View source for Sigvatr Þórðarson

{{Short description|Icelandic skald (995–1045)}}{{Redirect|Sigvatr|the 13th-century chieftain and poet|Sighvatr Sturluson}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2025}}
[[File:Olav den helliges saga CK8.jpg|right|thumb|350 px|''King Olaf presenting a sword to Sigvatr Þórðarson'', [[Christian Krohg]], 1899]]

'''Sigvatr Þórðarson''' or '''Sighvatr Þórðarson''' or '''Sigvatr Thórðarson''' or '''Sigvat the Skald'''{{efn|
* [[Old Norse]] pronunciation: {{IPA|non|ˈsiɣˌ(x)wɑtz̠ ˈθoːrðɑz̠ˌson|}}
* [[Modern Icelandic]]: {{lang|is|Sig(h)vat'''u'''r Þórðarson}} {{IPA|is|ˈsɪɣˌ(kʰ)vaːtʏr ˈθourðarˌsɔːn|}}
* [[Modern Norwegian]]:
** [[Nynorsk]]: {{lang|nn|Sigvat Tord'''ar'''son}}
** [[Bokmål]]: {{lang|nb|Sigvat Tord'''s'''son}}
}} (995&ndash;1045) was an [[Iceland]]ic [[skald]]. He was a court poet to King [[Olaf II of Norway]], as well as [[Cnut the Great]], [[Magnus I of Norway|Magnus the Good]] and [[Anund Jacob]], by whose reigns his floruit can be dated to the earlier eleventh century.<ref>{{cite book | last =  Sturlason | first = Snorre| title =[[Heimskringla]] or the Lives of the Norse Kings | publisher = Kessinger Publishing  | year =2004| page =225 | isbn =0-7661-8693-8 }}</ref> Sigvatr was the best known of the court skalds of King Olaf and also served as his marshal (''stallare''), even baptizing his son Magnus.<ref>[http://www.snl.no/Sigvat_Tordarson ''Sigvat Tordarson'' (Store norske leksikon)]</ref>

Approximately 160 verses of Sigvatr's poetry have been preserved, more than from any other poet of this period. The style of Sigvat's poems is simpler and clearer than that which generally characterises older compositions. Although his verse is still dense, he uses fewer complex poetic circumlocutions than many of his predecessors, and as a Christian poet, he by and large avoids allusions to pagan mythology.<ref>[http://www.snl.no/.nbl_biografi/Sigvat_Tordsson/utdypning ''Sigvat Tordsson – utdypning'' (Store norske leksikon)]</ref>

Most of his surviving poems were texts that praised King Olaf. Many of the poems from [[Óláfs saga helga|St. Olaf's saga]] in ''[[Heimskringla]]'' are by Sigvatr.  ''Víkingarvísur'',  composed ''c''. 1014–15, is the oldest of the surviving long poems attributed to him.<ref>Fell, Christine, 1981: Víkingarvísur. In: Speculum Norroenum. Norse Studies in Memory of Gabriel Turville Petre. Ed. U. Dronke. Odense. Pp. 106–22</ref> The poem tallies King Olaf's battles on his Viking expeditions until 1015, when he returned to Norway to carve out a kingdom for himself.<ref>[https://abdn.ac.uk/skaldic/db.php?id=3849&if=default&table=verses&val=&view== ''Víkingarvísur'' (Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages)]</ref>

In ''Nesjavísur'', the next oldest poem by Sigvatr, the skald describes the naval battle between Olaf and [[Sveinn Hákonarson]] at the [[Battle of Nesjar]] outside [[Brunlanes]] in 1016, the key moment in Olaf's ascent to power in [[Norway]]. 
<ref>[https://abdn.ac.uk/skaldic/db.php?table=text&id=1357&if=default ''Nesjavísur'' (Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages)]</ref>

==Preserved poetry==
# ''[[Víkingarvísur]]'' (‘verses of a Viking-raid’) — on the early deeds of King [[Olaf II of Norway|Olaf]]
# ''[[Nesjavísur]]'' (‘verses of Nesjar’) — on the [[Battle of Nesjar]]
# ''[[Austrfararvísur]]'' (‘verses of an eastern journey’) — on a diplomatic journey to [[Sweden]]
# A drápa about King Olaf
# ''[[Vestrfararvísur]]'' (‘verses of a western journey’) — on a journey to [[Great Britain]]
# Two poems about [[Erlingr Skjalgsson]]
# ''[[Tryggvaflokkr]]'' (‘a flock about Tryggvi’) — on [[Tryggve the Pretender]] 
# A poem about [[Astrid Olofsdotter of Sweden|Queen Astrid]]  
# ''Knútsdrápa'' (‘''Drápa'' of Knút’) — in memory of King [[Canute the Great]]
# ''[[Bersöglisvísur]]'' (‘verses of plain-speaking’) — reprimand to King Magnus
# ''Erfidrápa Óláfs helga'' (‘Saint Olaf's inheritance-''drápa''’) — in memory of King Olaf
# Numerous ''[[Lausavísur]]''
# ''Brot'' - fragments

==Notes==
{{notes}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

==Other sources==
*Whaley, Diana  (editor) ''Poetry from the Kings' Sagas 1, From Mythical Times to c. 1035'' (Brepols Publishers. 2013) {{ISBN|978-2-503-51896-1}}
*O'Donoghue, Heather (2005) ''Skaldic Verse and the Poetics of Saga Narrative'' (Oxford University Press) {{ISBN|978-0199267323}}

==External links==
* [https://skaldic.org/m.php?p=skald&i=171 Index of Sigvatr Þórðarson's poetry], [[Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages]].
* [http://www.hi.is/~eybjorn/ugm/skindex/sigv.html Index of Sigvatr Þórðarson's poetry], Jörmungrund.

{{Heathen Skalds}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sigvatr Thordarson}}
[[Category:Icelandic male poets]]
[[Category:11th-century Icelandic poets]]
[[Category:995 births]]
[[Category:1045 deaths]]
[[Category:Skalds]]