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THE ORKNEYINGA SAGA
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Printed by R. & R. Clark
FOR
EDMONSTON & DOUGLAS, EDINBURGH.
LONDON HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO.
CAMBRIDGE MACMILLAN AND CO.
GLASGOW JAMES MACLEHOSE.
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[Illustration: ST. MAGNUS CATHEDRAL
(South Transept and part of Choir)]
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THE
ORKNEYINGA SAGA
TRANSLATED FROM THE ICELANDIC
BY JON A. HJALTALIN AND GILBERT GOUDIE
EDITED, WITH NOTES AND INTRODUCTION
BY JOSEPH ANDERSON
KEEPER OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND
EDINBURGH
EDMONSTON AND DOUGLAS
1873
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PREFACE.
-------
THE ORKNEYINGA SAGA is the history of the Orkneymen, Earls and Odallers
of Norwegian extraction, who established an Earldom of Norway in the
Northern Scottish Isles a thousand years ago, and whose descendants for
several centuries held sway over the Hebrides and Northern Mainland of
Scotland. Commencing with the conquest of the Isles by Harald Harfagri,
the Saga relates the subsequent history of the Earldom of Orkney under
the long line of its Norse Jarls, and is, for a period of three
centuries and a half, the principal authority for the history of
Northern Scotland. The narrative is mainly personal, and therefore
picturesque, pourtraying the men in person and character, impartially
recording their deeds, and mentioning what was thought of them and their
actions at the time. Occasionally the Saga-writer is enabled to do this
in the words of a contemporary Skald. The skaldic songs, so often
quoted, were the materials from which the Sagas were subsequently
elaborated. In estimating their value as historical materials, it must
be borne in mind that all history has begun in song. When great events
and mighty deeds were preserved for posterity by oral recitation alone,
it was necessary that the memory should be enabled to retain its hold of
the elements of the story by some extraneous artistic aid, and therefore
they were welded by the word-smith’s rhymes into a compact and
homogeneous “lay.” Thus, worked into a poetical setting (as the jeweller
mounts his gems to enhance their value and ensure their preservation),
they passed as heirlooms from generation to generation, floating on the
oral tradition of the people. Snorri Sturluson tells us that the songs
of the skalds who were with Harald Harfagri in his wars were known and
recited in his day, after an interval of nearly four centuries. “These
songs,” he says, “which were sung in the presence of kings and chiefs,
or of their sons, are the materials of our history; what they tell of
their deeds and battles we take for truth; for though the skalds did no
doubt praise those in whose presence they stood, yet no one would dare
to relate to a chief what he and those who heard it knew to be wholly
imaginary or false, as that would not be praise but mockery.” Our
earliest Scottish chroniclers did not disdain to make use of the
lay-smith’s craft, as a help to history, long after the Iceland skald
had been succeeded by the Saga-writer, and the flowery recitative of an
unclerkly age superseded by the terser narrative of the parchment
scribe. The art is as old as Odin and the gods, if indeed it be not
older, and these its creations. But its golden age had passed ere
Paganism began to give way before Christianity, and the specimens we
have in this Saga are mostly of the period of its decadence and by
inferior skalds. Yet it is significant of the esteem in which the art
continued to be held by the settlers in the Orkneys, that we find Earl
Sigurd honouring Gunnlaug Ormstunga with princely gifts, Arnor
Jarlaskald enjoying the special favour and friendship of Earl Thorfinn,
and Earl Rögnvald, the founder of the cathedral, courting for himself
the reputation of an accomplished skald.
But though we can thus trace to some extent the authorship of the
unwritten materials from which the Saga was framed, there is nothing to
show where or by whom it was written. There is proof, however, that it
was known in Iceland in the first half of the thirteenth century. Its
earlier chapters, down to the division of the Earldom between Thorfinn
and Brúsi, are incorporated into the Olaf Saga of Snorri Sturluson, and
are there cited as from the “Jarla Saga,” or Saga of the Earls. It must
therefore have been in existence as a completed work before 1241, the
date of Snorri’s death. The compiler of the Fagrskinna, which is shown
by internal evidence to have been written between 1222 and 1225, also
quotes from it, by the title of “Jarla Sagan.” The closing chapters of
the Orkneyinga Saga, in its present form, recording the burning of
Bishop Adam, could not have been written before 1222; but, as it is
stated in the last chapter that the terrible retribution exacted by the
Scottish King for the murder of the Bishop was still in fresh memory, it
may very well have been completed before 1225. No manuscript of the
Jarla Saga is known to exist, and the original form of what is now
called “The Orkneyinga Saga” is thus matter of conjecture. We know it
only as the substance of its earlier chapters was given by Snorri
previous to 1241, and in the expanded version of the Flateyjarbók, where
it is pieced into the Sagas of Olaf Tryggvi’s son and Olaf the Holy. The
Flateyjarbók, however, is nearly a century and a half later than
Snorri’s work, having been written between the years 1387 and 1394.
The object of the present issue being simply to provide a plain,
readable, and unadorned translation of the Orkneyinga Saga (which has
been hitherto inaccessible to the English reader), it has been deemed
advisable to adhere to the form of the Saga adopted by its first editor
Jonæus, though not to Jonæus’s text, which is by no means free from
corruptions. The Christiania edition of the Flateyjarbók, printed
literally from the manuscript, has afforded the means of rectifying the
text where necessary; and the expanded version of the earlier chapters
given in the Flateyjarbók has also been translated and inserted as an
appendix, for the sake of the fuller details which it supplies of the
earlier history of the Earldom. In one sense it might have been
desirable to have compiled a text which would have given the fullest
history of the Orkney Earls, but this would not have been the
“Orkneyinga Saga.” It would have necessitated the collection and
critical collation of all the passages in all the Sagas and early
writings relating to the history of the Northmen in Scotland—a work
which has long been in progress in abler hands, and under more
favourable auspices.
The Introduction, however, has been compiled with a view to supplement
the Saga narrative, as well as to furnish a continuation of the history
of the Earldom down to the time when it ceased to form part of the
Norwegian dominions. Some account of the islands previous to the Norse
invasion, and a few notices of their antiquities and ecclesiastical
remains, as well as of the existing traces of the Norsemen, seemed
requisite to supplement the notes in illustration of the text.
Chronological and Genealogical Tables have been added to facilitate
reference; and on the maps of Scotland and of the island-groups which
formed the Earldom proper are shown the names of the principal places
mentioned in the Sagas as known to the Northmen.
In conclusion, I have to express my obligations to those kind friends
who have aided me with their advice and assistance. To Dr. John Stuart,
Dr. John Hill Burton, Sir Henry Dryden, Bart., and Colonel Balfour of
Balfour and Trenaby, I am indebted for many valuable suggestions. To the
first-named gentleman I am also under obligations for the use of the
woodcuts of the symbols of the Sculptured Stones. The Society of
Antiquaries of Scotland have generously contributed the woodcuts of the
Bressay Stone, the Saverough Bell, and the Sword and Scabbard-tip; to
the Society of Antiquaries of London I am indebted for the illustrations
of the Stones of Stennis; to Mr. James Ferguson and Mr. John Murray for
those of Maeshow; to Mr. Thomas S. Muir for the Dragon of Maeshow, the
etchings of the churches of Weir and Lybster, and the ground-plans of
the ancient churches; to Messrs. Chambers for the woodcut of Mousa; and
to Dr. Daniel Wilson and Messrs. Constable for those of the Brooch and
Comb, illustrating the burial-usages of the Norsemen. The view of
Egilsey church is from a photograph, for which I am indebted to Mr.
George Petrie of Kirkwall, whose pleasant companionship in a pilgrimage
among the localities described in the Saga is gratefully remembered.
J. A.
NATIONAL MUSEUM
OF THE ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND,
October 1873.
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CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION.
PAGE
I. EARLIEST HISTORICAL NOTICES OF ix
THE ORKNEYS
II. EARLY CHRISTIANITY OF THE xi
ISLANDS
III. ARRIVAL OF THE NORTHMEN AND xxi
ESTABLISHMENT OF
THE EARLDOM OF ORKNEY AND
CAITHNESS
IV. THE EARLDOM IN THE NORSE LINE, xxiii
872-1231
V. THE EARLDOM IN THE ANGUS LINE, xlvi
1231-1312
VI. THE EARLDOM IN THE STRATHERNE lv
LINE, 1321-1379
VII. THE EARLDOM IN THE LINE OF ST. lxi
CLAIR, 1379-1469
VIII. THE BISHOPRIC OF ORKNEY, lxxi
1102-1469
IX. THE BISHOPRIC OF CAITHNESS, lxxix
1150-1469
X. ANCIENT CHURCHES OF ORKNEY lxxxvii
XI. MAESHOW AND THE STONES OF ci
STENNIS
XII. MOUSA AND THE PICTISH TOWERS cix
XIII. REMAINS OF THE NORTHMEN cxi
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE cxxv
GENEALOGICAL TABLES cxxxii
ORKNEYINGA SAGA. 1-201
APPENDIX 201-212
INDEX 213
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LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
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ON SEPARATE PAGES.
View of South Transept and part of Choir Frontispiece
of the Cathedral of St. Magnus
Map of Scotland, with Norse names viii
The Bressay Sculptured Stone xvi
The Bressay Sculptured Stone, Reverse of xvii
Symbols on the Sculptured Stones of xix
Scotland
Cathedral of St. Magnus, Kirkwall, lxxxviii
exterior view.
The Church of Egilsey xcii
Chancel Arch of Church of Weir, and xcviii
Chancel Doorway of Church at Lybster,
Reay
Map of the Orkney Islands cxlii
Map of the Shetland Islands Ibid.
Dragon-ship of the Viking period 132
IN THE TEXT.
Page
Square-sided Iron Bell found at xiv
Saverough, Orkney
Ground-plan of Egilsey Church and Tower, xci
Orkney
Ground-plan of Round Church at Orphir, xciv
Orkney
Ground-plan of Church at Weir, Orkney xcvi
Ground-plan of Church at Lybster, Reay, xcvii
Caithness
Ground-plan and Section of Maeshow, cii
Orkney
View of the Chamber in Maeshow, Orkney ciii
Dragon carved on the wall in Maeshow civ
Stone Circle at Brogar, Stennis, Orkney cvi
Stone Circle at Stennis, and Cromlech, cvii
from the northward
Stone Circle at Stennis, from the cvii
westward
Pictish Tower of Mousa (Moseyarborg), cix
Shetland
Norse Sword found at Gorton, Morayshire cxvi
Scabbard-Point found in a Norse Grave in cxvii
Westray, Orkney
Bronze Tortoise Brooch found in a Norse cxxi
Grave in Caithness
Comb found in a Norse Grave in Westray, cxxii
Orkney
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SYLLABUS OF INTRODUCTION.
Pages
I. Early Population of the Orkneys—Monuments and ix-xi.
Structural Remains—Saxon Invasion in the 5th
century—The Orkneys under Pictish rule—Dalriad
Invasion in the 6th century—Wasting of the
Orkneys by the Pictish King Bruide.
II. Visitation of the Islands by Irish xi-xxi.
Clerics—Dicuil’s Account of Iceland, the Faroes,
Shetland and Orkney—Irish Christian Settlers
driven away by the Northern Robbers—Indications
of the early Christianity of the Islands—Bells
and Christian Monuments of an early Age found in
the Islands—Art of their early Sculptured
Stones—Symbols of the Sculptured Monuments of
the Scottish Mainland: their probable
Period—Indications of an early Christianity in
the Norse Topography of the Islands.
III. Earliest Notices of Northmen on British Shores: xxi-xxiii.
their first Inroads on the Irish Coasts; they
plunder Iona—Establishment of a Norse Kingdom at
Armagh—Olaf the White, King of Dublin—Harald
Harfagri’s Expedition to the Orkneys—Subjugation
of Orkney, Shetland, the Hebrides, and Man.
IV. Sigurd, first Earl of the Orkneys—Earl Sigurd and xxiii-xlvi.
Thorstein the Red subdue Caithness and
Sutherland—Sigurd’s Death and Burial at
Ekkialsbakki—Thorstein the Red King of “half of
Scotland”—Thorstein slain in Caithness—Duncan,
Earl of Duncansbay—Guttorm Earl—Hallad Earl—Torf
Einar Earl—Thorfinn Hausakliuf Earl—Ragnhild
murders her Husbands—Battle at Skida Myre in
Caithness—Earl Hlödver—Earl Sigurd the
Stout—Earl Finnleik—Battle at Skida Myre—Earl
Sigurd’s Raven Banner—Battle at Duncansbay—Earl
Sigurd marries a Daughter of Malcolm, King of
Scots: is converted to Christianity by King
Olaf, Tryggvi’s Son; falls at the Battle of
Clontarf—Earls Thorfinn, Brúsi, and Einar—Kali
Hundason takes the Kingdom in Scotland—Battles
at Deerness and Baefiord—Rögnvald
Brusison—Battle off Raudabiorg—Earl Thorfinn,
surprised by Rögnvald, escapes from the burning
House—Rögnvald slain on Papa Stronsay—Earl
Thorfinn’s Death—Ingibiorg, his Widow, marries
King Malcolm Canmore—Battle of Stamford
Bridge—Expeditions of King Magnus Barelegs to
Scotland—He carries off the Orkney Earls Paul
and Erlend, and places his own son Sigurd over
Orkney—Earl Hakon Palson—Murder of St.
Magnus—Harald (Slettmali) dies from a poisoned
Shirt—Paul the Silent—Rögnvald Kolson wins the
Orkneys—Earl Paul carried off to Athole by Swein
Asleifson—Harald, Son of Maddad Earl of Athole,
made joint Earl of Orkney—Earl Rögnvald’s
Pilgrimage to Jerusalem—Erlend Ungi besieged in
Mousa by Earl Harald—Earl Rögnvald slain—Earl
Harald at War with King William the Lion—The
Eyarskeggiar—Earl Harald makes Peace with King
Sverrir, and Shetland is taken from him: is
captured by King William the Lion, and
imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle; is released on
his son Thorfinn being given up as a Hostage;
storms a Borg at Scrabster, and mutilates Bishop
John—Penance prescribed for the Mutilation of
the Bishop—Earl John—Burning of Bishop Adam at
Halkirk—Earl John slain at Thurso
V. Magnus, son of Gilbride, Earl of Angus, made Earl xlvi-lv.
of Caithness and Orkney—Gilbride Earl—Magnus,
son of Gilbride—King Hakon Hakonson’s expedition
against Scotland—Battle of Largs—Death of King
Hakon at Kirkwall: his Body lies in State in the
Cathedral; is temporarily interred in the Choir;
is removed to Bergen—Earl Magnus Magnusson—Earl
John—Marriage of King Eirik of Norway with
Margaret of Scotland—Death of Queen Margaret—Her
Daughter Margaret, “the Maid of Norway,” made
Heiress to the Scottish Throne, and betrothed to
Prince Edward of England—The Maid of Norway dies
on her voyage to Scotland—King Eirik marries
Isabella Bruce—Earl John betrothed to their
Daughter Ingibiorg—Appearance at Bergen of “the
False Margaret,” a German woman who gave herself
out as the Maiden of Norway—The False Margaret
burnt at Bergen, and her Husband
beheaded—Magnus, last Earl of the Angus line
VI. Malise, Earl of Stratherne, succeeds to the lv-lxi.
Earldom of Orkney: falls at the Battle of
Halidon Hill—Forfeiture of the Earldom of
Stratherne—Malise the Younger goes to Norway:
marries two of his Daughters to Swedish
Noblemen—Erngisl Suneson, son-in-law of Malise,
made Earl of Orkney—Duncan Anderson’s
Manifesto—Alexander de Ard made Earl of Orkney
for one Year—Resigns his Lands in Caithness—The
Stewarts Earls of Caithness—Sir George Crichtoun
made Earl of Caithness—William St. Clair made
Earl of Caithness
VII. First Notices of the St. Clairs in Orkney—Obscure lxi-lxxi.
Questions connected with the Succession of the
St. Clairs—Henry St. Clair made Earl of Orkney
and Shetland—Malise Sperra slain at
Scalloway—Henry II. Earl of Orkney—Bishop
Tulloch made Commissioner for the King of
Norway—David Menzies made Commissioner: his
oppressions—William St. Clair, last Earl under
the Norwegian Dominion—Impignoration of the
Isles
VIII. Origin of the Bishopric of Orkney—Bishops of lxxi-lxxix.
Orkney consecrated at Hamburg—Bishops of Orkney
consecrated at York—William the Old, “first
Bishop”—William II.—Bjarni—Jofreyr—Henry
I.—Peter—Dolgfinn—William III.—William
IV.—William V.—Henry II.—John—Patrick—Thomas de
Tulloch—William de Tulloch—The See of Orkney
placed under the Metropolitan Bishop of St.
Andrews
IX. Earliest Notices of the Bishopric of lxxix-lxxxvii.
Caithness—Andrew, first known
Bishop—John—Adam—Letter of Pope Honorius
referring to the burning of Bishop Adam—Gilbert
the Saint—William—Walter—Archibald—Alan—Adam—
Andrew—Ferquhard—Nicolas—David—Alan—Thomas—
Malcolm—Alexander—Robert—William.
X. Cathedral of St. Magnus—Removal of the Relics of lxxxvii-ci.
St. Magnus from Christ’s Church in Birsay to St.
Olaf’s Church in Kirkwall: Transference to the
Cathedral—Egilsey Church—Munch’s view of the
Origin of the Name Egilsey—Discussion of the
probable Age of the Church—Church of Orphir
built in imitation of the Church of the Holy
Sepulchre at Jerusalem—Earl Hacon probably its
Founder—Christ’s Church in Birsay the first
recorded Christian Church in the Islands—Remains
of an older Church at the Site of the present
Parish Church—Church of Weir: Bishop Bjarni
probably its Founder—Church at Lybster, in Reay,
Caithness—Church on the Brough of Birsay
probably twin-towered—Church on the Brough of
Deerness: Superstitious Practices at it in last
Century—Old Parish Church of Deerness—Towered
Churches of Shetland
XI. Maeshow, the Orkahaug of the Saga—The ci-cviii.
Hogboy—Description of Maeshow—The Runic
Inscriptions on its Walls—Carved Dragon and
Cross on its Buttresses—The Jorsala-farer
s—Names of Persons mentioned in the Saga carved
on it—The Stones of Stennis—The Ring of
Brogar—The Ring of Stennis, and Cromlech—The
Ring of Bookan—Stennis mentioned in the
Saga—Havard’s teigr—Earl Havard’s Grave-Mound
XII. Mousa and its Tower—Description of cix-cxi.
Moseyarborg—Number and Distribution of the
Pictish Towers—Results of recent Excavations in
them—Condition of the People who lived in
them—Roman Coins found in them—Notices of the
Tower of Mousa in the Sagas
XIII. The Norse Territory in Scotland still cxi-cxxiii.
distinguished by its Norse Place-names—Notices
of the Norse Language in Orkney and
Shetland—Norse Ballads—The Ballad of Hiluge and
Hildina recovered by Low in Foula: Outline of
its Story; its Dialect and Date—Runic Monuments
in Orkney and Shetland—Actual Relics of the
Northmen—Burial Customs of the Pagan Northmen in
Orkney and Shetland—Narrative of an Eye-witness
of the Incremation of the Body of a Norse Chief
of the 10th century—Description of the Funeral
Rites—“The Dead Man’s Angel”—Sacrifice of Oxen,
Horses, etc.—Slaughter of a Female Slave to
accompany the Chief—Burning of the Bodies and
erection of the Grave-Mound—Diversity of the
Burial Usages—Burial in Stone Urns and Cooking
Pots—Brooches of a peculiar Scandinavian type
found with Norse Burials in Scotland—Group of
Norse Graves in Westray, Orkney
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[Illustration: SKOTLAND EDMONSTON & DOUGLAS, EDINBURGH.]
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INTRODUCTION.
I. EARLIEST HISTORICAL NOTICES OF THE ORKNEYS.
The historical notices of the Orkneys previous to the Norse occupation
are few in number, and exceedingly obscure. We learn little more from
the allusions of the Roman writers than that scarcely anything was known
to them with certainty of these remote localities. It may be inferred,
however, that the first wave of Celtic population that overspread the
northern mainland of Britain must have gradually extended northward to
the outlying Isles. The correspondence of the early remains found in the
Islands with those of northern Scotland is of itself a striking
testimony to the connection of their early population with the Celtic
stock of the northern mainland of Scotland. We gather from these remains
that the earliest population of the Islands, of which we have any
reliable evidence, lived in the same manner as the natives of the
northern mainland, fought with the same varieties of weapons of stone
and bronze, erected the same forms of defensive structures, practised
the same funereal rites, and constructed similar forms of sepulchral
chambers, over which they piled the great mounds which are among the
most striking features of an Orkney landscape.[1] The number and
magnitude of these monuments and structural remains bear witness in a
most remarkable manner to the activity, intelligence, and social
organisation of the times that have no other record.
It is not until the middle of the 5th century of the Christian era that
the early chronicles begin to cast occasionally a feeble and uncertain
light upon the history of the northern isles. It is stated in the
“Historia Britonum” of Nennius that the Saxon chiefs Ochtha and Ebissa,
who came over with “forty keels” in the year 449, laid waste the Orkney
Islands, and seized a great many regions beyond the Frisic Sea.[2] At
that time, and for a long period previously (according to Nennius), the
Picts had been in possession of the Orkneys. Whatever value may be
attached to these statements as referring to events which took place 400
years before the author’s own time, there can be no reason for
discrediting his testimony when he says that the Picts continued in
possession of the Orkneys in his day.[3]
Adamnan, in his Life of St. Columba, mentions that the saint being on a
visit to Bruide Mac Meilcon, king of the Northern Picts, at his
stronghold on the river Ness, requested the king to recommend to the
_reguli_ of the Orkneys (one of whom was then present, and whose
hostages were then in the king’s hands) that Cormac and the clerics who
had accompanied him on a missionary voyage to the Orkneys should receive
no harm; and it is added that this was the means of saving them from a
violent death. But if the authority and influence of the king of the
Northern Picts extended to these islands in the reign of Bruide, it does
not seem to have been effectual in protecting them from foreign
invasion. Bruide Mac Meilcon died in 584, and some time before his death
the new and rising power of the Dalriadic kings had made itself felt as
far as the Orkneys. In the Annals of Ulster there is a notice under the
year 580 of an expedition against the Orkneys by Aedan, son of Gabran,
seventh king of the Dalriad Scots, who, coming over from Ireland (then
called Scotia) about the year 503, had established themselves in Argyle
and the Western Highlands, and founded the kingdom of Dalriada. From the
date of Aedan’s expedition in 580 we have no mention of the islands in
the native chronicles for a whole century, and the next entry, which
occurs under the year 682, gives colour to the supposition that they may
have been under Dalriadic rule in the interval. The record in 682 is
simply, that the Orkneys were wasted by Bruide Mac Bile, the king of the
Northern Picts, and apparently brought once more under the rule of the
Northern Pictish kings.
II. EARLY CHRISTIANITY OF THE ISLANDS.
It is probable that both the island groups of Orkney and Shetland were
visited at a very early period by wandering clerics of the Irish Church,
whose missionary efforts contributed so much to the diffusion of
Christianity in Scotland. But we have no record of an earlier visitation
than that of the companions of St. Columba, although there are
indications that between that time and the colonisation of the islands
by the heathen Northmen, these Irish clerics were no strangers in any of
the island groups.
The Irish monk Dicuil, who wrote his treatise “De Mensura Orbis
Terrarum” in or about the year 825, states that “thirty years before
that time some clerics had told him that they had lived in an island
which they supposed to be Thule, where at the summer solstice the sun
only hid himself behind a little hill for a short time during the night,
which was quite light; and that a day’s sail towards the north would
bring them from thence into the frozen sea.” This island is obviously
Iceland. He then states that there are many other islands in the
northern British sea, which lie at the distance of two days and two
nights from the northern islands of Britain, in a straight course, and
with a fair wind and a full sail. “One of these,” he says, “a certain
honest monk told me he had visited one summer after sailing a day, a
night, and another day, in a two-benched boat.” These appear to be the
Shetland Islands. Dicuil further states that “there are also some other
small islands, almost all divided from each other by narrow sounds,
inhabited for about a century by hermits proceeding from our Scotia;[4]
but as they had been deserted since the beginning of the world, so are
they now abandoned by these anchorites on account of the Northern
robbers; but they are full of countless sheep, and swarm with sea-fowl
of various kinds. We have not seen these islands mentioned in the works
of any author.” Here the reference to the “small isles separated by
narrow sounds” is distinctive of the Faroes, of which the long narrow
sounds are the peculiar physical feature; while the statement that they
are full of countless sheep, taken in connection with the fact that the
Northmen named them “Sheep-isles” (Fær-eyiar), establishes the identity
of the group which Dicuil describes. The Faroes were colonised by “the
Northern robbers,” led by Grim Kamban, in 825, the very year in which
Dicuil was writing.
The first Norwegian settlement was made in Iceland in 875, by Leif and
Ingulf, who carried with them a number of Irish captives; and the
Landnamabók states that “before Iceland was colonised from Norway, men
were living there whom the Northmen called Papas; they were Christians,
and it is thought they came over the sea from the west, for after them
were found Irish books, and bells, and crosiers, and other things, so
that one could see that they were Westmen: these things were found in
Papey, eastwards, and in Papyli.” Again, in the Islendingabók of Ari
Frodi the same reason is assigned for the departure of the monks as is
given by Dicuil. Ari Frodi also says, speaking of Iceland:—“Christian
men were here then called by the Northmen _Papa_, but afterwards they
went their way, for they would not remain in company with heathens; and
they left behind them Irish books, and bells, and pastoral staves, so
that it was clear that they were Irishmen.”
Thus by the concurrent testimony of Adamnan, the biographer of St.
Columba, himself an abbot of the monastery of Hy; of the Irish monk
Dicuil, writing during the lifetime of the men who had fled from the
Northern robbers; and lastly, of the Icelandic historians themselves—it
is established that the whole of the northern islands were visited by
Christian teachers, and probably, in part at least, converted to the
Christian faith, before they were overrun by the Norwegian invaders, and
the new faith swallowed up in the rising tide of heathenism thrown upon
their shores from the land of Odin and the Aser.
In the absence of all record we cannot expect to ascertain to what
extent these early missionary settlements had succeeded in leavening the
Celtic population of the islands of Orkney and Shetland with the
Christian faith. But it seems probable that during the three centuries
that intervened between the coming of Cormac in his coracle and the
arrival of Harald Harfagri with his fleet of war galleys, the new faith
had been firmly established and widely extended both in the northern
mainland of Scotland and in the remoter isles.
The indications which point to a Christian occupation of the isle, of no
inconsiderable extent and continuance, previous to their occupation by
the Norsemen, are:—The dedications of the early ecclesiastical
foundations; the occurrence of monumental stones sculptured in the style
peculiar to the earliest Christian monuments of the mainland of
Scotland, and bearing inscriptions in the Ogham character; the finding
(as at Saverough and Burrian) of ecclesiastical bells of the
square-sided form, peculiar to the early ages of the Church; and the
occurrence in the Norse topography of the islands of place-names
indicative of the previous settlement of Celtic Christian priests.
[Illustration: SQUARE-SIDED BELL FOUND AT SAVEROUGH, ORKNEY.]
The earliest dedications were probably those to St. Ninian and St.
Columba, St. Brigid, and St. Tredwell. It may be significant that in the
south parish of South Ronaldsay, where in all probability the companions
of St. Columba would make their first landing in Orkney, there were no
fewer than three chapels dedicated to him.[5]
The sculptured monuments furnish us with three collateral lines of
inference, tending to the same conclusion. These inferences are derived
from the inscriptions, the ornamentation, and the symbols of the
monuments.
Two of these monuments bear inscriptions in the Ogham character, a style
of cryptographic writing characteristic of the early inscribed stone
monuments of Ireland, but occurring also in Cornwall, in Wales, and in
Scotland. One of these two was found near the ancient church of
Culbinsbrugh, in the island of Bressay in Shetland. It is a slab of
chlorite slate, 4 feet in length, about 16 inches wide at the top,
tapering to a little less than a foot at the bottom, and about 1¾ inch
thick. It is sculptured on both sides in low relief, and the inscription
is incised on the edges of the stone. On one of its sculptured faces it
bears the Christian emblem of the cross, and among the figures
sculptured on it are those of two ecclesiastics with pastoral staves
(see Plates). The other inscribed stone was found by Dr. William Traill
in the Pictish Tower or “Broch” of Burrian, in North Ronaldsay in
Orkney. The inscription scratched on it has not yet been deciphered. It
also bears the Christian emblem of the cross. The association of the
cross with these Ogham inscriptions[6] points to a period anterior to
the Norse occupation of the islands.
[Illustration: THE BRESSAY STONE. Showing one side and Ogham inscription
on edge.]
[Illustration: THE BRESSAY STONE. Showing the other side and Ogham
inscription on edge.]
In examining the characteristics of the art of these monumental stones,
we are guided to similar conclusions. The Bressay stone bears none of
the symbols peculiar to the Scottish monuments, and in its artistic
features it comes nearer to some of the Irish than to the general style
of the Scottish sculptures. It is sculptured in low relief, while all
the Orkney examples are merely incised. But some of the forms of their
ornamentation are also characteristic of the art of the illuminated
Irish manuscripts of the 7th and 8th centuries, and others are equally
characteristic of the art of the bronzes of what has been styled the
late Celtic period.
The Scottish sculptured monuments scattered over the territory ranging
from the Forth to the Orkneys are characterised by a peculiar set of
symbols of unknown significance, which are often associated with the
Christian emblem of the cross.[7] The symbol which is of most frequent
occurrence, and which may therefore be said to be the most
characteristic of the period of the monuments, is a crescent conjoined
with what has been called a double sceptre, as represented in the first
figure of the accompanying Plate.
[Illustration: SYMBOLS ON THE SCULPTURED STONES OF SCOTLAND.]
