Gissur Þorvaldsson (;

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 ...

: ; 1208 – 12 January 1268) was a medieval Icelandic chieftain or '' goði'' of the Haukdælir family clan, and great-grandson of Jón Loftsson. Gissur played a major role in the period of civil war which is now known as Age of the Sturlungs: he fought alongside Kolbeinn the Young against the forces of

Sturla Sighvatsson Sturla Sighvatsson (Old Norse: ; Modern Icelandic: ; 1199 – 21 August 1238) was an Icelandic chieftain or '' goði'' of the Sturlungar family clan who played an active role in the armed conflicts in Iceland during the Age of the Sturlungs ...

of the Sturlungar clan in the Battle of Örlygsstaðir in 1238 and led the force of men who murdered saga-writer

Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of th ...

in 1241, at the behest of Haakon IV, King of Norway, who demanded Snorri's return to Norway for disobeying his order to stay at his court following Jarl Skúli's failed coup. In 1253, Gissur's son was wedded to Sturla Þórðarson's daughter Ingibjörg, as a part of an attempt at ending the conflict between the Haukdælir and Sturlungar. Shortly after the wedding, Eyjólfr ofsi, another member of the extended Sturlungar, attacked Gissur's household at Flugumýri, in what is termed the Flugumýrarbrenna (Flugumýri Arson), a devastating attack that destroyed his paternal family line (Gissur survived the attack by hiding in a barrel of

skyr Skyr ( ; ) is a traditional Icelandic cultured dairy product. It has the consistency of strained yogurt, but a milder flavor. Skyr can be classified as a fresh sour milk cheese, similar to curd cheese consumed like a yogurt in the Baltic ...

.) The event was clearly traumatic for Gissur, and caused him to campaign against the burners, and compose poetry.Tulinius, T. (2017).
Honour, sagas and trauma. Reflections on literature and violence in 13th century Iceland
" In ''Literature and Honour'' (pp. 81-94). Universitetsforlaget AS. In 1258, he was made Earl of Iceland () for his loyal service to the king. He held this title until his death. Gissur worked actively to promote the

Old Covenant Abrahamic religions believe in the Mosaic covenant (named after Moses), also known as the Sinaitic covenant (after the biblical Mount Sinai), which refers to a covenant between the Israelite tribes and God, including their proselytes, not lim ...

(), an agreement which brought

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 ...

under the sovereignty of the Norwegian crown in 1264. The covenant is hence sometimes known as Gissur's Covenant, or ''Gissurarsáttmáli''.

References

1208 births 1268 deaths Gissur Thorvaldsson Norwegian earls Goðar {{iceland-bio-stub