- Vetrliði Sumarliðason
Vetrliði Sumarliðason is a 10th century Icelandic
skald .He was the great-grandson of
Ketill hængr ("salmon"), one of the settlers ofIceland . He lived inFljótshlíð , in the south of the island.Vetrliði was pagan and opposed the conversion to Christianity. He composed defamatory verses ("
níð ") [According to Bo Almqvist ("Norrön niddiktning: traditionshistoriska studier i versmagi". 2. "Nid mot missionärer. Senmedeltida nidtraditioner". Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1974), Vetrliði could have accused Þangbrandr of "ergi ".] aboutÞangbrandr , a missionary sent to Iceland byÓláfr Tryggvason . He was killed by the priest (or by the priest and his companion Guðleifr Arason). In some versions, another skald,Þorvaldr veili , was murdered for the same reason. A stanza was composed by an unknown author about Vetrliði's death:This episode is related in many sources: "Kristni saga ", "Landnámabók ", "Brennu-Njáls saga ",Snorri Sturluson 's "Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar" and "Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta ".Only one stanza of his work survived, a "
lausavísa " praisingThor for having killed giants and giantesses::Thou didst break the leg of Leikn,:Didst cause to stoop
Starkad r,:Didst bruise Thrívaldi,:Didst stand on lifeless Gjálp.:::—"Skáldskaparmál" (11), [http://www.cybersamurai.net/Mythology/nordic_gods/LegendsSagas/Edda/ProseEdda/SkaldskaparmalXI-XX.htm#skald11 Brodeur's translation] [Brodeur, Arthur Gilchrist (trans.). 1916. "Snorri Sturluson: The Prose Edda". New York: The American-Scandinavian Foundation.]Notes
External links
* [http://www.hi.is/~eybjorn/ugm/skindex/vetrl.html Vetrliði's "lausavísa" in the original language.]
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