Search this site:
Yahoo! Education > Reference > Encyclopedia > Snorri Sturluson

Encyclopedia: Snorri Sturluson


Reference


Word of the Day
competent
Definition: (adjective) having the skill and knowledge needed for a particular task; capable
Petersons.com
Add Word of the Day to your personalized My Yahoo! page:
Add to My Yahoo! View RSS Feed
About My Yahoo! and RSS »

 
Columbia University Press
Snorri Sturluson
or  (snôr´rē stür´lüsôn, —lĕsôn) , 1178—1241, Icelandic chieftain, historian, critic, and saga teller, the leading figure in medieval Norse literature. He was the author of the invaluable Prose Edda (see Edda), a treatise on the art of poetry and a compendium of Norse mythology. His great saga the Heimskringla recounts the history of Norway to 1177; it combines traditional legend with substantial historical information and is of great literary merit. Snorri's sense of drama was outstanding, his mastery of form and method superb. Of an aristocratic family, Snorri acquired great wealth and became one of the most influential men in Iceland. Active in the politics of his day, he agreed to support the plan of Haakon IV for the annexation of Iceland to Norway, and thereafter he became increasingly entangled in intrigues and hostilities. In the struggle for control of Iceland he was killed by henchmen of his son-in-law, for political reasons as well as for reasons of inheritance.

See biography by M. Ciklamini (1978).


Search Encyclopedia:

 More on Yahoo! Education
 • Online and On-Campus Degree Programs
    MBAs  -  Technology Management  -  Education  -  Health  -  More

 • College & Grad School - A Comprehensive Guide
    College Search  -  Test Prep  -  Application Tips  -  Scholarship Search

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright © 2006 Columbia University Press
-