Björn inn krepphendi

Ármann Jakobsson (University of Iceland)
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Björn inn krepphendi is a poet mentioned in the Old Norse kings’ sagas and the purported author of

Magnússdrápa

, a poem about King Magnús Ólafsson of Norway (d. 1103). Eleven stanzas are preserved in

Morkinskinna

and

Heimskringla

and thought to belong to this poem, but of those five are only half-stanzas. The poem is mentioned in the sagas but it is not clear whether all eleven stanzas originally belonged to this poem although they are composed in the same metre.

Editors of the poem tend to follow the order in which the stanzas appear in the kings’ sagas. They seem to concern the campaigns of King Magnús whose nickname was Barelegs, and in the sagas they appear amongst the stanzas of other poets, Gísl Illugason and Þorkell hamarskáld. These poets are all mentioned in the

626 words

Citation: Jakobsson, Ármann. "Björn inn krepphendi". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 April 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=14970, accessed 06 October 2024.]

14970 Björn inn krepphendi 1 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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