Sigurður Ormsson

Who he is

Name

Sigurður Ormsson

Title

Chieftain of the Svínfellingar

Since

Not pinned

Born

Not pinned

Family

Married to Þuríður (Þórdís) Gissurardóttir, the lawspeaker's daughter and widow of Tumi Kolbeinsson: he is stepfather of Kolbeinn Tumason, Arnór Tumason and Halldóra, Sighvatur Sturluson's wife. His kinsman Jón Sigmundarson of the same kindred is married to Þóra the elder, Sæmundur Jónsson's niece (their children Ormur, Sólveig and Steinunn; birth years not pinned); Jón's later son by a second wife is Brandur, bishop of Hólar 1263-64.

Confidence

medium

Íslendinga saga: in summer 1197 Halldóra Tumadóttir was living with Sigurður and her mother at Svínafell, and Sigurður answered for her when Sighvatur asked for her; the Glæðir heirs "lived east in Sigurður's district" and the disputed property lay in Síða.

What it holds

• Svínafell in Öræfi
• The chieftaincies of the Skaftafell country (which and how many not pinned)
• The disputed Glæðir property in Síða, held by his man Kári

How it was acquired

Ancestral.

Allies and rivals

Allies: Kolbeinn Tumason and Sighvatur Sturluson (sworn to back him), his stepson Arnór Tumason. Opponents: Sæmundur Jónsson, Bishop Páll, Þorvaldur Gissurarson and Snorri Sturluson.

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. Residence on 1 January 1200: Svínafell (as in 1197; by about 1203-04 Bishop Guðmundur gives him the church farm of Möðruvellir in Hörgárdalur).

Wealth

Farms of Öræfi, Síða and the south-east; driftage and stranded whales on the sands.

Military

Thingmen of the south-east; two hundred men in spring 1200 (saga number).

Threats

• Sæmundur Jónsson's superior force
• Outlawry

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 1200Sæmundur's men kill Kári on the Glæðir land in Síða.Depends on: No settlement first. Stopped by: Sigurður yielding the land.
2. May 1200Sigurður is outlawed at the spring assembly at Þingskálar on Snorri Sturluson's suit; he musters two hundred men against Sæmundur's seven hundred and agrees, at a meeting at Forsá by Skógar, to Bishop Páll's judgment.Depends on: His northern allies failing to arrive in time. Stopped by: Kolbeinn and Sighvatur coming south in force.
3. Late June 1200At the Althing Bishop Páll awards the property to Sæmundur on terms both accept.Depends on: The arbitration. Stopped by: A breach of the truce.

Places of note

• Svínafell: Seat of the Svínfellingar.
• Síða (Kirkjubær): The district of the disputed Glæðir property; Kirkjubær is the Benedictine nunnery (1186), a Church map record.

Where the sources disagree

Evidence: Íslendinga saga chapters 8-11; the kindred's extent is inferred from Svínafell and the Síða dispute.

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 Svínfellingar

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 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 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