This characteristic symbol occurs on a sculptured slab which was found
built into St. Peter’s Church in South Ronaldsay, and which had
evidently formed part of a monument older than the church. It occurs
also on the slab found at Firth, on the mainland of Orkney. Most
singularly, it occurs on the phalangial bone of an ox which was found in
the Broch of Burrian along with the slab previously described as bearing
an Ogham inscription and a peculiar form of cross. It occurs associated
with the same form of cross on the elaborately-sculptured stone at
Ulbster in Caithness. We have this crescent symbol also associated with
the cross on the inscribed stone of St. Vigeans in Forfarshire. This
stone bears the only inscription which is known to have been left to us
in the Pictish language:—[8]
DROSTEN │ IPE │ VORET │ ELT │ FORCUS
“Drost, │son of│ Voret, │of the race of│Fergus,”
and is believed to refer to that Drost, king of the Picts, who fell at
the battle of Blathmig, according to the Annals of Tighearnac, in A.D.
729.
The indications afforded by the Norse topography of the Islands, if
taken in connection with the passages previously quoted from the
Landnamabók and the Islendingabók of Ari Frodi regarding the origin of
the names Papa and Papyli in Iceland, require only to be mentioned. The
most obvious of these are the frequency with which the name Papa[9]
occurs both in the topography of Orkney and Shetland, and the occurrence
of such names as St. Ninian’s Isle in Shetland, Rinansey (Ringan’s-ey,
St. Ninian’s Isle) in Orkney, Daminsey, now Damsey (St. Adamnan’s Isle),
and Enhallow (Eyin-Helga, Holy Isle), given, we must suppose,
intelligently by the Norsemen.
Thus, at the very starting-point of their recorded history, we find
indications of Christianity, with suggestions even of its civilisation
and its art shedding their benign influence over the isles.
III. ARRIVAL OF THE NORTHMEN, AND ESTABLISHMENT OF THE EARLDOM OF ORKNEY
AND CAITHNESS.
The earliest notice we have of the visits of the Northmen to the shores
of Britain occurs in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle under the date A.D. 787:—
“In this year King Beorhtric took Eadburh, King Offa’s daughter, to
wife. And in his days first came three ships of Northmen from
Hæretha-land; and then the reeve rode thereto, and would drive them
to the king’s vill, for he knew not what they were, and they there
slew him. These were the first ships of Danish men that sought the
land of the English race.”
As they came from Hæretha-land, now Hördaland, on the west coast of
Norway, they were Norwegians, not Danes.
The Irish Annals and the Welsh Chronicles agree in representing the
first inroads of the Norsemen on the Irish coasts as having commenced in
the year 795. In 798 they plundered Inispatrick of Man and the Hebrides;
in 802, and again in 806, they ravaged Iona, slaying in the latter year
sixty-eight of the monastic family there. In 807 they established
themselves on the mainland of Ireland; and a few years afterwards we
find a Norseman making Armagh the capital of his kingdom.
In 852, Olaf the White, a chieftain descended from the same family as
Harald Harfagri, conquered Dublin, and founded the most powerful and
permanent of the Norse kingdoms in Ireland.
By the victory of Hafursfiord in 872, Harald Harfagri made himself sole
monarch of Norway. Large numbers of the wealthy and powerful odallers,
whom he had dispossessed of their territorial possessions, fled to the
islands of Orkney and Shetland, which, for a full century previous to
this time, had been well known to the Norsemen as the viking station of
the western haf—the rendezvous of the Northern rovers, who swept the
coasts of the Hebrides and swarmed in the Irish Seas. Being fugitives
from their country, and outlaws of the new kingdom which Harald had
succeeded in establishing in Norway, they settled themselves permanently
in the islands. Then they turned their haven of refuge into a base of
operations for retaliatory warfare, harrying the coasts of Norway during
the summer months, and living at leisure in the islands during winter on
the plunder. At length King Harald, irritated by their incessant
ravages, collected a powerful fleet, and visiting Shetland, Orkney, and
the Hebrides, in succession, he swept their coasts clear of the
plunderers, subduing the whole of the Northern and Western islands as
far south as Man.
In this expedition Ivar, a son of Rögnvald, Earl of Moeri, was
killed.[10] In order to recompense Rögnvald for the loss of his son,
King Harald bestowed on him the territory of the subjugated isles of
Orkney and Shetland, with the title of Earl of the Orkneys. Harald seems
to have dealt similarly with the Hebrides, but his conquest of the
vikings in these remote isles was not so complete as in the Orkneys.
Ketil Flatnef (Flat nose), who, according to the Laxdæla Saga, had
emigrated to the Hebrides because he could not resist King Harald in
Norway, had married his daughter Aud to Olaf the White, the powerful
king of Dublin, and had established himself in a kind of independent
sovereignty in the Hebrides; and though he seems to have migrated from
them to Iceland in consequence of King Harald’s expedition, the
continued hostility to King Harald’s rule is evinced by the fact that
the second earl whom he sent to the Hebrides, AsBjörn Skerablesi, was
slain by two relatives of Ketil Flatnef, his wife and daughter taken
captive, and the latter sold as a slave. Rögnvald, however, returned to
his own Earldom in Norway, and made over his newly-acquired possessions
to his brother Sigurd, the “first earl” of the Saga.
IV. THE EARLDOM IN THE NORSE LINE, 872-1231.
Thorstein the Red, son of Olaf the White, king of Dublin, came then to
the north, and allying himself with Earl Sigurd, they crossed over to
the mainland of Scotland, and subdued Caithness and Sutherland as far as
Ekkialsbakki, and afterwards carried their conquests into Ross and
Moray. In this invasion Earl Sigurd killed Maelbrigd the buck-toothed
(Melbrigda tönn), a Scottish maormor of Ross or Moray; and having tied
his head to his saddle-bow, “the tooth,” which was very prominent,
inflicted a wound on his leg, and the wound inflaming caused the death
of the earl, who was hoy-laid (buried in a mound or cairn) on
Ekkialsbakki.[11] After his death, Thorstein the Red reigned as king
over the conquered districts of Scotland, which at that time, says the
Landnamabók,[12] comprehended “Caithness and Sutherland, Ross and Moray,
and more than the half of Scotland.” The Laxdæla Saga[13] says that in
his engagements with the Scots Thorstein was always successful, “until
at length he became reconciled with the King of the Scots, and obtained
possession of the half of Scotland, over which he became king.” But he
was shortly afterwards slain in Caithness by the treachery of the Scots;
and after his death Aud, his mother, migrated to Iceland. Previous to
her departure she had given Groa, the daughter of Thorstein, in marriage
to Duncan, earl or maormor of Duncansby in Caithness. Thus the Norse
earldom of Caithness passed for a time into the family of one of its
native chiefs. But by the subsequent marriage of Grelauga, the daughter
of Duncan and Groa, with Thorfinn Hausakliuf, son of Torf-Einar, Earl of
Orkney, the Scottish earldom was again added to the earldom of the
Isles.
While Thorstein the Red ruled on the northern mainland of Scotland,
Guttorm, the son of Sigurd Eysteinson, had succeeded to the Orkney
earldom on the death of his father, but after having held it for one
year he died childless.
Meantime, when Rögnvald, Earl of Moeri, heard in Norway of the death of
his brother Sigurd, he obtained a grant of the earldom of Orkney from
King Harald for his own son Hallad. Hallad found the Islands so much
infested by vikings that he soon gave up the earldom in disgust, and
returned to Norway, preferring the life of a farmer to that of an
earl.[14]
Then Rögnvald sent another son, Einar, to take possession of the
earldom. Einar was a man of a different stamp from Hallad. He soon made
his power felt among the western vikings, and freed his possessions
entirely from their ravages. The sons of Harald Harfagri, Halfdan Hálegg
and Guthrod, grew up to be men of great violence. One spring they went
north to Moeri and burnt Earl Rögnvald in his own house with sixty of
his men. Halfdan Hálegg then sailed west to Orkney to dispossess Einar
of the earldom, but having allowed himself to be surprised by Einar, he
was captured in Rinansey, and killed by having a blood-eagle cut on his
back.[15] Harald Harfagri came west, and fined the Orkneys in sixty
marks of gold for the death of his son. Earl Einar offered to the
Bœndr[16] that he would pay the money on condition that he should have
all the odal possessions in the islands—a condition to which they agreed
the more readily, says the Saga, “that all the poorer men had but small
lands, while those who were wealthy said they would redeem theirs when
they pleased.”[17] But the odal lands remained in the possession of the
earl till Einar’s great-grandson, Sigurd Hlödverson, was obliged to buy
the assistance of the odallers against the Scots when hard pressed by
the Scottish earl Finnleik.[18]
When Einar died he left three sons, two of whom, Arnkell and Erlend,
were killed with King Erik Bloodyaxe in England. The third, Thorfinn
Hausakliuf, married Grelauga, daughter of Duncan, earl of Duncansbay,
and thus reunited in the Norse line the two earldoms of Orkney and
Caithness. Earl Thorfinn Hausakliuf left five sons. Arnfinn, the eldest,
who was married to Ragnhild, a daughter of King Erik Bloodyaxe, was
killed by his wife at Myrkhol (Murkle) in Caithness. She then married
Havard, his brother. She soon tired of him, and instigated Einar
Klining, his sister’s son, to kill him. Havard fell in the fray at
Stennis, and was buried there.[19] Ragnhild had promised to marry Einar
if he killed her husband Havard. When the deed was done, however, she
refused to perform her promise, and instigated another Einar, by the
promise of her hand, to slay Einar Klining. This he did, but again
Ragnhild was faithless. Then she married Liot, the third son of Earl
Thorfinn Hausakliffer, and brother of the two husbands whom she had
already had and slain. Meanwhile Skuli, a fourth brother, had gone to
Scotland and obtained an earl’s title for Caithness from the King of
Scots.[20] He was defeated by Liot, and slain in the Dales of Caithness,
and thus Liot became sole earl of Caithness and Orkney. He fell in
battle with a native chieftain, named Magbiód[21] in the Sagas, at Skida
Myre[22] (Skitten) in Caithness, and was succeeded in the earldom by
Hlödver, the last of the five brothers.
Earl Hlödver married Audna, the daughter of the Irish king Kiarval. He
died shortly after his accession to the earldom, and was buried at Hofn
(Huna) in Caithness.[23] His son Sigurd, sometimes called “the Stout,”
succeeded him. He is said to have been a mighty warrior, and to have
driven the Scots completely from Caithness.[24] But he was not left in
undisturbed possession of his Scottish earldom. The Scottish earl or
maormor, Finlay (MacRuari?) invaded Caithness and gave him battle at
Skida Myre, where his uncle Liot had fallen before another Scottish
maormor not long previously. Finlay had so large a force that there were
no less than seven Scotsmen to one of Sigurd’s men, and the Orkneymen
who were with Earl Sigurd were unwilling to fight against such odds.
Then Sigurd offered to restore to the Bœndr their allodial lands, which
they had resigned to Earl Einar, his great-grandfather. By this means,
more than by the charmed raven-banner made for him by his Irish mother,
he obtained the victory. “After this,” says the Njal Saga,[25] “Earl
Sigurd became ruler over these dominions in Scotland, Ross and Moray,
Sutherland and the Dales” (of Caithness), which seem also to include the
old Strathnaver. But his troubles with the Scots were not yet over.
Caithness was invaded by two Scottish maormors, called Hundi and
Melsnati in the Saga.[26] A battle took place at Duncansbay, in which
Melsnati was slain, but Hundi fled, and the Norsemen, learning that
another Scottish earl, Malcolm, was assembling an army at Duncansbay,
gave up the pursuit and returned to Orkney. Afterwards Sigurd became
reconciled to Malcolm, King of the Scots, and obtained his daughter in
marriage.
But the most notable event in the life of Earl Sigurd was that which
befel him as he lay in the harbour of Osmondwall shortly after his
accession to the earldom. Olaf Tryggvason, King of Norway, returning
from a western cruise, happened to run his vessels into the same
harbour, as the Pentland Firth was not to be passed that day. On hearing
that the earl was there he sent for him on board his ship, and told him,
without much parley, that he must allow himself to be baptized, and make
all his people profess the Christian faith. The Flateyjarbók says that
the king took hold of Sigurd’s boy, who chanced to be with him, and
drawing his sword, gave the earl the choice of renouncing for ever the
faith of his fathers, or of seeing his boy slain on the spot. In the
position in which he found himself placed, Sigurd became a nominal
convert, but there is every reason to believe that the Christianity
which was thus forced upon the Islanders was for a long time more a name
than a reality. Nearly twenty years afterwards we find Earl Sigurd
bearing his own raven-banner “woven with mighty spells,” at the battle
of Clontarf, against the Christian king Brian; and Sigurd’s fall was
made known in Caithness by the twelve weird sisters (the Valkyriar of
the ancient mythology) weaving the woof of war:—[27]
“The woof y-woven
With entrails of men,
The warp hardweighted
With heads of the slain.”
An incident which occurred just before he set out for Ireland gives a
striking illustration of the fierce manners of the times. King Sigtrygg,
who had come from Dublin to obtain Earl Sigurd’s aid, was being
entertained at the Yule-feast in Earl Sigurd’s hall in Hrossey (the
Mainland of Orkney), and was set on the high seat, having Earl Sigurd on
the one side and Earl Gilli, who had come with him, on the other. Gunnar
Lambi’s son was telling the company the story of the burning of Njal and
his comrades, but giving an unfair version of it, and every now and then
laughing out loud. It so happened that as, in answer to an inquiry of
King Sigtrygg’s how they bore the burning, he was saying that one of
them had given way to tears, one of Njal’s friends, Kari by name, who
had just arrived in Orkney, chanced to come into the hall. Hearing what
was said, Kari drew his sword, and smote Gunnar Lambi’s son on the neck
with such a sharp blow that his head spun off on to the board before the
king and the earls, so that the board was all one gore of blood, and the
earls’ clothing too. Earl Sigurd called out to seize Kari and kill him,
but no man stirred, and some spoke up for him, saying that he had only
done what he had a right to do, and so Kari walked away, and there was
no hue and cry after him.
The battle of Clontarf, in which Earl Sigurd fell, is the most
celebrated of all the conflicts in which the Norsemen were engaged on
this side of the North Sea. “It was at Clontarf, in Brian’s battle,”
says Dasent, “that the old and new faiths met in the lists face to face
for their last struggle,” and we find Earl Sigurd arrayed on the side of
the old faith, though nominally a convert to the new. The Irish account
of the battle[28] describes it as seen from the walls of Dublin, and
likens the carnage to a party of reapers cutting down a field of oats.
Sigurd is described as dealing out wounds and slaughter all around—“no
edged weapon could harm him, and there was no strength that yielded not,
and no thickness that became not thin before him.” Murcadh, son of Brian
Borumha, was equally conspicuous on the side of the Irish. He had thrice
passed through the phalanx of the foreigners, slaying a mail-clad man at
every stroke. Then perceiving Sigurd, he rushed at him, and by a blow of
his right-hand sword, cut the fastenings of his helmet, which fell back,
and a second blow given with the left-hand sword cut into his neck, and
stretched him lifeless on the field. In the Njal Saga the incidents
connected with Earl Sigurd’s death are differently related. His
raven-banner, which was borne before him, was fulfilling the destiny
announced by Audna, when she gave it to him at Skida Myre, that it would
always bring victory to those before whom it was borne, but death to him
who bore it. Twice had the banner-bearer fallen, and Earl Sigurd called
on Thorstein, son of Hall of the Side, next to bear the banner.
Thorstein was about to lift it, when Asmund the White called out, “Don’t
bear the banner, for all they who bear it get their death.” “Hrafn the
Red!” cried Earl Sigurd, “bear thou the banner.” “Bear thine own devil
thyself,” said Hrafn.[29] Then said the earl, “’Tis fittest that the
beggar should bear the bag,” and with that he took up the banner, and
was immediately pierced through with a spear. Then flight broke out
through all the host.
When the news of Earl Sigurd’s death reached Scotland King Malcolm gave
the earldom of Caithness to Thorfinn, his daughter’s son by Sigurd, then
only five years of age, and Sumarlidi, Brúsi, and Einar, Sigurd’s sons
by his former marriage, divided the Orkneys between them. Sumarlidi soon
died, and Einar got his portion. Einar made himself unpopular by the
violence with which he exacted his services from the Bœndr for his
viking expeditions, and was killed by Thorkel Fóstri (Amundi’s son) at
Sandwick, in Deerness. Brúsi then took possession of the whole earldom
of the Orkneys, as Thorfinn had that of Caithness. Thorfinn, however,
claimed a share of the Islands, and as he had the assistance of his
grandfather Malcolm, the King of Scots, Brúsi felt himself unable to
cope with him. He therefore went to Norway to negotiate with King Olaf
Haraldson for a grant of the whole of the earldom of the Islands.
Thorfinn followed him on the same errand, but the king was more than a
match for them both, and the result was that he gave each a third of the
Islands, declaring the third which had belonged to Earl Einar to be
forfeited to himself for the murder of his friend and henchman Eyvind
Urarhorn, whom Einar had slain in revenge for Eyvind’s helping the Irish
king Conchobhar against him at Ulfreksfiord. After Thorfinn’s departure,
however, he gave Brúsi to understand that he was to have the forfeited
third of the earldom, as well as his own third, to enable him to hold
his own against Thorfinn. An arrangement was afterwards made between
Brúsi and Thorfinn that the latter should receive two-thirds of the
Islands on condition of his undertaking the defence of the whole, as
they were at that time much exposed to the predatory incursions of Norse
and Danish vikings.
When Thorfinn’s maternal grandfather, King Malcolm, died, Kali
Hundason[30] took the kingdom in Scotland. He attempted to exact tribute
from Thorfinn for his dominions in the north of Scotland, and failing in
this he sent his sister’s son, Moddan, into Caithness, giving him the
title of Earl. Thorfinn was supported by the inhabitants, however, and
after an unsuccessful attempt to establish himself in Caithness, Moddan
returned to King Kali with the news that Thorfinn was plundering in Ross
and Sutherland. King Kali embarked a considerable force in eleven ships
at Beruvik (apparently Berriedale on the southern frontier of
Caithness), and sent Moddan northwards by land with another division of
his army, intending to enclose Thorfinn in the north-east corner of
Caithness, and attack him from two sides at once. Thorfinn, however, was
aware of the trap laid for him, and retired to the Islands. There Kali
came up with him off Deerness, in Orkney, and a fierce battle took
place, in which Kali was defeated. He fled southwards, and Thorfinn,
following him, obliged him again to give battle at Baefiord, where he
was again defeated, while Thorkel Fóstri fell upon Moddan at Thurso and
slew him. Then, say the Sagas, Earl Thorfinn overran Scotland as far
south as Fife, burning and slaying, and subduing the land wherever he
went. By these conquests he became the most powerful of all the Earls of
Orkney.
Rögnvald Brusison was in Norway when he heard of his father’s death, and
being odal-born to his father’s third of the Islands, and having
received from King Magnus Olafson a grant of that third which King Olaf
had declared forfeited to himself for Eyvind Urarhorn’s murder, he went
west to the Orkneys, prepared to maintain his rights against the claims
of Thorfinn, who had taken possession of the whole. An amicable
arrangement was made between the kinsmen, and they joined their forces
for viking forays upon the Hebrides, venturing even upon an extensive
foray in England during the absence of Hardicanute in Denmark. After an
eight years’ alliance, however, discord broke out between the kinsmen,
and in a sea-fight in the Pentland Firth, off Rauda Biorg,[31] in
Caithness, Rögnvald was defeated and fled, and Thorfinn reduced the
whole of the Islands. Rögnvald went to Norway, and stayed some time with
King Magnus. Then he came west to the Islands in a single ship, and
surprising Thorfinn in a house on the Mainland of Orkney, he set fire to
it. Thorfinn broke down part of the wall of the house and leapt out,
carrying his wife Ingibiorg in his arms, and escaped through the smoke.
Rögnvald, believing that Thorfinn had perished, took possession of the
Islands. Thorfinn, who had got secretly over to his dominions in
Caithness, returned shortly afterwards, and surprising Rögnvald in a
house on Papa Stronsay, burnt the house and all who were in it, except
Rögnvald, who sprang over the heads of the men who surrounded him, and
got away in the darkness. He concealed himself among the rocks by the
shore, but was discovered by the barking of his dog, and slain by
Thorkel Fóstri. Thus Thorfinn was again sole ruler of the Orkney
earldom, as well as that of Caithness. He went to Norway to make his
peace with King Magnus, who was foster-brother to Earl Rögnvald, and
therefore would seek vengeance for his death. At that time Magnus was at
war with Swein Ulfson, King of Denmark. While he lay with his fleet at
Seley two war-ships rowed up to the king’s vessel, and a man in a white
cloak went straight aboard, and up to the quarter-deck, where the king
sat at meat. Saluting the king, the man reached forth his hand, took a
loaf from the table, broke it, and ate of it. The king handed the cup to
him when he saw that he had broken bread at his table, and then he
learned that it was Earl Thorfinn, who, having broken his bread and
drunk from his cup, was, for the present at least, safe from his
vengeance, according to the ancient laws of hospitality. He deemed it
wise, however, to take his departure without having obtained a formal
reconciliation. King Magnus died shortly afterwards, and was succeeded
by his uncle Harald Hardradi. Thorfinn again went to Norway on hearing
of King Magnus’ death, and effected a reconciliation with King Harald,
so that he was now established in the earldom of Orkney by consent of
the over-lord, the King of Norway.
From Norway he went to Denmark, visiting King Swein at Aalborg, and
proceeded thence through Germany on a pilgrimage to Rome, where he
obtained absolution for all his deeds. After his return from Rome it is
said that he turned his mind more to the government of his dominions and
the welfare of his people than he had previously done in his career of
conquest. He built Christ’s Kirk in Birsay, and established there the
first bishop’s see in the Orkneys. He died in 1064, having been Earl, by
the Saga account, for “seventy winters,” and the most powerful and
wide-landed of all the Earls of the Orkneys. After his death, as the
Saga states, his widow Ingibiorg was married to King Malcolm
Canmore,[32] and became the mother of Duncan, whom, however, the
Scottish historians have always represented as a bastard.
Thorfinn was succeeded by his two sons, Paul and Erlend, who were with
King Harald Hardradi in his unfortunate expedition to England. After the
battle of Stamford Bridge, in which King Harald fell, the Orkney earls
were allowed to go home by the victorious Harold Godwinson, and they
ruled their dominions jointly in great harmony till their sons grew up
to manhood, when there began to be discord between the families. Hakon,
the son of Paul, was of a turbulent and overbearing disposition. He
seems to have had a lingering attachment to the Pagan faith of his
forefathers, for, while in Sweden (which was longer in being converted
to Christianity than Norway), he is said to have sought out the Pagan
spaemen to learn his future from them. Coming to Norway he tried hard to
induce King Magnus Barelegs to undertake an expedition to the Orkneys
and the Western Isles, hoping that the king would conquer the Islands
for the glory of the conquest, and hand them over to him, as Harald
Harfagri had given them to Rögnvald, Earl of Mœri. He was more
successful than he anticipated. King Magnus, fired with the love of
conquest, did make the expedition, but he deposed Paul and Erlend, and
carried them to Norway, placing his own son Sigurd, a mere child, over
the Orkneys.
Although the Saga speaks as if there had been only one expedition by
King Magnus to Scotland, there were in reality three. Fordun[33] states
that when Donald Bane, Duncan, and Edgar, were struggling for the
kingdom on the death of Malcolm in 1093, King Magnus was ravaging the
gulfs of the Scottish seaboard, and it is stated in the Saga[34] that he
assisted Murcertach in the capture of Dublin in 1094. In his second
expedition in 1098 he carried off the Earls Paul and Erlend, and made
his own son Sigurd Earl of Orkney. Munch surmises that the motives of
this expedition were two-fold—to secure his power in the Orkneys, and to
assist his protégé Donald Bane, who had again usurped the crown of
Scotland on the death of Duncan in 1095, and was in 1097 hard pressed by
Edgar with an English army. King Magnus took with him from the Orkneys
Magnus Erlend’s son (afterwards St. Magnus), and proceeded southwards to
the Hebrides, where he ravaged Lewis, Skye, Uist, Tiree, and Mull,
sparing Iona on account of its sanctity. The Saga says that he opened
the door of the little church of Columbkill (St. Oran’s chapel), and was
about to enter, but stopped suddenly, closed the door, forbade any one
to enter, and gave the inhabitants peace. Then he went on to Isla and
Kintyre, and thence to Man and Anglesea, where he fought the battle with
the two Hughs, Earls of Chester and Shrewsbury. On his return northward
he caused his vessel to be drawn across the isthmus of Tarbert, in
imitation of the fabulous sea-king Beite, of whom a similar story is
told. He returned to Norway in 1099, and during the next two years was
occupied with the Swedish war. In 1102 he returned to the west, married
his son Sigurd to Biadmynia, the daughter of Murcertach, and fell in a
skirmish with the Irish in Ulster in 1103. He was buried in St.
Patrick’s church in Down.[35]
Sigurd, the son of King Magnus, remained Earl of the Orkneys until his
father’s death, when he succeeded to the throne of Norway.
Hakon Paul’s son, and Magnus Erlend’s son, then succeeded to the
earldom, and held it jointly until Magnus was murdered in Egilsey by
Hakon on the 16th April, A.D. 1115.[36]
After the murder of Magnus, Hakon became sole earl. He went on a
pilgrimage to Rome and the Holy Land, and after his return became a good
ruler, and was so popular “that the Orkneymen desired no other rulers
than Hakon and his issue.”
Earl Hakon left two sons, Harald and Paul (the silent). Harald, who had
succeeded to the earldom of Caithness, which “he held from the King of
Scots,” was in some way unintentionally put to death by his mother Helga
and her sister Frákork. As the Saga tells the story, he met his death by
insisting on putting on a poisoned shirt which the sisters intended for
his half-brother Paul, who, on Harald’s death, became sole Earl of the
Orkneys.
A new claimant arose, however, in the person of Kali, son of Kol, a
nobleman resident at Agdir, in Norway, who had married a sister of Earl
Magnus the saint. Kali received from King Sigurd the gift of half the
Orkneys, which had belonged to his uncle Magnus, and his name was
changed from Kali Kolson to Rögnvald, because his mother said that
Rögnvald Brusison was the most accomplished of all the Earls of Orkney,
and thought the name would bring her son good fortune.
Rögnvald had many romantic adventures in the prosecution of his attempt
to obtain possession of half of the earldom held by Paul, which are
detailed at length in the Saga. At last he was advised by his father Kol
to make a vow to St. Magnus, that if he should succeed in establishing
himself in the Orkneys he would build and endow a “stone minster” at
Kirkwall, dedicated to St. Magnus, “to whom the half of the earldom
rightly belonged.” The vow was made, and Rögnvald’s next expedition was
successful. He landed in Shetland, and by a dexterous stratagem the
beacons on Fair Isle and in the Orkneys were made to give a false alarm
of his descent upon the Orkneys, so that when he did land there he was
unopposed. Then he secured the intervention of the bishop, and an
agreement that he should have half the Islands was concluded between him
and Earl Paul. Shortly thereafter Earl Paul was captured by Swein
Asleifson, a notable leader at that time in the Islands, and the last
and greatest of the Orkney vikings. Swein carried the earl off in his
vessel, and, landing him on the southern shore of the Moray Firth,
delivered him into the safe keeping of Maddad, Earl of Athole,[37] who
was married to Margaret, a sister of Earl Paul. What became of the earl
is not known, “but this,” says the Saga, “is well known, that he came
never again to the Orkneys, and had no dominions in Scotland.” Swein
Asleifson returned to Orkney, and by the joint consent of Earl Rögnvald,
Bishop William of Orkney, and Bishop John of Athole, Harald, the son of
Maddad, earl of Athole, was made Earl, along with Rögnvald, though he
was at that time a child of only five years old. This arrangement was
afterwards confirmed by a meeting, held in Caithness, of the Bœndr and
chiefs of the Orkneys and Caithness.
The Earls Rögnvald and Harald visited King Ingi by invitation at Bergen,
and there Earl Rögnvald met with Eindridi Ungi, a returned Crusader, and
became possessed by a strong desire to visit the Holy Land. On his
return voyage to Orkney, Earl Rögnvald was shipwrecked at Gulberwick in
Shetland, and narrowly escaped with his life. Bishop William strongly
approved of his project to go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and
agreed to accompany him. Accordingly he went back to Norway to organise
the expedition, and returned to the Orkneys followed by a large number
of Jorsala-farers—mostly adventurers of very indifferent character, if
we are to judge by their turbulent and lawless behaviour during their
stay in the Orkneys, where they spent the winter previous to their
departure for the East. Early in the spring of the year 1152 Earl
Rögnvald called a Thing-meeting of the inhabitants of the Islands, and
told them of his purposed voyage, announcing that he was to leave the
sole government in the hands of Harald during his absence, and asking
them all to obey him and help him faithfully as their lawful lord. The
summer was far advanced before he sailed, but he had a prosperous
voyage, the adventures of which are detailed in the Saga; and after
visiting Jerusalem and bathing in the Jordan, he returned by way of
Constantinople, Durazzo, Apulia, and Rome, and so overland to Norway,
the whole expedition occupying about three years.
In the same summer that Earl Rögnvald left the Orkneys on his
pilgrimage, King Eystein came from Norway with a large force, and
seizing Earl Harald Maddadson as he lay at Thurso with a single ship,
made him pay a ransom of three marks of gold, and swear fealty to him
for Orkney and Shetland. Earl Maddad of Athole was now dead, and
Margaret, the mother of Earl Harald, had come to the Orkneys. Erlend,
the son of the Earl Harald (Slettmali), who was killed by the poisoned
shirt, had set up his claim to half the earldom after Rögnvald’s
departure. His cause was favoured by King Eystein, and espoused by Swein
Asleifson, and Earl Harald was obliged to make peace by taking oath to
allow Erlend to remain in possession of the Islands, an arrangement
which was afterwards confirmed by a Thing-meeting of the Bœndr of the
Orkneys, Earl Rögnvald’s claim to his share of the Islands being,
however, reserved. Earl Harald (Maddadson) was thus denuded of all power
in the Islands. He fled across to Caithness, but after a time he
returned to the Orkneys with four ships and a hundred men, and after an
unsuccessful attempt to surprise Erlend[38] he was obliged to abandon
the enterprise for a time. Meanwhile, Erlend had carried off Harald’s
mother Margaret (who seems to have been still a beautiful woman, though
of very indifferent character), and fled with her to the island of Mousa
in Shetland, where they fortified themselves in the old Pictish tower or
borg of Mousa, which about two centuries before had given shelter during
a whole winter to a pair of lovers from Norway, under circumstances
somewhat similar.[39] Harald pursued them, and laid siege to the borg,
which could not be taken by assault, but the two earls came to a mutual
understanding, and the siege was abandoned. Erlend married Margaret, and
the same summer he and Harald went each on a visit to Norway to meet
Earl Rögnvald on his return from the Holy Land.
