Jóns þáttr biskups Halldórssonar (The Tale of Bishop Jón Halldórsson) is a short Old Norse-Icelandic narrative of the life of Jón Halldórsson, Norwegian bishop of Skálholt from 1322 to 1339.[1] It was likely authored by Bergr Sokkason and is written in the 'florid style' characteristic of the North Icelandic Benedictine School.[2] The text is extant in two manuscripts from the 14th and 15th centuries.[1]

The þáttur is unique among other bishops' sagas for two reasons. Firstly, it is the only such text to focus on a Norwegian bishop. Secondly, the narrative structure is based around a series of exempla, and appears to have been influenced by the Dominican style of preaching.[3][4] For this reason, Sigurdson has argued against Guðrún Ása Grímsdóttir's suggestion that Jóns þáttr may have been written as a plan for a fully-fledged bishop's saga.[2]

The þáttur does not include details of Jón's ecclesiastical or political activities which are recorded in Lárentíus saga and other sources.[4] Sigurdson writes "Jón Halldórsson was an innovative and influential bishop, a legal expert, and a bureaucrat; the omission of any of this from his þáttur serves to further prove how far removed this piece of literature is from any of the bishops' sagas."[4]

Bibliography

Manuscripts

  • AM 657 4to (14th century)
  • AM 624 4to (15th century)

Editions

  • Sigurðsson, Jón; Vigfússon, Guðbrandur (1858–1878). Biskupa sögur. Vol. 2. Copenhagen: Møller. pp. 221-230.
  • Gering, Hugo (1882–1884). Islendzk æventyri: Isländische Legenden Novellen und Märchen. Vol. 1. Halle: Waisenhauss. pp. 84-94.
  • Jónsson, Guðni (1948). Byskupa sögur. Reykjavík: Íslendingasagnaútgáfan, Haukadalsútgáfan.
  • Grímsdóttir, Guðrún Ása (1998). "Söguþáttur Jóns Halldórssonar biskups". Byskupa sögur III. Íslenzk fornrit XVII. Hið Íslenzka fornritafélag. ISBN 9979-893-17-6.

References

  1. 1 2 Jakobsen, Alfred (1993). "Jóns þáttr biskups Halldórssonar". In Pulsiano, Phillip; Wolf, Kirsten (eds.). Medieval Scandinavia: An Encyclopedia. New York: Garland. p. 346. ISBN 0824047877.
  2. 1 2 Sigurdson, Erika (2016). The Church in Fourteenth-Century Iceland: The Formation of an Elite Clerical Identity. The Northern World 72. Leiden: Brill. p. 42. ISBN 978-90-04-30156-6.
  3. ↑ Sigurdson, Erika (2016). The Church in Fourteenth-Century Iceland: The Formation of an Elite Clerical Identity. The Northern World 72. Leiden: Brill. p. 43. ISBN 978-90-04-30156-6.
  4. 1 2 3 Sigurdson, Erika (2016). The Church in Fourteenth-Century Iceland: The Formation of an Elite Clerical Identity. The Northern World 72. Leiden: Brill. p. 44. ISBN 978-90-04-30156-6.
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