Includes bibliographical references and index.

Preliminary Material / Jón Viðar Sigurðsson and Sverrir Jakobsson -- Sturla Þórðarson, The Politician / Jón Viðar Sigurðsson and Sverrir Jakobsson -- The Works of Sturla Þórðarson / Guðrún Ása Grímsdóttir -- The Education of Sturla Þórðarson (and the Icelandic Elite) / Jón Viðar Sigurðsson -- Power, Protection and Pleasure: The Marital and Extra-Marital Relationships of the Women in Sturla Þórðarson’s Life / Philadelphia Ricketts -- Landnámabók and Its Sturlubók Version / Sveinbjörn Rafnsson -- Sturlubók and Cultural Memory / Ann-Marie Long -- Foundational Myth in Sturlubók: An Analysis of the Tale of Ingólfr and Hjörleifr / Verena Hoefig -- ‘I’m on an island’: The Concept of Outlawry and Sturla’s Book of Settlements / Gísli Sigurðsson -- Narrative Negotiations of Literacy Practices in Íslendinga saga and Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar / Lena Rohrbach -- Gautr Jónsson of Mel: Craftsman of Battle and Chief Oral Source of Hákonar saga / Randi Bjørshol Wærdahl -- Sturla: The Poet and the Creator of Prosimetrum / Guðrún Nordal -- The Storied Verse of Sturla Þórðarson / Roberta Frank -- Sturla Þórðarson’s Two Perspectives on Thirteenth-Century History: Royal Chronicler vs. Icelandic Chieftain / Hans Jacob Orning -- Sturla Þórðarson’s Narrative Personalities / Theodore M. Andersson -- Reykholt Revisited / Úlfar Bragason -- Becoming Visible: Viewing Women in Íslendinga saga / Auður Magnúsdóttir -- A Personal Account: The Official and the Individual in Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar / Ármann Jakobsson -- The Bias and Alleged Impartiality of Sturla Þórðarson / Helgi Þorláksson -- Codex Reseniani: Sturla Þórðarson as an Encyclopaedic Writer / Sverrir Jakobsson -- Narrative, Evidence and the Reception of Járnsíða / Patricia Pires Boulhosa -- ‘New Worlds Emerging’: History and Identity in Twelfth-Century Eurasia / R.I. Moore -- Postscript: The Subjectivity of Sturla Þórðarson / Gunnar Harðarson -- Bibliography / Jón Viðar Sigurðsson and Sverrir Jakobsson -- Index / Jón Viðar Sigurðsson and Sverrir Jakobsson.

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Sturla Þórðarson is one of only a handful of thirteenth-century Icelandic historians to be known by name, and he is certainly one of the most significant. A number of works may be traced directly to his literary-cultural circle, notably Landnámabók (The Book of Settlements), Íslendinga saga (The Saga of Icelanders) and Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar (The Saga of King Hákon). Moreover, it is thought that Sturla was involved in the production of the legal text known as Járnsíða , as well as annals and, possibly, some of the Íslendingasögur (Sagas of Icelanders). In addition to his role as author and compiler, Sturla Þórðarson was one of the most powerful men in Iceland. In 1262 Sturla visited the court of King Magnús Hákonarson ‘the Law-mender’ in Norway as a court poet. He later became the king’s liegeman, and it was for King Magnús that Sturla wrote the sagas of King Hákon and King Magnús. Sturla served as lawman of all Iceland in the period 1272-77, and then as lawman for the north and west of the country until 1282. He died on 30 July 1284. Contributors are Ann-Marie Long, Ármann Jakobsson, Auður Magnúsdóttir, Gísli Sigurðsson, Guðrún Ása Grímsdóttir, Guðrún Nordal, Gunnar Harðarson, Hans Jacob Orning, Helgi Þorláksson, Jón Viðar Sigurðsson, Lena Rohrbach, Patricia Pires Boulhosa, Philadelphia Ricketts, R.I. Moore, Randi Bjørshol Wærdahl, Roberta Frank, Sveinbjörn Rafnsson, Sverrir Jakobsson, Theodore M. Andersson, Úlfar Bragason and Verena Hoefig.