Erlend succeeded in making an alliance with Earl Rögnvald. Earl Harald
was not aware of this till he returned from Norway, and heard the news
in Orkney. He and Rögnvald met at Thurso, and a skirmish took place
between their respective followers, in which thirteen of Rögnvald’s men
were slain, but by the efforts of their mutual friends the two earls
were brought to an agreement of peace. Erlend and his faithful ally
Swein Asleifson surprised the squadron of the two earls at Scapa, taking
fourteen ships, and putting both the earls to flight. They crossed over
to Caithness during the night, each in a separate boat, and returning
some time after with a fresh force, they surprised Erlend in Damsey, and
slew him. Then they made peace with Erlend’s old ally, Swein Asleifson,
although this was not effected without some difficulty. Harald and
Rögnvald then ruled the two earldoms jointly, and apparently in great
harmony, until the death of the latter in 1158. Rögnvald was slain at
Calder, in Caithness, by Thorbiörn Klerk, the former friend and
counsellor of Earl Harald, who had been made an outlaw by Earl Rögnvald
for a murder committed in Kirkwall, following on a series of acts of
violence.[40]
Earl Harald Maddadson now became sole ruler of the earldoms of Orkney
and Caithness. But by his second marriage he had allied himself with
Hoarflad (Gormlath), daughter of Malcolm MacHeth, the so-called Earl of
Moray, ex-bishop Wimund, and pretender to the Scottish throne, and
consequently there could be no pacific relations between him and King
William the Lion. The events of this period are somewhat confusedly told
in the chronicles, but it seems probable that Harald was one of the six
earls who rebelled against King Malcolm in 1160, in order to place
William of Egremont, grandson of Duncan, on the throne,[41] and that he
also supported Donaldbane, the son of William who aspired to the throne,
and from 1180 maintained himself in Moray and Ross, till he was slain at
the battle of Macgarvey, 1187.[42] When Harald Ungi, son of Eirik
Slagbrellir, by Ingigerd (or Ingirid), daughter of Earl Rögnvald,
appeared as a rival claimant to the earldom of Orkney, having received
from King Magnus Erlingson a grant of his grandfather’s share of the
Islands, King William embraced his interests, and gave him a grant of
half of Caithness, which was thus taken from Earl Harald. Then Earl
Harald became involved in difficulties with his other suzerain, the
reigning King of Norway, through the expedition of the Eyarskeggiar or
partisans of Sigurd, son of Magnus Erlingson, whom they endeavoured to
place upon the throne in opposition to King Sverrir. Sigurd’s cause was
largely espoused by the Orkneymen, and the expedition (which was
organised and fitted out in Orkney) did much mischief in Norway. Earl
Harald was obliged to present himself before King Sverrir in Bergen. He
went from Orkney accompanied by Bishop Bjarni. In presence of a great
assembly in the Christ’s Kirk garth, the earl confessed his fault,
saying that he was now an old man, as his beard bore witness; that he
had bent the knee before many kings, sometimes in closest friendship,
but oftener in circumstances of misfortune; that he had not been
unfaithful to his allegiance, although some of his people might have
done that which was contrary to the king’s interests; and that he had
not been always able to rule the Orkneys entirely according to his own
will; and that now he came to yield up himself and all his possessions
into the king’s power. So saying, he advanced, and casting himself to
the earth, he laid his head at King Sverrir’s feet. The king granted him
pardon, but took from him the whole of Shetland,[43] “which never after
that formed part of the Norwegian earldom of Orkney,” though after the
time of the Saga-writer, Shetland as well as Orkney was granted to Henry
St. Clair in 1379 by King Hakon Magnusson, the second of that name.
Yet though humiliated in this manner, and stripped of a great part of
his dominions, Earl Harald, according to Hoveden, dared to contest the
possession of Moray with King William, instigated no doubt by his wife,
in whose right alone he could have had any feasible claim to its
possession.
Roger de Hoveden, chaplain to Henry II., a contemporary chronicler, thus
records the events that followed:—[44]
“In the same year (1196) William, King of Scots, having gathered a great
army, entered Moray to drive out Harald MacMadit, who had occupied that
district. But before the king could enter Caithness, Harald fled to his
ships, not wishing to risk a battle with the king. Then the King of
Scots sent his army to Turseha (Thurso), the town of the aforesaid
Harald, and destroyed his castle there. But Harald, seeing that the king
would completely devastate the country, came to the king’s feet and
placed himself at his mercy, chiefly because of a raging tempest in the
sea, and the wind being contrary, so that he could not go to the
Orkneys; and he promised the king that he would bring to him all his
enemies when the king should again return to Moray. On that condition
the king permitted him to retain a half of Caithness, and the other half
he gave to Harald, the younger, grandson of Reginald (Rögnvald), a
former Earl of Orkney and Caithness. Then the king returned to his own
land, and Harald to the Orkneys. The king returned in the autumn to
Moray, as far as Ilvernarran (Invernairn), in order to receive the
king’s enemies from Harald. But though Harald had brought them as far as
the port of Lochloy near Invernairn, he allowed them to escape; and when
the king returned late from hunting, Harald came to him, bringing with
him two boys, his grandchildren, to deliver them to the king as
hostages. Being asked by the king where were the king’s enemies whom he
had promised to deliver up, and where was Thorfinn his son, whom he had
also promised to give as a hostage, he replied, ‘I allowed them to
escape, knowing that if I delivered them up to you they would not escape
out of your hands. My son I could not bring, for there is no other heir
to my lands.’ So, because he had not kept the agreement which he had
made with the king, he was adjudged to remain in the king’s custody
until his son should arrive and become a hostage for him. And because he
had permitted the king’s enemies to escape, he was also adjudged to have
forfeited those lands which he held of the king. The king took Harald
with him to Edinburgh Castle, and laid him in chains until his men
brought his son Thorfinn from the Orkneys; and on their delivering him
up as a hostage to the king, Harald was liberated.
“So Harald returned to Orkney, and there remained in peace and quiet,
until Harald the younger, having received a grant of the half of the
Orkneys from Sverrir Birkebein, the King of Norway, joined himself to
Sigurd Murt, and many other warriors, and invaded Orkney. Harald the
elder, being unwilling to engage with him in battle, left the Orkneys
and fled to the Isle of Man. He was followed by Harald the younger, but
Harald the elder had left Man before his arrival there, and gone by
another way to the Orkneys with his fleet, and there he killed all the
adherents of the younger Harald whom he found in the Islands. Harald the
younger returned to Caithness to Wick, where he engaged in battle with
Harald the elder, and in that battle Harald the younger and all his army
were slain. Harald the elder then went to the King of Scots, on the safe
conduct of Roger and Reginald, the bishops of St. Andrews and
Rosemarkie, and took to the king a large sum in gold and silver for the
redemption of his lands of Caithness. The king said he would give him
back Caithness if he would put away his wife (Gormlath), the daughter of
Malcolm MacHeth, and take back his first wife, Afreka, the sister of
Duncan, Earl of Fife, and deliver up to him as a hostage Laurentius his
priest,[45] and Honaver the son of Ingemund, as hostages. But this
Harald was unwilling to do; therefore came Reginald, son of Sumarlid,
King of Man and the Isles, to William, King of Scots, and purchased from
him Caithness, saving the king’s annual tribute.”
Reginald, being supplied with auxiliary forces from Ireland by his
brother-in-law, John of Courcy, overran Caithness, and, returning home,
left the conquered earldom in charge of three deputies. Harald procured
the murder of one of them, and then, coming over from Orkney with a
strong force, landed at Scrabster, where the bishop met him and
endeavoured to mollify him. But Harald had a special grudge against
Bishop John, which added to his rage at what he considered the defection
of his Caithness subjects. The bishop had refused to collect from the
people of Caithness a tax of one penny annually from each inhabited
house, which Earl Harald had some years previously granted to the papal
revenues. Accordingly he stormed the “borg” at Scrabster, in which the
bishop and the principal men of the district had taken refuge, slew
almost all that were in it, and caused the bishop to be blinded and his
tongue to be cut out.[46] The two remaining deputies of King Reginald
fled to the King of Scots, whose first act was to take revenge on
Harald’s son Thorfinn. He was blinded and castrated after the barbarous
manner of the times, and died miserably in the dungeon of Roxburgh
Castle. King William, then collecting a great army, marched north to
Eysteinsdal on the borders of Caithness in the spring of 1202. Though
Harald had collected a force of 6000 men, he felt himself unable to cope
with the king, and was obliged to sue for peace, which was obtained on
the hard condition of the payment of every fourth penny to be found in
Caithness, amounting to 2000 marks of silver.
Earl Harald’s career was now drawing to a close. He died in 1206, at the
advanced age of seventy-three, having had the earldom for twenty years
jointly with Earl Rögnvald, and forty-eight years after Rögnvald’s
death.
His sons John and David succeeded him, and ruled jointly for seven
years, when David died and John became sole Earl of Orkney and
Caithness. The most notable event of his time was the burning of Bishop
Adam at Halkirk in Caithness.
Bishop Adam was a man of low birth. According to the Saga he was a
foundling, and had been exposed at a church door. Previous to his
consecration to the see of Caithness, in 1214, he had been Abbot of
Melrose.[47] He arbitrarily increased the exaction of the bishop’s seat
to such an extent that the populace rose in a body, and proceeding
tumultuously to Halkirk, where he was residing, demanded abatement of
the unjust exactions. Earl John, who was in the neighbourhood at the
time, declined to interfere, and the exasperated populace, finding the
bishop indisposed to treat them more liberally, first killed his
adviser, Serlo, a monk of Newbottle, and then burnt the bishop. In the
quaint language of Wyntoun—
“Thre hundyre men in cumpany
Gaddyrt on hym suddanly,
Tuk hym owt quhare that he lay
Of his chawmyre befor day,
Modyr naked hys body bare;
Thai band hym, dang hym, and woundyt sair
In-to the nycht or day couth dawe.
The monk thai slwe thare, hys falawe,
And the child that in hys chawmyr lay,
Thare thai slwe hym before day.
Hymself bwndyn and wowndyt syne
Thai pwt hym in hys awyn kychyne,
In thair felny and thare ire
Thare thai brynt hym in a fyre.”
The Saga tells that when the tidings of this outrage reached King
Alexander he was greatly enraged, and that the terrible vengeance he
took was still fresh in memory when the Saga was written. Fordun states
that the king had the perpetrators of this deed mangled in limb and
racked with many a torture. The Icelandic Annals are more precise. They
say that he caused the hands and feet to be hewn from eighty of the men
who had been present at the burning, and that many of them died in
consequence.
With this tragic and ill-omened event the chequered history of the line
of the Norse Earls draws to a close. Earl John sought to clear himself
from the guilt of complicity in the murder of the bishop by the
testimony of “good men” that he had no hand in it; but seeing that he
had neither assisted the bishop nor sought to punish his murderers, he
was heavily fined by King Alexander, and deprived of part of his
Scottish earldom. Subsequently he had an interview with the king at
Forfar, and bought back his lands. In the summer of 1224 he was summoned
by King Hakon to Norway, having fallen under suspicion of a desire to
aid the designs of Earl Skule against Hakon’s power in Norway; and after
a conference with the king at Bergen he returned to Orkney, leaving his
only son Harald behind him as a hostage. In 1226 Harald was drowned at
sea, probably on his passage home from Norway. In 1231, Earl John having
become involved in a feud with Hanef Ungi, a commissioner whom King
Hakon had sent over to the Orkneys, Snækoll Gunnason, grandson of Earl
Rögnvald (Kali Kolson), and Aulver Illteit, they attacked him suddenly
in an inn at Thurso, set fire to the house, and slew him in the cellar,
where he had sought to conceal himself.
Thus the ancient line of the Norse Earls, that had ruled the Orkneys
since 872—a period of 350 years—became extinct, and the earldom passed
into the possession of the house of Angus.
V. THE EARLDOM IN THE ANGUS LINE—1231-1312.
On the failure of the line of the Norse Earls by the death of Earl John
in 1231, King Alexander II. of Scotland, in 1232, granted the earldom of
North Caithness to Magnus,[48] the second son of Gilbride, Earl of
Angus. Sutherland, or the southern land of Caithness, was now made a
separate earldom, and given to William, son of Hugh Freskyn, who was
thus the first of the Earls of Sutherland.
Magnus seems to have been confirmed in the earldom of Orkney by the King
of Norway; but from this time the notices of Orkney and its earls in the
Icelandic or Norwegian records are so few and obscure, that but little
is to be gathered from them. The Iceland Annals, however, record the
death of Magnus, Earl of Orkney, in 1239.
In the Diploma of Bishop Thomas Tulloch, drawn up _circa_ 1443,[49] it
is stated that this Magnus was succeeded by Earl Gilbride, to whom
succeeded Gilbride his son, who held both the earldoms of Orkney and
Caithness in Scotland. The Annals only notice one Gilbride, whom they
call “Gibbon, Earl of Orkney.” His death is placed in the year 1256.
According to the Diploma, Gilbride had one son, Magnus, and a daughter,
Matilda. This Magnus is mentioned in the Saga of Hakon Hakonson as
accompanying the ill-fated expedition of that monarch against Scotland
in 1263. “With King Hakon from Bergen went Magnus, Earl of Orkney, and
the king gave him a good long-ship.” Pilots had previously been procured
from the Orkneys, and the fleet, after being two nights at sea with a
gentle wind, put into Bressay Sound in Shetland, where they remained
nearly half a month. Then they sailed for the Orkneys, and lay for some
time in Elwick Bay, opposite Inganess, near Kirkwall. Then they moved
round South Ronaldsay, and lay some time in Ronaldsvoe, while men were
sent over to Caithness to levy a contribution from the inhabitants,[50]
of which the scald sings that “he imposed tribute on the dwellers on the
Ness, who were terrified by the steel-clad exactor of rings.” Ordering
the Orkneymen to follow him as soon as they were ready, the king sailed
south to Lewis and Skye, where he was joined by Magnus, King of Man. The
fleet, which now consisted of more than a hundred vessels, for the most
part large and all well equipped, was divided into two squadrons, one of
which, consisting of fifty ships, plundered the coasts of Kintyre and
Mull, rejoining King Hakon at Gigha. A detached squadron now plundered
Bute, and the fleet cast anchor in Arran Sound, from which King Hakon
sent Gilbert, Bishop of Hamar, and Henry, Bishop of Orkney, with three
other envoys, to treat for peace with the Scottish King. The
negotiations failed, and soon after the fleet was disabled by a storm,
and the power of the Norwegian King utterly broken in the battle of
Largs. King Hakon, gathering together the shattered remnants of his
fleet and army, retired slowly northwards, meeting with no impediment
until they arrived off Durness, in Sutherlandshire, when the wind fell
calm, and the fleet steered into the sound, where seven men of a boat’s
crew, who had been sent ashore for water, were killed by the Scots. In
passing through the Pentland Firth one vessel went down with all on
board in the “Swelkie,” a dangerous whirlpool in certain states of the
tide, and another was carried by the current helplessly through the
Firth, and made straight for Norway. King Hakon laid up his fleet in
Midland Harbour and Scapa Bay. He then rode to Kirkwall, and lay down to
die. He was lodged in the bishop’s palace, and after having been
confined to his bed for some days, he recovered so much that he attended
mass in the bishop’s chapel, and walked to the cathedral to visit the
shrine of St. Magnus. But there came a relapse, and he was again laid
prostrate. He caused the Bible and Latin books to be read to him to
beguile the tedium of the sick bed, until he was no longer able to bear
the fatigue of reflecting on what he heard; and then he desired that
Norwegian books should be read to him night and day—first the Sagas of
the Saints, and then the Chronicles of the Kings, from Halfdan the Black
through all the succession of the Kings of Norway. Then he set his
affairs in order, caused his silver plate to be weighed out to pay his
troops, and received the sacrament. He died at midnight on Saturday,
15th December 1263. On Sunday the corpse, clothed in the richest
garments, with a garland on the head, was laid in state in the upper
hall of the palace. The king’s chamberlains stood round it with tapers,
and all day long the people came to view the remains of their king. The
nobles kept watch over the bier through the night; and on Monday the
royal remains were borne to St. Magnus’ Cathedral, where they lay in
state all that night. On Tuesday they were temporarily interred in the
choir of the church, near the steps leading to the shrine of St. Magnus.
Before his death the king had given directions that his body should be
carried east to Norway, and buried beside the remains of his father and
his relatives in Bergen. In the month of March the corpse was exhumed
and conveyed to Scapa, where it was placed on board the great ship in
which he had sailed on the unfortunate expedition to Largs, and taken to
Bergen, where it was interred in the choir of Christ’s Church.
Magnus Gilbride’s son, who was Earl of Orkney at the time of King
Hakon’s expedition, died (according to the Annals) in 1273.
He was succeeded by a son of the same name. The Annals have the entry
under the year 1276:—“Magnus, King of Norway, gave to Magnus, son of
Earl Magnus of Orkney, the title of Earl, at Tunsberg.” He appears also
as Earl of Orkney in the document, dated 5th February 1283, declaring
Margaret, the Maiden of Norway, the nearest heir to the Scottish
throne.[51] The death of Earl Magnus, Magnus’ son, is recorded in the
year 1284,[52] along with that of Bishop Peter of Orkney and Sturla the
Lawman. The Diploma states that he died without issue, and was succeeded
by his brother John in the earldom of Orkney and Caithness.
John, as Earl of Caithness, appears in 1289 as one of the signatories to
the letter addressed by the nobles to King Edward of England proposing
that the young Prince Edward should marry Margaret, the Maid of Norway.
His name also occurs in the list of those summoned to attend the first
parliament of Balliol. He swore fealty to King Edward at Murkle in
Caithness, in 1297.
King Eirik of Norway in 1281 had married the Scottish princess Margaret,
daughter of Alexander III. She died in 1283, leaving one daughter,
Margaret, “the Maid of Norway,” who became sole heiress to the crown of
Scotland, and in 1289 was formally betrothed to Prince Edward of
England. She died at sea off the coast of Orkney,[53] on her way to
Scotland, in September or October 1290. There is no record of the
circumstances of her death,[54] but we learn from a letter of Bishop
Audfinn of Bergen,[55] written twenty years after the event in
connection with the case of the false Margaret, who was burned at Bergen
in 1301 (as will be detailed hereafter), that her remains were brought
back to Bergen in charge of the Bishop (most probably of the Orkneys)
and Herr Thore Hakonson, whose wife, Ingibiorg Erlingsdatter, was
Margaret’s attendant on the voyage. In 1293 Eirik married Isabel, who is
styled in the Iceland Annals “daughter of Sir Robert, son of Robert,
Earl of Brus.”[56] It appears that on the 24th of July of that year King
Edward gave permission to Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick, the father of
Isabella Bruce, to go to Norway,[57] and to remain there for a time; and
Munch, the Norwegian historian, conjectures that he had then brought
over his daughter, and stayed till the marriage took place,[58] and that
King Eirik may have hoped by this alliance to bring the crown of
Scotland once more into the possession of a branch of his own royal
line. In 1297 Isabella bore him a daughter named Ingibiorg. King Eirik
died 13th July 1299, and was succeeded by his brother Hakon (Magnusson).
John, Earl of Orkney, seems to have gone to Norway to take the oath of
allegiance to King Hakon immediately after his accession, for we find in
the Icelandic Annals that he was betrothed to King Eirik’s daughter in
1299. The statement is explicit, and though it may seem strange to us
that an infant scarcely two years of age should be betrothed to a man of
forty, Munch makes the remark that such unlikely contracts were by no
means so unusual in those days as to oblige us to discredit the
statement. In fact, we find this same King Hakon betrothing his own
daughter when an infant of one year to a man who, though he was much
younger than Earl John, was nevertheless a full-grown man. But Earl John
seems to have died shortly after the betrothal, for we find that
Ingibiorg was betrothed anew in 1311, and John’s successor in the
earldom appears on record in 1312, with Ferquhard, Bishop of Caithness,
witnessing the confirmation by King Robert I. and Hakon V. (at
Inverness, 28th October) of the prior treaty executed at Perth, 6th July
1266, between King Alexander III. and Magnus IV. (the son of the
unfortunate Hakon), by which the Kings of Norway ceded for ever the Isle
of Man and all the other islands of the Sudreys, and all the islands in
the west and south of the great Haf, except the isles of Orkney and
Shetland, which were specially reserved to Norway. In consideration of
this the King of Scotland became bound to pay to the King of Norway and
his heirs for ever an annual sum of 100 marks, within St. Magnus’
church, in addition to a payment of 4000 marks to be paid within the
space of four years.
It was about the time of Earl John’s visit to the court of King Hakon,
on the occasion above referred to, that there occurred in Norway one of
the most extraordinary instances of imposture on record. A woman
appeared in Bergen, in 1300, declaring that she was the princess
Margaret, daughter of King Eirik, and heiress to the crown of Scotland,
who was believed by all in Norway and in Britain to have died off the
coast of Orkney some ten years previously. She had come over in a ship
from Lubeck,[59] and her story was that she had been “sold” or betrayed
by her attendant Ingibiorg Erlingsdatter, in the interest of certain
persons who wished her out of the way, and had falsely given her out for
dead. Although her appearance and circumstances were strongly against
the credibility of her story, it seems to have taken a strong hold of
the popular mind, and not a few of the clergy and the higher classes,
possibly influenced by political motives, appear to have given her
countenance. She was a married woman, and was accompanied by her
husband, a German. She is described by Bishop Audfinn as being well up
in years, her hair was greyish, and partially whitened with age, and to
all appearance she was at least twenty years older than the date of King
Eirik’s marriage with Margaret of Scotland, and consequently about seven
years older than King Eirik himself, who was but thirteen when he was
married. “Yet,” says Munch, “though the king’s daughter Margaret had
died in the presence of some of the best men of Norway, though her
corpse had been brought back by the bishop and Herr Thore Hakonson, to
King Eirik, who himself had laid it in the open grave, satisfied himself
of the identity of his daughter’s remains, and placed them in the
Christ’s Kirk by the side of her mother’s;—though this woman, in short,
was a rank impostor, yet she found many among the great men to believe
her story, and not a few of the priests also gave her their countenance
and support. That this German woman, purely of her own accord, should
have attempted to personate the princess Margaret ten years after her
death, and should have ventured to appear publicly in Norway on such an
enterprise, seems hardly credible. It is more likely that she may have
been persuaded to it by some parties perceiving in her a certain
personal resemblance, who schooled her in the story she must tell to
give her personation an air of reality.” King Hakon was away from
Bergen, and no action was taken in regard to her case until he returned
in the early part of the winter of 1301. It was natural that he should
wish personally to see and examine the impostor, and confront her with
the princess’s attendants, especially to hear the testimony of Ingibiorg
Erlingsdatter, before deciding on anything. There is no record of the
trial, but soon after the king’s arrival the “false Margaret” was burnt
at Nordness in Bergen, as an impostor, and her husband was beheaded. As
she was being taken through the Kongsgaard gate to the place of
execution, she is reported to have said—“I remember well when I as a
child was taken through this self-same gate to be carried to Scotland.
There was then in the High Church of the Apostles an Iceland priest,
Haflidi[60] by name, who was the court priest of my father King Eirik;
and when the clergy ceased singing, then Sir Haflidi struck up with the
‘Veni Creator,’ and the hymn was sung out to the end just as I was being
taken on board the ship.” Notwithstanding the manifest nature of the
imposture she was regarded by the multitude as a martyr; a chapel was
erected on the spot where she suffered, and the number of pilgrimages
made to it increased to such an extent that Bishop Audfinn interfered
and forbade them.[61]
Earl John’s successor in the earldom of Orkney and Caithness was his son
Magnus, the fifth of the name, and last of the Angus line. He first
appears on record in 1312 in the treaty between King Robert Bruce and
Hakon Magnusson, concluded at Inverness. In 1320, as Earl of Caithness
and Orkney, he subscribed the famous letter to the Pope, asserting the
independence of Scotland.[62] It seems as if he had been dead in 1321,
for in a document addressed by King Robert Bruce to the “ballivi” of the
King of Norway in Orkney, and dated at Cullen, 4th August 1321, he
complains that Alexander Brun, “the king’s enemy,” convicted of _lese
majestatis_, had been received into Orkney and had been refused to be
given up, though instantly demanded by “our ballivus in Caithness, Henry
St. Clair.” He was certainly dead in 1329, for in that year Katharina,
as his widow, executes two charters in her own name as Countess of
Orkney and Caithness, by which she purchases from the Lord High Steward
(Drottset), Herr Erling Vidkunnson, certain lands in Rögnvaldsey,
including the Pentland Skerries.[63] In one of these documents she
speaks of Earl John as he from whom her husband had inherited his
possessions which he left to her, thus corroborating the statement of
the Diploma that Magnus was the son of John.[64]
VI. THE EARLDOM IN THE STRATHERNE LINE—1321-1379.
The Diploma states that the earldom now passed by lineal succession to
Malise, Earl of Stratherne, Magnus V. having left no male issue. In 1331
Malise, Earl of Stratherne, possessed lands in Caithness,[65] doubtless
in right of his wife, probably a daughter of Magnus V. Malise fell in
the battle of Halidon Hill in 1333, and was succeeded by his son, also
named Malise, who became heir to the three earldoms of Stratherne,
Caithness, and Orkney.
Malise (the younger) styles himself Earl of Stratherne, Caithness, and
Orkney, in a document dated at Inverness in 1334,[66] in which he grants
his daughter Isabella in marriage to William, Earl of Ross, granting her
also the earldom of Caithness failing heirs male of himself and his wife
Marjory.[67]
William, Earl of Ross, succeeded his father Hugh, who fell at Halidon
Hill in 1333, but it is stated that he was not confirmed in the earldom
for three years, on account of his absence in Norway.[68]
It seems that Earl Malise must have passed over to Norway about the same
period, in all probability to obtain formal investiture of the earldom
of Orkney from the Norwegian King Magnus, and William, Earl of Ross, may
have accompanied his father-in-law. There is no record of Malise’s
movements, but we learn incidentally that he had betaken himself to his
northern possessions,[69] when he lost the earldom of Stratherne, which
was declared forfeited by King Edward and given to John de Warrenne,
Earl of Surrey. It is stated that Malise, apparently seeking to preserve
the earldom in a branch of his own family, gave one of his daughters in
marriage to John de Warrenne, and that King David then declared the
earldom forfeited,[70] and bestowed it on his nephew, Maurice de
Moravia,[71] son of Sir John de Moravia of Abercairny, who had married
Malise’s sister Mary.[72]
Malise appears to have made an effort to recover the earldom of
Stratherne in 1334. In that year King Edward, by a letter dated 2d
March, directed Henry de Beaumont, Earl of Boghan, not to allow any
process to be made before him respecting the earldom of Stratherne
forfeited for treason by Earl Malise. He also wrote a letter of the same
date to Edward Balliol, stating that he has heard that Malise, Earl of
Stratherne, claims the county of Stratherne, which he had granted to
John de Warrenne, Earl of Surrey, and requesting Balliol to act with
deliberation.[73]
The Diploma states that Malise was first married to Johanna, daughter of
Sir John Menteith, and that by her he had a daughter Matilda, married to
Wayland de Ard. But there is a record of a confirmation by Robert I.
(1306-1329) of a grant of the lands of Carcathie (Cortachy) in
Forfarshire, and half of Urkwell in the earldom of Stratherne, by
Malise, Earl of Stratherne, to his wife Johanna, daughter of the late
John de Monteith.[74] As Malise the younger only became Earl of
Stratherne on the death of his father in 1333, if the confirmation be
correctly ascribed to Robert I., this must refer to the Malise who was
earl previous to 1333, and who had a daughter Matilda contracted to
Robert de Thony in 1293, “being not yet in her 20th year.”[75]
The Diploma further states that Malise (the younger) was married the
second time to a daughter of Hugh, Earl of Ross, consequently a sister
of William, Earl of Ross, who married Malise’s daughter Isabella. From
the deed of 1334 we learn that Malise’s wife’s name was Marjory. In a
deed of 1350 we find William, Earl of Ross, styling his sister Marjory
Countess of Caithness and Orkney,[76] and with her consent appointing
his brother Hugh his heir in the event of his own death without male
issue. From this it would appear that Malise was then dead. He must have
been dead before 1353, when his son-in-law, Erngils Suneson, obtained
the title of Earl of Orkney from the King of Norway. He is mentioned as
dead in 1357 and 1358,[77] and the Earl of Ross is then said to have
entered to his lands in Caithness, doubtless in right of his wife
Isabella, and in terms of that deed of 1334 previously noticed.[78]
While Malise was in Norway and Sweden two of his daughters had been
married to Swedish noblemen—one to Arngils[79] or Erngisl, son of Sune
Jonsson, and another to Guttorm Sperra.[80] On the death of Malise, or
shortly thereafter, Erngisl Suneson claimed his wife’s share of the
earldom. In the year 1353 we find him executing a deed on the 10th April
as plain Erngisl Suneson, and on the 6th May thereafter his signature
appears to a document drawn up at Vagahuus concerning the queen’s dowry,
occupying the foremost place among the nobles of Norway, and with the
title of Earl of Orkney.[81] Although the Diploma states that he held
only his wife’s share of the earldom, it is plain from this document
that he must have received the title of Earl of the Orkneys from the
King of Norway. He soon became involved with the Swedish party in favour
of King Eirik of Pomern, and in 1357 King Magnus sequestrated his
estates in Norway, and declared his title forfeited. His right to the
earldom would have lapsed with the death of his wife, who died childless
before 1360.[82] Nevertheless he continued to style himself Earl of
Orkney during his lifetime.[83] He died in 1392.
On the sequestration of Erngisl’s rights by the king, a certain Duncan
Anderson, who appears to have been a Scotchman, and probably agent for
Alexander de Ard, the son of Matilda, called the eldest daughter of
Malise, issued a manifesto, notifying to the inhabitants of Orkney that
he has the true and legitimate heir of Earl Malise, the former Earl of
Orkney, under his guardianship; that this heir has now the full and
undeniable right to the earldom; and that, as he has heard that the King
of Norway has recently sequestrated the revenues of the earldom, he
warns the inhabitants not to allow these revenues to be taken furth of
the land till the true heir be presented to them, which will be ere very
long, if the Lord will. The inhabitants, who seem to have been somewhat
disquieted by the missive, sent a representation on the subject to the
court of Norway. It would seem that a representation must have been made
by the court of Norway to the Scottish King regarding the troubling of
the islands by the claimants or their friends in Scotland, for an edict
was issued by King David from Scone, in 1367, forbidding any of his
subjects, of whatever rank or condition, to pass into Orkney, or
frequent its harbours, on any other errand than that of lawful commerce.
