author
Sæmundur fróði
1056–1133
A key figure at the dawn of Icelandic writing, this medieval priest and scholar is remembered for helping shape the country’s early historical tradition. He is also surrounded by later legends that turned a learned churchman into one of Iceland’s most vivid folk characters.
1 Audiobook
The Elder Eddas of Saemund Sigfusson; and the Younger Eddas of Snorre Sturleson
by Sæmundur fróði, Snorri Sturluson
About the author
Born in 1056, Sæmundur fróði Sigfússon was an Icelandic priest, chieftain, and scholar linked with Oddi in southern Iceland. Medieval and modern reference works describe him as one of the earliest Icelanders known for learned historical writing, and later tradition gave him the byname fróði, meaning “the Learned.”
Sources agree that he studied abroad before returning to Iceland, though they differ on exactly where. He is associated with a school at Oddi and with a lost Latin history of the Norwegian kings, known mainly because later writers seem to have used it. That reputation has made him an important figure in the beginnings of Icelandic historiography.
Over time, Sæmundur became more than a historical scholar in Icelandic memory. Later folklore cast him as a clever, larger-than-life figure who repeatedly outwits the Devil, adding a legendary afterlife to the real churchman who died in 1133.