The Bishop

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Lore & Background

The bishops' sagas are mostly thirteenth- and earlier fourteenth-century prose histories. They cover the two medieval Icelandic dioceses: Skálholt and Hólar. Sagas about Skálholt bishops include *Hungrvaka* (short biographies of the first five bishops of Skálholt, 1056–1176), *Þorláks saga helga* (three redactions, including the earliest of the *biskupa sögur*), *Páls saga biskups* (the saga of Þorlákr's successor Páll Jónsson, d. 1211), and *Árna saga biskups* (composed c. 1300 about Árni Þorláksson, d. 1298). Two *þættir* are also relevant: *Ísleifs þáttr biskups* and *Jóns þáttr Halldórssonar*. Sagas about Hólar bishops include *Jóns saga helga* (about Jón Ögmundsson, 1052–1121, in several different versions), *Guðmundar saga biskups* (about Guðmundur Arason, 1161–1237, in several different versions), and *Laurentius Saga* (the latest of the *biskupa sögur*, about Lárentíus Kálfsson, 1267–31). Several of the Hólar sagas are associated with the North Icelandic Benedictine School which flourished in the fourteenth century.

In Their Own Story

The principal modern edition of these sagas is *Biskupa sögur*, Íslenzk fornrit, 15-17 (Reykjavík: Hið Íslenzka Fornritafélag, 2002–3). Earlier editions include *Biskupa sögur*, Vol. 1 (Kaupmannahöfn [Copenhagen]: Hið íslenska bókmenntafélag, 1858) and Vol. 2 (1878). A number of these sagas are edited and translated in Gudbrand Vigfusson and F. York Powell's *Origines Islandicae: A collection of the more important sagas and other native writings relating to the settlement and early history of Iceland*, Vol. 1 (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1905).

Reader's Guide

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Did You Know?

• The bishops' sagas are mostly thirteenth- and earlier fourteenth-century prose histories.
• The earliest of the *biskupa sögur* is *Þorláks saga helga*, which has three redactions.
• *Hungrvaka* gives short biographies of the first five bishops of Skálholt, covering 1056–1176.
• *Laurentius Saga* is the latest of the *biskupa sögur*, about Lárentíus Kálfsson (1267–31).
• Several Hólar sagas are linked to the North Icelandic Benedictine School, which flourished in the fourteenth century.