Hallfreðr Óttarsson or Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld (Troublesome Poet) (ca. 965 – ca. 1007) was an Icelandic skald

Skald

The skald was a member of a group of poets, whose courtly poetry is associated with the courts of Scandinavian and Icelandic leaders during the Viking Age, who composed and performed renditions of aspects of what we now characterise as Old Norse poetry .The most prevalent metre of skaldic poetry is...

. He is the protagonist of Hallfreðar saga

Hallfreðar saga

Hallfreðar saga vandræðaskálds is one of the Icelanders' sagas. It relates the story of Hallfreðr vandræðaskáld, an Icelandic poet active around the year 1000. The saga has some resemblance to the sagas of other poets, such as Kormáks saga and Gunnlaugs saga, but in Hallfreðar saga there is less...

according to which he was the court poet first of Hákon Sigurðarson, then of Óláfr Tryggvason and finally of Eiríkr Hákonarson

Eiríkr Hákonarson

Eiríkr Hákonarson or Eric of Norway or Eric of Hlathir was earl of Lade, ruler of Norway and earl of Northumbria.-Background:...

. A significant amount of poetry by Hallfreðr has been preserved, primarily in Hallfreðar saga and the kings' sagas

Kings' sagas

The kings' sagas are Norse sagas which tell of the lives of Scandinavian kings. They were composed in the 12th to 14th centuries in Iceland and Norway....

 but a few fragments are also quoted in Skáldskaparmál

Skáldskaparmál

The second part of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda the Skáldskaparmál or "language of poetry" is effectively a dialogue between the Norse god of the sea, Ægir and Bragi, the god of poetry, in which both Norse mythology and discourse on the nature of poetry are intertwined...

.

In his lausavísur Hallfreðr was an unusually personal skald, offering insight into his emotional life and, especially, his troubled and reluctant conversion from paganism

Norse paganism

Norse paganism is the religious traditions of the Norsemen, a Germanic people living in the Nordic countries. Norse paganism is therefore a subset of Germanic paganism, which was practiced in the lands inhabited by the Germanic tribes across most of Northern and Central Europe in the Viking Age...

 to Christianity

Germanic Christianity

The Germanic people underwent gradual Christianization in the course of Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. By the 8th century, England and the Frankish Empire were Christian, and by AD 1100 Germanic paganism had also ceased to have political influence in Scandinavia.-History:In the 4th...

 under the tutelage of king Óláfr. The following is an example.

hefr ætt til hylli Óðins skipat ljóðum aldar; en trauðr, því't vel Viðris vald hugnaðisk skaldi, legg'k á frumver Friggjar fjón því't Kristi þjónum. Lausavísur 10, Whaley's edition

The whole race of men to win Óðinn's grace has wrought poems; but with sorrow, for well did Viðrir's [Óðinn's] power please the poet, do I conceive hate for the first husband of Frigg Frigg Frigg is a major goddess in Norse paganism, a subset of Germanic paganism. She is said to be the wife of Odin, and is the "foremost among the goddesses" and the queen of Asgard. Frigg appears primarily in Norse mythological stories as a wife and a mother. She is also described as having the power...  [Óðinn], now I serve Christ. Lausavísur 10, Whaley's translation

The Bergsbók

Bergsbók

Bergsbók is an Icelandic manuscript from the early 15th century. It contains the kings' sagas Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta, a long version of Óláfs saga helga and several short texts and poems, mostly associated with the two kings. The redaction of Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta is of the...

manuscript attributes an Óláfsdrápa Tryggvasonar

Óláfsdrápa Tryggvasonar

Óláfsdrápa Tryggvasonar is an Icelandic skaldic poem from ca. 1200. It relates the life story of the 10th century King Óláfr Tryggvason from his upbringing in Russia to his death at Svöldr. The poem is only preserved in Bergsbók and the text there is defective...

to Hallfreðr but this attribution is rejected by modern scholars.