Sigvatr Þórðarson

Sigvat is the great court poet of St Olaf and his son Magnus — and the rare skald who used his art to tell a king the truth to his face. St Olaf's friend and counsellor as much as his praise-singer, Sigvat is steady, shrewd, and devoted, his verses woven all through the saga of the holy king. His finest hour comes after Olaf's death, when the young Magnus rules harshly, avenging old wrongs until his people are near revolt: it is Sigvat who composes the bold Bersöglisvísur, the 'Free-speaking Verses', warning the king plainly that he is losing his people and must rule by law and mercy — and the king listens, and is turned, and earns his name 'the Good'. Sigvat is the saga's image of the poet as conscience — the loyal skald whose courage is to speak unwelcome truth in verse, and who saves a kingdom not with flattery but with a poem brave enough to rebuke its king.