https://doi.org/10.31261/SPiP.2013.09.04
At the end of the 12th century, Iceland was the scene of significant political changes. The previously dominant system of power, based on the competences of the Althing and the authority of local chieftains (goðar), was collapsing. The balance of power on the island was now to be based on the coexistence of larger domains (héraðsríkja) created by the most influential families, at the expense of other local chieftains. At the end of the first half of the 13th century, in the so-called During the Sturlung era, Iceland was informally divided into six local spheres of influence ruled by distinguished families: Haukdælir in Árnesþing, Oddaverjar in Rangárþing, Ásbirningar in Skagafjörður, Vatnsfirðingar in Ísafjörður, Sturlungar in Hvammur in Dalir, and Svínfellingar in Austfirðir. The process of consolidating power on the island was characterized by constant conflicts between individual families. These conflicts are reflected in the so-called contemporary sagas, commissioned by the main and most influential participants in the power struggle (e.g., the Sturlung Saga). The aim of this article is to consider how rivalry, shifting alliances, armed confrontations, and ultimately truces and agreements influenced the political balance of power in eastern Iceland. The basis for tracing these mechanisms is an analysis of one of the contemporary sagas, the Saga of the Men of Svinafell (Svínfellinga saga), in comparison with other, mainly annalistic, accounts created on the island at the time.
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Vol. 5 (2013)
Published: 2013-12-31
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