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so-called svalbarð family13 during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
Although the involvement of these powerful families in manuscript pro-
duction and their connection to the geographical centers in the north, west,
and south of Iceland has already been established,14 this article highlights
13 the patriarch and matriarch of the svalbarð family were jón ríki Magnússon, an Icelandic
chieftain and member of the lögrétta at svalbarð in eyjafjörður in the north of Iceland, and
his wife Ragnheiður Pétursdóttir á rauðum sokkum, the great-granddaughter of ormur
skáld Loftsson and his wife solveig Þorleifsdóttir. ormur skáld was the illegitimate son of
Loftur ríki Guttormsson. His wife, solveig, was the daughter of the influential and wealthy
county magistrate Þorleifur Árnason. five of Loftur ríki’s children entered into marriages
with children of Þorleifur Árnason. the most significant match-up between Loftur’s and
Þorleifur’s offspring appears to have been the marriage of ólöf ríka Loftsdottir and Björn
Þorleifsson riddari. Interestingly, at least one of the marriages, namely between ormur and
solveig on october 14, 1434, was arranged by Þorleifur’s widow kristín Björnsdóttir after
Loftur ríki’s and Þorleifur’s deaths (in 1432 and 1433 respectively, cf. DI 4, 548–549). It seems
possible that some of the remaining marriages between the two families were also arranged
by kristín Björnsdóttir, since all but the marriage between ólöf ríka Loftsdóttir and Björn
Þorleifsson riddari took place in or after 1433. It may also be possible that Björn Þorleifsson
and his wife ólöf had an interest in solidifying the ties and thereby power and wealth of both
families and therefore arranged the marriages between their siblings. this brief biographic
overview demonstrates clearly the tight interconnections between the dynasties of Loftur ríki
Guttormsson, Björn Þorleifsson riddari, and the svalbarð family during the fifteenth and six-
teenth centuries. During the sixteenth century, the svalbarð family solidified their power and
wealth through marriage with other influential families. for example, jón ríki Magnússon’s
and Ragnheiður Pétursdóttir’s son, county magistrate Páll jónsson (staðarhóls-Páll), married
Helga Aradóttir, the granddaughter of Bishop jón Arason. Another of their son’s, Magnús
prúði, married Ragnheiður eggertsdóttir, the daughter of the influential captain of the king’s
men (hirðstjóri) and lawman eggert Hannesson, who in turn took jón ríki’s and Ragnheiður
Pétursdóttir’s daughter steinunn jónsdóttir as his second wife, who previously had had seven
children with Björn jónsson, the son of Bishop jón Arason.
Date of births and family connections are not specifically cited since they can easily be
looked up in reference works, such as Diplomatarium Islandicum. Íslenzkt fornbréfasafn,
sem hefir inni að halda bréf og gjörninga, dóma og máldaga, og aðrar skrár, er snerta Ísland
eða íslenzka menn 1–16, eds. jón sigurðsson et al. (Copenhagen: Hið íslenzka bókmen-
tafélag, 1857–1972), Páll eggert ólason. Íslenzkar æviskrár frá landnámstímum til ársloka
1940 1–5 (Reykjavík: Hið íslenzka bókmenntafélag, 1948–1952), and Bogi Benediktsson.
Sýslumannaæfir 1–5, ed. Hannes Þorsteinsson (Reykjavík: Hið íslenzka bókmentafélag,
1881–1932). An excellent website for researching Icelandic family trees is “familysearch.
Community trees,” <http://histfam.familysearch.org>, which bases its information
amongst other things on the aforementioned literature. More specific events, such as the
arranged marriage between ormur skáld Loftsson and solveig Þorleifsdóttir by kristín
Björnsson, are however cited with exact references.
14 see e.g. springborg, “Antiqvæ historiæ lepores,” 56, 87; sigurjón Páll ísaksson, “Magnús
Björnsson og Möðruvallabók,” Saga 32 (1994): 121; Lansing, “Post-Medieval Production,
Dissemination and Reception of Hrólfs saga kraka,” 62.
tHe IMPoRtAnCe of MARItAL AnD MAteRnAL tIes