The next persons to be described are the family, relatives and
companions of Sveinn Ásleifarson.
Ólafr Hrólfsson was a gœðingr of earl Páll, and owned Gareksey
(Gairsey) in Orkney, and another bú in Dungalsbœr á Katanesi. He was
a most masterful man, _mesta afarmenni_, and his wife, Ásleif, was
wise and of great family, _vitr ok ættstór_, and most imperious, _ok
hin mesta fyrir sér_. In 1135, Ólafr had a great suite, _sveit mikla_,
á Katanesi, which included his sons Sveinn and Gunni, and Ásbjörn
and Murgaðr, sons of his friend Grímr of Svíney. His wife also lived
in Caithness at this time. Their children were Valþjófr (an English
name), Sveinn, Gunni, all well-bred men, _vel-menntir_, and a daughter,
Ingigerðr. Ólafr had a brother Helgi, who lived Þingvöllr in Hrossey,
now Tingwall in Mainland of Orkney, where the þing was held.
Sveinn Ólafsson, after his father’s burning, was called Ásleifarson,
after his mother. He married Ingirið Þorkelsdóttir, a kinswoman of earl
Haraldr Maddaðarson, and the widow of Andrés of Suðreyjar or Man. Their
children were, Ólafr, and Andrés, who married bishop Biarni’s sister,
Fríða, and was the father of Gunni, whose son, Andreas, was in Iceland
in 1235 (SS). Sveinn was a wise man and prophetic, _forspár_, about
many things, unfair and reckless, _újafnaðarmaðr ok úfyrirleitinn_.
When drinking with his karlar he took to speaking, _hann tók til orða_,
and rubbed his nose, _ok gneri nefit_, and remarked, “it is my thought”
about so and so, and then mentioned his foreboding, _hugboð_.
As an illustration of Svein’s masterful unfairness may be mentioned his
expedition against Holdboði. He asked the earl for _lið_, assistance,
and got five ships, of which the captains were Þorbjörn klerkr (a
grandson of Frakök and a brother-in-law of Sveinn), Hafliði son
Þorkels flettis, Dufnjáll son Hávarðs Gunnasonar, Ríkgarðr (Richard)
Þorleifsson and Sveinn himself. However, Holdboði judiciously fled,
but they slew many men in Suðreyjar and plundered wide and burnt and
got much booty, _fé_. On their return, when they were to share their
_herfang_, war spoil, Sveinn said that they should all share equally
except himself, who should have a chief’s share, _höfðingja-hlutr_,
because, he said, he alone had led them, and the earl had given them
to him for help, _til liðs_, and he alone had a quarrel with the
Suðreyingar, and they none. Þorbjörn thought that he had worked as much
and had been as much a leader, _fyrirmaðr_, as Sveinn. They also wished
all the ship-captains, _skipstjórnar-menn_, to have equal shares,
_jafnir hlutir_. But Sveinn would have his own way, _vildi þó ráða_,
and he had more men in the Nes than they had. Þorbjörn complained to
earl Rögnvaldr about Sveinn robbing them of their shares, _göra hlut
ræningja_. The earl said it was not the only time that Sveinn was an
unfair man, _engi jafnaðarmaðr_, and the day of retribution would
come for his wrong-doing, _ranglæti_. Although the earl made good
what Sveinn had cheated him of, Þorbjörn declared himself divorced
from Svein’s sister. The declaration made by him, _segir skilit við_,
corresponds with old Gulathinglaw, “ef maðr vill skiliast við kono sína
þa scal hann sva skilit segia at hvartveggia þeirra mege heyra mal
annars oc have við þat vatta.” The consequence of this was hostility,
_fjándskapr_, between them, which had its advantage, as it was now a
case of “Foruðin sjást bezt við”--the wrongdoer can best detect his
fellow. In contrast with the above is Svein’s sportsmanlike treatment
of earl Rögnvaldr. When earl Erlendr and Sveinn were at feud with earl
Rögnvaldr, on the latter’s return from his crusade, they captured his
ships and treasures. Sveinn claimed earl Rögnvald’s treasures as his
share of the spoil, which he promptly sent back to the earl. Being
a keen-sighted man, he probably anticipated that his drunken ally,
earl Erlendr, would ultimately be defeated by earl Rögnvaldr, whose
treasures from the Holy Land may have been curios and relics of no
great market value in the eyes of a víkingr.
