Sturla Þórðarson
Sturla Sturla Þórðarson (ˈsturlɑ ˈθoːrðɑrˌson; 29 July 1214 – 30 July 1284) was an Icelandic chieftain and writer of sagas and contemporary history during the 13th century. Much academic debate is dedicated to evaluating his life and his biases as an historian of medieval Iceland and Norway.
Also recorded as Sturla Thórdarson · Sturla Thordarson
Sturla Þórðarson

Christian Bickel · CC BY-SA 2.0 de
- Born
- 1214 · Icelandic Commonwealth.
- Died
- 1284 · Iceland.
- Nationality
- Kingdom of Iceland
- Occupation
- politician · military leader · historian · writer · lawspeaker · skald · jurist · poet
- Fields
- Icelandic literature · history · law · saga
- Known for
- Sturlubók · Járnsíða · Hrafnsmál · Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar · Íslendinga saga · Magnúss saga lagabœtis
- Languages
- Old Icelandic · Icelandic
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gnd · 118914928 · wikidata · Q553947 · wikipedia · Sturla Þórðarson
In this article
Biography
Biography
The life of Sturla Þórðarson was chronicled in the Sturlunga saga. Sturla was the son of Icelandic chieftain Þórður Sturluson and his mistress Þóra, and grandson of Sturla Þórðarson the elder. He was raised by his grandmother, Guðný Böðvarsdóttir. He was a nephew and pupil of the famous saga-writer Snorri Sturluson. His brother was Icelandic skald and scholar Ólafur Þórðarson hvítaskáld. He fought alongside Þórður kakali Sighvatsson during the Age of the Sturlungs. Sturla was appointed law speaker over all of Iceland for a brief period after the dissolution of the Icelandic Commonwealth, and wrote the law book Járnsíða. Like his uncle, Snorri, and his brother, Óláfr, Sturla was a prolific poet. He is reported in Sturlu þáttr as telling a saga called Huldar saga. He is best known for writing Íslendinga saga, the longest saga within Sturlunga saga, and Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar, the story of Haakon IV of Norway. He also wrote a saga of Haakon's son, Magnus the lawmender (Magnúss saga lagabœtis), of which only fragments have survived. Some scholars also believe him to have written Kristni saga and Sturlubók, a transcript of Landnáma. He is moreover listed in Skáldatal as the court skald of the Swedish ruler Birger Jarl.
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Icelandic Commonwealth.
Birth place
Iceland.
Death place
Other sources
Other sources
• Jón Viðar Sigurðsson; Sverrir Jakobsson (2017) Sturla Þórðarson: Skald, Chieftain and Lawman (Boston: Brill)

Staðarhólskirkja in Staðarhólsdalur (Saurbær)
Christian Bickel
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The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Sturla Þórðarson, revision 1352365124 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
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Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Erik Opsahl. Sturla Tordsson. Norsk biografisk leksikon.
- 2.Brill. Sturla Þórðarson. Skald, Chieftain and Lawman. 2017. 978-90-04-34235-4.
- 3.skaldic.abdn.ac.uk. Sturla Þórðarson (Sturl).
- 4.Úlfar Bragason, 'Um hvað fjallaði Huldar saga?', Tímarit Máls og menningar, 51.4 (1990), 76-81.
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