description

Nothing is known of Bárðr á Upplǫndum ‘of Opplandene’ or Bárðr digri ‘the Stout’ beyond what is told in Þorvalds þáttr tasalda (ÞorvT, ÍF 9, 119-26), which is embedded in ÓT. According to the þáttr, Bárðr is a rich elderly farmer who lives with his daughter at Úlfarsdalir or Úlfsdalir in Upplǫnd (Opplandene in central Norway). He is a ‘noble heathen’ who trusts only in his own might and main (mátt minn ok megin, ÓT 1958-2000, II, 100; cf. Lönnroth 1969). The single helmingr which follows is the only verse composition credited to Bárðr, and its authenticity has been doubted (see below).