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

saga Sagas are prose stories and histories, composed in Iceland and to a lesser extent elsewhere in Scandinavia. The most famous saga-genre is the (sagas concerning Icelanders), which feature Viking voyages, migration to Iceland, and feuds between ...

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

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

and

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

Sagas about Skálholt bishops

* ''

Hungrvaka ''Hungrvaka'' ("Hunger-waker") is an Old Norse history of the first five bishops of Skálholt. The text covers the period from the formation of the Icelandic church to 1178. As the text refers to Saint Thorlak (acknowledged 1198), Jón Ögmundsso ...

'' (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) was an Icelandic Roman Catholic clergyman, who became the seventh bishop of Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic ...

, d. 1211) * '' Árna saga biskups'' (composed c. 1300 about

Árni Þorláksson Árni Þorláksson (1237 – 17 April 1298; Old Norse: ; Modern Icelandic: ) was an Icelandic Roman Catholic clergyman, who became the tenth bishop of Iceland (1269–1298). He served in the diocese of Skálholt Skálholt (Modern Icelandic ...

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

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

'' and '' Jóns þáttr Halldórssonar''.

Sagas about Hólar bishops

* ''Jóns saga helga'' (about

Jón Ögmundsson Jón Ögmundsson or Ögmundarson (; 1052–23 April 1121), also known as John of Hólar and St. Jón Ögmundarson or Ögmundsson (), was an Icelandic Catholic bishop. In 1106, the second Icelandic diocese, Hólar, was created in the north of Ice ...

, 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; ) 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 recorded in several manuscrip ...

, 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 a ...

, 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