Hallfreðr ÓttarssonorHallfreðr vandræðaskáld (Troublesome Poet) (c. 965 – c. 1007) was an Icelandic skald. He is the protagonist of Hallfreðar saga according to which he was the court poet first of Hákon Sigurðarson, then of Óláfr Tryggvason and finally of Eiríkr Hákonarson. A significant amount of poetry by Hallfreðr has been preserved, primarily in Hallfreðar saga and the kings' sagas but a few fragments are also quoted in Skáldskaparmál.
In his lausavísur Hallfreðr was an unusually personal skald, offering insight into his emotional life and, especially, his troubled and reluctant conversion from paganismtoChristianity under the tutelage of king Óláfr. The following is an example.
Ǫll hefr ætt til hylli |
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| —Lausavísur 10, Whaley's edition | —Lausavísur 10, Whaley's translation |
The Bergsbók manuscript attributes an Óláfsdrápa Tryggvasonar to Hallfreðr, but this attribution is rejected by modern scholars.
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