Skapti Thoroddsson

Skapti Thoroddsson, who died in 1030, was an Icelandic lawspeaker and skald. He became lawspeaker of Iceland in 1004, succeeding his uncle Grímr after Grímr's voice failed him, and he held the office until his death in 1030, longer than anyone else in the history of the post. According to the Islendingabok he established the fifth court, a national court of appeals that represented a major judicial reform of the medieval Icelandic legal system. According to the Skaldatal he had earlier served as court poet to the Norwegian ruler Hakon Sigurdarson, though little is known of that work, and he is mentioned in several Icelanders' sagas, including Njals saga.