In 1375, King Hakon of Norway granted the earldom of Orkney for a single
year till next St. John’s Day to Alexander de Ard,[84] naming him,
however, in the document not as Earl but simply as Governor and
Commissioner for the King, and declaring, in the document addressed to
the Islanders, that this grant is given provisionally until the said
Alexander shall establish his claim to the earldom. He seems not to have
been regarded with much favour by the king, for this grant was not
renewed, and in 1379 Henry St. Clair and Malise Sparre preferred their
claims to the earldom.
Alexander de Ard had succeeded to the earldom of Caithness by the law
and custom of Scotland, in right of his mother as heir to Earl Malise.
In 1375 he resigned the castle of Brathwell (Brawl), and all the lands
in Caithness or any other part of Scotland which he inherited in right
of his mother, Matilda de Stratherne, to King Robert II., who bestowed
them on his own son, David Stewart.
Earl David Stewart appears in 1377-78 as Earl Palatine of Stratherne and
Caithness. King Robert III. gave the earldom of Caithness to his
brother, Walter Stewart, of Brechin, who held it till about 1424. He
then resigned it to his son Alan, who was slain at Inverlochy in 1431.
The earldom reverted to his father, who in 1437 was forfeited for his
share in the murder of King James I. The earldom remained in possession
of the crown till 1452, when it was granted by King James II. to Sir
George Crichtoun, Admiral of Scotland. On his death in 1455 King James
granted the earldom of Caithness to William St. Clair, then Earl of
Orkney, in whose line it has continued till the present day.
VII. THE EARLDOM IN THE LINE OF ST. CLAIR—1379-1469.
The genealogical questions connected with the succession of the St.
Clairs of Roslin to the earldom of Orkney are involved in apparently
inextricable confusion.
So early as 1321 we find a Henry St. Clair acting as the “ballivus” of
King Robert Bruce in Caithness,[85] and in 1364 we also find a Thomas
St. Clair installed at Kirkwall as the “ballivus” of the King of Norway,
an Alexander St. Clair, and a Euphemia de Stratherne, styling herself
one of the heirs of the late Malise, Earl of Stratherne.[86]
The Diploma states explicitly that one of the four daughters of Malise,
Earl of Stratherne,[87] by his wife Marjory, daughter of Hugh, Earl of
Ross, was married to William St. Clair. This must be William St. Clair,
son of the Sir William St. Clair who fell with the Douglas in Spain
fighting against the Saracens in 1330.[88] The Diploma goes on to
narrate that Henry St. Clair, the son of William St. Clair and this
daughter of Malise, succeeded to the earldom of Orkney apparently in
right of his mother. We know from the deed of investiture that his
accession to the earldom took place in 1379.
In a charter of 1391 Earl Henry names his mother Isabella St. Clair. It
is usually said that his father, William St. Clair, married Isabella,
daughter of Malise, Earl of Stratherne. But, as we have seen from the
deed of 1334, Isabella was married to William, Earl of Ross, not to
William, Earl of Roslin. Yet it appears from the deed of 1391 that
Henry’s mother’s name was Isabella, and though he does not style her a
daughter of Malise, the terms of the document imply that she was heiress
to lands in Orkney and Shetland. The Diploma only mentions one of the
Earls Malise, and it may be that the Isabella whom William St. Clair
married was the daughter of the elder and sister of the younger Malise
of Stratherne.
If he had married one of the four daughters of the younger Malise it
seems unaccountable why he did not claim his wife’s portion of the
earldom. We find that the representatives of the other sisters were
claimants, and that one of them, Erngisl Suneson, actually received his
wife’s share, and enjoyed the title of Earl of Orkney, while Alexander
de Ard is said to have succeeded to the earldom of Caithness in virtue
of a similar claim, and had his rights to the earldom of Orkney so far
recognised by the King of Norway on the forfeiture of Erngisl Suneson.
The Earl of Ross, as we have seen, also succeeded to the share falling
to his wife Isabella. But no claim seems to have been made for the
Isabella who is said to have been married to William St. Clair. If she
had been a daughter of the younger Malise it can scarcely be doubted
that such a claim would have been made, and if made, established as
readily as that of the other sisters. William St. Clair was alive in
1358, five years after the claim of the sister married to Erngisl
Suneson had been made good, and one year after Erngisl’s title to the
earldom had been declared forfeited.
But a more fatal objection to the statement of the Diploma, that
William’s wife was a daughter of the younger Malise, arises from the
fact that in the attestation by the Lawman and Canons of Orkney in
favour of James of Cragy (1422) it is expressly certified that Henry
Sinclair was himself married to a daughter of the younger Malise, styled
“Elizabeth de Stratherne, daughter of the late reverend and venerable
Malise, Earl of Orkney,” and that by her he had a daughter, Margaret,
who was married to James of Cragy. The Diploma, on the other hand,
states that Henry was married to Janet Haliburton, daughter of Walter
Haliburton of Dirleton, and by her had a son Henry, who succeeded him.
It is quite possible, however, that both these statements might be true,
the attestation in favour of James of Cragy having no reason to mention
the second wife, and the Diploma having no special reason to mention the
first wife in connection with the succession which it derives through
the mother, making her, moreover, such a remarkable instance of
longevity that she survived her husband, her son, and all her younger
sisters, and all their sons and daughters, and became sole heiress to
the earldom after Earl Henry’s death, although he left a son who ought
to have succeeded him, but who, according to the Diploma, succeeded to
her, his grandmother.
In whatever way these apparently contradictory statements are to be
reconciled, the statement of the Diploma that Henry St. Clair was the
first of the line who enjoyed the title of Earl of Orkney is undoubtedly
borne out by the records. In the summer of 1379 he passed over to Norway
and received formal investiture from King Hakon of the earldom of Orkney
and also of the lordship of Shetland,[89] which, since the time of its
forfeiture to King Sverrir by Earl Harald Maddadson, had been in the
possession of the crown of Norway. The conditions on which he accepted
the earldom are set forth at length in the deed of investiture, and
contrasting them with the semi-independence of the ancient earls a
recent writer has remarked that they left him little more than the lands
of his fathers.[90] Although the Earls of Orkney had precedence of all
the titled nobility of Norway, and their signatures to the national
documents stand always after the Archbishops, and before the Bishops and
nobles, though the title was the only hereditary one permitted in Norway
to a subject not of the blood royal, yet it was now declared to be
subject to the royal option of investiture. The earl was to govern the
Islands and enjoy their revenues during the king’s pleasure, but he was
taken bound to serve the king beyond the bounds of the earldom, with a
hundred men fully equipped, when called on by the king’s message; he was
to build no castle or place of strength in the Islands, make no war,
enter into no agreement with the bishop, nor sell or impignorate any of
his rights, without the king’s express consent; and moreover he was to
be answerable for his whole administration to the king’s court at
Bergen. At his death the earldom and all the Islands were to revert to
the King of Norway or his heirs, and if the earl left sons they could
not succeed to their father’s dignity and possessions without the royal
investiture. At the following Martinmas he was taken bound to pay to the
king 1000 English nobles.[91] It was part of the compact also that
Malise Sperra, son of Guthorm Sperra, should depart from all his claims
to the earldom in right of his mother;[92] and he left with King Hakon,
as hostages for the due fulfilment of his share of the contract, the
following from among his friends and followers:— William Daniel, knight,
Malise Sperra, and David Crichton.
But King Hakon died in the year after Earl Henry’s investiture, and the
events that took place in the Orkneys during the reign of King Olaf, his
successor, are entirely unknown to the Norwegian chroniclers. Earl Henry
seems neither to have courted the favour of his suzerain nor to have
stood in awe of his interference. He built the castle of Kirkwall in
defiance of the prohibition contained in the deed of his investiture,
and seems to have felt himself sufficiently independent to rule his
sea-girt earldom according to his own will and pleasure.
The fact that King Hakon’s investiture of Earl Henry took him bound not
to enter into any league with the bishop nor to establish any friendship
with him without the king’s express consent, shows us that the bishop
was then acting in opposition to the king and the representatives of the
civil power. The likelihood is that Earl Henry found this opposition of
the bishop favourable to his own design of making himself practically
independent, and represented it as the excuse for the erection of the
castle of Kirkwall, contrary to the terms of his agreement with the
crown. Munch attributes the discord to the growing dislike of the
Norwegian inhabitants of the Islands to Scotsmen, whose numbers had been
long increasing through the influence of the Scottish family connections
of the later earls. Whatever may have been its origin, the end of it was
that in some popular commotion, of which we have no authentic account,
the bishop was slain in the year 1382.[93]
Malise Sperra appears to have endeavoured to establish himself in
Shetland[94] in opposition to Earl Henry. He had seized, it is not
stated upon what grounds, the possessions in Shetland which had belonged
to Herdis Thorvaldsdatter, and of which Jón Hafthorson and Sigurd
Hafthorson were the lawful heirs. It seems as if a court had been about
to be held by the earl to settle the legal rights of the parties
concerned. The court would be held at the old Thingstead, near
Scalloway, but a conflict took place, the dispute was terminated by the
strong hand, and Malise Sperra was slain.[95] As a number of his men
were slain with him, it seems probable that he had been the aggressor.
As both he and the earl are among those who were present at the assembly
of nobles at Helsingborg, on the accession of King Eirik of Pomern in
September 1389, and the Iceland Annals place the death of Malise Sperra
in this same year, it is probable that the earl landed in Shetland on
his way home from Norway for the express purpose of seeing justice done
in the cause of the heirs of Thordis. In 1391, by a deed executed at
Kirkwall (and subsequently confirmed by King Robert III.), he dispones
the lands of Newburgh and Auchdale in Aberdeenshire,[96] to his brother
David for his services rendered, and in exchange for any rights he may
have to lands in Orkney and Shetland, derived from his mother Isabella
St. Clair. In 1396 a deed was executed at Roslin by John de Drummond of
Cargyll, and Elizabeth, his wife, in favour of Henry, Earl of Orkney,
Lord Roslyn, “patri nostro,” by which they renounce in favour of the
earl’s male issue, and for them and their heirs, all claims to the
earl’s lands “infra regnum Norvagie.”[97]
The Diploma states that after the death of the first Henry St. Clair,
his mother, the daughter of Malise,[98] came to Orkney, and, outliving
all her sisters and all their sons and daughters, became the only
heiress of the earldom. It is added that of this thing there were
faithful witnesses still living who had seen and spoken with the mother
of Henry the first.
Her grandson Henry, son of the first Henry, succeeded to the earldom,
but there seems to be no record of his investiture by the Norwegian
king. In 1404 he was entrusted with the guardianship of James I., and on
his way to France with the young prince, for whose safety it was judged
necessary that he should be removed from Scotland, he was captured by
the English off Flamborough Head, and retained some time in
captivity.[99] In 1412 he went to France with Archibald Douglas to
assist the French against the English.[100] In 1418 John St. Clair, his
brother, swears fealty to King Eirik at Helsingborg for the king’s land
of Hjaltland, and becomes bound to administer the Norse laws according
to the ancient usage, and it is stipulated that at his death Shetland
should again revert to the crown of Norway.[101] It seems from this that
Earl Henry must have been dead in 1418, though Bower in his continuation
of Fordun says that he died in 1420.[102] A dispensation was granted for
his widow’s marriage in 1418.[103]
Henry was succeeded by his son William, the last of the Orkney earls
under Norwegian rule. But the investiture of the new earl did not take
place till 1434, and for a period of fourteen years the administration
of the Islands was carried on by commissioners appointed by King Eirik.
On the death of Earl Henry, Bishop Thomas Tulloch was appointed
commissioner in 1420. He swore fealty to King Eirik in the church of
Vestenskov in Laland, undertaking the administration of the Islands
according to the Norsk law-book and the ancient usages.[104] On 10th
July 1422 he received as a fief from the king “the palace of Kirkwall
and pertinents, lying in Orkney, in Norway, together with the lands of
Orkney and the government thereof.”[105]
In 1423 the administration of the Orkneys and Shetland was committed to
David Menzies of Wemyss by King Eirik. In 1426 a complaint was sent to
the king by the inhabitants, setting forth that they had been subjected
to oppression and wholesale spoliation during the period of his
administration.[106] Among the accusations preferred against him it was
asserted that he diminished the value of the money by one-half, that he
threw the Lawman of the Islands into prison unjustly, and illegally
possessed himself of the public seal and the law-book of the Islands,
which the Lawman’s wife had deposited on the altar of the Church of St.
Magnus for their security; that he exacted fines and services illegally
and with personal violence, and was guilty of many other illegal acts of
tyrannical oppression.
The government of the Islands seems to have been again entrusted to
Bishop Tulloch[107] until 1434, when the young earl received his formal
investiture.[108]
William, the last of the Orkney earls under Norwegian rule, succeeded to
his father Henry, and received investiture on terms nearly similar to
those imposed upon his grandfather. Moreover, he was to hold for the
king and his successors the castle of Kirkwall, which his grandfather
had built without the king’s consent. He had taken the title before he
received investiture from King Eirik, for in 1426 he appears as Earl of
Orkney on the assize at Stirling, for the trial of Murdoch, Duke of
Albany.[109] In 1435, as Lord High Admiral of Scotland, he had command
of the fleet that conveyed the Princess Margaret to France. In 1446 he
was summoned by the Norwegian Rigsraad to appear at Bergen on next St.
John’s Day,[110] to take the oath of allegiance to King Christopher, the
successor of Eirik of Pomern. In 1460 the king’s commissioners in
Kirkwall certify to King Christian I. that John of Ross, Lord of the
Isles, has for a long time most cruelly endeavoured to depopulate the
Islands of Orkney and Shetland by burning the dwellings and slaying the
inhabitants, and that in these circumstances Lord William St. Clair, the
Earl of Orkney and Caithness,[111] had been prevented from coming to the
king.[112] On 28th June 1461 Bishop William of Orkney writes to the king
from Kirkwall excusing the earl for not having come to take the oath of
allegiance, because in the month of June of that year he had been
appointed one of the regents of the Kingdom of Scotland on account of
the tender years of the prince (King James III.), and therefore was
personally resident in Scotland. The bishop also repeats the complaint
against John of Ross, Lord of the Isles, and the bands of his Islesmen,
Irish, and Scots from the woods, “who came in great multitudes in the
month of June, with their ships and fleets in battle array, wasting the
lands, plundering the farms, destroying habitations, and putting the
inhabitants to the sword, without regard to age or sex.”[113] Tradition
still points in several parts of the Islands to “the Lewismen’s graves,”
probably those of the invaders who were killed in their plundering
expeditions through the Islands.
On the 8th September 1468 a contract of marriage was signed between
James III. of Scotland and Margaret, daughter of King Christian I. of
Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, by which, after discharging the arrears of
the tribute due by Scotland for Man and the Hebrides,[114] King
Christian engaged to pay a dowry of 60,000 florins with his daughter,
stipulating for certain jointure lands (including the palace of
Linlithgow and the castle of Doune), and her terce of the royal
possessions in Scotland if left a widow. Of the dowry 10,000 florins
were to be paid before the princess’s departure, and the Islands of
Orkney were pledged for the balance of 50,000 florins. Only 2000 florins
of the 10,000 promised were paid, and the Islands of Shetland were
pledged for the remainder. The amount for which the whole of the Islands
of Orkney and Shetland were thus impignorated was 58,000 florins of 100
pence each, or about £24,000.
In 1471 King James III. gave William, Earl of Orkney, the castle and
lands of Ravenscraig in Fife in exchange for all his rights to the
earldom of Orkney, and an Act of Parliament was passed on the 20th of
February of the same year annexing to the Scottish Crown “the Erledome
of Orkney and Lordship of Schetland, nocht to be gevin away in time to
cum to na persain or persainis, excep alenarily to ane of the king’s
sonnis of lauchful bed.”
VIII. THE BISHOPRIC OF ORKNEY—1060-1469.
The origin of the bishopric of Orkney is involved in obscurity. Its
early history is complicated by the fact that there were two if not
three distinct successions of bishops, only one of which is recognised
by the Norse writers.
The Saga statement regarding the origin of the bishopric unfortunately
is lacking in precision. It is stated that Earl Thorfinn built Christ’s
Kirk in Birsay, apparently after his return from his pilgrimage to Rome,
and that the first bishop’s see in the Orkneys was established there.
Taking this in connection with the statement that William the Old, who
was bishop in 1115, when St. Magnus was murdered, was the first bishop,
the inference would be that the bishopric was erected in his time. The
statement regarding his tenure of office for sixty-six years is scarcely
credible; but supposing it to be the fact, as he died in 1167, we obtain
1102 as the date of the erection of the bishopric.
On the other hand, Adam of Bremen states[115] that Thorolf was the first
Bishop of Orkney, and that he was consecrated by Adalbert, Archbishop of
Hamburg, in the middle of the 11th century,[116] and that another bishop
named Adalbert succeeded him. Now, as William the Old was not
consecrated before 1102, if there was a bishop in Earl Thorfinn’s time
(the date of his death being 1064), it must have been this Thorolf. If
Thorolf was consecrated in the middle of the 11th century, it was
probably before Earl Thorfinn’s death in 1064. But it seems that the see
was vacant or unoccupied before 1093.
It appears from a letter of Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury
(1070-1089), that Earl Paul of Orkney had sent to him a cleric whom he
wished to be consecrated a bishop, and Lanfranc orders Wulstan, Bishop
of Worcester, and Peter, Bishop of Chester, to go to York and assist the
archbishop there at the consecration. This must refer to the Earl Paul,
son of Thorfinn, who with his brother Erlend was carried to Norway by
King Magnus on his second expedition to the west in 1098, and neither of
them ever returned. The name of this bishop is not given in Lanfranc’s
letter. But the English writers[117] mention that in the end of the 11th
century a cleric named Ralph was consecrated Bishop of Orkney by Thomas,
Archbishop of York. Thomas was archbishop from A.D. 1070 to 1100. It is
mentioned that when the right of the Archbishop of York to consecrate
Turgot Bishop of St. Andrews was asserted in 1109, it was proposed that
he should do it by the assistance of the (English) Bishops of Scotland
and of Orkney. Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury (1092-1107), wrote[118]
to Earl Hakon Palson, exhorting him and his people to obey the bishop
“whom now by the grace of God they had.”
A second bishop, named Roger, was consecrated by Gerard, who was
Archbishop of York in the beginning of the 12th century, from 1100 to
1108.
A third bishop, named Ralph, previously a presbyter of York, said to
have been elected by the people of Orkney, was consecrated by Archbishop
Thomas, the successor of Gerard. It is this Ralph who figures in the
accounts of the battle of Northallerton, 1138. Pope Calixtus II. and
Pope Honorius II. addressed letters to the Norwegian Kings, Sigurd and
Eystein, in favour of Ralph.[119] In the letter of Pope Honorius it is
expressly stated that another bishop had been intruded in the place of
Ralph. This must refer to William the Old, whom the Sagas make bishop
from the year 1102.
The explanation of all this seems to be that the Archbishops of Hamburg
and York both tried in vain to secure the right of consecrating the
Bishops of Orkney; the former on the ground that as the successors of
St. Anschar they were primates of the Scandinavian churches, and the
latter on the same ground on which they claimed the right to consecrate
the Bishop of St. Andrews—viz. that their jurisdiction extended to the
whole of Scotland and the Isles. In the appendix to Florence of
Worcester’s Chronicle,[120] written in the beginning of the 12th
century, it is said that “the Archbishop of York had jurisdiction over
all the bishops north of the Humber, and all the bishops of Scotland and
the Orkneys, as the Archbishop of Canterbury had over those of Ireland
and Wales.” Meantime, however, the Norwegians made their own bishops,
and these, having obtained possession of the see, were the real bishops
of Orkney, though the others might enjoy the empty title.
Thus WILLIAM THE OLD was the first of the actual bishops of Orkney of
whom we have distinct record. As the Saga and the Saga of St. Magnus
both state explicitly that he held the bishopric for sixty-six years,
and the Annals place his death in 1168, he must have been consecrated in
1102. The see, which was first at Birsay, where Earl Thorfinn erected
the Christ’s Kirk,[121] was removed to Kirkwall on the erection of the
Cathedral, 1137-52. He went with Earl Rögnvald to the Holy Land in 1152.
When Pope Anastasius erected the metropolitan see of Trondheim in 1154
he declared the Bishop of Orkney one of its suffragans, and Bishop
William’s canonical rights were thus implicitly recognised. He died in
1168; and in 1848, when certain repairs were being executed on the
cathedral, his bones were found enclosed in a stone cist thirty inches
long and fifteen inches wide, along with a bone object like the handle
of a staff, and a leaden plate, inscribed in characters apparently of
the 13th century:—
HIC REQUIESCIT WILLIALMUS SENEX, FELICIS MEMORIÆ,
PRIMUS EPISCOPUS.
The position in which the bones were found in the choir seems to
indicate that they must have been moved from their previous
resting-place. Bishop William’s bones, and the cist which contained
them, were carted away with the rubbish when the church was re-seated in
1856.[122] The leaden plate and bone object which were found in the cist
are preserved in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.
WILLIAM II., the second bishop, is only known from the entry of his name
in the list of bishops[123] (1325), and the entry of his death under the
year 1188 in the Icelandic Annals.
BJARNI, son of Kolbein Hruga (who built the castle on the island of
Weir), was the third bishop. His mother, Herborg, was a
great-granddaughter of Earl Paul.[124] Bjarni himself was a famous poet,
and to him is ascribed the _Jomsvikinga-drapa_—the Lay of the Jomsburg
Vikings.[125] A bull of Pope Innocent III., dated at the Vatican, 27th
May 1198,[126] is addressed to him in connection with the refusal of
Bishop John of Caithness to collect an annual tribute in his diocese, as
noticed hereafter.[127] It appears from a deed of his in the Chartulary
of the monastery of Munkalif at Bergen that he possessed lands in
Norway, as well as his patrimonial lands in Orkney and castle in the
island of Weir. By that deed he gives to the monastery, “for the souls
of his father (Kolbein Hruga), his mother, his brother, his relations
and friends,” the lands called _Holand_, near the Dalsfiord, north of
Bergen. It is curious thus to find in authentic records a mortification
of lands to a church in Norway to provide masses for the soul of a man
who is now known in his own former home in Orkney only as _Cobbie Row_,
“the giant,” or “goblin” of the castle, which he built and inhabited.
Bishop Bjarni was present with John, Earl of Orkney, at the great
assembly of nobles at Bergen,[128] in 1223, and died shortly thereafter.
JOFREYR, the fourth bishop, was consecrated in 1223, according to the
Annals. There was a Jofreyr, Dean of Tunsberg, present at the same
assembly in Bergen above referred to, and as the name is a very uncommon
one, it is probable that he is the same who was made Bishop of the
Orkneys. He seems to have been long an invalid, for, by a bull dated at
Viterbo, 11th May 1237,[129] Pope Gregory IX. enjoins Sigurd, Archbishop
of Nidaros (Drontheim), to move Bishop Jofreyr of Orkney, who had been
paralytic and confined to bed for many years, to resign office, or, if
he was unwilling to resign, to provide him with a wise and prudent
helper. Jofreyr retained the see, however, for ten years after this. The
Annals place his death in 1247.
HENRY (I.) was the fifth bishop. A papal dispensation for the defect of
his birth, by Pope Innocent IV., is dated 9th December 1247.[130] He was
then a canon in the Orkneys. He was with King Hakon’s expedition in
1263, and died in 1269.
PETER, the sixth bishop, was consecrated in 1270. A brief of his,[131]
dated at Tunsberg, 3d September 1278, grants forty days’ indulgence to
those in his diocese who contribute in aid of the restoration of St.
Swithin’s cathedral at Stavanger, which had been destroyed by fire. He
died in 1284.
DOLGFINN, the seventh bishop, was consecrated in 1286. Nothing is known
of him but the name. He died, according to the Annals, in 1309.
WILLIAM (III.) was the eighth bishop. He was consecrated in 1310. At the
Provincial Council held at Bergen, in 1320, there were several
complaints made by the archbishop against William, Bishop of
Orkney.[132] Kormak, an archdeacon of the Sudreys, and Grim Ormson,
prebendary of Nidaros, had been sent by the archbishop on a visitation
of the diocese of Orkney, and had reported that William had squandered
the property of the see, that he had bestowed the offices of the church
on foreigners and apostates, that he had compromised his dignity as a
prelate of the church by participation in the boisterous pastime of
hunting and other unseemly diversions, that he had been careless and
lukewarm in the exercise of his spiritual office, and had not sought out
those who practised idolatry and witchcraft, or who were heretics or
followed ungodly ways. Moreover, he had imprisoned Ingilbert Lyning, a
canon of Orkney, whom the archbishop had sent to make inquiry into the
collection of the Peter’s pence, and had deprived him of his prebendary
and all his property. He had also clandestinely appropriated to himself
during fifteen years a portion of the church dues, amounting to the
value of 53 marks sterling, and he had refused to permit the removal of
the corpse of a woman from Orkney, although her will had been that she
should be interred in the cathedral of Trondheim. He was suspended in
the following year (1321) by the archbishop, but in 1324 we find him
assisting at the consecration of Laurentius, Bishop of Hole.[133] By a
deed,[134] dated at Bergen, 9th September 1327, he mortgages his dues of
Shetland to his metropolitan, Eilif, Archbishop of Nidaros, for the
payment of 186 marks sterling, which he should have paid the archbishop
for six years’ teinds. By another document of the same year,[135] Bishop
Audfinn of Bergen requests Bishop William of Orkney to assist his priest
Ivar in the collection of the _Sunnive-miel_—a contribution which the
inhabitants of Shetland had paid from old time to the shrine of St.
Sunniva at Bergen. The date of this bishop’s death has not been
ascertained.
WILLIAM (IV.), ninth bishop, succeeded him, sometime after the year
1328. There is extant an agreement between him and Hakon Jonsson, dated
at Kirkwall, 25th May 1369.[136] The next mention we have of him is the
entry in the Annals, under the date 1382—“Then was heard the mournful
tidings that Bishop William was slain in the Orkneys.”
WILLIAM (V.), tenth bishop, appears only in a record of the time of King
Robert III. of Scotland. Munch supposes that he may have been the
William Johnson who appears as Archdeacon of Zetland, in a Norse deed
dated at Sandwick in Shetland, March 4, 1360.
HENRY (II.), eleventh bishop, according to Torfæus, appears in a record
of 1394.
JOHN, twelfth bishop, appears in the Union Treaty of Calmar in 1397.
PATRICK, thirteenth bishop, appears in an Attestation by the Lawman of
Orkney, two canons of the church of St. Magnus, and four burgesses of
Kirkwall, of the descent and good name of James of Cragy, laird of
Hupe.[137] He is otherwise unnoticed, but as he is there referred to by
his canonical title, and the many losses, injuries, and disquietudes
which he endured at the hands of his adversaries, are specially alluded
to, there seems to be no doubt that he held the bishopric between the
death of John and the incumbency of Thomas de Tulloch.
THOMAS de Tulloch, fourteenth bishop, first appears in existing records
in 1418. He seems to have been previously Bishop of Ross.[138] On 17th
June 1420, at the church of Vestenskov in Laland, he gives his pledge to
King Eirik and his successors, and undertakes that he will hold the
crown lands of Orkney committed to him, for the Kings of Norway,
promising at the same time to give law and justice to the people of
Orkney according to the Norsk law-book and the ancient usages.[139] In
1422 he receives the palace and pertinents of Kirkwall—“thet slot oc
faeste Kirkqwaw liggende j Orknoy j Norghe meth landet Orknoy,” etc.—as
a fief from King Eirik. A record of the set of the threepenny lands of
Stanbuster, in the parish of St. Andrews, executed by him on 12th July
1455, and confirmed by his successor in 1465, is preserved at Kirkwall.
His death took place before 28th June 1461, when we find his successor
in office.[140]
WILLIAM (VI.) de Tulloch, the last bishop during the dominion of Norway
in the Orkneys, was bishop in June 1461, and tendered his oath of
allegiance in 1462.
A bull of Pope Sixtus IV., dated at the Vatican, 17th August 1472,
placed the see of the Orkneys under the metropolitan Bishop of St.
Andrews.
IX. THE BISHOPRIC OF CAITHNESS—1150-1469.
The Bishopric of Caithness appears to have been co-extensive with the
older earldom, comprehending Caithness and Sutherland as far south as
Ekkialsbakki or the Kyle of Sutherland. In later times the cathedral
church was at Dornoch.[141] But it would seem as if the episcopal see
had at one time been at Halkirk (called in the Saga _Há Kirkia_, or the
High Kirk), near Thurso, where we find the bishops frequently residing.
The date of the erection of the bishopric is unknown.
ANDREW is the first bishop who appears in authentic records. About the
year 1153 King David granted to him the lands of Hoctor Comon,[142] and
about the same time he himself gave a grant of the Church of the Holy
Trinity of Dunkeld to the monks of Dunfermline.[143] About the year 1165
he and Murethac, his clerk, are witnesses to a charter of Gregory,
Bishop of Dunkeld, confirming the said gift. About the year 1181 he is a
witness to the grant by Earl Harald Maddadson to the see of Rome of a
penny annually from every inhabited house in Caithness, which brought
his successor, Bishop John, into such trouble.[144] He is also a witness
to the remarkable document engrossed in the Book of Deer, by which King
David I. declares the clerics of Deer to be free from all lay
interference and undue exaction, “as it is written in their book, and as
they pleaded at Banff and swore at Aberdeen.”[145] The Chronicle of
Mailros records his death at Dunfermline on 30th December 1185. He seems
to have been a learned man, and was much about the court of David I. He
is said to have been the author of part of the curious treatise “De Situ
Albaniæ,” attributed to Giraldus Cambrensis.
