Skálholt in the context of Skálholtsbók

The bishops' saga (Old Norse and modern Icelandic biskupasaga, modern Icelandic plural biskupasögur, Old Norse plural biskupasǫgur) is a genre of medieval Icelandic sagas, mostly thirteenth- and earlier fourteenth-century prose histories dealing with bishops of Iceland's two medieval dioceses of Skálholt and Hólar.

Codex Regius (Latin: Cōdex Rēgius, "Royal Book" or "King's Book"; Icelandic: Konungsbók) or GKS 2365 4º is an Icelandic codex in which many Old Norse poems from the Poetic Edda are preserved. Thought to have been written during the 1270s, it is made up of 45 vellum leaves. The work originally contained a further eight leaves, which are now missing. It is the sole source for most of the poems it contains. In scholarly texts, this manuscript is commonly abbreviated as [R] for Codex Regius, or as [K] for Konungsbók.

The codex was discovered in 1643, when it came into the possession of Brynjólfur Sveinsson, then Bishop of Skálholt in Iceland, who in 1662 sent it as a gift to King Frederick III of Denmark; hence the name. It was then kept in the Royal Library in Copenhagen until April 21, 1971, when it was brought back to Reykjavík, and is now kept in the Árni Magnússon Institute for Icelandic Studies. Because air travel at the time was not entirely trustworthy with such precious cargo, it was transported by ship, accompanied by a military escort.

Ísleifur Gissurarson (c. 1006 – 5 July 1080), an Icelandic clergyman, became the first bishop of Iceland, following the adoption of Christianity in 1000 AD.

His parents were Gissur Teitsson and Þórdís Þóroddsdóttir. After studying in Herford in Germany, he was made bishop of Iceland in 1056 by Athelbjart, archbishop of Bremen. He built up a see in his family homestead in Skálholt and founded a school. One of his students was Jón Ögmundarson (1052-1121), who later became the first bishop in Hólar. Ísleifur served as bishop for 24 years, right until his death. His wife was Dalla Þorvaldsdóttir and they had three sons: Þorvaldur, Teitur and Gissur, the latter taking over as bishop after his father's death in 1080.

Brynjólfur Sveinsson (14 September 1605 – 5 August 1675) served as the Lutheran Bishop of the see of Skálholt in Iceland. His main influence has been on modern knowledge of Old Norse literature. Brynjólfur is also known for his support of the career of the Icelandic poet and hymn writer Hallgrímur Pétursson. Brynjólfur Sveinsson is currently pictured on the 1,000 Icelandic króna banknote.

Brynjólfur was born in Önundarfjörður in the Westfjords of northwestern Iceland. He studied at the University of Copenhagen from 1624 to 1629 and was Provost of Roskilde University from 1632 to 1638.