Bolli Bollason
Encyclopedia
Old Norse
Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....
Laxdæla saga, born around 1004. He grew up in Orlygsstadir, at Helgafell
Helgafell
Helgafell is a small mountain on the Snæfellsnes Peninsula of Iceland. The mountain is high, and a temple in honor of Þór was built there by the first settler of the area, Þórólfur Mostraskegg. Helgafell also appears in the Laxdaela saga as the location where the heroine Guðrún Ósvífrsdóttir last...
on the Snæfellsnes Peninsula
Snæfellsnes
The Snæfellsnes is a peninsula situated to the west of Borgarfjörður, in western of Iceland.It has been named Iceland in Miniature, as many national sights can be found in the area, including the Snæfellsjökull volcano, regarded as one of the symbols of Iceland. With its height of 1446 m, it...
in Iceland. He divided his time between Helgafell and Tunga, the home of Snorri the Goði.[Note 1] He was held in the highest regard among the contemporary Scandinavia
Scandinavia
Scandinavia is a cultural, historical and ethno-linguistic region in northern Europe that includes the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway and Sweden, characterized by their common ethno-cultural heritage and language. Modern Norway and Sweden proper are situated on the Scandinavian Peninsula,...
n rulers, and also in the Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Empire
The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...
, where he became the first known West Norseman in the Varangian Guard
Varangian Guard
The Varangian Guard was an elite unit of the Byzantine Army in 10th to the 14th centuries, whose members served as personal bodyguards of the Byzantine Emperors....
.[Note 2] It is believed that he had reached the rank of manglabites
Manglabites
The Manglabites or Manglavites were a corps of bodyguards in the Byzantine Empire.Their name derives from the term manglabion which was also used to designate the entire corps. The origin of the term itself is debated: one theory regards it as deriving from Arabic mijlab , while another from...
in the Byzantine army
Byzantine army
The Byzantine army was the primary military body of the Byzantine armed forces, serving alongside the Byzantine navy. A direct descendant of the Roman army, the Byzantine army maintained a similar level of discipline, strategic prowess and organization...
, and on his return to Iceland, his finery and recognition earned him the name "Bolli the Elegant".
His importance in the literary context of the saga
Icelanders' sagas
The Sagas of Icelanders —many of which are also known as family sagas—are prose histories mostly describing events that took place in Iceland in the 10th and early 11th centuries, during the so-called Saga Age. They are the best-known specimens of Icelandic literature.The Icelanders'...
is his prominence as the son of Bolli Þorleiksson
Bolli Þorleiksson
Bolli Þorleiksson was a key historical character in the Medieval Icelandic Laxdœla saga, which recounts the history of the People of Laxárdalur. He courted the famed Guðrún Ósvífursdóttir, but Guðrún preferred his foster-brother Kjartan Ólafsson...
and Guðrún Ósvífursdóttir
Guðrún Ósvífursdóttir
Guðrún Ósvífrsdóttir was the historical protagonist of the Medieval Icelandic Laxdœla saga, which recounts the history of the People of Laxárdalur. She was famed for her beauty and was married four times. Her first marriage to Thorvaldr Halldorsson ended in divorce...
, the two central characters of the work. He is mentioned at the end of the Sneglu-Hall þáttur (The Tale of Sarcastic Halli), and is also the subject of his own tale, the Bollaþáttur, which was later appended to the end of the manuscripts in the early 14th century.
Background
Njál's saga
Njáls saga is one of the sagas of Icelanders. The most prominent characters are the friends Njáll Þorgeirsson, a lawyer and a sage, and Gunnarr Hámundarson, a formidable warrior...
and Egil's saga, the Laxdæla saga makes the strongest claim of any Icelandic saga for literary greatness. Shaped by continental literary traditions and several types of saga, the characterisation "highlights nobility, splendour and physical appearance", although:
The saga is also a feud saga, in which "feuds escalate from trivial local squabbles into unstoppable vendettas. The male protagonists are splendid figures who die heroic deaths, while the women are strong characters who engineer much of the action".