Sveinn is further described as of all men the sharpest-sighted,
_skygnastr_, and saw things which others could not see. It was the
opinion of Jón vængr, junior, that Sveinn was a truce breaker,
_grið-níðingr_, and was true to no man. When earl Haraldr advised
him to give up roving and twitted him with being an unfair man,
_újafnaðarmaðr_, Svein’s answer was _tu quoque_, and there the
discussion ended. The Saga sums him up as “mestr maðr fyrir sér í
Vestrlöndum,” the most masterful man in the West, both of old and now,
of those men who had no higher _tignar-nafn_, rank, than he.
Of Svein’s relatives may be mentioned Eyvind Melbrigðason (Gael.,
_Maelbrighde_, servant of St. Bride or Bridgit). He was one of the
_göfugir-menn_, great men, with earl Páll, and superintended the earl’s
famous _Jóla-boð mikit_, great Yule feast, at which Sveinn killed
Sveinn.
Eyvind schemed to make his kinsman Sveinn Ásleifarson quarrel with his
namesake, Sveinn brjóstreip, and having succeeded in this, he then
plotted with Sveinn to kill Sveinn, and arranged an artful manœuvre, by
which the second Sveinn, before he died, killed his own relative, Jón,
the only other witness of the murder. Magnús Eyvindsson, by Eyvind’s
arrangement, took Sveinn by horse and boat to Damsey, where Blánn
sheltered him, and took him afterwards secretly to the bishop. Blánn
(Gael., _flann_, red), took charge of the castle in Damsey. His father,
Þorsteinn of Flyðrunes, his brother Ásbjörn krók-auga (squint-eye), and
himself were all _údœlir_, overbearing, men.
Jón vængr, senior, a relative of Sveinn, abode in Háey á upplandi.
He was a gœðingr. His brother Ríkarðr (Richard), abode in Brekka í
Strjonsey; they were notable men, _gildir-menn_. They burned Þorkell
flatr, a gœðingr, in the house which their kinsman, Valþjófr, had
owned. The earl had given Þorkell the house for finding out where
Sveinn (the brother of Valþjófr) had fled to, after the murder for
which he had been outlawed.
Jón vængr, junior, was a systur-son of Jón vængr, senior, and became
earl Harald’s _ármaðr_, or steward. He had two brothers, Blánn (Gaelic,
_Flann_) and Bunu-, or Hvínu-Pétr; (_buna_, a purling stream, and
_hvína_, to whistle or whine). These two were ignominiously disgraced
by Sveinn in a mock execution, to shame their brother Jón, who had
given Sveinn a bad character.
Of Svein’s companions may be mentioned Grímr, in Svíney, a _félitill_,
poor, man, and his Sons Asbjörn and Murgaðr (Gael., _Murchadh_,
Murdock). Sveinn, who was sýslumaðr for the earl in Caithness, on one
occasion, in his absence, deputed his office to Murgaðr, who turned
out _sakgæfinn_, quarrelsome, and _áleitinn_, provocative, and was
_úvinsæll_, unpopular, for his _újafnaðr_, tyranny. Along with Sveinn,
he did much _úspektir_, uproars, _í ránum_, in plunder, in Katanes.
As has already been mentioned, Ólafr Svein’s father was burnt in his
house in Caithness at the instigation of the hag, Frakök, whom Sveinn,
in turn, burnt in her house.
