Eggert Hannesson

Eggert Hannesson, who lived from about 1515 to 1583, was an Icelandic hirdstjori, the highest royal office on the island under the king, and lawspeaker. He lived at the farm of Saurbaer, also called Baer a Raudasandi, in Bardastrandarsysla. He served as hirdstjori from 1551 to 1553, as lawspeaker for the south and east of Iceland until 1556, and as lawspeaker for the north and west from 1556 to 1568, later serving as steward of the Helgafell monastery. He was said to be the richest and most powerful man in Iceland of his time, and his manuscript collection, known as Eggertsbok, preserved the earliest surviving text of Gisla saga; he moved to Hamburg in 1580, where he died.