1240, had crushed Skule's rebellion and annihilated this dangerous opponent, it became Snorre's turn to feel the effects of the king's wrath. At the instigation of King Hakon, several chiefs of Iceland united themselves against Snorre and murdered him at Reykholt, where ruins of his splendid mansion are still to be seen. This event took place on the 22d of September, 1241, and Snorre Sturleson was then sixty-three years old. Snorre was Iceland's most distinguished skald and sagaman. As a wTiter of history he deserves to be compared with Herodotos or Thukydides. His Heimskringla, embracing an elaborate history of the kings of Norway, is famous throughout the civilized w^orld, and Emerson calls it the Iliad and Odyssey of our race. An English translation of this work was published by Samuel Laing, in London, in 1844. Carlyle's Early Kings of Norway (London, 1875) was inspired by the Heimskringla.
Olaf Thordsson, surnamed Hvitaskald,[1] to distinguish him from his contemporary, Olaf Svartaskald,[2] was a son of Snorre's brother. Though not as prominent and influential as his uncle, he took an active part in all the troubles of his native island durins; the first half of the thirteenth century. He visited Norway in 1236, whence he went to Denmark, where he was a guest at the