Svein’s father had estates both in Orkney and Caithness, and as he
resided in Caithness, where he had the _yfirsókn_, the stewardship,
of the earldom, and where Sveinn was afterwards sýslumaðr, the family
appears to have been a Caithness one, and the Caithness Clan Gunn claim
to be descended from Gunni Sveinsson. This, taken in conjunction with
the personal characteristics and the numerous Gaelic names of members
of the family, relations and friends, makes it probable that these
families were all of Gaelic descent in the male line.
Sveinn brjóstreip, _circa_ 1136, had a kinsman Jón, of whose family
nothing more is known. He was a hirðmaðr of earl Páll, by whom he was
well esteemed, _metinn vel af honum_. He spent the summer in víking
and the winter with the earl. He was a _mikill_ man and _sterkr_,
strong, _svartr_, of dark complexion, and rather evil-looking,
_úhamingju-samligr_, he was a great wizard, _forn mjök_, and had
always sat out at night (as a wizard), _úti setið_, in order to raise
_troll_, ghosts, which, in accordance with Old Gulathinglaw, was
_úbótaverk_, an unfinable crime punished by outlawry. He was one of
the earl’s forecastle men, _stafnbúi_, and was the foremost of all the
earl’s men in battle, and fought bravely, _barðist all-hraustliga_.
Sveinn preferred “sitting out” to attending midnight mass on Yule.
The bishop hailed his slaughter as a cleansing of the land of
miscreants, _land-hreinsan_. It was the opinion of Ragna of Rinansey,
that the earl had little scathe in Sveinn, even though he were a great
warrior or bravo, _garpr mikill_, and that the earl had suffered much
unpopularity, _úvinsældir miklar_, through him.
There can be little doubt as to the race of the swarthy wizard Sveinn,
notwithstanding his Norse name. With him compare the Icelandic-named
Gaelic witch, Þórgunna, in _Eyrbyggja Saga_.
Hávarðr Gunnason, _circa_ 1090, was a gœðingr, who married Bergljót,
daughter of Ragnhildr, daughter of earl Páll. Their children were
Magnús, Hákon kló, Dufnjáll (Gael., _Domhnall_, Donald) and Þorsteinn.
Hávarðr was on board earl Hákon’s ship, on the way to the last meeting
with earl St. Magnús; and when he was informed that Magnús was to be
killed, he jumped overboard and swam to a desert isle, rather than be
party to the martyrdom.
Dufnjáll Hávarðsson and one Ríkarðr (Richard), were worst in their
counsel against Sveinn, when he was in trouble with the earl about
Murgað’s goings on. His brother, Hákon kló, married the illegitimate
daughter of Sigurðr slembidjákn, by a daughter of one of Moddan’s
carlines. The names Gunni and Dufnjáll appear to point to the Caithness
origin of this family, as well as does the Caithness marriage of Hákon
kló.
Þorljótr í Rekavík, 1116-26, married Steinvör digra, (the stout),
daughter of Frakök Moddansdóttir and Ljótr níðingr (the dastard), in
Suðrland. Their son was Ölvir rósta (the unruly); a great and powerful
man, _manna mestr ok ramr at afli_, turbulent, _uppivöðslumaðr mikill_,
and a great manslayer, _vígamaðr mikill_. He, at the instigation of
his grandmother, Frakök, burnt Ólafr, Svein’s father, in his house.
Their other children were Magnús, Ormr, Moddan (Gaelic), Eindriði, and
a daughter, Auðhildr. The whole of this nest left Orkney with Frakök,
in her repatriation, under whose evil influence they were reared.
Notices of Shetland, in the Saga, are to all intents and purposes
nil. We find among the Shetlanders who were taken to be healed at St.
Magnús’ shrine two bœndr, viz., Þorbjörn, son of Gyrð (O.E. Gurth),
and Sigurðr Tandarson, who abode in Dalr, in north Shetland, and who
was _djöful-óðr_ or _ærr_, possessed or mad. Tandr, or Taðkr, is
E.Ir. _Tadg_, and the Shetland Tandarson = Gaelic _M’Caog_, Ir., _Mac
Taidhg_, MacCaig, son of Teague.