JOHN, second bishop, succeeded him. He seems to have refused to exact
from the inhabitants the papal contribution of one penny annually from
each inhabited house in Caithness granted by Earl Harald, for in a
bull[146] dated at the Vatican, 27th May 1198, Pope Innocent III.
enjoins Bishop Bjarni of Orkney and Bishop Reginald of Ross to compel
Bishop John to give up his opposition to its collection on pain of the
censure of the Church. About this time also Caithness had been taken
from Harald by King William the Lion, with whom he was involved in
hostilities, and given over to Reginald Gudrodson, the petty king of the
Hebrides. Hence, on Harald’s recovery of his possessions in 1202, he was
so exasperated that he took vengeance on the bishop[147] by blinding him
and cutting out his tongue, and inflicted severe punishments on the
people, whom he held to have been guilty of rebellion. Bishop John
appears to have survived his mutilation till 1213.
ADAM, third bishop, was consecrated in 1214 by Malvoisin, Bishop of St.
Andrews. He was a foundling exposed at a church door, but he had been
Abbot of Melrose previous to his appointment to the see of Caithness. In
1218 he went with the Bishops of Glasgow and Moray on a pilgrimage to
Rome. He seems to have been of an opposite disposition to that of his
predecessor, who suffered martyrdom in the cause of his people. It was
an old custom in Caithness that the husbandmen paid the bishop a _spann_
of butter for every twenty cows. Bishop Adam exacted the contribution
first for every fifteen, and at length for every ten cows. Exasperated
by these exactions, the people rose in a body and came to him at
Halkirk, where in the tumult a monk of Newbottle named Serlo was killed
and the bishop himself burned in his own kitchen. A letter of Pope
Honorius III., dated in January 1222, and addressed to the Scottish
bishops of the time, is extant in the archives of the Vatican,[148] in
which, after commending King Alexander for his promptitude and zeal in
avenging Bishop Adam’s murder, he goes on to tell that, having learned
from their letters what a horrible crime, what a detestable deed had
been committed, his spirit quailed and his heart trembled and his ears
tingled as he realised the daring atrocity of the deed. “Your letters,”
he says, “have informed us that a dispute having arisen between Adam,
Bishop of Caithness, of adorable memory, on the one part, and his
parishioners on the other, concerning the tithes and other rights of the
Church, and these matters having been submitted to the king himself by
the mediation of certain ecclesiastics, with consent of the bishop, and
the king being absent in England, his parishioners, moved with anger
against him because he upheld the cause of his Church against them, fell
on their pious pastor like ravening wolves, on their father like
degenerate sons, and on their Lord Christ like emissaries of the devil,
stripped him of his clothing, stoned him, mortally wounded him with an
axe, and finally killed and burned him in his own kitchen.” The letter
concludes with an injunction to excommunicate all concerned in the
murder. The bishop’s body was interred in the church at Skinnet, and is
said to have been subsequently removed to Dornoch in 1239.[149] The Saga
states that the fearful vengeance taken by King Alexander II. for the
murder of the bishop was still fresh in memory in the writer’s time; and
we learn from the Annals that “the Scottish king caused the hands and
feet to be hewn from eighty men who had been present at the burning, so
that many of them died.”
GILBERT de Moravia, fourth bishop, had been Archdeacon of Moray previous
to his elevation to the see of Caithness in 1223. He built the cathedral
at Dornoch, and his charter of constitution[150] is still extant in the
record-room at Dunrobin Castle. For many years there had been an
intimate connection between the diocese of Caithness and the abbey of
Scone,[151] and in the constitution of his cathedral Bishop Gilbert
named the Abbot of Scone one of the canons. The fourteen churches
assigned to the prebends were those of Clyne, Dornoch, Creich, Rogart,
Lairg, Farr, Kildonan, and Durness, in Sutherland; and Bower, Watten,
Skinnet, Olrig, Dunnet, and Canisbay, in Caithness. Golspie and Loth,
Reay, Thurso, Wick, and Latheron, were reserved to the bishop.
He seems to have been a man of mark in his time. He built the “Bishop’s
Castle” at Scrabster, and was made keeper of the king’s castles in the
north.[152] He seems also to have been the first discoverer of gold in
Sutherlandshire, for Sir Robert Gordon states that he “found a mine of
gold in Duriness, in the lands belonging to his bishoprick.” He died at
Scrabster in 1245, and was afterwards canonised. His relics were
preserved in the cathedral church at Dornoch, and continued to be held
in reverence down to the middle of the 16th century. In a record of the
year 1545 it is stated that the parties compearing before Earl John of
Sutherland in the chapter-house of the cathedral at Dornoch made oath by
touching the relics of the blessed Saint Gilbert. He is the only bishop
of Caithness, except Bishop Adam, whose death is recorded in the
Icelandic Annals. The entry is under the year 1244:—“Death of Gilibert,
bishop in Scotland.”
WILLIAM, fifth bishop, was his successor. In 1250 he appears among the
other Scottish bishops in a document addressed to Alexander III.
concerning the liberties of the Church. He died in 1261 or 1262.
WALTER de Baltrodin, a canon of Caithness, was chosen as his successor.
Pope Urban IV. in 1263 addressed a letter[153] to the bishops of
Dunkeld, Brechin, and Ross, setting forth that his election had not been
proceeded with according to canonical form, but as it had been
unanimous, and in consideration of the poverty of the Church, and the
expense of making such long journeys to distant places, he enjoins them
to prefer the said Walter to the bishopric if they find that he is not
disqualified by defect of birth or otherwise. He died before 1274. On
his death, Nicolas, Abbot of Scone, was chosen as his successor, but
rejected by the Pope.[154]
ARCHIBALD, Archdeacon of Moray, was chosen on the rejection by the Pope
of Nicolas, Abbot of Scone. The Pope’s letter confirming his election
mentions R., the Dean, Patrick, the treasurer, and Roger de Castello,
canon of Caithness, as the parties by whom he was nominated. In his time
Boyamund de Vitia was commissioned by Pope Gregory X. to collect a
special subsidy in aid of the crusade, and his accounts furnish us with
the names of a number of the churches in the diocese of Caithness and
the amounts contributed.[155]
Bishop Archibald must have been dead before 1279, for in that year the
Pope addressed a letter to the Bishops of St. Andrews and Aberdeen,[156]
setting forth that the see of Caithness being vacant, the chapter had
proceeded to the election of R., the Dean of Caithness, and had
constituted Henry of Nottingan[157] (in Caithness) their procurator to
obtain confirmation of the said election, and that the said Henry, in
the Pope’s presence, had confessed that the said dean had a son thirty
years old or more, and that he was said to have another, although he
(Henry of Nottingan) did not believe it; and, moreover, that he had been
stricken with paralysis, and was old and debilitated. The bishops are
enjoined to use their influence to oblige him to resign.
ALAN de St. Edmund, eighth bishop, was an Englishman, elected by the
influence of Edward I. of England. In 1290 he signs the letter addressed
to that king, proposing a marriage between the Maid of Norway and the
young Prince Edward. Alan was a favourite with King Edward, and was made
Chancellor of Scotland in 1291. In that year a writ[158] was addressed
by the king to Alexander Comyn, keeper of the royal forest of Ternway,
in Moray, ordering him to give Bishop Alan 40 oaks suitable for material
for the fabric of the cathedral church of Caithness, which the king had
granted for the souls of Alexander, King of Scotland, and Margaret, his
queen, the sister of King Edward. Bishop Alan died in 1291, and on his
death King Edward ordered the Bishops of St. Andrews and Glasgow to
commit the vacant cure to some cleric in the king’s allegiance.[159] The
fulfilment of this mandate is not on record, but we learn from the
letter of Pope Boniface VIII.[160] addressed to Bishop Adam in 1296,
that on the death of Alan the chapter of Caithness had chosen the
Archdeacon of Caithness, whose name is given as I(oannes?) to be his
successor, but because the election had not been in canonical form it
was not confirmed by the Pope, who preferred to the vacant diocese Adam,
then precentor of the church of Ross.
ADAM, ninth bishop, as we learn from the Pope’s letter above mentioned,
was not elected in the usual way, but preferred by the Pope and
consecrated by the Bishop of Ostia. The letter addressed by the
Pope[161] “to the chapter of Caithness, to the people of the district
and diocese of Caithness, and to our dearest son in Christ the King of
Scots,” in 1296, announces his preferment, and the reasons that led to
it. He died at Sienna very shortly after the date of this letter.[162]
ANDREW, abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Cupar,[163] was now
preferred to the see of Caithness; and because, “on account of the wars
that are imminent in those parts, and the dangers of the way, which is
long and perilous, it is impossible for him to approach the apostolic
seat for consecration,” a mandate was addressed to the Bishops of
Aberdeen, Glasgow, and Ross, to give him consecration.
FERQUHARD, Bishop of Caithness, appears in 1310, among the other bishops
of Scotland, acknowledging Robert Bruce as King of Scotland. In 1312,
along with Magnus, Earl of Caithness and Orkney, he attests the payment
of 100 marks sterling (the annual tribute payable for the Hebrides) by
King Robert Bruce to the King of Norway, in St. Magnus’ Cathedral,
Kirkwall. He was dead and the see vacant in 1328.[164]
NICOLAS, a deacon, was bishop-elect in 1332.[165]
DAVID was the next bishop, but of him we have no record except that he
was dead before 1340.[166]
ALAN, Archdeacon of Aberdeen, was confirmed as Bishop of Caithness in
1341 by Pope Benedict XII.[167] He died in 1342.
THOMAS de Fingask was elected on the death of Alan, and his confirmation
by Pope Clement VI. is dated in November 1342.[168] He is witness to a
writ by William, Earl of Ross, in 1355, declaring the abbey of Ferne
exempt from all the king’s taxes.[169] He appears as witness to a deed
with Ingelram of Caithness, Archdeacon of Dunkeld, in 1359.[170] He died
at Elgin in 1360, and was buried in our Lady’s aisle of the chanonry
church of Elgin, under the bishop’s seat.
MALCOLM is the next bishop of whom we have any authentic account.[171]
His confirmation by Pope Urban V. is dated Feb. 21, 1369.[172] A bull of
Pope Gregory XI., dated at Avignon in March 1376, confirms to Dr.
William of Spynie the chanonry and prebendary of the church of Orkney,
which had become vacant by the preferment of Malcolm to be Bishop of
Caithness.[173]
ALEXANDER appears as Bishop of Caithness in 1389, when, along with
Alexander, Bishop of Ross, and Adam, Abbot of Kinloss, he takes part in
the settlement of a dispute between the Earl and Bishop of Moray.[174]
He appears by proxy at the provincial synod held at Perth in 1420.[175]
ROBERT was bishop in 1434, and his successor WILLIAM, who appears as
bishop in 1449, was still in office at the period of the transference of
the Orkneys from the Norwegian to Scottish rule, in 1469.
X. ANCIENT CHURCHES OF ORKNEY.
“The Cathedral of St. Magnus,” says Worsaae, “is incontestably the most
glorious monument of the time of the Norwegian dominion to be found in
Scotland.” “It is,” says Peterkin, “one of the two cathedral churches in
Scotland remaining entire, and is, therefore, a national monument,
interesting from its antiquity, its beauty, and the rarity of such
relics in this part of the empire.” Nothing conveys to the mind of the
stranger visiting Kirkwall a more vivid impression of the ancient
importance of this quaint little town, which has been the capital of the
Orkneys for at least 800 years, than the grandeur of its cathedral, and
the imposing aspect of the ruins of the palaces of the Bishops and Earls
of Orkney.
The Saga tells how the erection of the cathedral was undertaken by Earl
Rögnvald II. (Kali Kolson), in fulfilment of a vow which he had made to
build and endow a splendid stone minster in Kirkwall in honour of St.
Magnus, his mother’s brother, from whom he derived his right to a share
of the earldom of the Orkneys. He won the earldom in the year 1136, and
the erection of the cathedral was commenced under the superintendence of
his father Kol, in 1137, and carried on until the earl’s means failed.
By agreement with the odallers, a mark for each ploughland in the
islands was contributed for the purpose of carrying on the work, and
this brought in money enough to enable the erection of the church to be
proceeded with.
The cathedral, as it now stands, however, is by no means the work of
Earl Rögnvald’s time, although the portion built by him is still clearly
distinguishable. “The church,” says Sir Henry Dryden,[176] “as designed
and partly built in the time of Kol (father of Earl Rögnvald), was of
the same width as at present, but possibly one bay shorter at the west
end. There can be little doubt that the choir terminated in an apse,
which began about half-way along the great piers in front of the
subsequent altar steps, and extended as far as the line of those steps.
The builders, having laid out the whole church, carried up the choir and
its two aisles and the transepts to the eaves, and built the piers of
the central tower.” The architectural history of the structure, however,
is puzzling. “Though I spent eighteen weeks at the cathedral,” says Sir
Henry in a letter to Mr. Worsaae, “and have thought over the thing many
times, I cannot make out the history of the building to my own
satisfaction. There is no doubt that there is a great deal of copying in
it, _i.e._ of building at one time in the style of another.”[177] The
chief interest of the structure lies in the fact that it was built by a
Norwegian earl, and designed and superintended by the Norwegian Kol, who
had the principal oversight of the whole work. It is significant of
their community of origin that the oldest portions of St. Magnus show
traces of the same peculiarities of style which are found in the nearly
contemporary but somewhat older Norman churches in Normandy, the home of
the Christian descendants of the Vikings who followed Hrólf the
Conqueror, son of Rögnvald, Earl of Moeri.
[Illustration: St. MAGNUS CATHEDRAL, KIRKWALL from the South east]
The cathedral was erected for the express purpose of receiving the
relics of St. Magnus, but we have no record of their transference to the
new church. There is reason to believe that they had been brought to
Kirkwall before the erection of the cathedral was begun, and, though it
is not so stated, it may be inferred that on their removal from Christ’s
Church in Birsay, they were deposited in the church of St. Olaf at
Kirkwall, and remained there for some years until the cathedral was
ready to receive them. It seems probable that it is to the church of St.
Olaf that Kirkwall owes its name of _Kirkiu-vagr_, the Creek of the
Kirk. This name does not occur in the Saga before the time of Earl
Rögnvald Brusison, who is said to have resided there, and it is most
likely that the church of St. Olaf was built by him in memory of his
foster-father, King Olaf the Holy. Earl Rögnvald was in the battle of
Stiklestad (1030) in which the warrior saint of Norway fell, and being
his foster-son he was more likely than any of the subsequent earls to
dedicate a church to his memory. We are told in the Saga[178] that the
relics of St. Magnus were exhumed by Bishop William twenty years after
his death and placed in a shrine at Christ’s Kirk. Shortly thereafter,
says the Saga, St. Magnus appeared in a dream to a man who lived in
Westray, by name Gunni, and ordered him to tell Bishop William that he
(St. Magnus) wished to go out of Birgishérad and east to Kirkwall. Gunni
was afraid to do so lest he should excite the wrath of Earl Paul, whose
father had been the murderer of St. Magnus. The following night St.
Magnus again appeared to him, ordering him to disclose his dream
whatever the consequences might be, and threatening him with punishment
in the life hereafter if he disobeyed. Struck with terror, Gunni went to
the Bishop and told him in the presence of Earl Paul and all the
congregation. Earl Paul, it is said, turned red with anger, but all the
men there united in requesting the bishop to proceed at once to carry
the wishes of St. Magnus into execution. So the bishop went east to
Kirkwall with the relics, accompanied by a great concourse of people,
and “placed them in a shrine upon the altar of the church which then was
there,” and which could have been no other than St. Olaf’s,[179] seeing
that the building of the cathedral was not commenced until after Earl
Paul had been carried off to Athole by Swein Asleifson. The Saga of St.
Magnus adds that there were then few houses in the town, but that after
the relics of St. Magnus had been transferred thither the town rapidly
increased.
[Illustration: EGILSHA S. MAGNUS.]
Earl Rögnvald (II.) himself was buried[180] in the cathedral in 1158. In
the winter of 1263 the remains of King Hakon Hakonson were deposited in
the cathedral previous to their removal to Bergen. Worsaae states that
the remains of the Princess Margaret, the Maid of Norway, were interred
in the cathedral in 1290, and the local tradition is to the same effect,
but there is no authority for the statement. The princess’s remains were
taken back to Norway and buried in the High Church of Bergen by King
Eirik, beside the remains of her mother.[181]
EGILSEY CHURCH, on the little isle of Egilsey, is interesting from the
suggestions of its connection with the earlier Christianity of the
islands previous to the Norse invasion.
The church stands on the highest ground of the island, on the west side,
and is a conspicuous object in the landscape from all sides. It consists
of chancel and nave, but differs from all the existing churches in the
islands in having a round tower rising at the west end of the nave. It
is of small size, the nave being 30 feet long by 15½ feet in breadth
inside, and the chancel 15 feet long by 9½ feet in breadth. The chancel
is vaulted, and the walls are about 3 feet thick. The tower, which seems
to have been built with the nave, is 7 feet diameter inside, and is now
48 feet high, the walls being about 3½ feet thick. It is stated that
about 15 feet were taken off the height to prevent its falling.[182] The
only two windows in the nave that are original are round-headed and 3
feet high, with jambs splaying inwards from 8½ to 33 inches wide, and
having no external chamfer. Two windows in the chancel are exactly
similar but smaller. Over the chancel vault there is a small chamber
lighted by a flat-headed window 18 inches high.
Its original dedication is unknown,[183] and there is nothing to fix the
date of its erection with absolute certainty.
[Illustration: EGILSEY CHURCH, from the South east (from a Photograph)]
“The church of Egilsey,” says Munch, “is shown by its construction to
have been built before the Northmen arrived in Orkney, or, at all
events, to belong to the more ancient Christian Celtic population; both
its exterior and its interior show so many resemblances to the old
churches in Ireland of the 7th and 8th centuries, that we are compelled
to suppose it to have been erected at that time by Irish priests or
_Papas_. As we find no remains of any similar churches on the
islands,[184] we must suppose it to have been the first of the few on
the thinly inhabited isle-group. The island on which it stood might,
therefore, very justly be called ‘Church isle.’ But the Irish word
_Ecclais_ (church), derived from the Latin _Ecclesia_, might easily be
mistaken by our forefathers for Egils, the genitive of the man’s name
Egil.”
If we could unhesitatingly adopt Munch’s view of the origin of the name
Egilsey, it might be safely assumed that this was the church which gave
its name to the island, as no other ecclesiastical site is known within
its bounds. The Norsemen were heathens down to the time of the
Christianising cruise of King Olaf Tryggvason in A.D. 1000, and not very
hearty in their Christianity for a long time after that. The church
could not have been built, therefore, between 872 and the accession of
Earl Thorfinn in 1014. Nor is it likely to have been erected during
Thorfinn’s minority, for he was only five years old when his father fell
fighting under a heathen banner at Clontarf. The Saga tells that
Thorfinn built Christ’s Church in Birsay, and made it the first bishop’s
see in the Orkneys. If he, or any of his successors previous to the
death of St. Magnus, had erected such a notable structure as that of
Egilsey, it would probably have been recorded. There was a church in
Egilsey in 1115 when St. Magnus was murdered, and the only question is
whether it was the present church. Its resemblances to the Irish
churches of the 7th and 8th centuries are not sufficiently definite and
determinative to enable us to assign to it unhesitatingly an Irish
origin; while, on the other hand, the resemblance to the round-towered
churches of Norfolk suggests that it may have been of Scandinavian
origin. But there is nothing in the architecture of the building either
to fix the date of its erection or to determine the questions of Celtic
or Scandinavian origin with any degree of certainty.[185]
[Illustration: ORPHIR.]
The CHURCH OF ORPHIR is one of the few circular churches in Britain,
built in imitation of the church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. The
crusades were the means of importing this form into the ecclesiastical
architecture of the west. A few of these round churches remain in
Denmark, and, like those of England, they are mostly of the 12th
century.[186]
All that remains of this interesting structure is merely the
semicircular chancel and about 9 feet of the walls of the circular nave
on either side, as shown in the annexed ground-plan. It is described in
the Old Statistical Account as having been a rotundo, 18 feet in
diameter and 20 feet high, two-thirds of which were taken down to build
the present parish church. The curvature of the part of the walls still
remaining would give a diameter of 18 to 19 feet. The semicircular
chancel is 7 feet wide and a little more than 7 feet deep. The walls are
well built of yellow Orphir freestone. The only remaining window is a
small one in the east end of the chancel, 30 inches high, having a
semicircular head, and the jambs splaying inwards from 10½ inches to 20
inches wide. It has a groove for glass.
The Rev. Alex. Pope of Reay, who visited Orphir in 1758, has given a
description of “The Temple of Orphir, or Gerth House,” but there is
little to be gathered from it, and the measurements as given[187] are
evidently wrong. He states, however, that extensive remains, supposed to
be those of the Earls’ Palace at Orphir, had been discovered in
excavating the foundations of the neighbouring farm-buildings.
Indications of these, and of an extensive refuse-heap, are still to be
seen.
The church of Orphir is first mentioned in the Saga in connection with
Earl Paul Hakonson’s residence at Orphir. The church is there referred
to as a splendid structure, and it is not spoken of as recently erected,
or as having been built by Earl Paul. But Earl Hakon, his father, who
had made a pilgrimage to Rome and the Holy Land, is said in the Saga to
have brought back relics which he would doubtless deposit in the church
at Orphir, where he seems to have resided. The probability is that the
church was built by him after his return from his pilgrimage, perhaps as
an expiatory offering for the murder of his cousin, St. Magnus. Earl
Hakon died in 1122, and three out of the six round churches in Britain
had been built before that time.
CHRIST’S CHURCH in Birsay is the first church of which we have any
record in the Saga, and, so far as we know, the first church erected in
the Orkneys after the conversion of the Norwegian inhabitants to
Christianity. It was built by Earl Thorfinn some time about the middle
of the 11th century. Earl Thorfinn made a pilgrimage to Rome about the
year 1050, and it is likely that Christ’s Church would be built after
his return to Orkney, or between 1050 and 1064, the date of his death.
It was the seat of the bishopric previous to the erection of the
cathedral of St. Magnus, and William the Old, who was the first (actual)
bishop, lived to see the bishopric transferred to Kirkwall some time
after 1137.
It is doubtful whether any recognisable traces of the original Christ’s
Church now remain. Neale says, “The parish church, which contains some
fragments of old work, seems to have been the famous Christ’s Church
built by Earl Thorfinn.” But it does not seem at all likely that any
portion of the existing parish church can be as old as the middle of the
11th century. There are remains of an older church, however, beside it,
which are still known as the Christ’s Kirk, and Mr. George Petrie, who
has made a ground-plan of the structure (of which only part of the
foundation remains), has ascertained that it had an apse at the east
end.
[Illustration: WEIR]
The CHURCH OF WEIR, on the island of the same name, consists of chancel
and nave, the extreme length exteriorly being 36 feet, and the width 18½
feet. The nave is 19 feet by 13 feet inside, and the chancel little more
than 7 feet square. The door is in the west end, having parallel jambs
with no rebate. The doorway has a semicircular head, roughly arched with
thin slaty stones set on edge, the arch being set a little back on the
imposts.[188] There are two windows on the south side of the nave, only
one of which appears to be original. It is flat-headed, 22 inches high
and 8 inches wide, the jambs splaying inwards to a width of 27 inches.
The chancel arch, of which a representation is given in the accompanying
plate, is exactly like the doorway. There is one window in the south
side, which seems to have been round-headed, 27 inches high by 11 inches
wide.
Of this chapel Mr. Muir says,[189] “Excepting that at Lybster, in
Caithness, the entrance to the chancel is the most diminutive, not of
primitive date, I have ever seen, the total height being only 4 feet. In
plan, size, and general expression, Weir and Lybster are remarkably
alike, and in all probability both buildings are the work of the same
period, though Lybster is perhaps fully the older of the two.” Sir Henry
Dryden also remarks the similarity of the chapels of Weir and Lybster,
and adds “Probably Weir is of the 12th or 13th century, but the
characteristics are not decisive enough to approximate more closely to
its date.”
It is most probable that this chapel[190] was built by Bishop Bjarni,
the son of Kolbein Hruga, who built the castle on the island of Weir, as
recorded in the Saga. Bjarni was bishop from 1188 to 1223, and would
probably reside on his paternal estate in Weir when not required by the
duties of the episcopate to be in Kirkwall. This period answers to the
indications afforded by the architectural characteristics of the
building, and we have no record of any other person who was likely to
have erected a chapel on this little island. The fact that it is still
called “Cobbie Row’s Chapel” points to its connection with Kolbein
Hruga’s family.
[Illustration: LYBSTER S. MARY]
The CHURCH AT LYBSTER[191] (Reay), in Caithness, corresponds in style
and plan so closely to the church of Weir that it may be described here
briefly. There is no other church in Caithness of any antiquity which
demands special notice. Ecclesiastical sites of early date are thickly
scattered over the county, but the ruins of the buildings themselves
have suffered so much that there is scarcely an architectural feature
left to guide us to conclusions as to their date. The church at Lybster
is fortunately an exception. It consists of chancel and nave, slightly
larger than Weir, and very rudely constructed. There is a doorway with
inclined jambs in the west end, of which a representation is given in
the accompanying plate; but Mr. Muir notices as a singular feature of
the building that there are nowhere traces of windows, although all the
elevations except the east one, which is broken down to a little below
the gable line, remain nearly entire. The entrance to the chancel is of
the same form as the doorway, having inclined jambs. “With regard to
even the probable age of this building,” says Mr. Muir, “I would not
like to venture an opinion. The diversified shapes and sizes of the
stones, and the primitive form and smallness of the entrances to the
nave and chancel, would suggest extreme earliness of date; whilst, on
the other hand, the refined character of the ground-plan would indicate
a period of time not more remote than the 12th century.”
[Illustration: Chancel-Arch of Church at Weir.]
[Illustration: Doorway in West end of Church at Lybster, Reay.]
ST. PETER’S CHURCH, on the Brough of Birsay, a holm of about 40 acres,
separated from the mainland by a channel about 150 yards wide, and dry
at low water, consists of nave, chancel, and apse, all well defined, and
apparently built at the same time, the material being a grey whinstone.
The total length of the building is 57 feet. The nave is 28 feet by 15½
inside, and the chancel about 10 feet square. There is but one doorway,
in the west end of the church. It has parallel jambs without any rebate
for a door.[192] There are the remains of a window in the north wall, 3
feet high by 10½ inches wide, square-headed, and splaying both
internally and externally to a width of 22½ inches. Only the foundations
of the apse remain. The floor was originally level to the end of the
apse, but subsequently there had been a reredos which blocked off the
apse, and then there were steps to the altar, some portion of which
still remains. A stone projection or “seat,” 14 inches high and the same
in width, runs all round the nave. In the north-east and south-east
corners are two circular spaces, 5½ feet in diameter, in one of which
are the remains of a spiral stone staircase. In all probability the
church was twin-towered, like many of the Scandinavian churches dating
from the 13th century. Barry states that this church was dedicated to
St. Peter, but the dedication seems to have been unknown in the
locality[193] in 1627.
There are the remains of a chapel similarly situated on the Brough of
Deerness, at the east end of the Mainland. The Brough of Deerness is an
outlying rock, nearly 100 feet high, and covered with green sward on the
top. The chapel stands near the centre of the area, and is surrounded by
a stone wall enclosing an area of about 60 feet by 45. The chapel, which
is a smaller and ruder building than that on the Brough of Birsay, is a
simple parallelogram of not more than 17 feet by 10 inside, the walls
being from 3 to 4 feet thick. The doorway is in the west end, and there
are the remains of a window in the east end, but the heads of both are
gone. Around the chapel there are the foundations of about a score of
stone-built huts scattered irregularly over the area of the Brough. They
are irregularly built, with a tendency towards the rectangular form, the
walls being from 2½ to 3 feet thick. Several of them are nearly as long
as the church, but not so wide, the internal area measuring about 18
feet by 6. Low[194] states that in his time, notwithstanding the
difficulty and danger of the access to the Brough, “even old age
scrambled its way through a road in many places not six inches broad,
where certain death attended a slip.” Jo. Ben, in 1529, mentions that
people of all classes and conditions were in the habit of climbing up to
the top of the Brough on their hands and knees to visit the chapel
called the “Bairns of Brugh;” and when they had reached the top, “on
their bended knees and with hands joined they offered their
supplications with many incantations to the Bairns of Brugh, throwing
stones and water behind their backs, and making the circuit of the
chapel twice or thrice.” There is still a fine spring on the Brough,
which doubtless had the reputation of a “holy well” in connection with
these superstitious practices. The Brough was fenced with a strong stone
wall toward the land side in Low’s time, and from this and the remains
of the huts he concludes that it had been a rock fort subsequently
converted into a sanctuary by the ecclesiastics.
The old parish church of Deerness, of which Low has preserved three
sketches (one of which is engraved in Hibbert’s Shetland), had the
peculiarity of being twin-towered, as the church on the Brough of Birsay
seems also to have been, and as many of the Scandinavian churches dating
from the 13th century were.[195] Low describes it as having a vaulted
chancel at the east end, of which the twin towers rose from each corner.
The tower on the south-east corner of the chancel was entered by a
doorway opening from the chancel (in the same manner as the one at
Brough of Birsay), and a spiral staircase led to a small apartment or
vestry between the towers, on the second storey. From this apartment was
the entrance to the other tower.
There were three towered churches in Shetland—St. Laurence in West
Burra, St. Magnus at Tingwall, and Ireland Head, but, like the old
church of Deerness, they have long disappeared, and there is no
description of them more precise than the casual notices of Low and
Brand. It is not even quite clear whether they were single-towered or
twin-towered. If single-towered they may have been examples of the rare
form of which Egilsey is now the only remaining instance.
XI. MAESHOW AND THE STONES OF STENNIS.
Maeshow, the Orkahaug of the Saga, is connected in such an interesting
way with the Norse history of the Isles that it is necessary to notice
briefly its most peculiar features.
It stands about a mile to the north-east of the great stone ring of
Stennis. Its external appearance is that of a truncated conical mound of
earth, about 300 feet in circumference at the base and 36 feet high,
surrounded by a trench 40 feet wide. Nothing was known of its internal
structure till the year 1861, when it was opened by Mr. Farrer,
M.P.,[196] but the common tradition of the country represented it as the
abode of a goblin, who was named “the Hogboy,”[197] though no one knew
why. When excavated, the mound was found to cover a great cairn of
stones, in the centre of which was a chamber about 15 feet square, the
walls of which still remained entire to a height of 13 feet. A long low
passage led from the west side of the chamber to the exterior of the
mound, a distance of about 54 feet, and on the other three sides of the
chamber there were small cells or _loculi_ entered by openings in the
walls about 2½ feet square at a height of about 3 feet above the floor.