Many manuscripts of the Laxdæla saga have survived, although all printed versions have been based upon the Möðruvallabók
Möðruvallabók
Möðruvallabók or AM 132 fol is an Icelandic manuscript from the mid-14th century, inscribed on vellum. It contains the following Icelandic sagas in this order:*Njáls saga*Egils saga*Finnboga saga ramma*Bandamanna saga*Kormáks saga*Víga-Glúms saga...
(dated 1330-1370), the only intact vellum manuscript. Historiographically, the distinction between narrative and history did not exist at the time when the sagas were written. However, the sagas develop a "dense and plausible" historical context, with the authenticating details and precision necessary for the narrative. The world within which the local and detailed stories of the individual sagas exist can be confirmed by archaeology and comparison with histories in other languages.
Family and early life
Norse clans
The Scandinavian clan or ætt was a social group based on common descent or on the formal acceptance into the group at a þing.-History:...
, in the Western Quarter of Iceland. He was born in 1006 to Guðrún Ósvífursdóttir
Guðrún Ósvífursdóttir
Guðrún Ósvífrsdóttir was the historical protagonist of the Medieval Icelandic Laxdœla saga, which recounts the history of the People of Laxárdalur. She was famed for her beauty and was married four times. Her first marriage to Thorvaldr Halldorsson ended in divorce...
, the winter after the killing of his father, Bolli Þorleiksson
Bolli Þorleiksson
Bolli Þorleiksson was a key historical character in the Medieval Icelandic Laxdœla saga, which recounts the history of the People of Laxárdalur. He courted the famed Guðrún Ósvífursdóttir, but Guðrún preferred his foster-brother Kjartan Ólafsson...
. Guðrún had been courted by Þorleiksson and his foster-brother Kjartan Ólafsson, but although she preferred Kjartan, she gave herself to Þorleiksson on the basis of a false rumour that Kjartan was engaged. The consequent hostilities between the two foster-brothers ended with Þorleiksson killing Kjartan, and then he in turn being killed by Kjartan's kinsmen. Bolli Bollason grew up with his brother Thorleik, who was four years his senior, and his mother Guðrún in Helgafell, after she exchanged homes with the renowned Snorri the Goði.
Guðrún remarried, this time to Thorkell Eyjolffsson, who became a great chieftain in his own countryside and took over the running of the household at Helgafell.
This left Bolli able to spend his time both at Helgafell and with Snorri in Tunga, and Snorri became very fond of him. Thorkell was fond of both his stepsons, but Bolli was regarded as "being the foremost in all things". Thorleik journeyed abroad to Norway, and stayed with King Olaf II
Olaf II
Olaf II may refer to:* Olof Björnsson of Sweden* Amlaíb Cuarán of Dublin* Olaf II of Norway * Olaf Haraldsen * Olaf II of the Isle of Man...
for several months.
When Bolli was eighteen years old he asked for his father's portion, as he intended to woo Thordis Snorradottir, the daughter of Snorri the Goði. He set out with his stepfather and a good many followers to Tunga. Snorri welcomed them, and the wedding feast took place that summer. Bolli abode at Tunga, and love grew between him and Thordis. The next summer, Thorleik returned in a goods-laden ship to White-river, "and the brothers greeted each other joyfully".
The two brothers made peace with the sons of Ólaf, Kjartan's kinsmen, at the Thorness Thing
Thing (assembly)
A thing was the governing assembly in Germanic and introduced into some Celtic societies, made up of the free people of the community and presided by lawspeakers, meeting in a place called a thingstead...
; it is not known how much money was exchanged in compensation
Weregild
Weregild was a value placed on every human being and every piece of property in the Salic Code...
as part of the agreement, but Bolli received a good sword, and after the assembly "both sides were thought to have gained in esteem from these affairs".
