Markús Skeggjason

Ármann Jakobsson (University of Iceland)

Ed. by Ármann Jakobsson, University of Iceland
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.3.4: Icelandic Writing and Culture.
Vol. editors: Ármann Jakobsson (University of Iceland), Sven Hakon Rossel (Universitat Wien), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jakob Stougaard-Nielsen (University College London)

Dates

Born c. 1035
Died 5 Oct 1107

Places

Born in Iceland
Active in Iceland

Activities

Primary

Poet

Resources

Skeggjason's Works

Save to Bookshelf

The Icelandic poet Markús Skeggjason was born around 1035 and died on 15 October 1107. He was a direct descendant in the male line of Ingólfur Arnarson the first settler of Iceland, and also related to the lawspeaker Skapti Þóroddsson of Hjalli. Markús is also an ancestor of Snorri Sturluson (d. 1241) and his brothers. Possibly the poet Þórarinn Skeggjason (only known from one half-stanza about King Haraldr harðráði) was his brother.

Markús was the lawspeaker of Iceland from 1084 until his death in 1107, the second longest serving after Skapti Þóroddsson and in Kristni saga these two are mentioned as the two wisest lawspeakers in Icelandic history. Apparently a lost *Life of Icelandic lawspeakers that he compiled was one of the most important sources of Ari Þorgilsson’s

Please log in to consult the article in its entirety. If you are a member (student of staff) of a subscribing institution (see List), you should be able to access the LE on campus directly (without the need to log in), and off-campus either via the institutional log in we offer, or via your institution's remote access facilities, or by creating a personal user account with your institutional email address. If you are not a member of a subscribing institution, you will need to purchase a personal subscription. For more information on how to subscribe as an individual user, please see under Individual Subcriptions.

693 words

Citation: Jakobsson, Ármann. "Markús Skeggjason". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 25 January 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=14961, accessed 21 November 2024.]