Oddr Snorrason
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Oddr Snorrason¹ was a 12th century Icelandic Benedictine monk at the Þingeyrar monastery. He wrote a Latin biography of the 10th century Norwegian king Óláfr Tryggvason. 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. The work is often referred to as Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar. 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.

It is difficult to tell how closely the Old Norse translation of Oddr's Óláfs saga resembles the Latin original but it clearly owes a debt to hagiography, presenting King Óláfr as the apostle to the Norwegians.

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

Notes

1. ^ Sometimes Anglicized as Odd Snorrason.
2. ^ Hoops 2003, p. 66.
3. ^ Ross 2000, pp. 306-8; Oddr Snorrason 2003, p. 3.

References

• 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
• Yngvars saga víðförla. http://www.snerpa.is/net/forn/yngvar.htm

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