Skúli Þórsteinsson


Skúli Þórsteinsson was an 11th-century Icelandic poet and warrior. He was the grandson of Egill Skallagrímsson and a courtier of Jarl Eiríkr Hákonarson. A short account of his life is given at the end of Egils saga:
In Oddr Snorrason's Saga of Olaf Tryggvason Skúli is mentioned as one of the last people to see Olaf Tryggvason, during the Battle of Svolder.
Skúli also has a small role to play in Gunnlaugs saga where he introduces Gunnlaugr ormstunga to Jarl Eiríkr. Skáldatal lists both of them as court poets of the jarl.
A few fragments of Skúli's poetry have come down to us. The kings' sagas quote a strophe by him where he recalls participating in the Battle of Svolder. Four other fragments which seem to be from the same poem are quoted in the Skáldskaparmál section of Snorri Sturluson's Prose Edda. The poem was composed as Skúli was getting on in years and recalls his warlike youth.
The final fragment quoted in Skáldskaparmál is a lyrical description of a sunset, unique in the skaldic corpus.