- Kari Solmundarson
Kari Solmundarson was a Hebridean
viking andsoldier of fortune who lived in the late tenth and early eleventh centuries. He is a major character in "Njal's Saga ". Kari was the son of Solmund, who was the son of Thorbjorn "Jarl's Champion," an Icelander exiled before the establishment of theAlthing for murder. ["Grettir's Saga" § 10. "Grettir's Saga" refers to Kari as "Kari the Singed," a reference to his escape from the burning of Bergthorshvoll.]Early career
Kari was a
hird man ofSigurd the Stout ,jarl of Orkney . He came to the rescue ofHelgi Njalsson andGrim Njalsson , the sons ofNjáll Þorgeirsson ofBergthorshvoll ,Iceland in the 990's. The brothers, who were on a trading expedition to theBritish Isles , had come under attack by the vikings Snaekolf andGrjotgard Mordansson . After killing the raiders, Kari brought the Njalssons to Orkney, where they stayed for a time at Jarl Sigurd's court and fought in his campaigns in northern and centralScotland . ["Njal's Saga" §§ 83-86.]Kari came to the aid of Helgi and Grim again when the brothers were arrested by
Hakon Jarl of Norway for aiding in the escape of their fellow Icelander,Thrain Sigfusson . ["Njal's Saga" §§ 88-89.]In Iceland
When Helgi and Grim returned to Iceland, Kari accompanied them. He bought a landholding at
Dyrholmar , but settled at Bergthorshvoll, where he married Njal's daughter Helga and became close friends with Njal's son Skarphedin. ["Njal's Saga" § 90.] He likely became at least nominally aChristian when Iceland converted during theAlthing of 1000.Kari became entangled in the Njalsson's
blood feud with the clan of Thrain Sigfusson, and participated in Skarphedin's ambush and murder of Thrain. ["Njal's Saga" §§ 90-128.] In around 1010, Thrain's allies and kinsmen, led byFlosi Þórðarson , attacked Bergthorshvoll and burned it with its inhabitants inside. Kari managed to escape under cover of smoke, but his friends Helgi and Skarphedin were both killed. Njal, his wife Bergthora, and Kari's son Thord, all refused Flosi's offer of reprieve and died in the flames. ["Njal's Saga" §§ 128-130.]Aftermath of the Burning
Kari gathered supporters and prompted the prosecution of the Burners, and there is a legal joust between the parties. Fighting broke out and almost escalated into a full-scale civil war until
Snorri Goði and his followers separated the belligerents. As part of an imposed settlement, the Burners were exiled for three years, but Kari attacked them on their way home, and pursued those who escaped abroad. Kari and a small group of followers spent the next several years taking vengeance on the Burners in them toOrkney andWales . In a particularly brazen display, Kari entered the hall of Jarl Sigurd of Orkney asGunnar Lambason was telling aslander ous version of the story of the burning of Bergthorshvoll. Kari composed the verse::"Men bold of battle,":"boast of the burning of Njal.":"But have you heard,":"how we harried them?":"Those givers of gold had a good return,":"ravens feasted on their raw flesh.": ["Njal's Saga" § 155.]Kari stayed in
Caithness during theBattle of Clontarf in 1014, when Jarl Sigurd and his allies fought againstBrian Boru ,High King of Ireland . During his stay in Scotland his wife Helga died. Flosi returned to Iceland after a pilgrimage toRome . Kari followed, but was shipwrecked near Flosi’s home. Testing Flosi’s nobility he went to him for help, and they arrange a final peace. Kari married Flosi's niece Hildigunn, who was the widow ofHoskuld Thrainsson , the son of Thrain Sigfusson and foster-son of Njal.Descendents
Kari had four children with Helga, his first wife: his son Thord, who died during the Burning of Bergthorshvoll, and the daughters Thorgerd, Ragnheid, and Valgerd.
By his second wife Hildigunn, Kari had three sons: Starkad, Thord and Flosi. Flosi's son Kolbein became a powerful chieftain in the mid eleventh century.
Notes
Resources
*Cook, Robert, "trans." "
Njal's Saga ". Penguin Classics, 2002.
*Durrenberger, E. Paul. "Icelandic Saga Heroes: The Anthropology of Natural Existentialists." "Anthropology & Humanism Quarterly", February 1984, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 3-8.
*Hudson, Benjamin. "Brjan's Saga." "Medium Aevum", 22 September 2002.
*Miller, William Ian. "Bloodtaking and Peacemaking: Feud, Law, and Society in Saga Iceland." Univ. of Chicago Press, 1990.
*Thorsson, Ornulfur, and Bernard Scudder, transl. "The Saga of Grettir the Strong". Penguin Classics, 2005.
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