Bersi Skáldtorfuson was an Icelandic skald

Skald

The skald was a member of a group of poets, whose courtly poetry is associated with the courts of Scandinavian and Icelandic leaders during the Viking Age, who composed and performed renditions of aspects of what we now characterise as Old Norse poetry .The most prevalent metre of skaldic poetry is...

, active around the year 1000. He was a court poet to Earl Sveinn Hákonarson

Sveinn Hákonarson

Sveinn Hákonarson was an earl of the house of Hlaðir and co-ruler of Norway from 1000 to c. 1015. He was the son of earl Hákon Sigurðarson. He is first mentioned in connection with the battle of Hjörungavágr, where the Heimskringla says he commanded 60 ships...

. During the Battle of Nesjar

Battle of Nesjar

Battle of Nesjar was a sea battle off the coast of Norway in 1016. It was a primary event in the reign of King Olav Haraldsson . Sigvatr Þórðarson composed the poem Nesjavísur in memory of the battle....

 he was captured by King Óláfr Haraldsson

Olaf II of Norway

Olaf II Haraldsson was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. He was posthumously given the title Rex Perpetuus Norvegiae and canonised in Nidaros by Bishop Grimkell, one year after his death in the Battle of Stiklestad on 29 July 1030. Enshrined in Nidaros Cathedral...

's forces. In captivity he composed three of his four stanzas which have come down to us.

Hróðrs batt heilan líða hagkennanda þenna, en snarrœki slíku svarat unnum vér gunnar ; orð seldum þau elda úthauðrs boða, trauðir, knarrar, hapts, sem keyptak, kynstórs, at við brynju. Sveins raunir hefk sénar þars (svaltungur sungu) saman fórum vér, stórar ; elds, munk eigi fylgja út, hríðboði, síðan, hests, at hverjum kosti, hranna, dýrra manni. Krýpk eigi svá, sveigir sára linns - í ári búum ólítinn Áta öndur þér til handa -, at herstefnir hafnak heiðmildr eða þá leiðumk, ungr kunnak, þar, þrøngvi þínn, hollvini mína. Finnur Jónsson's edition

Thou badest this eager Worshipper of poetry farewell, And we could answer The same, O strife-wont warrior! It listed me not to be delayed Longer; therefore I sold To the noble-born giver of gold Those words as I bought them. I have seen the great fights Of Swein; we fared together Once when the cool blades Afterwards sang loudly; Never again hereafter Shall I follow in a host, O king, any chieftain More glorious than he. This year I lie in chains For a long while in the great ship. O swinger of the sword! I humble Myself never so lowly, That I betray, O wise war king, My loyal friends or be loath To have them. In my youth Among my friends I found thy foe. Translation by Monsen and Smith

"Depart in peace," thou didst, prince, bid me, the poet; and I said the same to seasoned tree-of-combat. Unwillingly these words in weapon-thing returned I as from the Fáfnir's-treasure's- foe I had received them. Seen have I Svein tested since we fared together— sang loud polished swords—in serious conflicts, ruler. Never on shipboard shall I, should whate'er betide me, in fiercest fray tested follow a better master. Crouch I shall not, King, nor crawl before thee—rather, let us ready, liege, a large ship, this year—and so turn my back on true and tried friends and aggrieve them. Young when I was I held dear him who was your enemy. Hollander's translation

One lausavísa

Lausavísa

In Old Norse poetry and later Icelandic poetry, a lausavísa is a single stanza composition, or a set of stanzas unconnected by narrative or thematic continuity....

is attributed to Bersi in the surviving fragments of Óláfs saga helga by Styrmir Kárason. But the same stanza is attributed to Sigvatr Þórðarson

Sigvatr Þórðarson

Sigvatr Þórðarson or Sigvat the Skald was an Icelandic skald. He was a court poet to King Olaf II of Norway, as well as Canute the Great, Magnus the Good and Anund Jacob, by whose reigns his floruit can be dated to the earlier eleventh century.Sigvatr was the best known of the court skalds of...

 in Heimskringla

Heimskringla

Heimskringla is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorri Sturluson ca. 1230...

 and to Óttarr svarti

Óttarr svarti

Óttarr svarti was an 11th century Icelandic skald. He was the court poet first of Óláfr skautkonungr of Sweden, then of Óláfr Haraldsson of Norway, the Swedish king Anund Jacob and finally of Cnut the Great of Denmark and England...

 in other sagas on St. Óláfr. Styrmir's saga gives some information on Bersi's career in St. Óláfr's service and indicates that he died in 1030.

Bersi was at some point at the court of King Canute the Great

Canute the Great

Cnut the Great , also known as Canute, was a king of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden. Though after the death of his heirs within a decade of his own and the Norman conquest of England in 1066, his legacy was largely lost to history, historian Norman F...

 where Sigvatr Þórðarson addressed him in verse after they had both received gifts from the king. Apart from being mentioned in the kings' sagas

Kings' sagas

The kings' sagas are Norse sagas which tell of the lives of Scandinavian kings. They were composed in the 12th to 14th centuries in Iceland and Norway....

 Bersi also has a minor role in Grettis saga

Grettis saga

Grettis saga is one of the Icelanders' sagas. It details the life of Grettir Ásmundarson, a bellicose Icelandic outlaw.- Overview :...

where he asks Earl Sveinn to spare Grettir Ásmundarson's life.

Bersi's mother, Skáld-Torfa, was apparently also a poet but none of her works have come down to us.