Oddi
Oddi is a town and church at Rangárvellir in Rangárvallasýsla, Iceland. Oddi at Rangárvellir was a cultural and learning center in South Iceland during the Middle Ages. There has been a church at Oddi since the introduction of Christianity. The current church at Oddi dates from 1924. [1] [2] [3]
For centuries it was the central home of the powerful family, Oddaverjar. The two best known leaders in Oddi were Sæmundur Sigfússon the Learned (1056-1133) and his grandson Jón Loftsson (1124-1197). The famous historian Snorri Sturluson (1178-1241) was brought up and educated in Oddi by Jón Loftsson. It has been suggested that the name of the Edda is derived from Oddi.[4] [5]
Iceland's patron saint Þorlákur Þórhallsson received his education at Oddi from the age of nine (1142-1147) and looked upon the priest Eyjólfur Saemundsson as his foster-father. Þorlákur received Holy Orders in the Diaconate at the age of fifteen and then the Catholic priesthood at age eighteen.
References
- ^ "Oddi á Rangárvöllum". southiceland.com. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
- ^ "Oddi Church". South Iceland Tourist Information. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
- ^ "Oddi Church". NAT- Nordic Adventure Travel. Archived from the original on September 12, 2016. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
- ^ "Sæmundur Fróði Sigfússon". Gyldendal - Den Store Danske. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
- ^ The derivation of Edda from Oddi proposed in 1895 by Eiríkr Magnússon is discussed and rejected by Anatoly Liberman, "Ten Scandinavian and North English Etymologies," Alvíssmál 6 (1996): 63–98, here pp. 67–70. On the derivation of Edda see also Anatoly Liberman, "An Addendum to 'Ten Scandinavian and North English Etymologies' (Edda and glide/gleiten)," Alvíssmál 7 (1997): 101–4, here pp. 101–2.