Þjóðólfr of Hvinir
Encyclopedia
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 credited with another skaldic poem, Haustlöng
.
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...
, active around the year 900. He is considered to have been the original author of Ynglingatal
Ynglingatal
Ynglingatal is a skaldic poem listing the kings of the House of Ynglings, dated by most scholars to the late 9th century.The original version is attributed to Þjóðólfr af Hvini who was the skald of a Norwegian petty king named Ragnvald the Mountain-High and who was a cousin of Harald Fairhair...
, a poem glorifying the Norwegian petty king
Petty kingdom
A petty kingdom is one of a number of small kingdoms, described as minor or "petty" by contrast to an empire or unified kingdom that either preceded or succeeded it...
Ragnvald the Mountain-High
Ragnvald the Mountain-High
Ragnvald "the Mountain-High" Olafsson was a petty king of Vestfold in what is today Norway. He was the son of Olaf Geirstad-Alf, a cousin of Harald Fairhair and the father of Åsa Ragnvaldsdatter , who married Eystein Ivarsson.His greatest contribution to posterity was that he asked the skald...
, by describing how he was descended from the Swedish
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....
kings and the Norse gods.
He is also credited with another skaldic poem, Haustlöng
Haustlöng
Haustlöng is a skaldic poem composed around the beginning of the 10th century. The poem is preserved in the 13th century Prose Edda, which quotes two groups of stanzas from it, and is attributed to the Norwegian skald Þjóðólfr of Hvinir. The poem describes mythological scenes painted on a shield...
.