Snorri Sturluson was born at Hvammur í Dalir in the year 1179, it is said. His parents were Sturla Thordarson and Guðny Boedvarsdóttir. Snorri was the youngest of three brothers, the eldest being Thordur and the one in the middle Sighvatur.

When Snorri was three years old he was sent away from home to be brought up at Oddi, in S-Iceland, the home of the chief Jon Loftsson. In his youth Snorri studied at Oddi which in Snorri's time was the most important cultural centre in Iceland.

In 1206 Snorri moved to Reykholt and had then become wealthy and powerful. He was the lawspeaker in Althing from 1215 to 1218 and again from 1222 to 1231.

Snorri wrote many works in his lifetime and was considered a good poet. He was assassinated at his home in Reykholt in 1241.

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