''Jóns þáttr biskups Halldórssonar'' (The Tale of Bishop Jón Halldórsson) is a short Old Norse-Icelandic narrative of the life of

Jón Halldórsson Jón Halldórsson, OP (; – 2 February 1339) was a Norwegian Catholic prelate who served as Bishop of Iceland from 1322 to 1339. He previously served in the Diocese of Skálholt and was a member of the Dominican Order The Order of Pre ...

, Norwegian bishop 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 ...

from 1322 to 1339. It was likely authored by Bergr Sokkason and is written in the 'florid style' characteristic of the North Icelandic Benedictine School. The text is extant in two manuscripts from the 14th and 15th centuries. The ''þáttur'' is unique among other bishops' sagas for two reasons. Firstly, it is the only such text to focus on a Norwegian bishop. Secondly, the narrative structure is based around a series of ''exempla'', and appears to have been influenced by the Dominican style of preaching. For this reason, Sigurdson has argued against Guðrún Ása Grímsdóttir's suggestion that ''Jóns þáttr'' may have been written as a plan for a fully-fledged bishop's saga. The ''þáttur'' does not include details of Jón's ecclesiastical or political activities which are recorded in ''Lárentíus saga'' and other sources. Sigurdson writes "Jón Halldórsson was an innovative and influential bishop, a legal expert, and a bureaucrat; the omission of any of this from his ''þáttur'' serves to further prove how far removed this piece of literature is from any of the bishops' sagas."

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