Skallagrim "the Wise" Frodisson

Skallagrim "the Wise" Frodisson (b. 860) was a Norwegian nobleman, later Godi, who settled in Iceland.

## Biography

### Early Life

Skallagrim was born in AD 860 in Rogaland to Earl Frodi Skallagrimsson and his wife Thora Saumrsdottir.

In AD 875 Skallagrim's father inadvisedly went to war with King Harald Fairhair, subsequently dying with several of his warriors (among them Ari Hallbjornsson and Orm Ormsson) in the Battle of Hafrsfjord. Skallagrim, then only fifteen years of age, gathered together what remained of his family, household, and inheritance into three ships and sailed for Iceland. Accompanying him, among others, were:

* His mother, Thora Saumrsdottir
* His younger brother, Hrolf Blood-Axe
* His bastard half-brother, Skallagrim "the Lame"
* His warrior huskarls, including Raven-Hrolf and Slayer-Olaf.
* His servants' children, including Solveig "the Needle" Arisdottir, Saeunn "White-Leg" Ormsdottir, Sigurd Ormsson, and Thora Hrolfsdottir.
* His thrall Svein, later called "Old Svein", then only thirteen years of age.

### Adulthood

He settled a large farmstead, later called Skallagrimstede, on the Snaefellsnes peninsula. In the following years he built a temple there and became its first Godi. quickly garnering a reputation for wisdom despite his youth, becoming known as "the Wise".

In AD 878 he married Ylsa "the Brewer" Grimsdottir, another exile from Norway. They had two daughters together:

* Hrafnhild "Bow-Bender" (b. 879)
* Freydis "the Weaver" (b. 883)

In AD 879 Skallagrim went viking for the first and only time in his life, accompanied by, among others, his brother Hrolf "Blood-Axe", and his huskarls Raven-Hrolf and Slayer-Olaf. Skallagrim was nearly killed in an ambush while raiding in Sweden, but was rescued by Slayer-Olaf, who Skallagrim rewarded with the gift of an attractive thrall-woman called Astrid who had recently been captured. On his return to Iceland, Skallagrim decided that viking was not to his liking.

In AD 881 he commissioned Raven-Hrolf Thorolfsson to captain one of his ships on another raid, this time to Ireland. Although Raven-Hrolf was killed on the expedition, the ship and most of its crew returned to Iceland with a decent haul of treasure under the command of Slayer-Olaf Vebjornsson. Skallagrim commissioned Slayer-Olaf to captain subsequent voyages in AD 884, AD 887, AD 894, AD 896, and AD 897.

In AD 888, in recognition of his long and valuable service, Skallagrim granted Slayer-Olaf a plot of land and appropriate resources to build a farmstead of his own, later called Olafstede.

In AD 890 he built a barrow to house the grave of his mother.

In 896 he wed his elder daughter, the shield-maiden Hrafnhild "Bow-Bender" to his huskarl Eric "Grey-Cloak" who was Raven-Hrolf's son, but Eric died avenging his father in Ireland that same year.

In 898 he wed his younger daughter Freydis "the Weaver" to Einar "the Godless" who was Slayer-Olaf's son. The couple gave him a grandson a year later, named Hravn.

## Appearance

Skallagrim stood a little taller than average. He wore his grey-peppered red beard in small braids and slicked back his shoulder-length hair with scented lard. He was reasonably physically fit but had a tendency towards corpulence which accelerated in his increasingly sedentary middle-age.

## Personality

Shrewd, stoic, and largely conventional for his age and social class, Skallagrim was nevertheless indulgent of his daughter Hrafnhild's desire to become a shield-maiden, generous with his retainers, and relatively kind to his thralls. He was a font of wisdom for those in his good graces, which was generally most people, but a troublesome obstacle for those few who were not. His one major insecurity in his middle-age was the fate of his Godord without any sons of his own, which he hoped to resolve by marrying his daughters to the sons of loyal retainers and passing the Godord on to one of his grandsons.