Hárekr í Þjóttu (Hár)

11th century; volume 1; ed. Diana Whaley;

Lausavísur (Lv) - 2

Hárekr (Hár) was a Norwegian chieftain from Þjótta (Tjøtta, Nordland), a son of the poet Eyvindr skáldaspillir (‘Plagiarist’ (?)) and otherwise well connected. According to Hkr and other sources, he enjoyed fluctuating relations with Óláfr Haraldsson (r. c. 1015-30) and other rulers, in a long career which terminated in a revenge killing, c. 1035, by Ásmundr Grankelsson, using Magnús góði’s axe. As well as being credited with two extant lausavísur, Hárekr is among the magnates listed in the U redaction of Skáldatal (SnE 1848-87, III, 269), with (Hofgarða-)Refr Gestsson as his skald. None of Hofgarða-Refr’s surviving poetry certainly concerns Hárekr, but his Frags 4, 5^III could be from poems about Hárekr or his son Einarr (so LH I, 598).