Guðmundr inn ríki Eyjólfsson

Literary/ Cultural Context Essay

Yoav Tirosh (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)

Domains

Mythical / legendary character

Dates

Date of occurrence 900-1000

Places

Iceland (Involved)

Resources

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Guðmundr inn ríki Eyjólfsson is a semi-historical Icelandic character from the tenth to early eleventh centuries, who appears mainly in a number of

Íslendingasögur

[Sagas of Early Icelanders], as well as in the kings’ saga compilation

Heimskringla

, annals, and chronologies. While there is no reason to doubt the existence of a man named Guðmundr, who was the son of Eyjólfr Valgerðarson, and sported the nickname “inn ríki” [the powerful, although users of modern Icelandic often understand this as “the rich”], the stories that are attached to him cannot be verified. Nevertheless, there is a clear consistency in the portrayal of the character (Gísli Sigurðsson 2007), sometimes in a more positive light, sometimes in a more negative one (Schach 1978). Theodore M. Andersson…

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1440 words

Citation: Tirosh, Yoav. "Guðmundr inn ríki Eyjólfsson". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 December 2024 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=19737, accessed 30 December 2024.]

Guðmundr inn ríki Eyjólfsson

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