Garðarr Svavarsson (Old Norse:[ˈɡɑrðˌɑrːˈswɑwɑrsˌson];Modern Icelandic:Garðar Svavarsson[ˈkarðˌaːrˈsvaːvar̥sˌsɔːn];Modern Swedish:Gardar Svavarsson) was a Swede who briefly resided in Iceland, according to the Sagas. He is said to be the second Scandinavian to reach the island of Iceland afterNaddodd. He and his family appear in theIcelandic Sagas with the principal source fromHaukr Erlendsson's edition ofLandnámabók.[1][2]
Svavarsson is described as a Swedish Viking who owned land inZealand (in modernDenmark). He was married to a woman from theHebrides. During the 860s, he needed to claim his inheritance from his father-in-law. During a voyage to these isles, he sailed into a storm atPentland Firth. This storm pushed his ship far to the north until he reached the eastern coast of Iceland. He circumnavigated the island, becoming the first known person to do so and thus establishing that the landmass was anisland. He went ashore atSkjálfandi where he built himself a house and stayed for the winter. Since then, the place located in North Eastern Iceland has been calledHúsavík.[3]
Having returned, he praised the new land and called it after hisown nameGarðarshólmi (seenames of Iceland). Nothing is known of his fate thereafter, but his son, Uni danski (Uni the Dane), later emigrated to Iceland. He made a feeble attempt to win it for the Norwegian king with himself as earl. He had discussed this with the king but when the local farmers knew his intent, they would help him in no way and soon he was killed.
Uni danski had a son, Hróar Tungugoði, who inherited the entire estate. In theSagas of Icelanders, Hróar quarreled with other men and was twice challenged to a hill battle and won both times. He killed his opponents but was eventually murdered but then avenged by his son. Hróar's wife was Arngunnur, sister ofGunnar Hámundarson, who is one of the main characters inNjáls saga, the longest and generally considered the greatest of the Icelandic Sagas.[4][5]
This article contains content from theOwl Edition ofNordisk familjebok, a Swedish encyclopedia published between 1904 and 1926, now in thepublic domain.