Sturlunga saga in the context of "Age of the Sturlungs"

The Sturlungs (Icelandic: Sturlungar [ˈstʏ(r)tluŋkar̥]) were a powerful family clan in 13th century Iceland, in the time of the Icelandic Commonwealth. Their story is partly told in Sturlunga saga, and members of the clan were significant participants in the civil war of the Age of the Sturlungs. The Sturlungs were a wealthy and influential clan. They controlled western Iceland, the Westfjords and north eastern Iceland.

The patriarch of the Sturlungs was Sturla Þórðarson, whom scholars believe was born around 1115. He inherited his goðorð (domain, realm or area of influence) from his father Þórður Gilsson. Sturla quarrelled extensively with Einar Þorgilsson of Staðarhóll and many other chieftains. Jón Loftsson, a well-respected man, mediated in one of these disputes. Following this, he was entrusted with the upbringing of Sturla's son Snorri Sturluson, who later became the most influential of the Sturlungs and the most famous because of his literary endeavours. Snorri had two brothers, Þórður Sturluson and Sighvatur Sturluson.

The contemporary sagas (known in Icelandic as samtíðarsögur) are:

• Bishops' saga
• Sturlunga saga

Geirmund Hjørson, called Heljarskinn, was a leading Icelander of the late ninth century. He was the son of a Norwegian king and a Samoyed woman. His nickname, an apparent reference to his complexion, means "Hel skin", which indicates either dark or "black" skin or perhaps skin "pale as death".

The sources for Geirmund's life are the Landnámabók and the Geirmundar þáttr heljarskinns (no), the first saga in the Sturlunga saga collection. According to these, he inherited his father's kingdom in Rogaland but upon returning from a raid on Britain Harald fairhair had seized his land and saw he no other option than to depart. In Iceland, he held four large estates and travelled with a bodyguard of eighty men. His lifestyle was supported by the wealth from his raids and could not be sustained off of his estates alone.

Þorgils saga ok Hafliða (the saga of Þorgils and Hafliði) is a medieval Icelandic samtíðarsaga forming part of the larger, thirteenth-century Sturlunga saga. Þorgils saga ok Hafliða tells of the chieftains Hafliði Másson and Þorgils Oddason and about the dispute between them in the years 1117–21. The saga was probably composed in the early thirteenth century, but possibly as early as 1180 or as late as 1237 (after the death of Bishop Magnús Gissurarson).

Íslendinga saga (Saga of Icelanders) makes up a large part of Sturlunga saga, a compilation of secular contemporary sagas written in thirteenth-century Iceland. The terminus ante quem of the compilation is disputed (between the options 1308 or 1353).

Íslendinga saga has been a major source of material for historians concerning events in early 13th century Iceland. The author is commonly believed to have been Icelandic chieftain, Sturla Þórðarson. The style of Íslendinga saga has been called admirable, due to its frankness, openness and impartiality — historians largely seem to agree that it gives a fairly accurate picture of Iceland in the 13th century, if only because the author or authors would have been dealing with contemporary events.

Sighvatr Sturluson (Old Norse: [ˈsiɣˌxwɑtz̠ ˈsturloˌson]; given name also Sigvatr [ˈsiɣˌwɑtz̠]; Modern Icelandic: Sighvatur Sturluson [ˈsɪɣˌkʰvaːtʏr ˈstʏ(r)tlʏˌsɔːn]; c. 1170 – 1238) was a skaldic poet, goði and member of the Icelandic Sturlungar clan. His parents were Sturla Þórðarson of Hvammur and Guðný Böðvarsdóttir. His younger brother, the famous poet and historian Snorri Sturluson, grew up away from home, in Oddi, while Sighvatr and his elder brother Þórð(u)r were brought up in Hvammur. Nothing is known about his education. He married Kolbeinn Tumason’s sister Halldóra Tumadóttir, with whom he had a son, Sturla Sighvatsson.

He figures in the Sturlunga saga, one of the sources which cites his poetry. Only two stanzas of Sighvatr's work now remain: the first refers to the killing of Hallr Kleppjárnsson by Kálfr Guttormsson in 1212, the other to a dream before his death in the Battle of Örlygsstaðir in 1238.