Olvir Hnufa
Encyclopedia
Hersir
A hersir was a local military commander of a hundred and owed allegiance to a jarl or king. They were also aspiring landowners, and, like the middle class in many feudal societies, supported the kings in their centralization of power. The hersir was often equipped with a conical helmet and a short...
and 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...
of the late ninth and early tenth centuries, known from, among other sources, Egil's Saga, Skaldatal
Skáldatal
Skáldatal is a short prose work in Old Norse. It is preserved in two manuscripts: DG 11, or Codex Uppsaliensis, which is one of the four main manuscripts of the Prose Edda , and AM 761 a 4to , which also contains Skaldic poems...
and the Prose Edda
Prose Edda
The Prose Edda, also known as the Younger Edda, Snorri's Edda or simply Edda, is an Icelandic collection of four sections interspersed with excerpts from earlier skaldic and Eddic poetry containing tales from Nordic mythology...
. Olvir was the son of the viking
Viking
The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
Berle-Kari
Berle-Kari
Berle-Kari was a viking chieftain who lived in ninth-century Norway. His home was at Berle , in present-day Bremanger in Sogn og Fjordane county. Landnámabók names him as the son of Vemund, and brother of Skjoldolf, one of the early settlers of Iceland.According to Egil's Saga, Kari was a berserker...
and brother-in-law of Kveldulf Bjalfason
Kveldulf Bjalfason
Ulf Bjalfason was a renowned hersir and landowner in ninth century Sogn, Norway. He is a main character in the early chapters of Egils Saga and appears in the Landnamabok and other Icelandic sources...
, who married Olvir's sister Salbjorg Karadottir
Salbjorg Karadottir
Salbjorg Karadottir was a Norwegian woman of the late ninth century. She was the daughter of Berle-Kari and sister of Eyvind Lambi and Olvir Hnufa. Salbjorg married Kveldulf Bjalfasson and had two children, Thorolf Kveldulfsson and Skallagrim Kveldulfsson, with him.-References:*Ellwood, T., trans. ...
; he was thus uncle to Skallagrim and Thorolf Kveldulfsson
Thorolf Kveldulfsson
Thorolf Kveldulfsson was the oldest son of Kveldulf Bjalfasson and the brother of the Norwegian/Icelandic goði and skald Skalla-Grimr. Thorolf is a hero of the early part of Egils saga. According to that work, he served as a retainer of Harald I of Norway and fought on the latter's own ship at the...
and great uncle to the famous poet Egil Skallagrimsson. Olvir also had a brother named Eyvind Lambi
Eyvind Lambi
Eyvind Lambi or Eyvind Lamb was a Norwegian viking and hersir of the late ninth and early tenth centuries, known from, among other sources, Egil's Saga...
. Olvir was a prominent member of the court of King Harald Fairhair, who united Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
under his rule in the late ninth or early tenth century. Among other famous skalds, he served as one of King Harald's court poets. He also served as a warrior in Harald's retinue, and fought at the pivotal Battle of Hafrsfjord
Battle of Hafrsfjord
The Battle of Hafrsfjord has traditionally been regarded as the battle in which western Norway for the first time was unified under one monarch.The national monument of Haraldshaugen was raised in 1872, to commemorate the Battle of Hafrsfjord...
on the king's flagship
Flagship
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...
. He is best known for his involvement in the conflict between Harald and Olvir's kinsman Thorolf Kveldulfsson, which ended with the latter's death. Only a few fragments of Olvir's poetry survive.
Name
The name Ölvir has been defined as "priest of the shrine/sanctuary". His nickname "hnufa" is something of a mystery. It is sometimes translated as humpHump
Hump may refer to:* HUMP! , an annual presentation of amateur pornography* The Hump, a name given by WWII Allied pilots to part of the Himalayan mountains* Kyphosis, the curve on an upper spine that causes a hunchback* Speed hump...
; it is unknown whether this described a physical condition
Kyphosis
Kyphosis , also called roundback or Kelso's hunchback, is a condition of over-curvature of the thoracic vertebrae...