Travels abroad
Olaf II
Olaf II may refer to:* Olof Björnsson of Sweden* Amlaíb Cuarán of Dublin* Olaf II of Norway * Olaf Haraldsen * Olaf II of the Isle of Man...
was wintering in the east in Sarpsborg
Sarpsborg
is a city and municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Sarpsborg.Sarpsborg is part of the fifth largest urban area in Norway when paired with neighbouring Fredrikstad...
. Bolli soon became highly thought of in Norway, and his arrivals at the guild meeting-places were noted for being better arrayed as to raiment and weapons than other townsfolk. Early in the spring the brothers prepared their ship and went east to meet the king. The king thought Bolli "a man of high mettle," "even peerless among men", and "the man of greatest mark that has ever come from Iceland."
Bolli boarded a trade-ship
Cog (ship)
A cog is a type of ship that first appeared in the 10th century, and was widely used from around the 12th century on. Cogs were generally built of oak, which was an abundant timber in the Baltic region of Prussia. This vessel was fitted with a single mast and a square-rigged single sail...
bound for Denmark, departing King Olaf in great friendship and with fine parting gifts.[Note 2] Thorleik remained behind, but Bolli wintered in Denmark and became as well regarded as he had been in Norway. Travelling next to Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, he spent many years in the Varangian Guard; "and was thought to be the most valiant in all deeds that try a man, and always went next to those in the forefront." The saga also records the finery his followers received from the Byzantine Emperor (most likely Romanos III
Romanos III
Romanos III Argyros was Byzantine emperor from 15 November 1028 until his death.-Biography:...
), and the influence he held after his return to Iceland, some time after the death of King Olaf II:
The right to bear a gold-hilted sword was one of the privileges of the court rank of "Manglabites", and is taken as an indicator that Bolli held this rank. In Iceland, his finery and recognition earned him the name "Bolli the Elegant". His return to Thordis was joyful, and he took over the manor of Tunga when Snorri died at 67 years of age. Bolli had two children with Thordis: Herdis Bolladottir and Ospak Bollason.
Bollaþáttur
According to the tale, a man called Thorolf Stuck-up had a bull which wounded his neighbours' farm animals, damaged haystacks and caused "a great deal of trouble". When an upstanding local farmer named Thord saw the bull damaging the stacks of peat on his farm at Marbaeli, he lunged at the animal with a spear and struck it dead. In revenge, Thorolf killed Thord's seven or eight year old son Olaf, to the disgust of Thorolf's wife and kinsmen. Thorolf fled and eventually secured the protection of Thorvald Hjaltasson, a prominent leader who lived at Hjaltadal. After Christmas, Thorvald secured for him the safekeeping and support of Starri of Guddalir, who often sheltered outlaws.
Thord's wife Gudrun, a first cousin of Bolli, asked him to take over the prosecution of the case. Accompanied by Arnor Crone's-nose and a large company of men, Bolli attended the Hegranes Assembly. Thorvald and Starri intended to block the prosecution "by force of arms and numbers", but when they realised they were outnumbered, they withdrew and Bolli successfully had Thorolf outlawed. Passage out of Iceland was obtained for Thorolf aboard a merchant vessel at Hrutafjord. However, Bolli believed it would have been improper if the outlawed Thorolf were to escape, and having ridden north to Hrutafjord, he drew his sword Leg-biter and "struck a blow right through" Thorolf, killing him.
Sneglu-Halla þáttr
Bolli died during the reign of Harald III of Norway, as is recorded at the end of The Tale of Sarcastic Halli. The tale makes reference to Bolli's military prowess, in ironic contrast to the tale's protagonist:External links
- Translation in English by Muriel Press (The Temple Classics, London, 1899)
- Text with modern Icelandic spelling
- Laxdæla saga in an English translation by Muriel A. C. Press, 1899, from Project GutenbergProject GutenbergProject Gutenberg is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks". Founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart, it is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books...
- Genealogy
- Byzantine & Varangian Equipment