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Ari Thorgilsson the Learned
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Ari Thorgilsson the Learned

Icelandic historian
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Quick Facts
Born:
c. 1067
Died:
November 9, 1148

Ari Thorgilsson the Learned (born c. 1067—died November 9, 1148) was an Icelandic chieftain, priest, and historian whose Íslendingabók (Libellus Islandorum; The Book of the Icelanders) is the first history of Iceland written in the vernacular. Composed before 1133 and covering the period from the settlement of Iceland up to 1120, it includes information on the founding of the Althing (parliament) and on the settlement of Greenland and Vinland (North America). Ari is also believed to have written much of the original version of Landnámabók (The Book of Settlements), a work listing the genealogies and histories of noble Icelandic settlers. It served as a source for many of the 13th-century Icelanders’ sagas.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Encyclopaedia Britannica.