Óttarr svarti was an 11th century 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...

. 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. His poems are significant contemporary evidence for the careers of Óláfr Haraldsson and Cnut the Great.

Óttarr was the nephew of 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...

, and Óttarr clearly based the poem Hǫfuðlausn, his encomium for Óláfr Haraldsson, on Sigvatr’s Víkingarvísur, which tallies the king's early Viking expeditions. A small þáttr (short story) on Óttarr, Óttars þáttr svarta, is preserved in Flateyjarbók

Flateyjarbók

The Flatey Book, is an important medieval Icelandic manuscript. It is also known as GkS 1005 fol. and by the Latin name Codex Flateyensis.- Description :...

, Bergsbók

Bergsbók

Bergsbók is an Icelandic manuscript from the early 15th century. It contains the kings' sagas Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta, a long version of Óláfs saga helga and several short texts and poems, mostly associated with the two kings. The redaction of Óláfs saga Tryggvasonar en mesta is of the...

, Bæjarbók and Tómasskinna.

Works

1. Óláfsdrápa sœnska
   Óláfsdrápa sœnska
   Óláfsdrápa sænska was a skaldic poem composed by Óttarr svarti in honour of the Swedish king Olof Skötkonung.Óttarr spent some time with the Swedish king and worked eagerly for peace between Olof and the Norwegian king Olaf the Stout....
   
   . Verses for the Swedish king Olof Skötkonung.
2. Höfuðlausn (also spelled as Hǫfuðlausn).
3. Knútsdrápa
   Knutsdrapa (Ottar the Black)
   The Knútsdrápa by the skald Óttarr svarti is one of the Old Norse poems composed for King Cnut. Knútsdrápur are Old Norse skaldic compositions in the form of drápur which were recited for the praise of Cnut...
   
   . Verses for Cnut the Great. Knútsdrápur composed by other poets include those of 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...
   
    and Hallvarðr háreksblesi
   Hallvarðr Háreksblesi
   Hallvarðr Háreksblesi was one of the skalds of Canute the Great. Nothing is known about his life or family but eight fragments of his poetry on Canute have been preserved...
   
   .
4. Lausavísur.

A recent review of the origins of the nursery rhyme London Bridge is Falling Down has debunked the popularly held belief that it enshrines an English folk memory of a Viking

Viking

The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...

attack on London, sometimes connected with an attack in 1014 for which a stanza from Óttarr's Höfuðlausn is the earliest source.