Tróndur í Gøtu

Tróndur í Gøtu
Born 945
Faroe Islands
Died 1035
Parent(s) Torbjørn Gøtuskegg and Guðrún

Tróndur í Gøtu (Old Norse: Þrándr í Götu) (ca. 945 – 1035) was a viking from the Faroe Islands (also "Færey Islands"). He and Sigmundur Brestisson are the central figures in the Færeyinga saga, which tells the early history of the Faroe Islands and the coming of Christianity to the islands, which Tróndur opposed.

Chapter 3 of the Saga describes Tróndur as having "a shock head of red hair, and . . . freckled of face and right grim of look", features which were inherent to Faroese, who are said to have descended from Thorstan the Red's daughter.

Tróndur í Gøtu lived on the island of Eysturoy, in his father's home Gøta, which was named for Torbjørn Gøtuskegg's nickname "Gatebeard". Initially Tróndur and his brother Thorlac drew lots to decide who should inherit the estate. After losing, Thorlac went to live in neighbouring islands with his wife. Chapter 35 of the saga tells that all siblings eventually lived together at Gøta, with their respective children. This same chapter explains that Thorlac had two sons, Sigurd (a strong man with blond curly hair) and Thord (also called "The Low" for his stout yet strong figure); Tróndur's sister had a son known as "Geat the Red".

Tróndur opposed Christianization of the Faroes and pronounced a curse against the religion and Sigmundur, who was promulgating it. This is the subject of a Faroese poem by Janus Djurhuus, "Gandkvæði Tróndar".

"Tróndur í Gøtu" is the name of a song on the Faroese metal band Týr's album By the Light of the Northern Star. The song is also in Faroese.