Ari Þorgilsson, Íslendingabók [Book of Icelanders]

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Íslendingabók 

[Book of Icelanders] was composed by the aristocratic priest Ari Þorgilsson (c. 1067-1148). In the prologue, Ari relates that he showed an early draft to the two bishops of Iceland, Þorlákr Runólfsson (1086-1133) and Ketill Þorsteinsson (1075-1145), and priest and magnate Sæmundr Sigfússon (1056-1133). These two bishops were in office between 1122 and 1133 so those dates provide the timeframe for the composition of the work. This early draft version has not been preserved, but it is likely that Ari finished his final revision of the text about or shortly after 1134, since Guðmundr Þorgeirsson is the last lawspeaker mentioned and his term is listed as the twelve years from 1123 to 1134.

Íslendingabók is an overview of the history of Iceland from around

1923 words

Citation: Jakobsson, Sverrir. "Íslendingabók". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 01 May 2023 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=40983, accessed 09 October 2024.]

40983 Íslendingabók 3 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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