Of the Sagas
Kjartan Óláfsson
Kjartan Ólafsson is the golden youth of Laxdæla — the finest man of his generation, and one of the saddest losses in the sagas. Grandson of Egil, son of Olaf the Peacock, he is beautiful, gifted, and beloved, and he and the proud Guðrún Ósvífrsdóttir are made for each other. But he sails abroad, is detained at Olaf Tryggvason's court and baptised, and lingers too long; Guðrún, despairing of him, is married to his own foster-brother and dearest friend Bolli. When Kjartan comes home to find them wed, pride and wounded love poison everything between the three, and Guðrún goads Bolli into the ambush that kills Kjartan — who, at the end, throws down his weapons and lets his foster-brother strike, unwilling to fight him. The golden man undone by timing, pride, and the love of a woman who would rather destroy him than see him belong to anyone but her.
Kin
Feud
Appears with
Where
Go deeper
1 key events
3 themes
the saga’s own words
Walks through
Guðrún and the Men of Laxárdalrunlock Kjartan, Bolli & Guðrún — the Love-Triangle of the Dalesunlock Olaf Tryggvason — the King from the EastunlockFind Kjartan Óláfsson on the map
Roam the whole Norse world free — its people, places, and the threads that bind them. Open the atlas and follow their story across the sagas.
Enter the atlas →NorseAtlas · free to roam the people and places of the sagas · the journeys & threads are the full atlas.