Einarr Skúlason (c. 1100 – after 1159) was an

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

ic priest and

skald A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry in alliterative verse, the other being Eddic poetry. Skaldic poems were traditionally compo ...

. He was the most prominent Norse

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

of the 12th century. Einarr's poetry is primarily preserved in ''

Heimskringla () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland. While authorship of ''Heimskringla'' is nowhere attributed, some scholars assume it is written by the Icelandic poet and historian Snorri Sturluson (117 ...

'', ''

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

'', ''

Morkinskinna ''Morkinskinna'' is an Old Norse kings' saga, relating the history of Norwegian kings from approximately 1025 to 1157. The saga was written in Iceland around 1220, and has been preserved in a manuscript from around 1275. The name ''Morkinskinn ...

'', ''

Fagrskinna ''Fagrskinna'' ( ; ; trans. "Fair Leather" from the type of parchment) is one of the kings' sagas, written around 1220. It is assumed to be a source for what is known as the '' Heimskringla'', containing histories of Norwegian kings from the 9th ...

'' and ''

Skáldskaparmál ''Skáldskaparmál'' (Old Norse: 'Poetic Diction' or 'The Language of Poetry'; ; ) is the second part of the ''Prose Edda'', compiled by Snorri Sturluson. It consists of a dialogue between Ægir, the divine personification of the sea, and Bra ...

''. He was descended from the family of

Egill Skallagrímsson Egil Skallagrímsson ( ; Modern Icelandic: ; 904 995) was a Viking Age war poet, sorcerer, berserker, and farmer.Thorsson, 3 He is known mainly as the anti-hero of '' Egil's Saga''. ''Egil's Saga'' historically narrates a period from approx ...

, the so-called ''Mýramenn''. For most of his life he lived in Norway, during the reign of kings Sigurd Magnusson,

Harald Gille Harald Gille (, c. 1102 − 14 December 1136), also known as Harald IV, was king of Norway from 1130 until his death. His byname Gille is probably . Background Harald was born ca. 1102 in Ireland or the Hebrides, more likely the former. Accord ...

and the sons of the latter, especially Eysteinn Haraldsson, whose marshall he became. After Eysteinn's death in 1157, he composed the poem ''Elfarvísur'' for the nobleman (died 1161), referring to his victory over King Hákon Herdebrei at

Göta älv The (; "River of (the) Geats") is a river that drains lake Vänern into the Kattegat, at the city of Gothenburg, on the western coast of Sweden. It was formed at the end of the last glaciation, as an outflow channel from the Baltic Ice Lake to ...

Götaland Götaland (; also '' Gothia'', ''Gothland'', ''Gothenland'' or ''Gautland'') is one of three lands of Sweden and comprises ten provinces. Geographically it is located in the south of Sweden, bounded to the north by Svealand, with the deep wo ...

. The best known of Einarr's ''

drápur A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry in alliterative verse, the other being Eddic poetry. Skaldic poems were traditionally comp ...

'' is ''Geisli'' ("Ray of Light"), about St. Olaf Haraldsson. This ''drápa'' was recited in the Church of Christ in

Nidaros Nidaros, Niðarós or Niðaróss () was the medieval name of Trondheim when it was the capital of Norway's first Christian kings. It was named for its position at the mouth (Old Norse: ''óss'') of the River Nid (the present-day Nidelva). Althou ...

in the presence of the three Norwegian kings of the time,

Eysteinn Eysteinn (Swedish: Östen; died ca 600) was a semi-legendary king of Sweden, the son of Eadgils. He was the father of Ingvar. The Eysteinn tumulus ''(Östens hög)'' in Västerås near Östanbro has been linked to King Eysteinn by some popular ...

Sigurd Sigurd ( ) or Siegfried (Middle High German: ''Sîvrit'') is a legendary hero of Germanic heroic legend, who killed a dragon — known in Nordic tradition as Fafnir () — and who was later murdered. In the Nordic countries, he is referred t ...

and

Inge Inge is a given name in various Germanic language, Germanic language-speaking cultures. In Swedish and Norwegian, it is mostly used as a masculine, but less often also as a feminine name, sometimes as a short form of Ingeborg, while in Danish, Est ...

, along with

Jon Birgersson, Archbishop of Nidaros Jon Birgersson (died 24 February 1157) was a Norwegian clergyman, bishop, and the first archbishop of the archdiocese of Nidaros. His father's name was Birger, but his year of birth is unknown. He served as bishop of the diocese of Stavanger from 11 ...

. The poem is composed in the ''

dróttkvætt Old Norse poetry encompasses a range of verse forms written in the Old Norse language, during the period from the 8th century to as late as the far end of the 13th century. Old Norse poetry is associated with the area now referred to as Scandinav ...

'' metre and it is the earliest completely preserved ''drápa'' with Christian content.

Notes

References

External links

Einarr Skúlason
All extant poetry

Note

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skulason, Einarr Einarr Skulason Einarr Skulason Einarr Skulason Year of death unknown Year of birth unknown Einarr Skulason Year of birth uncertain