Bolli Bollason (also
Bolli
Bollison) was a key historical character in the
Medieval Icelandic Laxdæla saga, born around 1004.
He grew up
in Orlygsstadir, at Helgafell on the
Snæfellsnes
Peninsula
in
Iceland. He divided his time between Helgafell and Tunga,
the home of
Snorri the
Goði.
[Note 1] He was held in
the highest regard among the contemporary
Scandinavian rulers, and also in the
Byzantine Empire, where he became the first
known West Norseman in the
Varangian
Guard.
[Note 2] It is believed
that he had reached the rank of
manglabites in the
Byzantine army, and on his return to Iceland,
his finery and recognition earned him the name "Bolli the
Elegant".
His importance in the literary context of the
saga is his prominence as the son of
Bolli Þorleiksson and
Guðrún
Ósvífursdóttir, the two central characters of the work. He is
mentioned at the end of the
Sneglu-Hall páttur (
The
Tale of Sarcastic Halli), and is also the subject of his own
tale, the
Bollaþáttur,
which was later appended to the end of the manuscripts in the early
14th century.
Laxdæla saga
Background
The
Laxdæla saga or
Saga of the People of
Laxardal is an Icelandic family saga written sometime between
1250 and 1270, possibly by a woman author. "Vast in conception",
the grand sweep of the saga's action spans well over a century from
AD 890 to 1030. Alongside
Njál's
saga and
Egil's saga,
the Laxdæla saga makes the strongest claim of any Icelandic saga
for literary greatness. Shaped by continental literary traditions
and several types of saga, the characterisation "highlights
nobility, splendour and physical appearance", although:
The saga is also a feud saga, in which "feuds escalate from trivial
local squabbles into unstoppable vendettas. The male protagonists
are splendid figures who die heroic deaths, while the women are
strong characters who engineer much of the action".
Many manuscripts of the
Laxdæla saga have survived,
although all printed versions have been based upon the
Möðruvallabók (dated
1330-1370), the only intact vellum manuscript. Historiographically,
the distinction between narrative and history did not exist at the
time when the sagas were written. However, the sagas develop a
"dense and plausible" historical context, with the authenticating
details and precision necessary for the narrative. The world within
which the local and detailed stories of the individual sagas exist
can be confirmed by archaeology and comparison with histories in
other languages.
Account
Family and early life
Snæfellsnes, where Bolli was
born.
Bolli Bollason was one of the
People of
Laxárdalur, in the Western Quarter of Iceland. He was born in
1006 to
Guðrún
Ósvífursdóttir, the winter after the killing of his father,
Bolli Þorleiksson. Guðrún had
been courted by Þorleiksson and his foster-brother Kjartan
Ólafsson, but although she preferred Kjartan, she gave herself to
Þorleiksson on the basis of a false rumour that Kjartan was
engaged. The consequent hostilities between the two foster-brothers
ended with Þorleiksson killing Kjartan, and then he in turn being
killed by Kjartan's kinsmen. Bolli Bollason grew up with his
brother Thorleik, who was four years his senior, and his mother
Guðrún in Helgafell, after she exchanged homes with the renowned
Snorri the Goði.
Guðrún remarried, this time to Thorkell Eyjolffsson, who became a
great chieftain in his own countryside and took over the running of
the household at Helgafell.
This left Bolli able to spend his time both at Helgafell and with Snorri in Tunga, and Snorri became very fond of him. Thorkell was fond of both his stepsons, but Bolli was regarded as "being the foremost in all things". Thorleik journeyed abroad to Norway, and stayed with King Olaf II for several months.
When Bolli was eighteen years old he asked for his father's
portion, as he intended to woo Thordis Snorradottir, the daughter
of Snorri the Goði. He set out with his stepfather and a good many
followers to Tunga. Snorri welcomed them, and the wedding feast
took place that summer. Bolli abode at Tunga, and love grew between
him and Thordis. The next summer, Thorleik returned in a
goods-laden ship to White-river, "and the brothers greeted each
other joyfully".
The two brothers made peace with the sons of Ólaf, Kjartan's
kinsmen, at the
Thorness Thing; it
is not known how much money was exchanged in
compensation as part of the agreement, but Bolli
received a good sword, and after the assembly "both sides were
thought to have gained in esteem from these affairs".
Travels abroad
Bolli's later travels abroad with his brother Thorleik are well
documented and notable for his role in the Varangian Guard. They
departed Iceland, taking "a great deal of money abroad with him",
and reached Norway in the autumn.
