The Historian and the Jarl
Gwyn Jones remembers a great Northern historian, who met a violent death half way through the thirteenth century, and who has left us a memorable account of a famous Norwegian chieftain, murdered in 995.
Foremost among northern historians stands Snorri Sturluson, murdered at Reykjaholt, Iceland, in 1241. Not least among northern historical figures stands Jarl Hakon Sigurdarson of Hladir, murdered in Gaulardal, Norway, in 995. The two had ties other than the manner of their dying, for if Hakon helped make Snorri an historian, Snorri helped make Hakon an historical figure. And the critical attitudes that are today making Snorri look less of the one are making Hakon look less of the other.
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