Ormur Breiðbælingur

Who he is

Name

Ormur Jónsson, called Breiðbælingur ("of Breiðabólstaður")

Title

Chieftain of the Oddaverjar kindred

Since

Not pinned (in his father's lifetime)

Born

Not pinned; he is killed in the Westman Islands in 1218

Family

Son of Jón Loftsson; brother of Sæmundur of Oddi and of Bishop Páll. His daughter Hallveig (birth year not pinned) will marry Björn Þorvaldsson of the Haukdælir and, as a widow, Snorri Sturluson (1224).

Confidence

medium

Íslendinga saga.

What it holds

• Breiðabólstaður in Fljótshlíð, a church estate (staður)
• Fljótshlíð and its farms

How it was acquired

From his father Jón Loftsson (not pinned).

Allies and rivals

Acts with his brothers Sæmundur and Bishop Páll.

How things stand that morning

At Breiðabólstaður; which chieftaincy he holds in his own name that winter is not stated in the passages checked.

Wealth

Farms and church dues of Fljótshlíð.

Military

His thingmen and household.

Threats

• The Glæðir feud (with his brother)

Places of note

• Breiðabólstaður: Ormur's seat, a church farm.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Named often in Íslendinga saga, but his own goðorð that winter is not stated in the passages checked.

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.

Primary sources for Oddaverjar

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