Sæmundur fróði

Sæmundur fróði, or Sæmundur the Learned, was an Icelandic priest and scholar who lived from 1056 to 1133. Modern reference works describe him as one of Iceland’s earliest historians, and Britannica calls him the first chronicler of Iceland. He is also linked with the powerful Oddaverjar family and with the learning center at Oddi in southern Iceland.

Sources agree that he studied abroad before returning to Iceland, though the exact place is debated: older accounts often place his studies in France, while more recent scholarship has suggested Franconia instead. After his return, he became associated with the church and with education at Oddi, where a long-lived school grew up around his legacy.

Sæmundur is said to have written a history of the Norwegian kings, probably in Latin, but that work has not survived. Even so, later writers appear to have used it, and his reputation remained strong enough that he was remembered for centuries as a learned authority. He was also incorrectly credited in later tradition with the Poetic Edda, which is why that collection was sometimes called “Sæmundar Edda.”