Located in Laconia, in the Peloponnese, it used to form part of the municipal unit of Faris until 31 December 2010. Since 1 January 2011, ...

'' (composed c. 1300 about

Árni Þorláksson Árni Þorláksson (1237 – 17 April 1298; Old Norse: ; 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 nat ...

, d. 1298) Two '' þættir'' are also relevant: ''

Ísleifs þáttr biskups ''Ísleifs þáttr biskups'' (The Tale of Bishop Ísleifr) is a short Old Norse, Old Norse-Icelandic narrative which recounts two episodes from the life of Ísleifur Gissurarson, Ísleifr Gizurason, the first bishop of Iceland. The first episode rec ...

'' and '' Jóns þáttr Halldórssonar''.

Sagas about Hólar bishops

* ''Jóns saga helga'' (about

Jón Ögmundsson Jón Ögmundsson or Ogmundarson ( la, Ioannes Ögmundi filius; 1052–23 April 1121), also known as John of Holar and Jon Helgi Ogmundarson, was an Icelandic bishop and local Icelandic saint. In 1106, the second Icelandic diocese, Hólar, was c ...

, 1052–1121, in several different versions) * ''

Guðmundar saga biskups ''Guðmundar saga biskups'' or ''Guðmundar saga Arasonar'' is an Icelandic bishops' saga, existing in several different versions, recounting the life of Bishop Guðmundur Arason (1161–1237). Since the saga survives in different versions, it is ...

'' (about

Guðmundur Arason Guðmundur Arason (1161 – March 16, 1237; Modern Icelandic: ; Old Norse: ) was an influential 12th and 13th century Icelandic saintly bishop who took part in increasing the powers of the Catholic Church in medieval Iceland. His story is r ...

, 1161–1237, in several different versions) * '' Laurentius Saga'' (the latest of the ''biskupa sögur'', about

Lárentíus Kálfsson Lárentíus Kálfsson (medieval Icelandic Laurentius Kálfsson; 10 August 1267 – 16 April 1331) was bishop of the northern Icelandic diocese of Hólar 1324–31. Laurentius studied first with Þórarinn kaggi, his maternal uncle, in Vellir in ...

, 1267–31) Several of the Hólar sagas are associated with the

North Icelandic Benedictine School The North Icelandic Benedictine School (''Norðlenski Benediktskólinn'') is a fourteenth-century Icelandic literary movement, the lives, activities, and relationships of whose members are attested particularly by '' Laurentius saga biskups''. Thi ...

which flourished in the fourteenth century.

Editions

* The principal modern edition of these sagas is ''Biskupa sögur'',

Íslenzk fornrit Hið íslenzka fornritafélag, or The Old Icelandic Text Society is a text publication society. It is the standard publisher of Old Icelandic texts (such as the Sagas of Icelanders, Kings' sagas and bishops' sagas) with thorough introductions and c ...

, 15-17 (Reykjavík: Hið Íslenzka Fornritafélag, 2002–3). * * * A number of these sagas are edited and translated in

Sources

Icelandic literature Old Norse literature Bishops' sagas {{Iceland-saga-stub