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Skáldhelgi Þórðarson (ShÞ) was an Icelander who must have lived at the beginning of the eleventh century. According to Landnámabók (ÍF 1, 86, 212-13), he was the great-grandson of the settler Ásgeirr, who came to Iceland with Hrómundr of Gilsbakki and settled at Hamarr near Helgavatn. Skáldhelgi was married to Þordís, great-granddaughter of the famous chieftain Miðfjarðar-Skeggi. His life is commemorated in seven rímur (see LH 1894-1901, I, 504; Jón Þorkelsson 1888, 134-7), which were most likely based on a now-lost saga about him. The rímur focus on his love stories, travels and final days in Greenland, where he is said to have been the last lawspeaker (LH 1894-1901, I, 504). All that remains of Skáldhelgi’s poetry is the couplet edited here, as well as three stanzas addressed to a sorceress (ShÞ Sorceress 1-3^V) preserved in ms. BLAdd 11242ˣ. These may have been contained in the no-longer extant saga (see Jón Helgason 1966, 176), and they are therefore published in SkP V.

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