. However, it can also mean "snub", as in snub-nosed. Vigfusson
Guðbrandur Vigfússon
Guðbrandur Vigfússon, known in English as Gudbrand Vigfusson, was one of the foremost Scandinavian scholars of the 19th century.-Life:He was born of an Icelandic family in Breiðafjörður...
pointed out that under Nordic law, "'hnufa' refers to a bondmaid whose nose has been cut off for theft thrice repeated; as a nickname it must refer to some hurt" suffered by Olvir.
Viking career
Olvir and Eyvind joined their nephew Thorolf Kveldulfsson on a number of Viking expeditions after the latter received a longshipLongship
Longships were sea vessels made and used by the Vikings from the Nordic countries for trade, commerce, exploration, and warfare during the Viking Age. The longship’s design evolved over many years, beginning in the Stone Age with the invention of the umiak and continuing up to the 9th century with...
as a gift from his father Kveldulf. They gained a great deal of profit from such voyages. At a 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...
in Gaular
Gaular
Gaular is a municipality in the county of Sogn og Fjordane, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sunnfjord. The administrative centre is the village of Sande...
, Olvir fell in love with Solveig Atladottir, the daughter of a jarl in Fjordane named Atli the Slender
Atli the Slender
Atli the Slender was a ninth-century Norwegian jarl mentioned in several Old Norse sources, including Heimskringla and Egil's Saga....
. The jarl refused Olvir permission to marry the girl, but he was so smitten that he abandoned his Viking life to be near her. A 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...
of some talent, he composed a number of love poems for Solveig. For reasons not revealed in Egil's Saga, but probably related to his courtship of Solveig, Olvir was attacked and nearly killed in his home by Solveig's brothers shortly after King Harald of Vestfold
Harald I of Norway
Harald Fairhair or Harald Finehair , , son of Halfdan the Black, was the first king of Norway.-Background:Little is known of the historical Harald...
's conquest of Møre
Møre
Møre is the name of two traditional districts in different parts of Scandinavia.*Møre og Romsdal, Norway.*Möre, Sweden....
. Atli did not long survive this encounter; after Harald Fairhair conquered Møre
Møre
Møre is the name of two traditional districts in different parts of Scandinavia.*Møre og Romsdal, Norway.*Möre, Sweden....
and Fjordane he assigned the governance of the former to Rognvald Eysteinsson and the latter to Hákon Grjótgarðsson. Hákon and Atli soon came into conflict over Sogn and fought a battle at Fjalir in Stafaness Bay, in which Hakon was killed. Atli was severely wounded in the battle and taken to a nearby island, where he died.
Life in Harald's court
Þorbjörn hornklofi
Þorbjörn Hornklofi was a 9th century Norwegian poet. He was the court poet of King Harald Fairhair.-Bibliography:*Glymdrápa - A drápa on King Harald.*Hrafnsmál/Haraldskvæði - Another poem on King Harald using the málaháttr metre....
and Þjóðólfr of Hvinir
Þjóðólfr of Hvinir
Þjóðólfr of Hvinir was a Norwegian skald, active around the year 900. He is considered to have been the original author of Ynglingatal, a poem glorifying the Norwegian petty king Ragnvald the Mountain-High, by describing how he was descended from the Swedish kings and the Norse gods.He is also...
.
Olvir mollified the king's rage when Kveldulf refused to come pay homage by convincing Thorolf to join Harald's hird
Hird
The hird, in Norwegian history, was originally an informal retinue of personal armed companions, hirdmen or housecarls, but came to mean not only the nucleus of the royal army, but also developed into a more formal royal court household....
, or armed retinue. Along with Thorolf and Eyvind Lambi, Olvir fought on Harald's ship at the Battle of Hafrsfjord
Battle of Hafrsfjord
The Battle of Hafrsfjord has traditionally been regarded as the battle in which western Norway for the first time was unified under one monarch.The national monument of Haraldshaugen was raised in 1872, to commemorate the Battle of Hafrsfjord...
(probably around 885). Over the years, both as a result of slander by Thorolf's enemies, and of Thorolf's growing popularity and power in northern Norway, Harald began to see him as a threat; despite Olvir's continuous attempts to ameliorate the deterioration in the relationship between the two.