[Illustration: Plan and Section of Maeshow.]
Structurally, Maeshow belongs to a class of chambered sepulchral cairns
of common occurrence in the north of Scotland, but to a special variety
of that class which is peculiar to the Orkneys.[198] These chambered
tombs occur in groups in certain places, thus suggesting the probability
that, as in the great royal cemeteries of early times in Ireland, they
may have been for centuries the gathering places of the tribes and the
burying-places of their kings.
But the most interesting fact connected with Maeshow was the discovery
that a large number of Runic inscriptions had been scratched on the
stones of the interior walls of the chamber. It was evident, from the
height at which the inscriptions occurred, as well as from indications
of the weathering of the stones previous to their being inscribed, that
when the runes were cut the chamber was roofless and partially filled up
with rubbish. The form of the letters of which the inscriptions are
composed is that of the later class of Norse Runes, “which,” says
Professor Munch, “are never older than A.D. 1100 at least.” The majority
of the inscriptions are such as men seeking the shelter or concealment
of the “broken how” might scribble from mere idleness. One gives the
Runic alphabet. A number of others are simple memoranda consisting of
the name of a man and the statement that he “hewed this” or “carved
these runes.” But one of the longer inscriptions supplies the important
information that “the Jorsala-farers broke open the Orkahaug in the
lifetime of the blessed earl.” This seems to imply that the inscription
was carved after the death of “the blessed earl” Rögnvald, or subsequent
to 1158. The Jorsala-farers who accompanied him from Norway in 1152
remained a considerable time in Orkney before the expedition was ready,
and as we learn from the Saga their conduct during that time was such as
would naturally result from the enforced idleness of a numerous body of
rough and uncontrolled adventurers. The “breaking of a how” in the hope
of finding treasure was a common exploit among the Northmen. It seems to
have been done sometimes also as a proof of courage, for the bravest
were not altogether void of superstitious fears. From another part of
the inscription we gather that the Jorsala-farers who broke the Orkahaug
were disappointed in the hope of finding treasure, as it had been
previously carried away. In all probability they were not the first who
had been tempted by the magnitude of the monument to try the venture. On
one of the buttresses, long slabs inserted in the corners of the
chamber, is carved a cross, and on another a dragon, similar in style to
that in the tomb of King Gorm the Old at Jellinge in Denmark, and
bearing also some resemblance to one sculptured on the Runic stone dug
up in St. Paul’s Churchyard, London, and to another at Hunestad in
Scania. The tomb of King Gorm is dated about the middle of the 10th
century. Rafn assigns the stone dug up in London to about the middle of
the 11th century; while the Hunestad example is assigned to about 1150,
which is close on the date of Earl Rögnvald’s expedition to the Holy
Land, which brought the Jorsala-farers to Orkney.
[Illustration: View of Chamber in Maeshow.]
[Illustration: RUBBING FROM MAESHOW TUMULUS.]
Among the names thus carved on the stones of Maeshow are those of
Ingibiorg, Ingigerd, Thorer, Helgi, Ingi, and Arnfinn. All these are
names of persons who are mentioned in the Saga as living in Earl
Rögnvald’s time, and several of whom were closely connected with him.
Ingigerd, his daughter, was married to Eric Slagbrellir, and they had a
daughter named Ingibiorg. Helgi was a particular friend of Earl
Rögnvald’s. Arnfinn was taken prisoner by Earl Harald the morning after
he and his men had spent the Yule-feast day at Orkahaug on his way to
surprise Earl Erlend.[199] There is nothing, however, to identify any of
these names with certainty as the names of the persons mentioned in the
Saga. But the fact that the name Orkahaug, which only occurs once in the
Saga, is not known to occur anywhere else except in the inscription
carved on the walls of Maeshow, referring to the breaking open of the
tumulus, is interesting in more ways than one. It shows that the
Norsemen were ignorant of the origin of the tumulus, which they knew
only as the Orka-haug[200] or “mighty how.” In one of the inscriptions
the writer assigns its construction to the sons of Lodbrok, which is
equivalent to saying that its origin was quite unknown[201] to them.
[Illustration: Ring of Brogar, from the south-west.]
About a mile to the south-west of Maeshow, and scattered over the ness
or tongue of land separating the loch of Stennis from the sea, is a
remarkable group of stone circles and tumuli.[202] The largest of the
circles, the “Ring of Brogar,” having a diameter of 366 feet, encloses
an area of 2½ acres. It is surrounded by a trench 29 feet broad and 6
feet deep. Within the enclosure thirteen stones of the great circle
still remain standing, the stumps of thirteen more are visible, and ten
are lying prostrate. The original number of the stones, says Captain
Thomas, on the presumption that they were placed at nearly equal
distances apart, would have been sixty, so that twenty-four have been
entirely obliterated. The highest stone stands almost 14 feet above the
surface of the ground, and the lowest is about 6 feet, the average being
from 8 to 10 feet. It is difficult to realise the amount of laborious
effort expended in the construction of a work like this, which does not
appeal to the eye like the magnitude of the great mounds around it. But
when one reflects on what is implied in the transportation and erection
of these great stones, and the excavation of a ditch round them of 10
yards wide, 2 yards deep, and 366 yards long, it loses none of its
magnificence in comparison with the more imposing monuments.
[Illustration: Ring of Stennis and Cromlech, from the northward.]
The smaller circle, called the “Ring of Stennis,” is more clearly
monumental than the Ring of Brogar, as it contains the remains of a
cromlech within it. It seems to have consisted originally of twelve
stones placed round the circumference of a circle of about 100 feet in
diameter, and surrounded by a deep and broad trench with a
circumscribing mound, now nearly obliterated. Only two stones of the
circle remain standing, and a third lies prostrate. Peterkin states that
some were thrown down and removed by the tenant of the adjoining lands
in 1814. The cromlech is also thrown down, but one of the supports of
the massive capstone is still standing, and the capstone, which lies
beside it, is 9 feet long by 6 feet broad.
[Illustration: Ring of Stennis, from the westward.]
The Ring of Bookan is a circular space 136 feet in diameter, surrounded
by a trench 44 feet broad and 6 feet deep. There are upwards of twenty
tumuli, some of them very large, in the immediate vicinity.
In the Saga of Olaf, Tryggvi’s son, Stennis is mentioned as the place
where Havard, eldest of the five sons of Earl Thorfinn Hausakliuf, was
slain in battle with his sister’s son Einar. The Saga says:[203]—“Havard
was then at Stæinsnes in Hrossey. There it was they met, and there was a
hard battle, and it was not long till the Earl fell. The place is now
called Havard’s _teigr_.” Teigr is an individual’s share, or allotment,
of the tun or town-land, and the expression might be taken to mean
rather that Havard was buried by simple inhumation than that there was a
cairn or tumulus raised over him, in which case it would have been known
as Havard’s How. But the name of Havard was never connected with the
great tumulus known as Maeshow, and if he was buried in a tumulus at
all, it is more likely that his corpse was burnt with the customary
ceremonies of that heathen time and his ashes placed in a great stone
urn. The grave-mounds of the Viking period in Norway prove this to have
been then the common practice. Such a mound, enclosing such an urn, was
opened at Stennis by Mr. Farrer, M.P., in 1853. This tumulus, if not
Havard’s, was apparently Norse, and being the largest in the
neighbourhood of Stennis, must have been that of a person of great
distinction.
The fact that the Norsemen at this early period (about A.D. 970) called
this place Steins-ness, shows that it was known to them, only as it is
to us, as the ness of the monumental stones. If they had had anything to
do with the erection of any of these monuments, in all probability we
should have had some incidental record of the fact in one or other of
the Sagas.
XII. MOUSA AND THE PICTISH TOWERS.
The little island of Mousa (the Mosey of the Saga), lying off the
Mainland of Shetland, is interesting as containing the best preserved
specimen of the “towers of defence,” which were the strongholds of the
native inhabitants previous to the Norse invasion.
[Illustration]
The tower of Mousa, of which a view is here given, consists of a
circular dry-built wall, 15 feet thick at the base, enclosing an area or
circular court 30 feet in diameter, and open to the sky, so as to admit
light to the ranges of windows which open from the galleries towards the
interior. The doorway leading through the wall into this interior court
is the only opening to the outside of the tower. From the court other
openings in the wall give access to small ovoid chambers in the
thickness of the wall on the ground-floor, and to a stair which ascends
to the upper galleries. Above the chambers on the ground-floor the wall
is carried up hollow, or rather there are two concentric walls with a
space of about 3½ feet between them, which is divided into storeys or
galleries by horizontal courses of transverse slabs, which bind the two
walls together. Thus each of these courses of horizontal slabs forms the
roof of the gallery beneath it, and serves as a floor to the one above
it.
These singularly-constructed towers were once thickly planted over the
whole of the northern mainland of Scotland, as well as over the most of
the Northern and Western Isles.[204] A number of them have been
excavated of late years, and the results of these excavations[205]
furnish us with interesting evidences of the conditions of life among
the people who lived in them. The relics that have been obtained from
them have no connection as a class with those that are usually found in
the cisted graves and chambered tombs of earlier times.[206] But judging
from the general character of their included remains, the people who
lived in these towers were possessed of a considerable degree of
civilisation. There is abundant evidence that they were not only expert
hunters and fishers, but that they kept flocks and herds, grew grain and
ground it by hand-mills,[207] practised the arts of spinning and
weaving, had ornaments of gold of curious workmanship, and were not
unskilled workers in bronze and iron. Their pottery was rude, but not
ruder than the pottery manufactured and used for common or domestic
purposes in some of the islands of Scotland within the present century.
It is true that silver denarii of the Roman Emperors Antoninus, Trajan,
and Vespasian, have been found in the outbuildings connected with the
Broch or “Pictish Tower” of Lingrow at Scapa in Orkney; but it is to be
noticed that upwards of 4000 of these Roman denarii have been found in
Scandinavia, where the Romans never were, and found so often associated
with relics of the Viking period as to suggest that they were carried
thither some centuries after their dates.
The Tower of Mousa, Moseyjar-borg, is twice mentioned by the Saga
writers. The earliest notice occurs in the Saga of Egill Skalagrimson,
the warrior-poet, and refers to a period about A.D. 900. It is there
stated that Björn Brynulfson, fleeing from Norway with Thora Roald’s
daughter, because his father would not allow him to celebrate his
marriage with her, was shipwrecked on the island of Mousa, landed his
cargo, and lived in the Borg through the winter, celebrating his
marriage in it, and afterwards sailed for Iceland. The second notice of
Mousa,[208] singularly enough, occurs on an occasion somewhat similar to
this, when Earl Erlend Ungi fled from Orkney with Margaret, the widow of
Maddad, Earl of Athole, and was besieged in the Borg by Earl Harald
(Maddadson), who was displeased at the prospect of having Erlend for a
step-father.
XIII. REMAINS OF THE NORTHMEN.
Turning from the pages of the Saga to the scenes of the events which it
records, we find, both in the topography and traditions of the
localities, and in the customs and characteristics of the people,
abundant evidence of the substantial truth of the narrative.
The range of territory possessed and occupied by the Norsemen may still
be distinguished on the map of Scotland by the prevalence of Norse
place-names. In Shetland and Orkney the topography is altogether Norse.
In Caithness and Sutherland there is a core of Celtic topography in the
central mountain districts, while the Norse names spread out through the
valleys, forming a broad fringe along the seaboard, and occupying the
whole angle of lowland Caithness. But south of Ekkialsbakki they rapidly
thin out, and finally disappear, with a few outlying instances, in
Moray. The permanent dominions of the Northmen in the mainland of
Scotland were limited to the earldom proper, the southern boundary of
which was the Kyle of Sutherland. The Saga says they conquered the
country as far south as Ekkialsbakki; and though they sometimes extended
their power over parts of Ross and Moray, and even made a raid on one
occasion as far south as Fife, they made no permanent lodgment south of
the Moray Firth, and their presence in Ross has but slightly affected
the topography between the Kyle of Sutherland and the Beauly Firth.
In the Hebrides the Norse names, though much disguised by contact with
the Celtic, still form a considerable if not a preponderating element in
the topography, and their old Norse name, “Sudreyar,” still survives in
the title of the Bishop of Sodor and Man. Along the western seaboard of
the Scottish mainland, from Cape Wrath to the Mull of Kintyre, the
Northmen have left their traces more sparsely, but very distinctly, upon
the topography. In Bute, Arran, and the Cumbraes, and on the shores of
the Solway Firth, the topography also shows the influence of the
Northern element, exerted during the existence of the Norse “Kingdom of
Man and the Isles.”
There are many remnants of the older usages[209] in the peculiar local
customs; and in the characteristics of the people of the Northern Isles
there are also, of necessity, many striking resemblances to those of the
Scandinavian race. The elucidation of these, however, would lead into a
field far too wide to be entered on here. The language of the early
colonists, which must have survived as long as the Islands were governed
“according to the Norse law-book and the ancient usages,” seems to have
died out rapidly after they were transferred to Scottish rule. Yet Jo.
Ben found it existing in Rendal in Orkney in 1529; and it is stated[210]
that in 1593 a clergyman, named Magnus Norsk, who was ordained to a
Shetland parish, went to Norway to learn the Norse language, in order to
qualify himself for his ministry, because the Shetlanders at that time
understood no other tongue. Even so late as 1774, Low found people in
Foula who could repeat the Lord’s Prayer in Norse, and he gives
thirty-five stanzas of an old Norse ballad which he took down from oral
recitation. In the Faroe Isles a large number of these ballads and
metrical tales have been collected.[211] There can be no doubt that they
were equally common in the neighbouring island groups, but no literary
antiquary possessed of the requisite knowledge seems to have visited
Shetland and Orkney in time to rescue them from oblivion.
The curious literary fragment, taken down phonetically by Low, who was
completely ignorant of the language, is plainly akin to the old
Scandinavian _Kæmpeviser_. The story is based on the _Sörlathattr_, one
of the scenes of which is laid in the island of Hoy. The main incidents
of the older poem are as follow:—Hedin, a prince of Serkland, had sworn
mutual brotherhood with Hogni, King of Denmark. Nothing occurred to
disturb their friendship until Hogni went on a war expedition. Hedin,
wandering in the woods, fell in with a sorceress, from whom he received
a magic philtre to enable him to win the love of Hilda, Hogni’s
daughter. The result was that he ran off with her in a splendid ship
belonging to Hogni, and made for Serkland. When Hogni came home he set
off in pursuit, and came up with them at the island of Hoy. There they
both landed with their men, and a furious battle commenced. Odin (who
enjoyed a good fight) cast a spell upon the combatants, so that they
were obliged to fight on without ceasing, until a Christian should come
who should have the hardihood to mingle in the fray, of which Hilda was
doomed to be all the time an agonised spectator. At last Olaf Tryggvi’s
son came to the Orkneys, and Ivar Liomi, one of his men who landed in
Hoy, went into the fight and broke the spell, killed Hedin and Hogni,
and bore off the prize.[212]
The story of the Shetland ballad is that Hiluge, a young nobleman at the
court of Norway, made love to the king’s daughter Hildina, and was
rejected by her, though her father supported his pretensions to her
hand. When the king and Hiluge were away at the wars, an Earl of Orkney
came to Norway, and found such favour with Hildina that she consented to
fly with him to the Orkneys. When the king and Hiluge returned and
discovered what had happened in their absence, they set sail, with a
great host, in pursuit of the fugitives. Hildina persuaded the earl to
go unarmed to meet her father, and ask for his pardon and peace. The
king was pleased to forgive him, and to grant his consent to their
union. But now Hiluge, by artfully working on the king’s mind, stirs up
his latent wrath against the earl, and induces him to revoke his
consent. The result is, that he decides that Hiluge and the earl shall
meet in single combat, and fight it out to the death of one or other.
Hiluge was victorious; and, not content with the death of his enemy, he
cut off his head and cast it into Hildina’s lap with taunting words.
Hildina answered his taunts boldly, and conceived a bloody revenge. But
she must now follow him to Norway, where he renewed his courtship. Ere
long she seemed to relent, and gave him her promise, but besought her
father to grant her this boon, that she herself should fill out the
first wine-cup at the bridal. Her request was granted. The guests came,
the feast was set, and Hildina filled up the wine-cups for them. The
wine was drugged, and they were all cast into a deep sleep, from which
nothing could awake them. Hildina now caused her father to be carried
forth, and set fire to the house. Hiluge, awaking in the midst of the
burning, cried out for mercy. Hildina replied that she would give him
the same mercy as he had given to her earl, and left him to perish in
the flames.
[Illustration: sword]
The dialect of the ballad resembles that which prevailed in Norway in
the middle of the 15th century, but presents several peculiarities of
local origin. The allusions in it to St. Magnus show that it cannot be
older than the 12th century in its present form, although the story of
Hedin and Hogni, on which it appears to have been founded, belongs to
the heathen time.
Looking at the number of Runic monuments in the island of Man,[213] and
the beauty of their workmanship, it certainly seems surprising that none
of these characteristic works of northern art should have survived in
the Orkneys.[214] Previous to the discovery of the inscriptions in
Maeshow, the only Rune-inscribed monument known within the bounds of the
ancient earldom was the stone in the churchyard of Crosskirk,
Northmavine, Shetland, described by Low, which reads (according to his
imperfect copy) “Bid pray for the soul of ——,” and consequently belongs
to the Christian time. That there were similar monuments in other
places, however, is shown by the recent discovery of a Runic fragment at
Aithsvoe, Cunningsburgh, Shetland.[215] It is a mere fragment of the
terminal part of a monumental inscription, incised on the edge of the
stone, consisting of the letters KVIMIK, which Professor Stephens reads
as the concluding part of the customary formula, “—— hewed me,” _i.e._
carved this stone.
But perhaps the most interesting and suggestive remains of the Northmen
are those that have been from time to time recovered from the soil which
they made their own—the relics which were actually possessed by the men
and women of the Saga time; the weapons they used, and the ornaments
they wore. In the grave-mounds of the heathen period, the warrior Viking
still lies as he was laid, with his shield at his shoulder, and his
sword ready to his hand.
The sword here figured, which is of a distinctively Scandinavian type,
was dug up in making the railway near Gorton, in Morayshire, and is now
in the museum of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. It is 35 inches
in length, of excellent workmanship, damascened along the centre of the
blade, and the pommel and recurved guard are beautifully inlaid with
silver. A number of fragments of shield-bosses and broken swords, from
Orkney graves, are also in the museum. The swords are chiefly of the
older form, with straight guard and massive square or triangular pommel.
In one of the interments at Westray the scabbard-tip here figured was
found, and in others the bones of the dog and horse were found along
with the human skeleton, indicating the continuance in Orkney of the
sepulchral rites which prevailed in the heathen time in Norway.
[Illustration: Scabbard-tip]
For at least a century and a half after the establishment of the Norse
earldom in Orkney and Shetland, the heathen Norsemen practised the
burial customs which they had brought with them from Norway. Sigurd,
Eystein’s son, the first Earl of Orkney, was buried in a cairn on
Ekkialsbakki, (and his grave-mound was known as Sigurd’s How
(_Siwardhoch_) in the 12th century,[216]) and Torf Einar caused his men
to rear a cairn over the remains of Halfdan Hálegg, the son of Harald
Harfagri, whom he offered to Odin in Rinansey.
A vivid picture of the ceremonies attending the burial of a Norse chief
of the 10th century is preserved in the narrative of an eye-witness, in
the work of an Arab geographer;[217] and all its details are amply
confirmed by the contents of the grave-mounds of the period. Ahmed Ibn
Fozlan, being in the country on the upper part of the Volga (then
occupied by the Norsemen), as ambassador from the Caliph Al Moktader
(A.D. 907-932), resolved to see for himself whether what he had heard of
their burial customs was true. A great chief among the Norsemen had just
died, and Ibn Fozlan describes, with curious minuteness of detail, the
strange things he witnessed on the occasion. He gives a most
characteristic picture of the drinking habits of the Northmen. “This
nation,” he says, “is much given to wine and drink, by day and night,
and it is not uncommon for one or another of them to die with beakers in
their hands. When a chieftain dies, his family ask his maids
(concubines) and men-servants, ‘Which of you will die with him?’ One of
them will say, ‘I,’ and by this promise he is bound, and cannot revoke
it. If he should desire to do so, he is not permitted.” It is mostly the
maids who are willing to be thus sacrificed, says Ibn Fozlan, and on
this occasion it was one of them who offered to die with her lord. She
was accordingly given in charge to the other servants, who were to
indulge her in every wish till the day of her sacrifice; and he adds,
that “every day she drank, sang, was lively and merry.” Meantime the
dead man had been laid in a temporary grave, and strong drink, fruits,
and musical instruments placed beside him, as if to relieve the tedium
of his confinement until the completion of the preparations for the
funeral rites. A splendid suit of clothing was prepared for him, his
ship was hauled up on the strand, and placed on four posts erected for
the purpose. A bed was prepared in the midst of the deck, with a
tent-like canopy over it, and covered with gold-embroidered cloth. In
the preparation of this bed there comes on the scene an old hag, “whom
they called the dead man’s angel.” It was she who took charge of the
making of the dead man’s clothing and all needful arrangements, and she
it was also who was to put the girl to death. “I saw her,” says Ibn
Fozlan; “she was sallow and stern.” While the “dead man’s angel” was
arranging the bed, the multitude were away at the temporary grave,
disinterring the corpse. They clothed him in the rich garments provided
for the occasion, and then bore him to the ship, where he was laid in
state under the canopy. “So they laid him on the mattress, and stayed
him up with pillows, then brought the strong drink, the fruits, and
odoriferous herbs, and set them by his side, placing bread, meat, and
onions also before him. Then came a man forward with a dog, hewed it
into two portions, and cast them into the ship. So brought they all the
dead man’s weapons and laid them by his side. Then they led forth two
horses, made them run till they were covered with sweat, then hewed them
in pieces with the sword, and cast the flesh into the ship. So also they
brought forth two oxen, hewed them in pieces, and cast them into the
ship. Next they came with a cock and hen, slew them, and cast them also
into the ship.” In the meantime the woman who was to die kept going
backwards and forwards in and out of the tent. At last they led her away
to an object which they had made in the form of the framework of a
door—two posts, with a cross piece on the top, or, as is suggested, a
substitute for a trilithon. “She set her feet on the palms of men’s
hands, stepped up on the frame, and said some words in their tongue,
after which they made her stand down. Then they lifted her up a second
and third time, and she went through the same ceremony. Now they handed
her a hen, the head of which she cut off and cast away, but the body
they cast into the ship. I asked my interpreter what it was that the
woman had said. He answered, she said the first time, ‘Lo! I see my
father and my mother;’ the second time, ‘Lo! here I see seated all my
deceased relations;’ the third time, ‘Lo! here I see my master seated in
paradise—paradise, beautiful and green, my master surrounded by his men
and his menials; he calls for me; bring me to him.’ Thereupon they
conveyed her to the ship. She took the bracelets from her arms, and gave
them to the crone whom they called ‘the dead man’s angel;’ and the rings
from her ankles, and gave them to the two young girls who had attended
her, and who were ‘the dead man’s angel’s daughters.’ Then came men with
shields and staves, and brought her a beaker of strong drink. She sang a
song, and drank it out. Folk said to me that she thereby took leave of
her friends. They reached her a second beaker. She took it, and sang a
long time. The old hag bade her hasten to empty it, and go into the tent
where her dead master was. I watched her; she was out of herself. In
attempting to go into the tent she stuck by the head in the space
between the tent and the ship. The old hag caught hold of her by the
head and dragged her in with her, while the men commenced to beat their
shields with the staves, that her shrieks might not be heard, and so
frighten other girls, and make them unwilling to die with their lords.”
The sequel is too horrible to be given as it stands in the old Arab’s
plain-spoken narrative. A cord was finally wound round her neck, at the
ends of which two men pulled, while the “dead man’s angel” stabbed her
to the heart with a broad-bladed knife. Then the relatives of the dead
man set fire to the pile. A storm that was just beginning to rage fanned
the flames, and drove them aloft to a great height. A Norseman who was
standing by said to Ibn Fozlan “You Arabs are fools. You take the man
whom you most have loved and honoured, and put him down into the earth,
where vermin and worms devour him. We, on the contrary, burn him up in a
twinkling, and he goes straight to paradise.” After the pile was
consumed to ashes they raised a great-mound over the spot, and set up on
it a pillar made of a tree-trunk, on which they carved the names of the
dead man and of their king.
The burial usages, however, were not always the same. Great men were
buried with the pomp and ceremony befitting their rank, while meaner men
were simply reduced to ashes and inhumed in a clay urn, or in a stone
pot, not unfrequently in the stone cooking-kettle that had served them
when in life.[218] This burial in stone urns, or in cooking vessels of
steatite, is of common occurrence in the grave-mounds of the Viking
period in Norway, and is also not unfrequently found in Orkney and
Shetland.
[Illustration: Bronze brooch]
Associated with such burials in Norway there are occasionally found the
peculiar brooches which are characteristic of the later Pagan time.[219]
Although they occur perhaps more frequently with unburnt burials, they
link on with the custom of cremation. Thus they afford a valuable index
to the chronology of these remains in Scotland, because the Pagan period
of the Scandinavian occupation may be said to be limited to the time
between the expedition of Harald Harfagri and the battle of Clontarf
(872-1014). These brooches are found in Scandinavian graves of this
period, in Scotland, England, Ireland, Normandy, Russia, and Iceland—in
short, wherever the heathen Vikings effected a settlement. In Scotland
they have been found in various places—in Sutherland, in Caithness, in
Orkney, in the Hebrides, and even in remote St. Kilda. The specimen here
figured, which is now in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries of
Scotland is one of a pair found in a stone cist on a mound which covered
the remains of a “Pictish Tower” at Castletown in Caithness.[220] They
are usually found in pairs, one near each shoulder of the skeleton. This
corresponds with the statement of an ancient Arab writer, that the Norse
women used to wear such brooches in pairs on their breasts.[221]
[Illustration: Comb]
The most remarkable discovery of these characteristic Scandinavian
interments that has hitherto occurred in Scotland was made in the island
of Westray, Orkney, in 1849, by Mr. William Rendall.[222] A number of
graves were found in the sandy links near Pierowall (the Hofn of the
Saga), in some of which were swords and shield-bosses, indicating that
the skeletons were those of men. But in one a pair of tortoise or
shell-shaped brooches and a trefoil ornament were the only objects found
with the skeleton. In another, a pair of these brooches were found on
the breast, and a pair of combs, of the form here figured, lay on either
side of the neck, apparently as they had fallen out of the hair. In a
third, a pair of brooches, a pair of combs, and a bronze pin, were
found. It appears from these examples that the brooches undoubtedly
belonged to women, and that the warriors were usually buried with sword
and shield and “panoply of war;” and, as we read in Ibn Fozlan’s
account, the dog and the horse of the deceased appear also to have been
sacrificed at the grave, and interred with him, in Orkney as well as on
the banks of the Volga.
But we meet with few memorials of the daily life of the Norsemen beyond
those which have been buried with them in the early period of their
occupation of the Islands. Christianity abolished the custom of burying
such relics with the dead, and for the remains of the Christian period
we must look to the yet unexcavated sites of the _skális_ and homesteads
of which we read in the Saga. It would be equally interesting to the
archæologist, and instructive to the historian, to be able to compare
the relics from such sites as those of Kolbein Hruga’s castle in Weir,
the castle of which Blán was the keeper in Damsey, or the _skáli_ of
Swein Asleifson at Langskail in Gairsay, with the extensive collections
obtained in recent years from the “Pictish Towers” of Orkney, which have
given us such suggestive glimpses of the domestic life of the period
preceding the Norse occupation.
It gives a curious feeling of reality to the ancient legends when we can
thus handle the blades and bucklers of which we read such stirring
stories, and remember that it was because the Norse sword was then the
longest, and the Norse arm the strongest, that we now read the earliest
chapters of the history of northern Scotland in the guise of an Iceland
Saga.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.
A.D.
795. First appearance of the Norse Vikings in the Western Seas. They
plunder the Isle of Rachrin.
798. Invasion of the Isle of Man by the Norsemen. Inispatrick burned.
802. I Columbkill burned by the Norsemen.
806. I Columbkill again plundered by the Norsemen, and sixty-eight men
of the monastery slain.
807. First invasion of the mainland of Ireland by the Norsemen.
815. Turgesius (Thorkel?), chief of the invading Northmen, establishes
himself as king of the foreigners in Ireland, making Armagh the
capital of the kingdom.
824. Bangor, in the north of Ireland, the seat of the monastery of St.
Comhgall, burned, and the bishop and clergy slain by the Northmen.
843. Union of the Picts and Scots under Kenneth M’Alpin, founder of the
Scottish dynasty.
853. Arrival of Olaf the White in Ireland. He seizes Dublin, establishes
himself there as king, makes an expedition to Scotland, and
besieges and takes Dumbarton.
872. Harald Harfagri becomes sole King of Norway; makes an expedition
against the western Vikings, who have established their viking
station in Orkney, drives them from their haunts, and subdues
Shetland, Orkney, the Hebrides, and Man. He gives Orkney and
Shetland, as an earldom of Norway, to Rögnvald, Earl of Mœri,
father of Hrólf (Rollo), the conqueror of Normandy.
875. Earl Sigurd Eysteinson, who had received the earldom of Orkney from
his brother Rögnvald, Earl of Mœri, forms an alliance with
Thorstein the Red, son of Olaf the White, King of Dublin. They
invade the northern mainland of Scotland, and subdue Caithness and
Sutherland as far as Ekkialsbakki. Thorstein the Red is shortly
afterwards killed in Caithness; and Earl Sigurd dies, and is
buried under a cairn at Ekkialsbakki.
893. Einar (Torf Einar) slays Halfdan Hálegg, one of the sons of Harald
Harfagri, and buries him under a cairn in North Ronaldsay.
933. Death of Harald Harfagri. Eirik Bloodyaxe, his son, becomes King of
Norway. About this time the name “Scotia” and “Scotland,”
previously applied to Ireland, is first given to North Britain,
which had formerly been called Caledonia, Pictavia, or Alban.
950. Fall of King Eirik Bloodyaxe, and of Arnkell and Erlend, sons of
Torf Einar, and Earls of Orkney, in battle in England.
963. Thorfinn Hausakliuf Earl of Orkney. The sons of Eirik Bloodyaxe
arrive in Orkney.
980. Sigurd Hlödverson becomes Earl of Orkney.
986. I Columbkill plundered by the Norsemen, and the abbot and fifteen
of the clerics slain.
