The Climax Of The Viking Age
European history would not be complete without mention of Iceland’s famous poet, Snorri Sturluson. Snorri’s most famous work is the The Prose Edda
Snorri was also a politician, lawyer, and speaker. But he was and still is most notable for being a famous poet. In 1215, he became speaker of the Althing, the national parliament, or literally general assembly. Snorri Sturluson was a lover of power and he was a very ambitious person. But you don’t become a power politician without making powerful enemies, especially in the era of the Vikings.
On the night of September 23, 1241, Snorri was attacked by his enemies at his house in Reykholt, Iceland. Gissur Thorvaldsson and seventy men surprised Snorri at his house. After that they discovered where Snorri was and those entered the cellar: Markús Marðarson, Símon knútur, Árni beiskur, Þorsteinn Guðinason, Þórarinn Ásgrímsson. Símon knútur asked Árni beiskur to kill him.
Thou shalt not hew, said Snorri. Hew thou, said Símon. Thou shalt not hew, said Snorri. Then Árni dealt him a fatal blow and after that both he and Þorsteinn added further injuries. He was chased down into his cellar and brutally hacked to death.
So there you have it. One of the most distinguished poets of his day, brutally murdered by his enemies. Snorri has a bath named after him in his honor. Snorralaug is a hot-spring bath, a basin of hewn stone to which hot-spring water is led along two conduits from the hot spring named Skrifla, situated about 108 m east of Snorralaug.
The bath was built by Snorri Sturluson himself in the Age of the Vikings, and is located at Reykholtshreppur, Borgarfjarðarsysla, West Iceland.