Even when the king attacked Thorolf's farm, Olvir still pleaded to save his kinsman's life. After Thorolf was killed by Harald, the king gave his body to Olvir for burial. Olvir tried to convince Harald to pay wergeld for Thorolf but the king consistently refused, claiming that Thorolf was a traitor. Ultimately, Olvir went to Fjordane to tell Kveldulf and Skallagrim Kveldulfsson
Skalla-Grímr
Skalla-Grímr Kveldulfsson was a Norwegian, who was forced to emigrate to Iceland in the days of his enemy Harald Fairhair. His main claim to fame is that he was the father of Egill, but he also deserves a footnote in the history of Nordic literature for having composed the following stanza:...
of Thorolf's death. Skallagrim went with Olvir to King Harald after Thorolf's murder. He demanded compensation, or monetary compensation, which resulted in his being chased out of the king's court. Together with his father Kveldulf, and their kinsman Ketil Trout
Ketil Trout (Iceland)
Ketil Thorkelsson, better known by his nickname Ketil Trout or Ketil Salmon was a Norwegian hersir of the late ninth century who settled in Iceland around 900 CE...
, Skalla-Grimr took revenge by killing those of Harald's servants who took part in Thorolf's killing before fleeing to 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...
.
Following these events, Olvir begged Harald to permit him to leave the court and return to his own estate, saying that he had "no desire to sit with the men who murdered Thorolf." The king, however, refused, and, in the words of William Pencak, "Olvir, the would-be peacemaker who sold out to the king, is condemned to a life of praising his family's murderers."
Olvir's subsequent fate is not recorded. There is no record of his ever having married or having had children.
The Hauksbók
Hauksbók
The Hauksbók is one of the few medieval Norse manuscripts of which the author is known. His name was Haukr Erlendsson , and as long back as it is possible to trace the manuscript it has been called the Hauksbók after its author. It was partly written by Haukr himself, partly by assistants...
contains a tale called the Skaldasaga Haralds harfagra ("Saga of the Skalds of Harald Fairhair") describing an expedition to Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
undertaken by Olvir, Thorbjorn Hornklofi, and Audun Ill-skald to expiate an offense. Its historiocity is disputed.
Poetry
Olvir is quoted by Snorri SturlusonSnorri Sturluson
Snorri Sturluson was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was twice elected lawspeaker at the Icelandic parliament, the Althing...
in the Skaldskaparmal
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...
as having composed the following stave
Stave
Stave can refer to:*Staff , a set of five horizontal lines and four spaces used in musical notation*Stave church, a Medieval wooden church with post and beam construction prevalent in Norway*The individual wood strips that form the sides of a barrel...
about the god Thor
Thor
In Norse mythology, Thor is a hammer-wielding god associated with thunder, lightning, storms, oak trees, strength, the protection of mankind, and also hallowing, healing, and fertility...
: "Æstisk allra landa umbgjörð ok sonr Jarðar." ("The encircler of all lands [The Midgard
Midgard
Midgard is one of the Nine Worlds and is an old Germanic name for our world and is the home of Humans, with the literal meaning "middle enclosure".-Etymology:...
Serpent or Jörmungandr
Jörmungandr
In Norse mythology, Jörmungandr , mostly known as Jormungand, orJörmungand , or Midgard Serpent , or World Serpent, is a sea serpent, and the middle child of the giantess Angrboða and the god Loki...
] and Iord
Jörð
In Norse mythology, Jörð and also called Jarð as in Old East Norse, is a female jötunn. She is the mother of Thor and Meili, and the personification of the Earth. Fjörgyn and Hlôdyn are considered to be other names for Jörð...
's son [Thor] became violent.") Another poetic fragment attributed to him in the Skaldatal
Skáldatal
Skáldatal is a short prose work in Old Norse. It is preserved in two manuscripts: DG 11, or Codex Uppsaliensis, which is one of the four main manuscripts of the Prose Edda , and AM 761 a 4to , which also contains Skaldic poems...
reads: "Maðr skyldi þó molda megja hverr of þegja kenni-seiðs þó at kynni klepp-dæg Hárrs lægvar." ("Yet every man should know how to hold his peace even though -").
William Pencak compared Olvir's poetic career unfavorably with that of his grandnephew Egil: "A tyrant needs insincere poets to praise him, and Olvir's career illustrates the problem of artists and thinkers serving political ends... the saga does not quote any of his poems. First Olvir is the slave of a woman, then of a king. The difference between his poetry and Egil's will demonstrate the opportunities for talent a free society opens up."