Torstein Egillsson [Herse] Galge, "Galge" - Profile: http://www.geni.com/people/Torstein-Egillsson-Galge/6000000001169157255

Started by Dr. Werner Ehrlich v. Ehrnfeldt on Monday, October 21, 2013
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10/21/2013 at 3:33 PM

Geni indicates a very interesting link to the famous Icelandic hero Egil Skallagrimson via his son Thorstein Egilsson Galge and his daughter Thora Thorsteinsdatter, who according to Geni was the wife of Arne Arnmodsson Giske.

It seems however that there are some contradictions with the relevant Icelandic Sagas , such as Egil´s Saga, Laxdela Saga and the Saga of Gunnlaug Serpent-Tongue .
One question concerns the place where Thorstein Egilsson was born.
According to Geni he was born in 955 in Onufjord, Norway.
According to those sagas his parents Egil Skallagrimsson - an important Icelandic Chieftain - and his Icelandic wife Jofrid llived at Borg in Borgafjord.in the western part of Iceland. Egil traveled to Norway in 955, but it seems unlikely that he was accompanied by his wife giving birth to Thorstein in Norway. It seems also unlikely therefore that Thorstein Egilsson was born in Norway.

The second question concerns the place where Thorstein Egilsson died.
According to Geni he died in Norway.
According to chapter 90 of Egil´s Saga he died however at borg and was buried in the church he had built there.

The next question concerns the place where Thora Thorstensdatter was born.
Thorstein succeeded his father Egil as an Icelandic chieftain at Borg, was involved in a number of local disputes, married an Icelandic wife, Jofrid Gunnarsdotter, and lived permanently at Borg at the Breidafjord in Iceland. He visited Norway, but only occasionally and hardly ever with his wife..
It seems therefore not very likely that his youngest daughter Thora Thorsteinsdatter was born in 972 at Onundfjord in Norway. Most probably she was born at Borg in the house of her parents.

Another question concerns her husband .
According to Geni she was married to Arne Arnmodsson Giske who has a well known descendancy..
According to Egil´s Saga chapter 82 she was however married to an Icelander, Thormond Kleppjarnarsson with no known descendancy.

Hopefully tose contradictions can be resolved by people disposing of more precise sources than the sagas. As it would be a pity if such an interesting link to the world of the Icelandic sagas could not be confirmed. Alternatively there may be a confusion between two different families, one Norwegian and the other one one Icelandic.

I am looking forward to the advise of people who are much better informed than myself.
Werner Ehrlich v. Ehrnfeldt

Gedaliah Ben Yohanan
10/21/2013 at 6:41 PM

When I print my List of my following ancestors I can see there is a person called : Ònefnd who maybe are an Icfelandic name or do means Unknown on English instead. I will be very glad if I could find the real name of Ònefnd on English Language.

10/21/2013 at 11:15 PM

I see two Torsteins documented:

- Olav den helliges saga, section 110 (http://www.heimskringla.no/wiki/Olav_den_helliges_saga) - all we learn here is that he was called "Torstein Galge" and had a daughter named Tora.

- Gunnlaug Ormstunges saga, first paragraph (http://www.heimskringla.no/wiki/Sagaen_om_Gunlaug_Ormstunge), where we learn that this Torstein was the son of Egil Skallagrimson.

Do we have any documentary evidence that those two are one and the same? If not, it's high time to break the connection.

10/22/2013 at 1:47 AM

Ònefnd means "Unnamed" in Icelandic, according to Google Translate. Probably the connotation is "not mentioned" (in the source).
End of the line, unless new manuscripts are found in some secret location....

Gedaliah Ben Yohanan
10/22/2013 at 3:00 AM

Thank you , Harald Alvestrand. For the information. That does means it is necessary to find out who is her real name of course. But in other Profiles , Ònefnd is not mentioned on the List I Print out , so I am not out of control with my Genealogy-Research allow.

10/22/2013 at 1:38 PM

I've scanned Egil's saga and the saga of Gunnlaug Ormstunge. I couldn't find any reason to assume that Torstein the son of Egil was the same as Torstein Galge of Norway, and found it quite reasonable to believe that they're different.

Given the number of children, I split them apart by creating a new profile for Torstein Galge and removing all traces of the "Galge" name from Torstein Egilsson's profile.

Hope this matches the evidence that other people find!

10/22/2013 at 2:08 PM

The "new" Torstein Galge is here: Torstein Galge

Private User
10/22/2013 at 3:19 PM

@Torstein Galge is my 31 grt grandfather Judy Rice

Private User
10/22/2013 at 3:23 PM

@Þorsteinn 'Hviti' Egilsson is my 5th cousin 33 times removed Judy Rice

Private User
10/28/2013 at 7:02 AM

Torstein "galge" was the son of Erik "alspakur" og Thora Thorisdatter "hersir" The mother of Ásgerdur wife of Egill Skallagrímssonar was sister of Thorir "hersir"
So now someone has to correct the file of Thorsteinn Egilsson.

10/28/2013 at 7:28 AM

@Sigurður, where's the source for that information about Torstein "Galge"?
I've been unable to find any info about him apart from the one-liner in Snorre.

I don't understand what information you are suggesting to change on Torstein Egilsson - I'm a bit dense today.

Thanks for clarifying!

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