Snorri Sturluson

Who he is

Name

Snorri Sturluson

Title

Young landholder of the Sturlungar, not yet a chieftain in his own right

Since

Married to Herdís Bersadóttir in summer 1199

Born

1178 or 1179 (the saga makes him nineteen when Jón Loftsson died in November 1197 and twenty-two in spring 1200; the usual date is 1179)

Family

Youngest son of Hvamm-Sturla and Guðný Böðvarsdóttir; fostered at Oddi by Jón Loftsson from the age of two or three. Married in summer 1199 to Herdís, daughter of the priest Bersi Vermundarson the Wealthy of Borg (Bersi the Wealthy). No child is recorded by 1 January 1200 (his son Jón murtur and daughter Hallbera are born later).

Confidence

high

Íslendinga saga: after Jón's death Snorri stayed with Sæmundur until his brother Þórður arranged the marriage with Herdís, who brought eight hundred hundreds; Snorri was penniless because his mother had spent his inheritance; Guðný gave the land of Hvammur as his bride-price, the wedding was held at Hvammur and it was agreed Snorri should live with his mother, "but in the autumn Snorri and Herdís went south to Oddi and stayed there through the winter". Bersi died in 1201, the same year as Bishop Brandur, and Snorri then took Borg.

What it holds

• The land of Hvammur in the Dalir, given by his mother Guðný as the bride-price for Herdís (Guðný still lives there)
• His wife Herdís's great dowry and her expectation of Borg and Bersi's chieftaincy

How it was acquired

By his marriage, 1199.

Allies and rivals

His foster-brother Sæmundur Jónsson, whose side he takes in the Glæðir dispute; his brother Þórður, who made his match. His brother Sighvatur is sworn to the other side.

How things stand that morning

Lives at Oddi with Herdís through the winter of 1199-1200 in Sæmundur Jónsson's household. Holds no chieftaincy that the saga records for this winter.

Wealth

His wife's dowry (the saga: eight hundred hundreds).

Military

None of his own.

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. Spring 1200Sæmundur sends Snorri to Borgarfjörður to raise the farmers who had followed Jón Loftsson; Snorri brings a strong band to Skálholt and summons Sigurður Ormsson to the spring assembly at Þingskálar, where Sigurður is outlawed.Depends on: The Glæðir dispute going to law in spring 1200. Stopped by: A settlement before the spring assemblies.
2. 1201 (beyond 1200)Bersi the Wealthy dies; Snorri takes Borg on Mýrar and Bersi's chieftaincy and moves there with Herdís.Depends on: Bersi's natural death in 1201. Stopped by: Bersi surviving, or a dispute over the inheritance.

Places of note

• Oddi: Where Snorri and Herdís winter in 1199-1200.

Where the sources disagree

• Some modern summaries put Bersi's death and Snorri's move to Borg in 1202 (Store norske leksikon gives both 1202 and 1204); Íslendinga saga in Vigfusson's text says Bersi died in 1201, the year of Bishop Brandur's death.

Evidence: Íslendinga saga, chapters 10-11 and the 1201 entry for Bersi's death.

On the map: Snorri holds no district this winter; the map shows only the land of Hvammur.

Primary sources for Sturlungar

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