992. Olaf Tryggvi’s son, while on a roving expedition, is baptized by a
hermit in the Scilly Isles.
995. Olaf Tryggvi’s son becomes King of Norway, and immediately
establishes Christianity by the strong hand. Returning from a
western cruise, on his way to Norway he finds Earl Sigurd
Hlödverson by chance at Osmondwall in the Orkneys, and obliges him
to profess Christianity, and to promise to establish the true
faith in the Orkneys.
1000. Fall of King Olaf Tryggvi’s son at the battle of Swalder in
Norway.
1014. Battle of Clontarf, near Dublin, in which Sigurd Hlödverson, Earl
of Orkney, fell. Thorfinn, his son, is made Earl of Caithness and
Sutherland by Malcolm II., King of Scots, his maternal
grandfather.
1015. Olaf Haraldson (afterwards St. Olaf) becomes King of Norway.
1018. Battle of Ulfreksfiord, in which Earl Einar is vanquished by
Eyvind Urarhorn and King Conchobhar.
1019. Einar (Wrymouth), Earl of Orkney, slain by Thorkel Fóstri at
Sandwick, in Deerness, Orkney.
1020. The Earls Thorfinn and Brúsi acknowledge the suzerainty of King
Olaf the Holy over the Orkneys.
1028. Olaf the Holy driven from Norway by Canute the Great, King of
England and Denmark.
1030. Fall of King Olaf the Holy at the battle of Stiklestad.
1034. Death of Malcolm II., King of Scots. According to the Saga, “Kali
Hundason takes the kingdom,” and according to the Scottish
historians Duncan I. succeeds to the throne in Scotland. Mission
of Einar Thambarskelfir and Kalf Arneson to Russia to offer their
aid to Magnus, son of King Olaf the Holy, to obtain the throne of
Norway.
1035. Magnus the Good, son of Olaf Haraldson (the Holy), succeeds to the
throne of Norway, and Rögnvald Brusison becomes Earl of Orkney.
1039. Duncan I., King of Scots, slain by Macbeth, who becomes king.
1047. Magnus the Good dies in Denmark, and is succeeded by Harald
Sigurdson, surnamed Hardradi.
1050. Einar Thambarskelfir and the sons of Eindridi slain in Norway by
Harald Hardradi.
1054. Macbeth defeated by Malcolm (Canmore), son of Duncan.
1057. Malcolm Canmore crowned at Scone.
1064. Death of Thorfinn Sigurdson, Earl of Caithness and Orkney. He is
succeeded by his sons Paul and Erlend, and his widow, Ingibiorg
(according to the Saga) is married to Malcolm Canmore.
1066. Fall of King Harald Sigurdson (Hardradi) at the battle of Stamford
Bridge, near York, in which Harald Godwinson was victor. His son
Olaf (Kyrre) and the Orkney Earls, Paul and Erlend, who were with
him in the battle, receive peace from the conqueror and liberty to
return to Orkney. Olaf Kyrre succeeds to the throne of Norway.
1067. Malcolm Canmore marries Margaret, sister of Edgar Atheling.
1093. Malcolm Canmore killed at Alnwick. Death of King Olaf Kyrre, and
accession of Magnus Barelegs to the throne of Norway. He makes an
expedition to the west, ravages the Scottish coasts, and assists
Muirceartach in the capture of Dublin.
1098. King Magnus makes a second expedition to the west, seizes the
Earls of Orkney, Paul and Erlend, and sends them both to Norway
(where they died); places his own son, Sigurd, over the Orkneys;
and overruns the Hebrides, Kintyre, and Man.
1103. Magnus, King of Norway, slain in Ireland. His son, Sigurd, goes
from Orkney to Norway, and succeeds to the kingdom jointly with
his brothers Eystein and Olaf. Magnus Erlendson (St. Magnus), and
Hakon, Paul’s son, succeed to the earldom of Orkney.
1106. Accession of Alexander I. to the throne of Scotland.
1107. King Sigurd (Magnusson) sets out on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem,
which occupies him for three years. He is thenceforth called
Sigurd, the Jorsala-farer.
1115. Magnus Erlendson (St. Magnus) slain in Egilsey by his cousin
Hakon, Paul’s son.
1124. Death of Alexander I., and accession of David I., King of Scots.
1130. Death of King Sigurd, the Jorsala-farer, and accession to the
throne of Norway of King Harald Gilli, an illegitimate son of King
Magnus Barelegs, from the Hebrides.
1136. Harald Gilli slain by Sigurd Slembidiakn. Rögnvald (Kali) Kolson
obtains the earldom of Orkney from Earl Páll, son of Hakon, who is
carried off to Athole by Swein Asleifson.
1139. Death of Sigurd Slembidiakn. Visit of Bishop John of Athole to
Orkney. Harald Maddadson, son of Maddad, Earl of Athole, shares
the earldom of Caithness and Orkney with Earl Rögnvald (Kali).
1151. Earl Rögnvald and Erling Skakki leave Norway to prepare for their
pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The Jorsala-farers winter in Orkney.
1152. Earl Rögnvald leaves the Orkneys on his pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
King Eystein comes to Orkney from Norway, and seizing Earl Harald
Maddadson at Thurso obtains from him an acknowledgment of his
suzerainty over the Orkneys.
1153. Death of David I., King of Scotland, and accession of Malcolm the
Maiden.
1155. Earl Rögnvald returns from Palestine. Erlend Ungi receives
Rögnvald’s mother, Margaret, in marriage, and is shortly
afterwards slain by the Earls Rögnvald and Harald.
1158. Earl Rögnvald slain at Calder in Caithness by Thorbiörn Klerk.
Earl Harald becomes sole ruler of Caithness and Orkney.
1165. Malcolm the Maiden dies at Jedburgh, and is succeeded by King
William the Lion.
1168. Death of William the Old, first Bishop of Orkney.
1176. Magnus Erlingson becomes King of Norway. Harald Ungi (son of Eirik
Slagbrellir by a daughter of Earl Rögnvald) receives from King
Magnus the title of earl and half of the Orkneys, and from King
William the Lion half of Caithness, and is subsequently defeated
and slain in Caithness by Earl Harald Maddadson.
1184. Magnus Erlingson, King of Norway, slain by King Sverrir, who
succeeds him.
1188. Death of William II., Bishop of Orkney.
1192. Canonisation of Rögnvald (Kali), Earl of Orkney, who was killed by
Thorbiörn Klerk.
1194. The Eyjarskeggiar collect forces in Orkney, and attempt to place
Sigurd, son of Magnus Erlingson, on the throne of Norway, but are
defeated, and nearly all slain, by King Sverrir at Floruvogr, near
Bergen.
1195. Earl Harald Maddadson, compromised by this expedition, goes to
Norway with Bishop Bjarni, lays his head at the king’s feet,
saying that he is now an old man, and entirely in the king’s
power. He is pardoned by King Sverrir, but on condition of
forfeiting to the crown of Norway the whole of Shetland, which
does not again form part of the domain of the Norwegian Earls of
Orkney till 1379.
1202. King William the Lion marches north to Eysteinsdal on the borders
of Caithness, with a great army, to take revenge for the
mutilation of Bishop John, and the expulsion of the deputies of
Rögnvald Gudrodson from Caithness by Earl Harald. Harald purchases
peace by a payment of 2000 marks.
1206. Death of Earl Harald Maddadson. He is succeeded by his surviving
sons, John and David. Thorfinn, his eldest son, died in Roxburgh
Castle, where he was confined as a hostage, and had been mutilated
by King William the Lion.
1214. Death of King William the Lion, and accession of Alexander II. to
the throne of Scotland. Death of David, son of Harald Maddadson.
His surviving brother John becomes sole Earl of Orkney and
Caithness.
1222. Burning of Bishop Adam at Halkirk in Caithness, by the enraged
peasantry. The King of Scots caused the hands and feet to be hewed
from a number of those who were present at the burning, and many
of them died in consequence.
1223. Death of Bishop Bjarni, and consecration of Jofreyr to the see of
the Orkneys.
1231. Earl John slain at Thurso. The line of the ancient Norwegian Earls
of Orkney having become extinct by his death, King Alexander II.
creates Magnus, son of Gilbride, Earl of Angus, Earl of Caithness,
and separating Sutherland into another earldom, gives it to
William, son of Hugh Freskyn.
1239. Death of Magnus, Earl of Caithness and Orkney.
1243. Death of Gilbert, Bishop of Caithness.
1247. Death of Jofreyr, Bishop of Orkney.
1249. Death of Alexander II., King of Scots, at Kerrera, Argyllshire.
1256. Death of Gilbride II., Earl of Orkney.
1263. Expedition of King Hakon Hakonson, of Norway, to Scotland; he is
defeated at Largs, and dies at Kirkwall.
1266. Cession of the Hebrides and Man to Scotland by treaty between
Magnus IV., King of Norway, and Alexander III., King of Scotland.
1273. Death of Magnus, son of Gilbride, Earl of Orkney.
1276. Magnus, son of Magnus, made Earl of Orkney by King Magnus
Hakonson, at Tunsberg.
1281. Marriage of King Eirik Magnusson to Margaret, daughter of King
Alexander II. of Scotland.
1283. Death of Margaret, Queen of Norway.
1284. Margaret, infant daughter of Eirik, King of Norway, recognised as
heiress to the Scottish throne. Death of Magnus Magnusson, Earl of
Orkney.
1286. Death of King Alexander III. of Scotland.
1289. Betrothal of the Princess Margaret, the Maiden of Norway, to
Prince Edward of England.
1290. Death of Margaret, the Maiden of Norway, off the coast of Orkney,
on her way to Scotland.
1293. Marriage of King Eirik Magnusson of Norway to Isabella, daughter
of Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick.
1300. Appearance at Bergen of the false Margaret, a German woman who
gave herself out as the “Maiden of Norway,” daughter of King Eirik
and Queen Margaret, stating that she had been “sold” by Ingibiorg
Erlingsdatter, and spirited away by parties who had an interest in
her disappearance.
1301. The false Margaret is burnt as an impostor at Nordness in Bergen,
and her husband beheaded.
1310. Death of John, Earl of Orkney.
1312. Treaty of Perth (1266) renewed at Inverness.
1314. Battle of Bannockburn.
1333. Battle of Halidon Hill. Death of Malise, Earl of Stratherne.
1334. Forfeiture of the earldom of Stratherne, and marriage of Isabella,
daughter of Malise, Earl of Stratherne, Caithness and Orkney, to
William, Earl of Ross. Malise goes to Norway.
1353. Erngisl Suneson, son-in-law of Malise, Earl of Stratherne, made
Earl of Orkney.
1375. King Hakon grants the earldom of Orkney for one year to Alexander
de Ard, who resigns all his lands in Caithness to King Robert II.
1379. Henry St. Clair made Earl of Orkney and Shetland by King Hakon
Magnusson, at Marstrand.
1382. Bishop William of Orkney slain.
1389. Malise Sperra slain near Scalloway by Henry, Earl of Orkney.
1392. Death of Erngisl Suneson.
1397. Union Treaty of Calmar, by which Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, were
made one kingdom.
1400 (_circa_). Death of Earl Henry St. Clair.
1418 (_circa_). Death of Earl Henry (II.) St. Clair.
1420. Bishop Thomas Tulloch made commissioner in the Orkneys for the
King of Norway.
1423. David Menzies of Wemyss made commissioner in the Orkneys for the
King of Norway.
1434. William St. Clair made Earl of Orkney.
1468. Contract of marriage between King James III. of Scotland and
Margaret, Princess of Denmark, and impignoration of the islands of
Orkney and Shetland for the Princess’s dowry.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
GENEALOGICAL TABLES.
I. THE NORSE LINE OF THE EARLS OF ORKNEY.
IVAR UPPLENDINGAJARL.
Eystein Glumra.
Rögnvald, Earl of Mœri, d. 890.
Gave the earldom of Orkney to his brother. Sigurd, 1st Earl of Mœri,
d. 874.
Guttorm, Earl of Orkney, d. 875.
Ivar, d. 870.
Thórir the Silent, m. daughter of Harald Harfagri.
Hrólf, conqueror of Normandy, d. 931. Hallad, Earl of Orkney.
Hrollaug.
Torf Einar, Earl of Orkney, d. circa 910.
William, Earl of Normandy, d. 942.
Arnkell, Earl of Orkney, d. 950. Erlend, Earl of Orkney,
d. 950. Thorfinn Hausakliuf, Earl of Orkney, d. circa
963; m. Grelauga, daughter of Duncan, Earl of Duncansbay.
Richard, Earl of Normandy, d. 1002.
Richard II., Earl of Normandy, d. 1026. Emma, m. (1) King Ethelred,
(2) King Canute.
(1) Edward, K. of England, d. 1066.
(2) Hardicanute, K. of England and Denmark, d. 1042.
Arnfinn, Earl of Orkney, m. Ragnhild, daughter of Eirik Bloodyaxe.
Havard, Earl of Orkney, m. Ragnhild. Liot, Earl of Orkney, m.
Ragnhild.
Skuli.
Hlödver, Earl of Orkney, d. circa 980.
Sigurd the Stout, slain at Clontarf, 1014; m. (1) unknown, (2)
daughter of Malcolm II., King of Scots.
Richard III., Earl of Normandy, d. 1028. Robert le Diable, d. 1035.
William, the Conqueror of England, d. 1087.
(1) Hundi, d. before 1014.
Sumarlidi, Earl of Orkney, d. circa 1015. Brúsi, Earl of Orkney, d.
1031.
Einar, Earl of Orkney, d. 1026.
(2) Thorfinn, Earl of Orkney, d. 1064; m. Ingibiorg, daughter of
Earl Finn Arnason.
Rögnvald, Earl of Orkney, d. 1046.
THORFINN, EARL, m. Ingibiorg Arnason.
Paul, Earl of Orkney, d. 1098; m. daughter of Hakon Ivarsson.
Erlend, Earl of Orkney, d. 1098; m. Thora, daughter of Sumarlidi
Ospakson.
Hakon, Earl of Orkney, d. circa 1122. Thora.
Herbiörg.
Ragnhild.
Erling, slain in Ireland.
Gunhild, m. Kol, Kali’s son.
Magnus, Earl of Orkney, slain 1115, canonised 1135.
Cecelia, m. Isak.
Ingibiorg Ragna, m. Sigurd of Westness. Sigrid.
Herborg, m. Kolbein Hruga.
Bjarni, Bishop of Orkney.
Rögnvald (Kali Kolson), Earl of Orkney, d. 1158, canonised 1192.
Ingirid, m. Jon Pétrsson.
Harald Slettmali, d. circa 1127.
Ingibiorg, m. Olaf, King of the Sudreyar.
Margaret, m. (1) Maddad, Earl of Athole; (2) Erlend Ungi
Paul, Earl of Orkney, carried off to Athole by Swein Asleifson.
Ingigerd, m. Eirik Slagbrellir.
Harald Ungi, Earl of Orkney, d. circa 1198.
Magnus Mangi, d. 1184.
Rögnvald.
Ingibiorg.
Elin.
Ragnhild, m. (1) Lifolf Skalli, (2) Gunni Andreson.
Snaekoll Gunnison.
Harald Maddadson, made Earl of Orkney 1139; d. 1206; m.
(1) Afreka, sister of Duncan, Earl of Fife; (2) Gormlath, daughter
of
Malcolm MacHeth.
Gudröd, King of Man.
Rögnvald Gudrodson, d. 1229.
Ragnhild, m. Sumarlid of Argyle and the Isles.
Reginald, Dugald, Angus.
(2.) Henry, Earl of Ross.
Hakon.
Helena.
Margaret.
(1.) Thorfinn, d. in Roxburgh Castle 1201.
David, Earl of Orkney, d. 1214.
John, Earl of Orkney, d. 1231, leaving no male issue.
Gunhild.
Herborg.
Langlif.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
II. THE ANGUS LINE OF THE EARLS OF ORKNEY.
GILBRIDE, Earl of Angus, married a sister or daughter of John, Earl
of Orkney, son of Harald Maddadson.
|
+——––––––—————-+————––––––––––––———-+
| |
Magnus II., Earl of Orkney Gilbride I., Earl of
and Caithness, d. 1239. Orkney and Caithness.
|
Gilbride II., Earl of Orkney
and Caithness, d. 1256.
|
+———————–+——————–––————+
| |
Magnus III., Earl of Orkney Matilda.
and Caithness, d. 1275.
|
+——––––——–—-+—––––––––———————+
| |
Magnus IV., Earl of Orkney John, Earl of Orkney
and Caithness, d. 1284. and Caithness, d. circa 1310.
|
Magnus V., Earl of Orkney and
Caithness, m. Katharina, d.
circa 1320.
|
+——————————––––––––––––——-+——–––––––———+
| |
Margaret, m. Simon Fraser, Isabella (?) m. Malise,
who fell at Halidon Hill, 1333. Earl of Stratherne, who fell
at Halidon Hill, 1333.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
III. THE STRATHERNE LINE OF THE EARLS OF ORKNEY.
MALISE, Earl of Stratherne, m. Isabella (?),
daughter of Magnus, Earl of Orkney.
|
+—————————–––––––––––––——––––—————+
| |
Isabella (?) m. to Sir Malise, Earl of Stratherne,
William St. Clair of Roslin. Caithness, and Orkney, m.
(1) Johanna, daughter of Sir
John Menteith; (2) Marjory,
daughter of Hugh, Earl of
Ross; d. circa 1350.
|
+———–––––––––+—––———–––––———+———–––––——+——–––––-+—————-+
| | | | |
Matilda, m. to | Agnetta, m. to Arngils or | Elisabeth,
m. to
Wayland (?), de Ard. | Erngisl Suneson, who was | Henry St.
Clair,
| | made Earl of Orkney 1353. | Earl of
Orkney.
| | |
| Isabella, m. to William, (?) m. to Guttorm Sperra.
| Earl of Ross, in 1334. |
| Malise Sperra, slain at
Scalloway
Alexander de Ard. by Earl Henry St. Clair,
1389.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
IV. THE ST. CLAIR LINE OF THE EARLS OF ORKNEY.
WILLIAM ST. CLAIR of Roslin _m._ Isabella (?),
daughter of Malise, Earl of Stratherne.
_______________________________|____________
| |
David. Henry, made Earl of Orkney 1379; _m._
(1)
Elisabeth, daughter of Malise
(the younger),
Earl of Stratherne, Caithness,
and Orkney;
(2) Janet, daughter of Walter
Haliburton
of Dirleton; and _d. circa_
1400.
_________________________________________________|____________________
| | |
|
Margaret, m. to | Henry, Earl of Orkney, _m._ Egidia
Douglas, John.
James of Cragy. | daughter of Lord William Douglas; _d._
| _circa_ 1418. |
| |
Elisabeth, _m._ to |
John de Drummond. |
|
William, Earl of Orkney, exchanged
his
rights to the Earldom of Orkney
for the
lands of Ravenscraig, 1471.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Illustration: HJALTLAND.]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Illustration: ORKNEYAR.]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
ORKNEYINGA SAGA.
-------
CHAPTER I.
OF THE EARLS.
It is said that the Orkney Islands were colonised in the days of Harald
the Fairhaired,[223] but previously they were a station for
Vikings.[224]
The first Earl of the Orkneys was called Sigurd. He was the son of
Eystein Glumra (the loud-talking), and brother of Rögnvald, Earl of
Moeri.[225]
After Sigurd his son Guttorm ruled one year.
Torf-Einar,[226] son of Earl Rögnvald, succeeded him. He was a man of
great power, and was Earl a long time. Hálfdán Hálegg[227] (high-legs)
made an expedition against Torf-Einar, and drove him from the Orkneys.
Einar returned, and slew Hálfdán in Rinansey.[228] Thereupon King Harald
brought an army over to the Orkneys. Then Einar fled to Scotland. King
Harald made the Orkneymen swear oaths of fealty to him for themselves
and all their possessions. The Earl and King Harald were afterwards
reconciled. He became the King’s man, and held the land as a fief from
him. He had, however, no tribute to pay, as there was much predatory
warfare then in the islands; but he paid the king sixty marks of
gold[229] (once for all). After this, King Harald made a raid on
Scotland, as is told in the Glumdrapa.[230]
After Torf-Einar, Arnkell, Erlend, and Thorfinn Hausakliuf
(skull-splitter), his sons, succeeded him. In their days Eirik
Blódöx[231] (bloody axe) came over from Norway, and the Earls were his
vassals. Arnkell and Erlend fell in battle,[232] but Thorfinn governed
the land and became an old man. His sons were Arnfid, Hávard, Lödver,
Ljót, and Skúli; their mother was Grélaug, daughter of Earl Dungad
(Duncan) in Caithness.[233] Her mother was Gróa, daughter of Thorstein
the Red.
In the days of Earl Thorfinn the sons of Eirik Blódöx arrived from
Norway, when they had fled from Earl Hákon, and they did many deeds of
violence in the islands. Earl Thorfinn died on a sickbed, and his sons,
of whom there are extensive histories, succeeded him. Lödver survived
his brothers, and ruled the land alone. His son was Earl Sigurd the
Stout; he was a powerful man, and a great warrior.
In his days Olaf, Tryggvi’s son, returning from a viking expedition to
the west, came to the Orkneys with his men, and seized Earl Sigurd in
Rörvág,[234] as he lay there with a single ship. King Olaf offered the
Earl to ransom his life on condition that he should embrace the true
faith and be baptized; that he should become his man, and proclaim
Christianity over all the Orkneys. He took his son Hundi or Hvelp
(whelp) as a hostage, and left the Orkneys for Norway, where he became
King; and Hundi stayed with him some years, and died there.
After that Earl Sigurd paid no allegiance to King Olaf. He married the
daughter of Malcolm, King of Scots,[235] and their son was Earl
Thorfinn; his elder sons [by a former marriage] were Sumarlidi, Brúsi,
and Einar.
Five years after the death of King Olaf, Tryggvi’s son,[236] Earl Sigurd
went to Ireland. He set his elder sons over his domains, and sent
Thorfinn to the King of Scots, his mother’s father. While on this
expedition Sigurd was killed in Brian’s battle;[237] and as soon as the
news came to the Orkneys his sons Sumarlidi, Brúsi, and Einar, were
accepted as Earls, and they divided the islands among them, each taking
one third.
Thorfinn was five winters old when their father fell. When the King of
Scots heard of the Earl’s death he bestowed Caithness and Sutherland
upon his grandson, with the title of Earl, and gave him men to rule the
domain along with him. Earl Thorfinn was very precocious in the maturity
of all his powers. He was of large stature and strong, but ungainly. As
he grew up it soon became apparent that he was avaricious, harsh, and
cruel, yet a very clever man.
The brothers Einar and Brúsi were different in their dispositions. Brúsi
was clever and fond of company, eloquent and beloved. Einar was stubborn
and taciturn, disagreeable and avaricious, yet a great warrior.
Sumarlidi was like Brúsi in his disposition. He was the eldest, and the
most short-lived of the brothers. He died on a sickbed.
After his death Thorfinn demanded his share of [Sumarlidi’s portion of]
the Orkneys, although he already had Caithness and Sutherland which had
belonged to his father Sigurd. This Einar considered to be much more
than a third of the Orkneys, and he would not give up any part of them
to Thorfinn. Brúsi, however, consented to give up his share [of the
portion belonging to Sumarlidi], saying that he did not covet more of
the land than his own proper third. Then Einar took possession of two
shares of the islands. He became then a powerful man, and had a large
number of retainers. In the summer he made war expeditions, calling out
great levies of his men from their homes; but these expeditions were not
always successful, and the Bœndr[238] began to grow tired of them, but
the Earl exacted all his services with violence, and did not suffer any
one to speak against them. He was indeed a man of the greatest violence.
Then there arose great scarcity in the islands on account of the labour
and large expense to which the Bœndr were thus subjected. However, in
the parts belonging to Brúsi there were good seasons and easy life, and
he was greatly liked by the Bœndr.
CHAPTER II
OF AMUNDI AND THORKEL.
THERE was a powerful and wealthy man, by name Amundi, who lived in
Hrossey,[239] at Sandvik on Laufandaness. He had a son, by name Thorkel,
who was the most accomplished man in all the Orkneys.
One spring the Earl called out the Bœndr as usual, but they murmured
greatly, and brought their grievances before Amundi, and asked him to
say a good word for them to the Earl. He replied that the Earl was not
disposed to listen to advice, and it would be of no avail to ask him to
do this, as he and the Earl were such good friends; he further said
that, from what he knew of his own temper and that of the Earl, there
was great danger that they might become enemies, and he would have
nothing to do with the matter. Then they asked Thorkel, and he was very
reluctant, although at last he yielded to their solicitations, but
Amundi thought he had been too rash to promise.
When the Earl held a meeting (Thing)[240] Thorkel spoke on behalf of the
Bœndr. He begged the Earl to spare the people, and told him of their
distress. The Earl answered blandly, and said he would give great weight
to Thorkel’s words. “I had intended,” he said, “to take out six ships,
but now I shall not take more than three; but thou, Thorkel, do not ask
this of me a second time.”
The Bœndr were very grateful to Thorkel for his assistance, and the Earl
made an expedition during the summer, and again in the autumn.
Next spring the Earl again called out his men, and held a meeting with
the Bœndr. Thorkel spoke again on their behalf, and begged the Earl to
spare them. The Earl became wroth, and said that for his speech the lot
of the Bœndr should be far worse than before. Then he became so mad with
rage, that he said that one or other of them should not leave the
meeting unhurt, and immediately dissolved the meeting.
When Amundi heard what Thorkel and the Earl had said to each other, he
bade his son go abroad, and Thorkel went to Earl Thorfinn in Caithness.
He stayed there a long time, and became foster-father to the Earl, who
was still young. From that time he was called Thorkel Fóstri, and became
a man of great repute. Other men of note and influence fled from the
Orkneys on account of Earl Einar’s violence; some to Earl Thorfinn, some
to Norway, and some to other countries.
When Earl Thorfinn came to man’s estate, he sent to his brother Einar,
and demanded from him what he considered his share of the Orkneys. Einar
was not inclined to divide his possessions: so, when Earl Thorfinn heard
this, he called out men from Caithness, and set out for the Orkneys.
When Earl Einar had news of this, he collected an army, with the intent
to defend his possessions. Earl Brúsi also collected an army, and went
to meet them, and tried to reconcile them; and peace was made on
condition that Thorfinn should have one-third of the Orkneys as his own
proper share.
Then Brúsi and Einar joined their portions, on the footing that the
latter should rule them and defend them for both, and that he who
survived the other should inherit his portion. But this compact was
thought unfair, as Brúsi had a son, by name Rögnvald, and Einar had no
son. Thorfinn appointed his own deputies to manage his possessions in
the islands, but he himself lived for the most part in Caithness.
In the summer Einar went on expeditions to Ireland, Scotland, and
Bretland (Wales). One summer, when ravaging Ireland, he fought in
Ulfreksfiord[241] with Konufögr,[242] an Irish king, and was defeated,
with a heavy loss of men. The next summer Eyvind Urarhorn[243] (bull’s
horn) came from Ireland on his way to Norway, and being overtaken by a
violent gale, he turned his ships into Asmundarvag,[244] and lay there
for a while. When Earl Einar heard this, he went thither with many men,
seized Eyvind, and caused him to be killed, but gave quarter to most of
his followers. They went to Norway in the autumn, and when they met King
Olaf,[245] they told him of Eyvind’s murder. He said little about it,
but it was afterwards found that he considered this a great loss and a
serious offence against himself, though he never said much about things
with which he was displeased.
Earl Thorfinn sent Thorkel Fóstri to collect his revenues, but Earl
Einar regarded it as chiefly owing to Thorkel that Earl Thorfinn had
come into [his possessions in] the Islands. Thorkel left the islands
suddenly, and went to Ness (Caithness). He told Earl Thorfinn that he
had become aware that Earl Einar had intended to kill him, if his
relatives and friends had not given him warning. “And now,” he added, “I
will avoid the risk of having such a meeting with the Earl as shall
bring matters to a crisis between us, and I will go farther away, where
his power does not reach me.”
Thorfinn persuaded him to go to King Olaf, in Norway, and spend the
winter with him in great friendship; “for you will,” he said, “be highly
esteemed wherever you come among noble men; but I know your temper and
that of the Earl to be such that you will not long refrain from
hostilities.”
Thorkel then prepared for his departure, and in the autumn he went to
Norway to visit King Olaf, and spent the winter with him in great
friendship. The King often sought Thorkel’s advice, because he
considered him a wise man and a weighty counsellor, and such was the
truth. In telling of the Earls, the King found that he was very partial,
a great friend of Thorfinn, and an enemy of Earl Einar. Early in the
spring the King sent a ship with a message to Earl Thorfinn, asking him
to come and see him; and the Earl did not put off the journey, for
protestations of friendship had accompanied the message.
CHAPTER III
THORKEL SLAYS EARL EINAR.
THORFINN went east to King Olaf in Norway, where he was well received,
and spent the summer there; and when he prepared to go westward again,
King Olaf gave him a large and excellent war-ship, fully equipped.
Thorkel Fóstri went with the Earl, who gave him the ship in which he had
come from the west in the summer. The King and the Earl parted great
friends.
In the autumn Earl Thorfinn came to the Orkneys. When Earl Einar heard
of it, he stayed with many men in his ships. Brúsi went to meet the two
brothers, and tried to reconcile them; and once more they made peace and
confirmed it with oaths. Thorkel Fóstri should be pardoned, and be a
friend of Earl Einar, and each of them should give the other a banquet,
and the Earl should first come to Thorkel at Sandvik.[246]
When Einar came, he and his men were most sumptuously treated, yet the
Earl was not cheerful. The banqueting hall was a large one, with doors
at each end. When the Earl was going away, Thorkel was to accompany him,
and he sent men to examine the way by which they were to go. When they
returned, they said they had discovered three divisions of armed men in
ambush, and were certain that foul play was intended. Upon hearing this,
Thorkel delayed starting, and called his men together. The Earl asked
him to make himself ready, and said it was now time to go. Thorkel
replied that he had many things to see to, and kept going out and in.
There were fires on the floor, and Thorkel walked about, and once when
he entered by one of the doors he was followed by an Icelander, by name
Hallvard, from the east of Iceland, who shut the door after him. As
Thorkel passed between the fire and where the Earl sat, the latter said:
“Are you ready now?”
