Background from the Möðruvallabók, the same vellum manuscript containing the Laxdæla saga and the Bollaþáttur'' 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. Shaped by continental literary traditions and several types of saga, 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 Bolli Bollason was one of the
People of Laxárdalur, in the Western Quarter of Iceland. He was born in 1004 to
Guðrún Ósvífursdóttir, the winter after the killing of his father,
Bolli Þorleiksson. Guðrún had been courted by Bolli Þorleiksson and his foster-brother Kjartan Ólafsson, but although she preferred Kjartan, she gave herself to Bolli Þorleiksson on the basis of a false rumour that Kjartan was engaged. The consequent hostilities between the two foster-brothers ended with Bolli 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 goði. Guðrún remarried, this time to Þorkell Eyjólffsson, 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.
Travels abroad of the type that Bolli might have taken to Denmark. 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. 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. Bolli had two children with Thordis: Herdis Bolladottir and Ospak Bollason. ==Tales==