They stayed in Thrandheim for the winter,
while King Olaf II was wintering in the east
in Sarpsborg
. Bolli soon became highly thought of in
Norway, and his arrivals at the guild meeting-places were noted for
being better arrayed as to raiment and weapons than other
townsfolk. Early in the spring the brothers prepared their ship and
went east to meet the king. The king thought Bolli "a man of high
mettle," "even peerless among men", and "the man of greatest mark
that has ever come from Iceland."
Bolli boarded a
trade-ship bound for
Denmark, departing King Olaf in great friendship and with fine
parting gifts.
[Note 2] Thorleik
remained behind, but Bolli wintered in Denmark and became as well
regarded as he had been in Norway.
Travelling next to Constantinople
, he spent many years in the Varangian Guard; "and
was thought to be the most valiant in all deeds that try a man, and
always went next to those in the forefront." The saga also
records the finery his followers received from the
Byzantine Emperor (most likely
Romanos III), and the influence he held after
his return to Iceland, some time after the death of King Olaf
II:
The right to bear a gold-hilted sword was one of the privileges of
the court rank of "
Manglabites", and is taken as an
indicator that Bolli held this rank. In Iceland, his finery and
recognition earned him the name "Bolli the Elegant". His return to
Thordis was joyful, and he took over the manor of Tunga when Snorri
died at 67 years of age. Bolli had two children with Thordis:
Herdis Bolladottir and Ospak Bollason.
Tales
Bollaþáttur
In Norse literature, a tale or
þáttur referred to a short
narrative often included as an episode in a larger whole, such as
as part of a saga. The
Bolla þáttur Bollasonar, or
Bolli Bollason's Tale, is such a narrative about an
episode in the life of Bolli Bollason, taken from the 14th century
Möðruvallabók which contains the
Laxdæla
saga.
According to the tale, a man called Thorolf Stuck-up had a bull
which wounded his neighbours' farm animals, damaged haystacks and
caused "a great deal of trouble". When an upstanding local farmer
named Thord saw the bull damaging the stacks of peat on his farm at
Marbaeli, he lunged at the animal with a spear and struck it dead.
In revenge, Thorolf killed Thord's seven or eight year old son
Olaf, to the disgust of Thorolf's wife and kinsmen. Thorolf fled
and eventually secured the protection of Thorvald Hjaltasson, a
prominent leader who lived at Hjaltadal. After Christmas, Thorvald
secured for him the safekeeping and support of Starri of Guddalir,
who often sheltered outlaws.
Thord's wife Gudrun, a first cousin of Bolli, asked him to take
over the prosecution of the case. Accompanied by Arnor Crone's-nose
and a large company of men, Bolli attended the Hegranes Assembly.
Thorvald and Starri intended to block the prosecution "by force of
arms and numbers", but when they realised they were outnumbered,
they withdrew and Bolli successfully had Thorolf outlawed. Passage
out of Iceland was obtained for Thorolf aboard a merchant vessel at
Hrutafjord. However, Bolli believed it would have been improper if
the outlawed Thorolf were to escape, and having ridden north to
Hrutafjord, he drew his sword Leg-biter and "struck a blow right
through" Thorolf, killing him.
Sneglu-Hall páttur
Bolli died during the reign of
Harald III of Norway, as is recorded at
the end of
The Tale of Sarcastic Halli. The tale makes
reference to Bolli's military prowess, in ironic contrast to the
tale's protagonist:
Notes
- In English versions of the saga, Helgafell and Tunga are
sometimes translated as "Holyfell" and "Tongue" respectively.
- Chapter 73: "…from what we have heard, no Northman had
ever gone to take warpay from the Garth king before Bolli, Bolli's
son". "Northman" in the saga can be taken to mean a "West Norseman"
— an Icelander or Norwegian — as Old Norse
had spilt along East/West lines. According to the Annales Bertiniani, the Swedes had
reached "Miklagarðr" (Constantinople) in the 830s, and
many of them were in the service of the Empire prior Bolli's
arrival.
- Although the 1899 Muriel Press translation uses the ambiguous
"trade-ship" for knarrarbátinn ( Chapter
LXXIII), the newer 2001 Penguin edition translates it as
"cog".
Footnotes
- Genealogy of Bolli Bollason
- Heath, p 38
- Thorsson, p 419
- Thorsson, p 270
- Thorsson, p 274-275
- Thorsson, p xii
- Thorsson, p lxi
- Thorsson, p 275
- Thorsson, p xxx
- Thorsson, p xxxv
- Thorsson, p xxvii
- Thorsson, p xxxvii
- Thorsson, p xxxi
- Thorsson
- Thorsson, p 757
- Thorsson, p 422
- Thorsson, p 422-423
- Thorsson, p 423
- Thorsson, p 422-424
- Thorsson, p 424-425
- Thorsson, p 424
- Thorsson, p 425
- Thorsson, p 426
References
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