Ari Thorgilsson

Background

He was born in 1067 and lived in Haukadalr, a seat of learning in southern Iceland.

Education

Nothing is known about his education.

Career

Ari is the father of Icelandic saga writing, which to him meant historiography. Only an abridgment of Ari's Íslendingabók ("Book of Icelanders") (c. 1122 - 1133) survives; the complete work contained genealogies and kings' lives omitted in the abridgment. Influenced by 11th-century chronicles, Ari was a painstaking chronologist, but he could also tell a good story. Probably he had something to do with the Landnamabok ("Book of the Land-taking"), a unique genealogical-geographic work, which lists about 4, 000 early settlers of Iceland.

Ari was early on regarded as an important author. In Iceland's First Grammatical Treatise, written around 1160 AD, he is referred to with respect as an exceptional man, since the tradition of writing was not firmly established at the time.

Achievements

• He is the author of Íslendingabók, which details the histories of the various families who settled Iceland. He was the first to write history in Old Norse.

Works

More photos

• book

  • The Book of the Settlement of Iceland: Tr. From the Original Icelandic of Ari the Learned

Religion

It is believed that Ari later became a Christian priest in Staður by Ölduhryggur, now known as Staðastaður.

Connections

Ari is the father of Icelandic saga writing, which to him meant historiography.