Þórarinn loftunga was an Icelandic skald active during the first half of the 11th century.

He composed Tøgdrápa on King Canute. Like 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...

's poem in praise of the same king, Knútsdrápa, the Tøgdrápa is composed in the metrical form tøglag — perhaps invented at King Canute's court. According to Skáldatal

Skáldatal

Skáldatal is a short prose work in Old Norse. It is preserved in two manuscripts: DG 11, or Codex Uppsaliensis, which is one of the four main manuscripts of the Prose Edda , and AM 761 a 4to , which also contains Skaldic poems...

, Þórarinn was also a court poet to Sveinn Knútsson, son of Canute, and Ælfgifu of Northampton. In Sveinn's honour he wrote Glælognskviða, which is also the oldest extant testimony to the sainthood of king Olaf (II) of Norway

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...

.

Works

1. Höfuðlausn. Two lines referring to Canute
   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...
   
   : Knútr verr grund sem gætir / Gríklands himinríki. ("As Christ the heavenly kingdom, / Knútr defends the country.").
2. Tøgdrápa. Eight stanza
   Stanza
   In poetry, a stanza is a unit within a larger poem. In modern poetry, the term is often equivalent with strophe; in popular vocal music, a stanza is typically referred to as a "verse"...
   
   s, most of which are cited in for instance, Óláfs saga helga
   Óláfs saga helga
   Óláfs saga helga or the Saga of St. Olaf can refer to several different kings' sagas.*Oldest Saga of St. Olaf, ca. 1190, mostly lost.*Legendary Saga of St. Olaf, ca. 1210.*Óláfs saga helga by Styrmir Kárason, ca. 1220, mostly lost....
   
   , the Legendary Saga of St. Olaf
   Legendary Saga of St. Olaf
   The Legendary Saga of St. Olaf or Helgisaga Óláfs konungs Haraldssonar is one of the kings' sagas, a 13th century biography of the 11th century Saint Olaf II of Norway. It is based heavily on the largely lost Oldest Saga of St. Olaf. The composition is primitive and clumsy and the saga essentially...
   
    and the "Óláfs saga helga" of 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...
   
   .
3. Glælognskviða. Ten stanzas, cited in for instance, Óláfs saga helga
   Óláfs saga helga
   Óláfs saga helga or the Saga of St. Olaf can refer to several different kings' sagas.*Oldest Saga of St. Olaf, ca. 1190, mostly lost.*Legendary Saga of St. Olaf, ca. 1210.*Óláfs saga helga by Styrmir Kárason, ca. 1220, mostly lost....
   
   and the "Óláfs saga helga" of 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...
   
   .

Online editions

• Þórarinn loftunga, works edited by Matthew Townend, Skaldic Poetry of the Scandinavian Middle Ages.
• Þórarinn loftunga All extant poetry
• Þórarinn loftunga, Glælognskviða An edition of the poem with short notes on the skald.