description
Gullásu-Þórðr (GullásÞ) was a young Icelander who came to Norway in the days of King Eysteinn Magnússon (d. 1122) and took up with the wealthy Norw. widow Gull-Ása ‘Gold-Ása’, a kinswoman of the district chieftain Víðkunnr Jónsson of Bjarkøy (for Víðkunnr, see ‘Biographies of Other Dignitaries’ in Introduction to this vol.). Þórðr became a prosperous merchant and eventually married Ása (see
SnE 1848-87,
III, 748-50;
Mork 1928-32,
359-64;
Fms 7, 111-18;
ÍF 11, 337-49). He is otherwise unknown. The story of Þórðr and Ása is told in
Gull-Ásu-Þórðar þáttr (
GullÁsuÞ) and preserved in
MsonaMork (Mork),
MsonaH-Hr (H, Hr) and in
AM 518 4°ˣ (
518ˣ). The original
þáttr, which formed the basis for the extant narratives, must have been composed prior to 1217 (
ÍF 11, cxvi).
GullÁsuÞ has been edited (from
518ˣ with variants from Mork, H and Hr) in
ÍF 11, 337-49.