The Irish Gaels, who settled in Iceland in the ninth century, proved to
be desirable and enterprising colonists, the admixture of whose blood
helped to form the Icelandic genius in saga and song. They readily
adopted Icelandic patronymics and names, and gave up their Christianity
for the Norse religion. Their presence is commemorated there to this
day in Irish place-names and in the continued use of Irish person-names.
The Scottish Gaels who settled in Orkney were, in accordance with the
Saga, in some cases undesirable adventurers, of evil reputation, loose
habits, glib, mischief-makers, oath-breakers, witches and wizards.
They do not appear to have endowed their offspring with traits other
than their own, combined with a personal appearance which is usually
described as unattractive.
Gaelic names of residents in Orkney first make their appearance in
the late eleventh century in the family of Hávarðr Gunnason, who was
probably a Caithness Gael.
The differentiation between the Norwegians and the mixed Gaelic-Norse
race in Orkney, is unmistakably brought into prominence in the middle
of the twelfth century, when the Norwegian contingent of the famous
crusade, which wintered in Orkney, got on so ill with the islanders
that it resulted in murder and bloodshed about love and mercantile
affairs.
The earls who were of Gaelic descent in the female line, while
exhibiting Gaelic features, were also good rulers and great warriors,
whose exploits provided good copy for the _Orkneyinga-Saga_, which was
probably written down by Icelanders. The Gaelic admixture of blood in
Orkney does not appear to have produced any literary or poetic talent
such as it did in Iceland.
As mentioned in a previous paper,[11] the _Orkneyinga saga_ consists
of only two complete sagas, viz. (1) _Jarlasögur_, earls’ sagas, the
history of earl Þorfinnr hinn ríki and his joint earls--his brothers,
and his nephew, Rögnvaldr Brúsason, 1014-1064, and (2) _Rögnvalds saga
hins helga_, the story of earl St. Rögnvaldr, 1136-1158, brought down
to the death of Sveinn Ásleifarson, 1171. The first of these sagas is
prefaced with a summary of the sagas of the preceding earls, 872-1014,
of which none have been preserved, while the second is prefaced with a
summary of the sagas of the earls, 1064-1136, the period between the
first and the second sagas, of which we have preserved St. Magnús’s
saga, 1108-1116. The saga of earl Haraldr Maddaðarson, 1139-1206, is
partly preserved in the second saga, and in _Flateyjarbók_.
[11] _Saga-Book_, 1914.
As regards Orkney poets, earl Torf-Einarr, the skáld, was a Norwegian
by birth and family, with a thrall mother, probably Finnish, from
which admixture of Norse and dark races he probably derived his ugly
appearance and poetic genius.
Earl St. Rögnvaldr, the skáld, was also a Norwegian by birth, and
the son of a Norwegian father, while his mother was an Orkney woman
of Gaelic extraction. Bishop Biarni, the skáld, was the only Orkney
born poet, but his father was also a Norwegian, and his mother an
Orkney woman of Gaelic extraction. It is just possible that these two
last-named skálds derived their poetic inspiration from just the right
dash of Gaelic descent.
All the other poets, whose compositions are recorded in the saga, were
Icelanders: Arnórr Jarlaskáld, Hallr, etc. It goes without saying that
Orcadians and Shetlanders must have been, like their fellow Norsemen of
the period, improvisers, whose verses, although referred to, have not
been preserved.
There were only two Orkney saints, viz., earls Magnús and Rögnvaldr,
the one was martyred and the other assassinated, and both of them had
very little Gaelic blood.
It is a question whether Orkney and Shetland, with their Christian
Picts and heathen Norse, in the seventh, eighth and ninth centuries,
were the birth-place of some of the Edda lays; and whether any of these
lays were current there, as oral tradition, and taken down in writing
in the twelfth century by earl St. Rögnvaldr and his Icelandic skálds.
