In 1106, Dufnjáll (Gaelic, _Domhnall_, Donald), son of earl Dungaðr
(Gaelic, _Donnchadh_, Duncan) was a first cousin once removed on the
father’s side, _firnari en bræðrungr_, of earls Hákon and Magnús,
by whom he was slain. Dufnjáll’s grandfather must have been an
illegitimate son of earl Þorfinnr hinn ríki, who lived mostly in
Caithness, and was almost a pure Gael.
In 1159, Jómarr, a kinsman of earl Rögnvaldr, is mentioned in
Caithness, and his name may be the Norse form of some Gaelic name.
In 1116, Gilli (Gaelic, _gille_, servant) was a _dugandi-maðr_, a
doughty or good man, with St. Magnús, and probably a relative of the
earl’s Gaelic wife.
Kúgi (G., Cogadh), 1128-1137, was a wealthy bóndi and a gœðingr of earl
Páll, and lived in Hreppisnes, now Rapnes, in Westrey, which he would
have held as _veizlu-jörð_. Nothing is told of his family or relations.
He is described as a _vitr_, wise man, and had the _uppkvöð_, calling
out of the levy, in Westrey. As a schemer himself, he smelt a rat
when the invading earl Rögnvaldr played a clever trick in getting the
Fair Isle beacon lit; and his pawky _eyrendi_, speech, thwarted the
internecine complications which that deed was designed to arouse. Earl
Rögnvaldr, however, unexpectedly, landed in Westrey, whereupon the
_eyjarskeggjar_, the “island beards,” _hljópu saman_, louped together,
to get Kúgi’s _ráð_, advice, which was that they should at once get
_grið_, peace, from the earl; and he and the Vestreyingar submitted to
the earl and swore oaths to him. One night, however, the earl’s men
caught Kúgi napping at a secret meeting for _svíkræði_, treachery,
against the earl. He was promptly put _í fjötra_, in fetters. When
the earl arrived on the scene, Kúgi fell at his feet and _bauð_,
offered or left, all his case in God’s hands and the earl’s. He then
tried to shift the blame on to others, and asserted that he had been
brought to the þing, _nauðigr_, unwilling, and that all the bœndr had
wanted him to be the _upphafsmaðr_, instigator, of the _ráð_, plot.
The Saga states that Kúgi pleaded his own cause _orðfærliga_, with
great elocution or glibly. Fortunately for Kúgi’s life, the humour of
the situation tickled the earl’s poetic fancy to such a degree that
he could not resist the temptation of letting off steam in one of his
habitual improvisations, stuffed with scathing ridicule; a lasting
punishment, more severe than the decapitation, or sound drubbing,
which the object of his poetic flight so richly deserved.
The earl referred to the fettered man before him as a _kveld-förlestr
karl_, a night-journey-hampered carl or old duffer, and advised him,
in future, never to hold _nátt-þing_, night meetings--which Vigfússon
says were not considered proper. The earl, further, admonished him that
it was needful to keep one’s oath and covenant. _Grið_, peace, was
given to all, and they bound their fellowship anew. Exit Kúgi, of whom
nothing further is related, beyond the one line which is preserved of
_Kúga drápa_, in praise of Kúgi, and which runs:
_Megin-hræddir ro menn við Kúga, meiri ertu hverjom þeira._[10]
All are afraid of Kúgi, thou outdoest them all.
[10] _Skálda._
This can only have been intended as biting sarcasm. His name and
character indicate that he was a typical bad Gael of his class.