Sæmundur of Oddi

Who he is

Name

Sæmundur Jónsson

Title

Chieftain (goði) and head of the Oddaverjar

Since

Head of the kindred since his father Jón Loftsson died on 1 November 1197

Born

1154 (the usual date); he dies in 1222

Family

Eldest son of Jón Loftsson, whose mother Þóra was a daughter of King Magnus Barefoot of Norway: the Oddaverjar are of Norwegian royal blood. Brothers: Ormur at Breiðabólstaður (Ormur Breiðbælingur) and Páll, bishop of Skálholt since 1195. Sister Sólveig is the wife of Guðmundur gríss of Þingvellir; their daughters are married to two great chieftains, Þóra the younger to Þorvaldur Gissurarson of the Haukdælir and Þóra the elder to Jón Sigmundarson of the Svínfellingar. Sæmundur has no wife: a match with Langlíf, daughter of Earl Harald Maddadsson of Orkney, was discussed but failed because Sæmundur would not go to Orkney for the wedding and the earl would not send her to Iceland (the date is not given). His children by several women (birth years not pinned): Margrét and Páll (by a sister of Þorgrímur alikarl); Sólveig (by Valgerður Jónsdóttir); Vilhjálmur, Haraldur, Andrés and Filippus (by Yngvildur Eindriðadóttir); Hálfdan, Björn and Helga (by Þorbjörg). His foster-brother Snorri Sturluson lives in his house this winter.

Confidence

high

Íslendinga saga: "Sæmundr was considered the most distinguished man in Iceland at that time; he had a great estate at Oddi and owned many other farms." When Sæmundur needed men in spring 1200 he sent Snorri to raise "the many good farmers who had followed his father Jón" in Borgarfjörður.

Overlord

None (a chieftain of the commonwealth)

What it holds

• Oddi on the Rangárvellir: the chief farm, a church estate (staður) with its school, and the kindred's seat
• Many other farms in Rangárþing (the saga); Keldur on the Rangárvellir
• The chieftaincies of Rangárþing held by the kindred (how they are shared between Sæmundur and Ormur is not pinned)
• Thingmen outside Rangárþing: in the Kjós (Kjalarnesþing) and, from his father's day, many farmers in Borgarfjörður
• His claim to the Glæðir property in Síða (disputed, see status)

How it was acquired

Inherited from Jón Loftsson (died 1 November 1197), who had gathered the Rangárþing chieftaincies; the kindred descends from Sæmundur the Learned (died 1133).

Allies and rivals

With him this winter: his brother Bishop Páll; Þorvaldur Gissurarson, married to his niece; his foster-brother Snorri Sturluson; Þórður Sturluson, who is friendly. Against him: Sigurður Ormsson, backed by Kolbeinn Tumason and Sighvatur Sturluson. Sighvatur had already beaten him at the Althing in a suit over thingmen in the Kjós (Sæmundur's thingman Markús was sentenced to go abroad and never return; year 1198 or 1199, not pinned), and the saga says it was thought the greatest insolence to challenge the Oddaverjar over thingmen at that time.

How things stand that morning

The Glæðir inheritance (the feud live on 1 January 1200): after Jón Loftsson's death (November 1197) Sæmundur Jónsson and Sigurður Ormsson quarrelled over the estate of a dead man, Glæðir (so the text reads), which Jón had taken over by handshake agreement. The heirs lived in Síða, in Sigurður's district, and Sigurður seized the property and put a man called Kári on it. At the Althing Sæmundur offered a settlement backed by Þorvaldur Gissurarson and Bishop Páll; Sigurður refused, because Sighvatur Sturluson and Kolbeinn Tumason had bound themselves to back him to the full.

The Althing ended without a settlement. On 1 January 1200 the dispute is open and unsettled; Sæmundur holds Oddi and Rangárþing firmly.

Wealth

The richest farm complex of the south: cattle and sheep on the Rangárvellir plains, the church dues of Oddi, many tenant farms; the Norway trade through Eyrar.

Military

His thingmen and household. In spring 1200, the saga says, he raised seven hundred men against Sigurður Ormsson's two hundred (saga numbers).

Threats

• Sigurður Ormsson and his backers Kolbeinn Tumason and Sighvatur Sturluson
• The Sturlungar's growing ambition (Sighvatur's Kjós suit)

What the year holds

What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.

1. Late winter 1200 (February to April; "late that winter, the winter after Snorri's wedding")Sæmundur has Kári, Sigurður Ormsson's man on the Glæðir land, killed in Síða by a party of about thirty (saga number).Depends on: The dispute still unsettled and Sæmundur choosing force. Stopped by: A settlement before the killing, or Sigurður withdrawing Kári.
2. May 1200, the spring assembly at ÞingskálarSnorri Sturluson prosecutes Sigurður for Sæmundur and has him outlawed; Sigurður's stepson Arnór Tumason, sent for help to Sighvatur and Kolbeinn, cannot bring men in time.Depends on: The killing of Kári and the suit brought in spring. Stopped by: Kolbeinn and Sighvatur arriving in force.
3. Spring 1200Both sides muster (the saga: Sigurður 200, Sæmundur 700); outnumbered, Sigurður agrees at a meeting at Forsá by Skógar (the reading of the place is uncertain) that Bishop Páll will judge the case at the Althing.Depends on: Sæmundur's superior numbers. Stopped by: The northern chieftains joining Sigurður.
4. Late June 1200, the AlthingBishop Páll, on the advice of the best men, awards all the property to Sæmundur on terms both sides can accept; Sæmundur has the honour of the case. Kolbeinn dislikes the terms and Sighvatur still more.Depends on: The arbitration agreed in spring. Stopped by: Bishop Páll's death or refusal, or a breach of the truce.

Places of note

• Oddi: Sæmundur's seat, a church farm with a school.
• Keldur: An Oddaverjar farm on the Rangárvellir (later run by Sólveig Sæmundardóttir).
• Þingskálar: The spring assembly place of Rangárþing, where Sigurður Ormsson is outlawed in May 1200 (likely course).

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Íslendinga saga chapters 10-11 and 22 (Vigfusson's numbering) and the genealogies of Sturlunga saga. The saga dates the killing of Kári to "late that winter, the same winter Snorri had married the summer before" (1199-1200). The name Glæðir and the place names Forsá and the strongpoint Sæmundur occupied are uncertain readings of an OCR text.

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. The Oddaverjar's scattered thingmen in the Kjós and Borgarfjörður are not drawn.

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