description

The story of Kolgrímr litli ‘the Small’ (Kolgr) is recorded in Þorgríms þáttr Hallasonar (Þorgr) in MgóðH-Hr (Fms 6, 30-5; ÍF 9, 299-303; Louis-Jensen 1977, 109-10). Kolgrímr was an Icelander who travelled to Norway in the company of Þorgrímr Hallason and Þorgrímr’s two sons, as well as Bjarni (gullbrárskáld?) and Bjarni’s brother Þórðr. They stayed the winter with the powerful magnate Kálfr Árnason because King Magnús inn góði Óláfsson, whose company they sought, was in Denmark. Þorgrímr killed Bjarni on account of slander, and Þórðr killed Þorgrímr in return. Kolgrímr avenged Þorgrímr by wounding Þórðr severely and was imprisoned by Kálfr. When King Magnús returned, Kolgrímr was pardoned after reciting a poem in honour of King Óláfr Haraldsson (S. Óláfr), Magnús’s father. Kolgrímr went on a pilgrimage, returned to Iceland and became a merchant.