The solitary preservation and use of many Edda poetic words in Shetland
is significant. The first notices we have of writing in the saga are in
1116, when Kali Kolsson, afterwards (1136), earl Rögnvaldr Kali, in a
verse, numbered among his accomplishments, _bók_, reading and writing,
and, in 1152, when earl Erlendr produced king Eysteinn’s _bréf_,
letter, at the þing in Kirkjuvágr.
With regard to person-names, it will have been noted that the Norse
earls in the male line, although half Gaels, always gave their children
Norse names, while the Gaelic earls, who were only of slight Norse
descent, gave their children Norse, Gaelic and English names. So that
the gœðingar and other leading families of the late eleventh and early
twelfth centuries, who also gave their children Norse, Gaelic and
English names, were therefore probably, like the Gaelic earls, also of
Gaelic descent in the male line. This is also in accordance with the
known practice of other Gaelic settlers in Iceland, etc.
The non-Norse characteristics of persons of Gaelic descent are most
pronounced--black hair, swarthy complexion, quarrelsome, given to
witchcraft, pawky and glib, oath-breakers, etc., which perhaps point
to the Iberian element rather than to the true Gael; and that in
comparison with the Norse--fair-haired, accomplished and well-bred,
generous, makers of hard bargains, which they, however, kept, true to
their word, etc.
It must be remembered that these comparative characteristics are the
observations of the Norsemen themselves, who wrote the saga, probably
Icelanders, and therefore, presumably, exaggerated in their own favour.
They are valuable, however, in placing beyond doubt the large strain of
non-Norse people who lived in Orkney.
It has been shown that the Gaelic earls, 1139-1350, adopted Norse
patronymics, and that all persons in Orkney and Shetland before 1350
used Norse patronymics, including the numerous Gaelic families, which
must have settled in the islands. There was no other alternative,
just as it was, conversely, the case in the Hebrides, where the Gaels
predominated, and where their language prevailed, and was adopted by
the Norsemen. Here the Norse _Goðormsson_ became Gaelic _M’Codrum_,
_Þorketilsson_: _M’Corcodail_, _Ivarsson_: _M’Iamhair_, etc., etc.
Compare also the case in Ireland.
Gaelic names in Orkney and Shetland in their Norse form have already
been dealt with.
The blending of Norse and Gael in the Hebrides does not appear to have
been more successful than in Orkney, since we find, in 1139, that earl
Rögnvaldr said that most Suðreyingar were untrue, and even Sveinn
Ásleifarson put little faith in them.
The use of Norse names and patronymics by the leading Gaels in
Caithness, who are alone mentioned in the Saga, is accounted for by the
fashion set by their Norse earls, as well as through the influence of
Norse marriages. While the leading people must have been bilingual,
speaking Norse (the court language), and Gaelic, the _almúgi_, or
common people, appear to have maintained their native Gaelic. This is
indicated in two striking instances in the Saga. In 1158, earls Haraldr
and Rögnvaldr went from Þórs-á up Þórs-dalr and took _gisting_, night
quarters, at some _erg_, which “we call _setr_.” The local Gaelic name
of such a shieling was _àiridh_, E. Ir. _airge_, _áirge_. In 1152, earl
Haraldr, who was living at Víkr, dispersed his men _á veizlur_, _i.e._,
quartered them on various houses, in accordance with the obligations
of the householders, during Páskar, Easter; then the Katnesingar said
that the earl was on _kunn-mið_. Vigfússon suggested that this word was
some corrupt form of a local name; Dasent translated it “visitations,”
and Goudie “guest-quarters,” which is correct, as _kunn-mið_ must be
Gaelic, _comaidh_, a messing, eating together, E. Ir. _commaid_; _cf._
Gaelic _coinne_, _coinneamh_, a supper, a party, to which everyone
brings his own provisions, E. Ir. _coindem_, _cionmed_, quartering. In
both these cases the E. Ir. spelling comes nearer to the Norse than the
Scottish Gaelic does, and corresponds to the Scottish Gaelic of the
twelfth century.
