Oddr Snorrason

Oddr Snorrason whose name is also sometimes Anglicized as Odd Snorrason was a 12th-century Icelandic Benedictine monk at the Þingeyraklaustur monastery (Þingeyrarklaustur). The monastery was founded in 1133 and was the first in Iceland.[1]

This is an Icelandic name. The last name is patronymic, not a family name; this person is referred to by the given name Oddr.

Work

One latin version of the Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar is attributed to Oddr - 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. Oddr made use of previous written works including those of Sæmundr fróði and Ari Þorgilsson as well as Acta sanctorum in Selio and possibly Historia de Antiquitate Regum Norwagiensium.[2] In turn Snorri Sturluson made use of Oddr's work when writing the Heimskringla, as did the author of Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta.

Yngvars saga víðförla also credits Oddr with its original authorship. Scholars have been skeptical towards this claim but in recent years it has gained more acceptance.[3]

References

1. Þingeyrarklaustur (Historical Places in Northwest Iceland) Archived October 12, 2014, at the Wayback Machine
2. Hoops 2003, p. 66.
3. Ross 2000, pp. 306-8; Oddr Snorrason 2003, p. 3.

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

Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar

Manuscripts

• AM 310 4to
• Stock. Perg. 4to no. 18
• Uppsala University Library, DG 4-7

Editions

• Finnur Jónsson, ed. (1932). Saga Ólafs Tryggvasonar af Oddr Snorrason munk. Copenhagen.
• Groth, P., ed. (1985). Saga Olafs konungs Tryggvasonar er ritaði Oddr muncer. Christiania: Grøndahl &Søn. pp. 49–50.
• Guðni Jónsson, ed. (1957). Konunga sögur. Volume 1/3. Íslendingasaganaútgáfan. pp. 80–85.
• Holtsmark, Anne, ed. (1974). Olav Tryggvasons saga etter AM 310 qv. Oslo: Selskapet til utgivelse av gamle norske håndskrifter.
• Munch, P. A., ed. (1853). Saga Olafs konungs Tryggvasunar: Kong Olaf Tryggvesöns saga forfattet paa latin henimod slutningen af det tolfte arrhundrede af Odd Snorreson. Christiania: Brøgger & Christie. pp. 25–26.

Translation

• Andersson, Theodore M. (2003). The saga of Olaf Tryggvason by Oddr Snorrason. Islandica. 52. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. pp. 77–79. ISBN 0801441498.