Berle-Kari

Berle-Kari (Berle-Kåre; Old Norse: Berðlu-Kári) was a viking chieftain who lived in ninth-century Norway. His home was at Berle (Old Norse: Berðla), in present-day Bremanger in Sogn og Fjordane county. Landnámabók names him as the son of Vemund, and brother of Skjoldolf, one of the early settlers of Iceland.

According to Egil's Saga, Kari was a berserker, and a comrade-at-arms of Ulf the Fearless (Úlfr inn óargi).[lower-alpha 1]. The saga also Kari's three offspring as: Olvir Hnufa, who became a skald in the court of Harald I of Norway, Eyvind Lambi, who became one of Harald's hersirs, and a daughter, Salbjorg, who married Kveldulf Bjalfason. Kveldulf being grandson of the elder Ulf.[2][lower-alpha 2]

Explanatory notes

1. This according to William Sayers, who points out Kvelulfr is mistakenly identified as Berle-Kari (Berðlu-Kári)'s partner.[1]
2. Sayers is in agreement on this point.[3]

References

Citations

1. Sayers, William (2016), "Verbal Expedients and Transformative Utterances in Episodes of Egils saga Skallagrímssonar", Scandinavian Studies, 88 (2): 182 (endnote 1), [Phillip] Theisohn errs on several points of detail: ... Úlfr inn óargi, not Kveldúlfr ([2009 paper, ] 148), is Berðlu-Kári's partner in the opening chapter of the saga. ]
2. Egil's Saga (Chapter 1, Pálsson & Edwards 1976, p. 21). See Pálsson and Edwards' introduction, where the stemma indicates Kveldulf and Salbjorg are spouses (p. 14) and Berle-Kari is Egil's great-grandfather(p. 11)
3. Sayers, William (2015), "Generational Models for the Friendship of Egill and Arinbjǫrn" (PDF), Scripta Islandica, 66: 145, the marriage of Úlfr’s grandson, Úlfr Bjálfason (called Kveld-Úlfr), to Kári’s daughter Salbjǫrg.

Bibliography

• Ellwood, Rev. Thomas (1898). The Book of the Settlement of Iceland (Translated from the original Landnámabók by Ari Þorgilsson). Highgate, London: Kendal - T. Wilson.
• Pálsson, Hermann; Edwards, Paul (1976). Egil's Saga. London: Penguin Classics. pp. 11, 14, 21, 241.
• Thorsson, Örnólfur; Smiley, Jane, eds. (2001). "Egil's Saga" [translated by Bernard Scudder]. The Sagas of the Icelanders. Penguin Books. pp. 3–184. ISBN 978-0-14-100003-9.