HARVARD UKRAINIAN STUDIES - See also - Harvard University

ÓLÁFRTRYGGVASON AND VOLODIMER THE GREAT 9Latin circa 1200 by the monk Gunnlaugr Leifsson (d. 1218/1219). Fortunately,the chapter on Óláfr's chronology in OsTm has been correctlyrecognized by Bjarni Aöalbjarnarson as going back to Gunnlaugr's originalwork. 8 1.2.Oddr Snorrason, the first Icelandic biographer of Óláfr Tryggvason, statedthat he found in the material existing during his time (ca. 1190) two versionsof the chronology of Óláfr Tryggvason (hereafter ОТ): one establishedby Ari inn froöi (1067-1148), the father of Icelandic historiographyin the vernacular; and the other written by some anonymous "learnedmen."In checking the veracity of both versions, Oddr Snorrason sided with thatby the anonymous authors. He provided only Ari's summation, without givingthe components of his presentation. Here are both Oddr's text and itstranslation: 925. l>at finnz i frasogn Ara hinsfrofta oc era Jjeir fleire er patsanna at Olafr T. s hafi ij uetrhaft oc XX |>a erharm com і land.oc tokrikien hann reo firir v. uetrEn po era {»ir sumir menn fróoirer sua vilia segiaoc pui trua at sua se athann hafi haft ij uetr oc XXX vetraer hann tok rikit.oc bat scal nu sanna huersu f>eirtelia.Pat segia beir ¡>a er Tryggui konungrfapir hans var uegiN at Olafr varЬа і moöur quiöi ocvar fóddr pat.oc var einn uetr meö moöur feprIt was found in the record of events(frásQgn)of Ari inn fróoi—and most [scholars]affirm it—that Óláfr Tryggvason wasXX and Π [= 22] years old whenhe came to the country [Norway] andtook the state.And he ruled for V [= 5] years.But there are some learned men(mennfróóir) who would stipulateand believe that he [ОТ] wasXXX and Π [= 32] years old when hetook the state [of Norway].It will now be shown how they count.They say that when King Tryggvi,his father, was killed, Óláfr wasstill in [his] mother's womb and wasborn in that [year].Then he was for one year in hiding8Aôalbjamarson, Sagaer, pp. 85-135. See the critical remarks by Anne Holtsmark, "Ora denorske kongers sagaer: Opposisjonsinnlegg ved Bjarni Aôalbjarnarsons doktordisputas 23 September1936," Edda (Oslo), 38 (1938): 145-64.9Oddr, OsT, ed. Jónsson, pp. 88-90. On Oddr's reckoning, see Svend Elleh0j, Studier(Copenhagen, 1965), pp. 71 -73.