The Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar of Oddr Snorrason whose name is also sometimes Anglicized as Odd Snorrason was a Latin royal biography attributed to a 12th century Icelandic Benedictine monk at the Þingeyrar monastery (Þingeyrarklaustur).
The monastery was founded in 1133 and was the first in Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

.

Its subject is the 10th century Norwegian king Óláfr Tryggvason. The original work has been almost completely lost but a translation into Old Norse is preserved in two nearly complete versions and a fragment of a third. The work is often referred to as Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar. Oddr made use of previous written works including those of Sæmundr fróði

Sæmundr fróði

Sæmundr Sigfússon was an Icelandic priest and scholar. Sæmundr is known to have studied abroad. Previously it has generally been held that he studied in France, but modern scholars rather believe his studies were carried out in Franconia. In Iceland he founded a long-lived school at Oddi...

 and Ari Þorgilsson

Ari Þorgilsson

Ari Þorgilsson was Iceland's most prominent medieval chronicler. He is the author of Íslendingabók, which details the histories of the various families who settled Iceland...

 as well as Acta sanctorum in Selio

Acta sanctorum in Selio

Acta sanctorum in Selio is a Latin hagiographical work on Sunniva and the other saints of Selja. It is believed to have been composed shortly after 1170. Oddr Snorrason made use of it in his Latin Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar....

and possibly Historia de Antiquitate Regum Norwagiensium. In turn Snorri Sturluson

Snorri Sturluson

Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was twice elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing...

 made use of Oddr's work when writing the Heimskringla

Heimskringla

Heimskringla is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorri Sturluson ca. 1230...

, as did the author of Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta

Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta

Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta or The Greatest Saga of Óláfr Tryggvasonis one of the kings' sagas, an extended biography of King Óláfr Tryggvason....

.

It is difficult to tell how closely the Old Norse translation of Oddr's Óláfs saga resembles the Latin original but it clearly owes a debt to hagiography

Hagiography

Hagiography is the study of saints.From the Greek and , it refers literally to writings on the subject of such holy people, and specifically to the biographies of saints and ecclesiastical leaders. The term hagiology, the study of hagiography, is also current in English, though less common...

, presenting King Óláfr as the apostle to the Norwegians.

Yngvars saga víðförla

Yngvars saga víðförla

Yngvars saga víðförla is a legendary saga said to have been written in the twelfth century by Oddr Snorrason. Scholars have been skeptical towards this claim but in recent years it has gained more acceptance....

also credits Oddr with its original authorship. Scholars have been skeptical towards this claim but in recent years it has gained more acceptance.

Sources

• Hoops, Johannes (2003). Reallexikon der germanischen Altertumskunde: Band 22. Walter de Gruyter. ISBN 3-11-017351-4
• Oddr Snorrason (translated by Theodore M. Andersson) (2003). The Saga of Olaf Tryggvason. Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-4149-8
• Ross, Margaret Clunies (2000). Old Icelandic Literature and Society. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-63112-2

External links

• Det Arnamagnæanske Haandskrift 310 qvarto. An 1895 edition of one of the Old Norse versions
• Saga Olafs konungs Tryggvasonar An 1853 edition of the other two Old Norse versions