The fact that the earl had the right to quarter his men in Orkney and
Shetland, is preserved in the tax, _wattle_ < _veizla_, which was paid
in lieu of actual entertainment. This tax continues to be paid to this
day.
“The Inhabitants of Orkney and Shetland after 1350,” will be the
subject of a future paper; meanwhile it may be emphasised that the
Gaelic earls of Orkney failed in the male line before the Scots began
to assume permanent surnames. The Gaelic earls were succeeded, in
the female line, by the Lowland-Norman family of St. Clair, bearing
a hereditary surname, about the time of whose arrival began the
Lowland-Scottish settlement of Orkney, to the influence of which must
be attributed the assumption of the Lowland Scottish language and the
adoption of place-surnames, and not fixed patronymics, in Orkney, by
the Norse-Gaelic inhabitants. Shetland, being far removed from the seat
of government and fashion, continued the use of patronymics until the
nineteenth century, when they became fixed.
The great number of persons in Orkney and Shetland bearing the names
of Tulloch and Sinclair appears to indicate that the ancestors of some
of them may have been tenants of the bishopric and earldom who, in
accordance with Gaelic custom, assumed the names of their lords of that
ilk. The Tulloch bishops ruled, 1418-1477, and the Sinclair earls and
lessees, 1379-1542, the period during which patronymics were giving
place to hereditary surnames in Orkney. Tulloch and Sinclair may also
have been Christian names which became stereotyped as patronymics and
the “son” termination afterwards dropped, as in the case of Omondson,
> Omond.
Shetlanders pride themselves in their geographic detachment from Orkney
with its Scottish people and customs, and claim to be regarded as purer
Norsemen as compared with the Scots of Orkney. Perhaps it is owing to
this qualified humdrum purity that the Shetlanders did not achieve any
deeds of sufficient interest to be recorded in the Saga. However, from
an anthropological point of view, the Pictish and small dark strain is
as much in evidence in Shetland as in Orkney, and perhaps more so.
In the twelfth century even an ordinary Shetland _bóndi_, farmer, had
his thrall, and _manfrelsi_, giving a thrall his freedom, is mentioned
as an ordinary transaction. The thrall element must therefore have
formed a large proportion of the population, and intermarriage must
have taken place between the Norse and the thralls. We find the earls
had children by thralls, and intermarriage between the bœndr and
thralls, especially the freed thralls, must also have taken place.
Persons of mixed racial descent are usually very loud in an exaggerated
appreciation of the heroic line of their ancestry, especially when it
is on the distaff side, usually coupled with an inverse depreciation
of the other ascent which is represented by an inappropriate and
inconvenient surname.
There would be no necessity for a genuine Norse islander to crow
himself hoarse on his native rock; and, to do so, would indicate that
there were grave doubts as to the purity of his strain.
Hitherto the Norse traditions of Orkney and Shetland have been solely
espoused by outlanders and by natives bearing surnames which leave no
doubt as to their foreign origin.
The most voluminous history of Shetland was written by an English
tourist, Dr. Hibbert, afterwards Dr. Hibbert Ware. But then, the
English are noted for their greater interest in the history and
antiquities of countries other than their own, which may be accounted
for by the exceptional variety of races which they represent.
But after all the land makes the man. If it had not been for these
northern islands there would have been no _Orkneyinga Saga_ with its
verses and narratives of stirring events.
Dr. John Rae, first honorary president of this Society, was a Scottish
Gael born in Orkney (where his father had settled), an Orkneyman of
Orkneymen; and to his youthful training, experience in boating, and
his environment in these islands, he attributed his success in Arctic
exploration.
And, moreover, it is well known that Orkney and Shetland supply the
British Navy and mercantile marine with a deal more than their due
share of personnel, and have given the British colonies a good supply
of useful pioneers and settlers.