Title:
Alternate names/spellings: Óláfr hvítaskáld Þórðarson
Dates: 1210 - 1259 (Dates are approximate. )
Olaf ‘White Skald’ Thordarson (b. c. 1210-12) Olaf was a nephew of Snorri Sturluson and older brother to Sturla Þórðarson. The Knýtlinga Saga is often attributed to him because of his close association with Valdimar II Valdimarsson of Denmark. He returned to Iceland c. 1242, founded a school at Stafaholf in Borgarfjörður, where he taught, and wrote the Third Grammatical Treatise. He was also ordained as a subdeacon and later served as lawspeaker from 1248 to 1250. Most of his extant poetry is about Hákon IV Hákonarson, except for two surviving stanzas from a poem about his friend Árón Hjörleifsson, as well as two stanzas from a poem about Thomas à Becket.