Hallur of Hrafnagil

Who he is

Name

Hallur Kleppjárnsson

Title

Chieftain in Eyjafjörður

Since

Not pinned

Born

Not pinned; killed in Advent 1212

Family

Said to be married to Ingibjörg, a daughter of Guðmundur dýri (reading not certain).

Confidence

low

Íslendinga saga (on the north about 1202): "North of Öxnadalsheiði Ögmundur sneis and Hallur Kleppjárnsson held chieftaincies." His farm Hrafnagil is named in the saga of the 1200s.

What it holds

• Hrafnagil in Eyjafjörður
• A chieftaincy in Vaðlaþing (name not pinned)

Allies and rivals

Later allied with Kolbeinn Tumason and Sigurður Ormsson against Bishop Guðmundur.

How things stand that morning

Not pinned for that winter; the saga's statement describes about 1202.

Wealth

Farms of inner Eyjafjörður.

Military

Thingmen of inner Eyjafjörður.

Places of note

• Hrafnagil: Hallur's farm.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: A few lines in Íslendinga saga; whether he already held his chieftaincy on 1 January 1200 is not pinned.

On the map: A chieftain's power was over thingmen, not ground, and a farmer could in principle change chieftain; the polygon draws the district where his thingmen and farms lay that winter, from the saga evidence, not a border. Drawn from evidence of about 1202.

Primary sources for Iceland

Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.

• The Icelandic annals to 1578 (compiled from the late 13th century onward from older notes). Year-by-year notices that fix Icelandic chronology. Read online
• The saga of the Sturlungs: the compilation of contemporary Icelandic sagas, Sturla Þórðarson and other authors, compiled by Þórðr Narfason (the component sagas between about 1200 and 1280; compiled about 1300). The only contemporary narrative of Iceland. Read online
• The sagas of the Icelandic bishops: Páll of Skálholt, Guðmundr of Hólar and Þorlákr (Páls saga about 1211 to 1216; Þorláks saga about 1200 to 1210; the oldest Guðmundar saga in the 13th century). Páls saga is the life of Bishop Páll Jónsson of Skálholt (1195 to 1211), of the Oddaverjar, and tells how he had the churches and priests of his diocese counted, about 220 churches and 290 priests, how he furthered the cult of his uncle Þorlákr, whose relics were raised in 1198 and whose feast the Althing adopted in 1199, and how he dealt with the chieftains. Read online
• The Grey Goose laws: the law of the Icelandic Commonwealth (law first written down in 1117 to 1118; the surviving manuscripts Konungsbók (about 1250) and Staðarhólsbók (about 1270)). The law under which Iceland was run in 1200: the goðar and their thingmen, the local and quarter things and the Althing, the Fifth Court, the lawspeaker, outlawry, compensation and the Christian law section with the tithe. Read online