Akkerisfrakki: Traditions Concerning
Óláfr Tryggvason and Hallfredr Óttarsson
vandrædaskáld and the Problem of the Conversion

by JOHN LINDOW, University of California, Berkely


According to the opening words of Ari Porgilsson's account of the Conversion of Iceland to Christianity, in chapter 7 of his Íslendingabók, Óláfr Tryggvason brought Christianity into Norway and out to Iceland. King Óláfr sent the missionary bishop Pangbrandr to Iceland, and after the failure of that mission, he flew into a rage and threatened to maim or kill those Icelanders who were in Norway. That same summer he extracted from the leading men, Hjalti Skeggjason and Gizurr Teitsson, a promise of support and the assurance that the prospects for a successful Conversion were good. Upon their return to Iceland, accompanied by the priest Pormódr, their efforts on behalf of the new religion and those of their opponents culminated in the famous scene at the alpingi (general assembly) when the pagan lawspeaker Porgeirr went under the cloak and emerged to proclaim a new religion for the land.