born 1179, Iceland
died Sept. 22, 1241, Reykjaholt
Icelandic poet, historian, and chieftain.
Of an influential family, Snorri became the "lawspeaker," or president, of the Icelandic high court and a vassal of King Haakon IV of Norway. He was the author of the Prose Edda and the Heimskringla , a history of Norwegian kings. His writings are remarkable for their scope and formal assurance; his genius lay in his power to present all that he perceived as a historian with the immediacy of drama. His relations with Haakon deteriorated, and he was assassinated on the king's order.