Vetrliði Sumarliðason is a 10th century 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 was the great-grandson of Ketill hængr ("salmon"), one of the settlers of 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...

. He lived in Fljótshlíð

Fljótshlíð

Fljótshlíð is a rural area in the municipality of Rangárþing eystra in Suðurland, southern Iceland. Fljót means "river" and hlíð means "mountain side", which refers to its location north of one of the major rivers in Iceland....

, in the south of the island.

Vetrliði was pagan and opposed the conversion to Christianity. He composed defamatory verses (níð

Níð

In historical Germanic society, nīþ ; was a term for a social stigma implying the loss of honour and the status of a villain. A person affected with the stigma is a nīðing ....

) about Þangbrandr

Þangbrandr

Þangbrandr was a missionary sent to Iceland by king of Norway Óláfr Tryggvason to convert the inhabitants to Christianity. Snorri Sturluson described him as follows:-Origins:...

, a missionary sent to Iceland by Óláfr Tryggvason. He was killed by the priest (or by the priest and his companion Guðleifr Arason). In some versions, another skald, Þorvaldr veili

Þorvaldr veili

Þorvaldr veili was an Icelandic skald who lived in the last part of the 10th century.The Brennu-Njáls saga relates the circumstances of his death. Þorvaldr was pagan and opposed the conversion to Christianity...

, was murdered for the same reason. A stanza was composed by an unknown author about Vetrliði's death:

Ryðfjónar gekk reynir randa suðr á landi beðs í bœnar smiðju Baldrs sigtólum halda ; siðreynir lét síðan snjallr morðhamar gjalla hauðrs í hattar steðja hjaldrs Vetrliða skaldi. —Diana Whaley's edition

He who proved his blade on bucklers, South went through the land to whet Brand that oft hath felled his foeman, Gainst the forge which foams with song; Mighty wielder of war's sickle Made his sword's avenging edge Hard on hero's helm-prop rattle, Skull of Weatherlid the Skald. —The Story of Burnt Njal (98), Dasent's translation

This episode is related in many sources: Kristni saga, Landnámabók

Landnámabók

Landnámabók , often shortened to Landnáma, is a medieval Icelandic written work describing in considerable detail the settlement of Iceland by the Norse in the 9th and 10th centuries AD.-Landnáma:...

, Brennu-Njáls saga, Snorri Sturluson

Snorri Sturluson

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

's Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar

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...

and 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....

.

Only one stanza of his work survived, a lausavísa

Lausavísa

In Old Norse poetry and later Icelandic poetry, a lausavísa is a single stanza composition, or a set of stanzas unconnected by narrative or thematic continuity....

praising 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...

 for having killed giants and giantesses:

Thou didst break the leg of Leikn,

Didst cause to stoop Starkad

Starkad

Starkad, Old Norse: Starkaðr or Störkuðr, Latin: Starcaterus, and during the late Middle Ages, also known as Starkodder, was a legendary hero in Norse mythology....

r,

Didst bruise Thrívaldi

Þrívaldi

In Norse mythology, Þrívaldi , whose name means "thrice mighty", is a giant killed by Thor.This fact is mentioned by Snorri Sturluson in the Skáldskaparmál , according to which "killer of Þrívaldi" is a kenning for Thor...

,

Didst stand on lifeless Gjálp

Gjálp and Greip

-Thor's visit to Geirröðr:According to Skáldskaparmál they were daughters of the giant Geirröðr. As Thor was wading across Vimur the river "waxed so greatly that it broke high upon his shoulders"...

.

—Skáldskaparmál (11), Brodeur's translation

External links

• Vetrliði's lausavísa in the original language.