Thorkel replied: “I am ready now,” and struck the Earl a blow on the
head, so that he fell forward on the floor.
Hallvard said: “I never saw people with so little presence of mind as
you who are here. Why do you not take the Earl out of the fire?”
With his axe he again struck the Earl on the back of the head, and
pulled him towards the bench. Then Thorkel and his men walked out
quickly by the door opposite to that by which he had entered, and there,
outside the door, were the rest of his men fully armed.
The Earl’s men took hold of their master and found that he was dead.
They were too much stupified to take revenge, as the thing was done so
suddenly, and no one expected such a deed from Thorkel; besides, the
Earl’s men were mostly without arms, and many of them were good friends
of Thorkel’s before. Thus Thorkel had to thank his good fortune that he
enjoyed a longer life.
The Earl’s men went away, and Thorkel to his ship. In a few days,
shortly after the beginning of the winter, he left for the east, and
arrived safely in Norway. He went immediately to see King Olaf, who
received him very graciously, and felt much pleasure at his deed; and
with him Thorkel spent the winter.
CHAPTER IV
OF EARL BRÚSI.
AFTER the death of Earl Einar, Earl Brúsi took possession of that
portion of the domain which had belonged to his brother (Einar), for
there had been many witnesses to the compact which they had made.
Thorfinn thought it right that they should each have one-half of the
Islands, yet Brúsi had two-thirds that year. Next year Thorfinn demanded
one-half, to which Brúsi did not consent, and they had many meetings
about it. Their friends tried to settle matters between them, but
Thorfinn would not take anything less than half of the Islands.
Brúsi said: “I was satisfied with that third part which I inherited from
my father, and no one claimed it from me, and I have inherited a second
third after my brother according to a lawful agreement; and although I
am unable to contend with you, brother, I will have recourse to other
means than giving up my lands and title at present.”
Thus the meeting ended. But Brúsi saw that he had no strength to hold
his own against Thorfinn, because he had much larger possessions, and,
besides, some hope of assistance from his grandfather, the King of
Scots. He therefore resolved to go to Olaf, King of Norway, taking with
him his son Rögnvald, who was then ten years old. The King received him
well, and he told him his business and explained to him how matters
stood between him and his brother, and begged his assistance to keep his
possessions, offering in return his full friendship.
The King replied by stating that Harald the Fairhaired had reserved to
himself all odal rights[247] in the Orkneys, and that the Earls since
that time always held those lands as fiefs, and never as their own.
“It is a proof of this,” he said, “that when Eirik Blódöx and his sons
were in the Orkneys, the Earls were their vassals; and when Olaf,
Tryggvi’s son, my kinsman, came there, your father, Earl Sigurd, became
his man. Now, I have succeeded to the entire heritage of Olaf, Tryggvi’s
son. I will give you the islands as a fief, on condition that you become
my man, and then I will try whether my help will not be of more avail to
you than the aid and assistance of the King of Scots to your brother
Thorfinn. But if you will not accept these terms, I will try to recover
the possessions and dominion which my kinsmen have inherited and
possessed there in the west.”
The Earl considered these words thoughtfully, and sought the advice of
his friends as to whether he should consent to King Olaf’s terms and
become his man. “I do not see,” he said, “how matters will go with me at
our parting if I refuse, because the King has made an unequivocal claim,
and regards the Islands as his property. Now, considering his great
power, and the circumstance that we are here, he will have no scruples
in making my case such as he likes.”
Thus, although the Earl had objections to both alternatives, he resolved
to give up all, himself and his dominions, into the King’s power. Then
King Olaf asserted his suzerainty over all his hereditary possessions,
and the Earl became his man, and confirmed this compact with oaths.
Earl Thorfinn heard that his brother Brúsi had gone east to King Olaf to
solicit his assistance; but as he had himself seen the King before, and
secured his friendship, he thought that his case had been well prepared
there, and he knew that many would advocate his cause. Nevertheless, he
resolved to prepare to go to Norway as quickly as possible, intending
that he should arrive there very nearly at the same time with his
brother, so that he might see the King himself before his brother had
concluded his business. This, however, turned out otherwise than the
Earl intended, for he did not see King Olaf until the treaty between
Earl Brúsi and the King was fully concluded; and he did not know that
Earl Brúsi had given up his dominions until he came to the King.
At their first interview the King made the same claim to the dominion of
the Orkneys which he had made before to Earl Brúsi; and he made the same
request of Thorfinn—namely, that he should acknowledge the King’s
suzerainty over his portion of the islands.
The Earl gave a courteous answer to this demand, saying: “I consider
your friendship of great importance; and if you think you require my
assistance against other chiefs, you have well deserved it; but I cannot
well pay you homage, as I am already an Earl of the King of Scots, and
his vassal.”
But when the King found from these words that the Earl wished to avoid
the claims which he had put forward, he said: “If you will not become my
man, there is the other alternative—viz., that I place that man over the
Islands whom I choose. But I wish you to promise me with oaths not to
claim those lands, and to leave him in peace whom I place over them.
Now, if you will not accept any of those conditions, he who governs the
land will say that hostilities may be expected from you, and in that
case you must not think it strange if a dale meets a hill.”[248]
The Earl answered by requesting time to consider these matters. The King
gave him time, and permission to consult with his friends; but then the
Earl asked the King for a further delay to the next summer, so that he
might go home; “for,” said he, “my counsellors are at home, and my
judgment is not yet mature on account of my age.” The King told him to
make his choice.
Thorkel Fóstri was with the King at the time, and he sent a message to
the Earl secretly, telling him that whatever else his intentions were he
should not think of parting with the King without being reconciled to
him for the present, as he had got him in his power. Now the Earl
thought there was no alternative but to let the King have his will,
although he did not consider it by any means a desirable thing to
relinquish all hope of his patrimony, and to promise with oaths to leave
those in undisturbed possession of his dominions who had no hereditary
right to them. But because he was not certain about his departure (if he
refused), he chose to submit to the King, and to become his man, as
Brúsi his brother had previously done.
The King perceived that Thorfinn was a man of much stronger will than
Brúsi, and distrusted him therefore more. He saw that Thorfinn would
think himself sufficiently powerful, with the aid of the King of Scots,
though he broke this treaty; and the King was sagacious enough to
perceive that, while Brúsi agreed to everything sincerely, and made only
such promises as he intended to keep, Thorfinn agreed cheerfully to
everything, while at the same time he had resolved within himself what
course he would take; and though he made no objections to anything which
the King proposed, yet the King suspected that he intended to act upon
their agreements afterwards in his own way.
CHAPTER V
OF THE EARLS BRÚSI AND THORFINN.
WHEN King Olaf had considered all these matters, he had a general
meeting summoned by the blowing of a trumpet, to which the Earls were
also called.
The King said: “I will now make publicly known the treaty between me and
the Earls of the Orkneys. They have acknowledged my suzerainty over all
the Orkneys and Hjaltland (Shetland), promising to become my men, and
confirming these their promises with oaths. In return, I will give to
Brúsi one-third of the land, and to Thorfinn another third, which they
had before; but the last third, which belonged to Earl Einar, I adjudge
to be forfeited to me, because he slew Eyvind Urarhorn, my henchman[249]
and beloved comrade. Of this portion I will dispose as I shall think
fit; and I make it a condition with you, my Earls, that you be
reconciled to Thorkel Amundi’s son concerning your brother Einar’s
slaying, and I wish to act as an arbitrator between you if you agree to
this.”
The Earls consented to this, as to everything else which the King
proposed. Then Thorkel stepped forward and submitted his case to the
King’s decision, after which the meeting was dissolved. King Olaf
awarded a weregild[250] for Earl Einar as for three Lendermen;
one-third, however, should be remitted in consideration of the Earl’s
guilt.
Earl Thorfinn asked permission to depart, and when he had obtained it,
he made himself ready in great haste. One day, when all was ready, and
the Earl was drinking on board his ship, Thorkel, Amundi’s son, came and
laid his head on the Earl’s knees, and asked him to do with it what he
liked.
The Earl said: “Why do you do this? We are reconciled according to the
King’s arbitration; arise.”
He rose and said: “I will abide by the King’s arbitration concerning
differences between me and Brúsi; but, as far as you are concerned, I
leave everything to you. Although the King has reserved for me
possessions and safety in the Orkneys, I am so well acquainted with your
disposition that I know it would be impossible for me to go there unless
I have your confidence; and I will promise you never to go to the
Orkneys, whatever the King says.”
The Earl replied slowly, and said: “Would you rather have me to adjust
our affairs than abide by the King’s decision? If so, I make it the
first condition that you shall go with me to the Orkneys, and remain
with me, and not leave me except with my permission; that you shall be
in duty bound to defend my land, and to do everything I wish to have
done while we are both alive.”
Thorkel replied: “I leave this to you, like everything else that
concerns me.” Thereupon he submitted his case to the Earl’s decision.
The Earl said he would fix the money payment [for his brother’s death]
afterwards, and received oaths from Thorkel according to their
agreement; and Thorkel prepared to go with him. The Earl left as soon as
he was ready, and he and King Olaf never met afterwards.
Earl Brúsi remained behind, and prepared for his departure more
leisurely. Before he left, King Olaf had an interview with him, and
said: “I think it advisable to make you my confidential agent in the
western parts. I intend to give you two-thirds of the islands, which you
had before, because I do not wish you to have less power, now that you
are my man, than you had before; and as a pledge of my good faith, I
will keep your son Rögnvald with me. I see that with two-thirds of the
land and my assistance you may well hold your own against Earl
Thorfinn.”
Brúsi was thankful for two-thirds of the land. He stayed a little while
yet before he left, and came west to the Islands (the Orkneys) in the
autumn. His son Rögnvald remained with King Olaf. These facts are
mentioned by Ottar Svarti (the swarthy):
Readily these noble people
Will obey thee as thy subjects.
Use your power with moderation;
Hjaltlanders! your fame is well known.
Till we had thee, fierce in battle,
To these eastern shores, there was not
Any prince on earth who conquered
Those far distant western islands.
When the brothers Thorfinn and Brúsi came west to the Islands, Brúsi
took possession of two-thirds of the domain, and Thorfinn of one, but he
was all the time in Caithness, in Scotland, and placed deputies over the
islands. Brúsi alone had to defend them, for they were in those times
very much exposed to the ravages of Norwegians and Danes, who called
there on their viking expeditions to the west, and plundered in the
outlying parts. Brúsi made complaints to his brother Thorfinn on account
of his not contributing anything to the defence of the Orkneys or
Hjaltland (Shetland), although he received his full share of all the
land-dues and revenues. Then Thorfinn proposed to Brúsi to take
two-thirds of the Islands, undertaking the defence of the whole, and
leave Brúsi one-third. Although this division did not take place
immediately, yet it is said in the History of the Earls that it did take
place, and that Thorfinn had two-thirds of the Islands, and Brúsi
one-third, when Canute the Great conquered Norway, after the flight of
King Olaf.
King Olaf, Harald’s son, received no homage from Earl Thorfinn after he
made the treaty with him and Brúsi.
Earl Thorfinn now became a powerful chief. He was a man of very large
stature, uncomely, sharp-featured, dark-haired, and sallow and swarthy
in his complexion. Yet he was a most martial-looking man, and of great
energy; greedy of wealth and of renown; bold and successful in war, and
a great strategist. He was five years old when he received the title of
Earl and the revenues of Caithness from King Malcolm,[251] his
grandfather, and fourteen when he went forth from his own territory on
maritime expeditions, and attacked the possessions of other chiefs. So
says Arnór Jarlaskáld (the Earls’ poet):
By the prince in storm of helmets
Was the sword’s edge deeply crimsoned.
Scarcely fifteen, the great-hearted
Sought renown on fields of battle,
Ready to defend his own land,
Or to ravage in another’s.
Under heaven a braver leader
Ne’er was found than Einar’s brother.
Earl Thorfinn was greatly supported by the King of Scots. This
assistance being so near, it much increased his power in the Orkneys.
The King of Scots died after the reconciliation of the brothers. Karl
Hundason[252] took the kingdom in Scotland. He considered Caithness to
belong to him, as to the former kings, and demanded tribute from it as
from other places. Thorfinn, however, did not think his inheritance from
his mother’s father large, though he had Caithness; and besides,
according to his own opinion, it had been given to him first; he was
therefore unwilling to pay any tribute. Thus they became open enemies,
and made war on each other. King Karl wished to appoint a chief, by name
Moddan, over Caithness; he was his sister’s son, and he gave him the
title of Earl. Then Moddan went down from Scotland and collected forces
in Sutherland.
When Earl Thorfinn heard of this, he gathered together an army in
Caithness. Thorkel Fóstri also came to Earl Thorfinn from the Orkneys
with many men, and their united forces were somewhat more numerous than
those of the Scots. When the Scots knew this they hesitated in their
invasion, and returned to Scotland. Earl Thorfinn subdued Sutherland and
Ross, and plundered far and wide in Scotland, and returned again to
Caithness, and Thorkel went back to the Islands; their men also returned
home. Earl Thorfinn stayed at Dungalsbæ, in Caithness, where he had five
war-ships and followers numerous enough to man them.
Moddan came to find King Karl (at Beruvik)[253] and informed him of his
unsuccessful expedition. The King became very angry at his land being
plundered, and started immediately with eleven war-ships and a numerous
army. He sailed northward along Scotland, after having despatched Moddan
to Caithness a second time with many troops. Moddan went by land, and it
was intended that he should make the attack from that side, so that Earl
Thorfinn might be placed between the two armies.
Now, it is to be told of King Karl that he did not stop until he arrived
at Caithness, and he and Earl Thorfinn were not far from each other.
Thorfinn went on board his ships, and sailed out on the Pentland Firth,
intending to go to the Orkneys; and so near were they that King Karl saw
their sails as he sailed into the Firth from the east, and immediately
sailed after them. Earl Thorfinn directed his course to the east of the
Orkneys, intending to go to Sandvik.[254] He moored his ships on the
east side of Dyrness, and immediately sent word to Thorkel to collect
troops.
Earl Thorfinn arrived at Dyrness late in the evening; but as soon as it
was daylight next morning, King Karl came upon them unawares with eleven
war-ships. There were only two alternatives—one to run on shore, and
leave the ships with all their valuable contents to the enemy; the other
was to meet the King, and let fate decide between them. Earl Thorfinn
exhorted his men, and ordered them to have their arms ready. He said he
would not flee, and told them to row briskly towards the enemy. Then
both parties fastened their ships together. Earl Thorfinn addressed his
men, advising them to be smart and to make the first attack fiercely,
and saying that few of the Scotsmen would be able to make a stand. The
fighting was long and fierce. Arnór Jarlaskáld says:
Once, off Dyrness, to the eastward,
Came King Kali in a mail-coat
Famous for its strength and brightness;
But the land was not defenceless,
For, with five ships, nothing daunted,
Scorning flight in warlike temper,
Valiantly the Prince went forward
’Gainst the King’s eleven vessels.
Then the ships were lashed together—
Know ye how the men were falling?
All their swords and boards were swimming
In the life-blood of the Scotsmen;
Hearts were sinking—bowstrings screaming,
Darts were flying—spear-shafts bending;
Swords were biting, blood flowed freely,
And the Prince’s heart was merry.
Now Earl Thorfinn incited his men to the utmost, and a fierce conflict
ensued. The Scots in the King’s ships made but a feeble resistance
before the mast, whereupon Thorfinn jumped from the quarter-deck, and
ran to the foredeck, and fought fiercely. When he saw the crowd in the
King’s ships getting thinner, he urged his men to board them. King Karl,
perceiving this, gave orders to his men to cut the ropes, and get the
ships away instantly; to take to their oars, and bear away. At the same
time Thorfinn and his men fastened grappling-hooks in the King’s ship.
He called for his banner to be borne before him, and a great number of
his men followed it. King Karl jumped from his ship into another vessel,
with those of his men who still held out; but the most part had fallen
already. He then ordered them to take to their oars; and the Scots took
to flight—Thorfinn pursuing them. Thus says Arnór:
Never was a battle shorter;
Soon with spears it was decided.
Though my lord had fewer numbers,
Yet he chased them all before him;
Hoarsely croaked the battle-gull, when
Thickly fell the wounded king’s-men;
South of Sandwick swords were reddened.
King Karl fled all the way south to Breidafiord,[255] where he went on
shore, and collected an army anew. Earl Thorfinn went back after the
battle, when Thorkel Fóstri came to him with a numerous army. They then
sailed south to Breidafiord in pursuit of King Karl, and when they came
to Scotland they began to plunder. Then they were told that Earl Moddan
was at Thurso, in Caithness, with a large army. He had sent to Ireland
for men, because he had there many relatives and friends, and he was
waiting for these troops. Then it was thought advisable that Thorkel
should go to Caithness with a portion of the army; but Thorfinn remained
in Scotland, and plundered there. Thorkel went secretly, because all the
inhabitants of Caithness were true and faithful to him; and no news went
of his journey till he came to Thurso by night, and surprised Earl
Moddan in a house, which they set on fire. Moddan was asleep in an upper
storey, and jumped out; but as he jumped down from the stair, Thorkel
hewed at him with a sword, and it hit him on the neck, and took off his
head.
After this his men surrendered, but some escaped by flight. Many were
slain, but some received quarter.
Thorkel did not stay there long, but went to Breidafiord, bringing with
him all the men he had been able to collect in Caithness, Sutherland,
and Ross. He met Earl Thorfinn in Moray, and told him what he had done
in his expedition, for which he received hearty thanks from the Earl,
and there they both stayed for a while.
CHAPTER VI
OF THE ORKNEYMEN.
NOW it is to be told of King Karl that he went to Scotland after the
battle with Earl Thorfinn, and collected an army as well from the south
as the west and east of Scotland, and all the way south from Satiri
(Kintyre); the forces for which Earl Moddan had sent also came to him
from Ireland. He sent far and near to the chieftains for men, and
brought all this army against Earl Thorfinn. They met at Torfnes,[256]
on the south side of Bæfiord. There was a fierce battle, and the Scots
were by far the most numerous. Earl Thorfinn was among the foremost of
his men; he had a gold-plated helmet on his head, a sword at his belt,
and a spear in his hand, and he cut and thrust with both hands. It is
even said that he was foremost of all his men. He first attacked the
Irish division, and so fierce were he and his men, that the Irish were
immediately routed, and never regained their position. Then King Karl
had his standard brought forward against Earl Thorfinn, and there was
the fiercest struggle for a while; but it ended in the flight of the
King; and some say he was slain. Thus Arnór Jarlaskáld:
Reddened were the wolf’s-bit’s edges
At a place—men call it Torfness;—
It was by a youthful ruler
This was done, upon a Monday.
Pliant swords were loudly ringing
At this War-Thing, south of Ekkial,
When the prince had joined in battle
Bravely with the King of Scotland.
High his helm the Lord of Hjaltland
Bore amid the clang of weapons;
In the battle ever foremost,
Reddened he his gleaming spear-point
In the wounds it gave the Irish.
Thus my lord his mighty prowess
Showed beneath his British buckler—
Taking many warriors captive;
Hlödver’s kinsman burnt the country.
Earl Thorfinn drove the fugitives before him through Scotland, and
subdued the country wherever he went, and all the way south to Fife.
Then he sent Thorkel Fóstri away with some of his men. When the Scots
heard that the Earl had sent away some of his men, those that had
submitted to him meant to attack him. As soon, however, as he was aware
of their treachery, he called his men together and went to meet them;
but when they knew he was prepared, they hesitated to make the attack.
Earl Thorfinn resolved to give battle to the Scots as soon as he met
them; but they had not the manliness to defend themselves, and ran away
into woods and deserted places; and when he had pursued the fugitives,
he called his men together, and said he would burn the whole district,
and thus pay the Scots for their treachery. Then the Earl’s men went
over hamlets and farms, and burnt everything, so that scarcely a hut was
left standing. Those of the men whom they found they killed, but the
women and old people dragged themselves into woods and deserted places,
with wailings and lamentations. Some of them they drove before them, and
many were taken captives. Thus says Arnór Jarlaskáld:
Fast the flames devoured the homesteads;
Lives that day were in great peril;
Fire the Scottish kingdom ravaged—
All reduced to smoking ashes;
Great the mischief done that summer
By the mighty Slaughter-Teacher;
Three times were the luckless Scotsmen
By the Prince completely vanquished.
After this Thorfinn went through Scotland to the north, till he reached
his ships, and subdued the country wherever he went, and did not stop
till he came to Caithness, where he spent the winter; but every season
after this he went out on expeditions, and plundered in the summer time
with all his men.
CHAPTER VII
OF THE FAMOUS DEEDS OF EARL THORFINN.
EARL THORFINN made himself famous in the Orkneys by entertaining his own
men and many other men of note throughout the winter, so that no one had
to go to inns—providing food and drink at his own charges, in the same
manner as chiefs in other countries, Kings, and Earls entertain their
henchmen and guests at Christmas time. About this time Earl Brúsi died,
and Earl Thorfinn took possession of all the islands. But of Rögnvald,
Brúsi’s son, it is said that he was in the battle of Stiklestad[257]
when King Olaf was killed. Rögnvald escaped, with other fugitives, and
carried away King Olaf’s brother, Harald Sigurdson, who was dangerously
wounded, and brought him to a small Bondi to be cured; but he himself
crossed the Kjöl,[258] and went to Jamtaland, and thence to Sweden to
see King Onund. Harald stayed with the Bondi until he had recovered from
his wounds. The Bondi then gave him his son as an attendant, and he went
through Jamtaland to Sweden secretly. At their parting, which took place
in a certain copse, Harald sang:
Though now thus here and there I’m hunted
Through the covert—small’s the honour,
Who knows but that far and wide yet
Some day shall my name be famous?
Harald met Rögnvald in Sweden, and they went both of them east to
Gardariki (Russia), along with many others who had been with King Olaf.
They did not stop till they came east to King Jarizleif, in
Hólmgard;[259] and he received them most heartily for the sake of King
Olaf the Holy. He took them both, as well as Erling, Rögnvald’s son,
into his service as defenders of his country.
CHAPTER VIII
MAGNUS, OLAF’S SON, ACCEPTED KING OF NORWAY.
RÖGNVALD, Brúsi’s son, remained in Gardariki (Russia) when Harald,
Sigurd’s son, went to Mikligard (Constantinople); he had the defence of
the frontier in summer, and spent the winters in Hólmgard. The King as
well as the people esteemed him highly. Rögnvald was a man of large
stature and great strength, and one of the handsomest men in appearance,
and his accomplishments were such that his equal was hardly to be found.
Arnór Jarlaskáld says that he fought ten battles in Gardar:
So it happened that ten battles
Fought the soldier fierce in Gardar.
Einar Thambarskelfir and Kálf Arnason brought Magnus, Olaf’s son, from
Gardariki (Russia). Rögnvald met them in Aldeigiuborg.[260] He had
nearly made an attack on Kálf before he had informed him of their
business. Einar said that Kálf repented of (his share in) the great
crime of having deprived King Olaf the Holy of his life and kingdom, and
that he now wished to make amends to his son Magnus. He further told
Rögnvald that Kálf wished to place Magnus on the throne, and support him
against the Vikings in the pay of the Canutes. By this Rögnvald was
softened, and now Einar Thambarskelfir asked him to go with them up to
Hólmgard, and introduce them and their business to King Jarizleif. He
should tell him that the Norwegians were so disgusted with the rule of
the Canutes, but most of all with Alfifa,[261] that they would prefer
any hardships to serving them longer; and then he should ask King
Jarizleif to permit Magnus, Olaf’s son, to become their chief. When they
came there, Rögnvald, Queen Ingigerd,[262] and many of the noblemen,
pleaded their cause. King Jarizleif was unwilling to trust Magnus into
the hands of the Norwegians, because of their treatment of his father.
At last, however, they succeeded so far that twelve of the noblest men
made oaths to the effect that their offers were sincere; but King
Jarizleif trusted Rögnvald so much that he did not require him to swear.
Kálf promised King Magnus with an oath that he would accompany him both
within his kingdom and out of it, and do everything to support his power
and to secure his safety. Thereupon the Norwegians accepted Magnus as
their King, and swore fealty to him.
Einar and Kálf stayed in Hólmgard till after Christmas. Then they went
down to Aldeigiuborg (Ladoga), and procured ships. As soon as the sea
was open in the spring, Rögnvald, Brúsi’s son, made himself ready to go
with King Magnus. They went first to Sweden, then to Jamtaland, crossed
the Kjöl, and came to Veradal. When King Magnus came to Thrándheim, all
the population submitted to him. Then he went down to Nídarós,[263] and
was accepted King of the whole country at the Eyrar-Thing. After this
came the dealings of King Magnus and King Sveinn.
CHAPTER IX
RÖGNVALD ASKS MAGNUS FOR LEAVE TO GO TO THE ISLANDS.
WHEN Rögnvald, Brúsi’s son, came to Norway, he heard of the death of his
father Brúsi, and at the same time, that Earl Thorfinn had taken
possession of the whole of the Islands. Then he wished to visit his odal
possessions, and asked King Magnus to permit him to go. The King saw
that it was necessary for him to go, and willingly gave him permission.
At the same time, he gave him the title of Earl, and three war-ships
well equipped. He also gave him a grant of that third part of the
Orkneys which King Olaf had possessed,[264] and had given to his father
Brúsi. At last King Magnus promised his foster-brother his full
friendship, adding that his assistance should be at his service whenever
he required it. Thus they parted the best of friends.
CHAPTER X
OF ROGNVALD’S VOYAGE.
EARL RÖGNVALD sailed for the Orkneys, and went first to the estates
which his father had possessed. Thence he sent messengers to his
kinsman, Earl Thorfinn, and asked for that third part (of the Islands)
which had belonged to his father. He also requested them to tell him
that he had obtained from King Magnus a grant of that third which had
belonged to King Olaf. He therefore demanded two-thirds, if it was the
pleasure of his kinsman Thorfinn. At this time Thorfinn had great
quarrels with the Irish and the inhabitants of the Sudreyar (Hebrides),
and felt himself greatly in want of assistance. He therefore gave
Rögnvald’s messengers the following reply:—That Rögnvald should take
possession of that third which rightly belonged to him. “As for the
third which Magnus calls his own,” he said, “we gave that up to King
Olaf the Holy because we were then in his power, but not because we
thought it just. I and my kinsman Rögnvald will agree all the better the
less we talk of that third, which has been long enough a cause of
dispute. But if Rögnvald wishes to be my faithful friend, I consider
those possessions in good hands which he has for his pleasure and for
the good of us both. His assistance will soon be of greater value to me
than the revenues which I derive from them.”
Upon this the messengers returned, and said he had yielded up to
Rögnvald two-thirds on condition that they should be allies, as it was
right they should be, on account of their relationship. Rögnvald said,
however, that he did not demand more than what he considered his own;
but as Thorfinn had so willingly given up the lands, he would indeed
assist him, and be his firm friend, which was but natural, as they were
so nearly related. Accordingly Rögnvald took possession of two-thirds of
the islands.
CHAPTER XI
THE BATTLE OF THE KINSMEN THORFINN AND ROGNVALD.
EARLY in the spring Thorfinn sent word to his kinsman Rögnvald, and
asked him to go out with him on an expedition, bringing as many men as
he could. As soon as Rögnvald received this message, he collected
together as many men and vessels as he could, and when he was ready he
went to meet Earl Thorfinn, who was also ready with his band. He
received his kinsman Rögnvald very well; and they joined their forces.
During the summer they plundered in the Sudreyar (Hebrides), and in
Ireland, and in Scotland’s Fiord;[265] and Thorfinn conquered the land
wherever he went. They had a great battle at a place called
Vatnsfiord.[266] It began early in the morning, and the kinsmen gained
the victory. This is mentioned by Arnór Jarlaskáld:
Know ye that place, Vatnsfiord?
There was I in greatest danger;
Marks are there of my Lord’s doings,
He who tries the strength of warriors.
Forth the people quickly carried
From the ships the shields of many;
Then was heard the dismal howling
Of the gray wolf o’er the corpses.
After this battle they returned to the Orkneys, and stayed at home
during the winter. Thus eight winters passed that Earl Rögnvald had
two-thirds of the islands without any objection on the part of Earl
Thorfinn. Every summer they went out on war expeditions, sometimes both
together, sometimes separately, as Arnór says:
The chief beloved did many deeds.
Everywhere there fell before him
Irishmen, or British people;
Fire devoured the Scottish kingdom.
The kinsmen agreed very well whenever they met; but when bad men went
between them dissensions often arose. Earl Thorfinn dwelt for the most
part in Caithness, at the place called Gaddgedlar,[267] where Scotland
and England (?) meet.
CHAPTER XII
OF EARL THORFINN’S WARFARE.
ONE summer Earl Thorfinn made war in the Sudreyar (Hebrides) and in
Scotland. He had sent men into England to foray, and they carried away
all the spoil they could find. But when the English became aware of the
presence of the Vikings, they gathered together and attacked them. They
took from them all the cattle, and killed all the men that were of any
note, but sent back some of the reivers, and requested them to tell Earl
Thorfinn how they had made the Vikings tired of plunder and rapine, to
which they added many insulting words. Thereupon the reivers went to
Earl Thorfinn and told him of their mishaps. He was greatly annoyed at
the loss of his men, yet he said he could not then do anything, and that
they would have to refrain at this time; but he said he was quite able
to repay the Englishmen for their mockery, and would do so if he were
well next summer.
CHAPTER XIII
OF EARL THORFINN’S EXPEDITION TO ENGLAND.
AT that time Hardicanute was King of England and Denmark. Earl Thorfinn
went to the Orkneys and spent the winter there. Early in the spring he
called out a levy from all his domains, and sent word to his kinsman
Rögnvald. Rögnvald assented, and called out men from all his
possessions. Earl Thorfinn collected troops in Caithness and the
Orkneys. He also had many from Scotland and Ireland, and from the
Sudreyar (Hebrides), and with all these forces he sailed to England as
he had promised. Hardicanute was in Denmark at the time. As soon as the
Earls came into England they began to harry and plunder; but the chiefs
whose duty it was to defend the land went to meet them with an army.
There was a great and fierce battle, in which the Earls gained the
victory. After this they plundered far and wide in England, slaying men,
and burning the dwellings of the people. This is mentioned by Arnór:
Not forgotten was this battle
By the English, or men ever.
Hither came the rich ring-giver,
With his warriors, nearly doubled;
Swords cut keenly; under shield-boss
Rushed all Rögnvald’s men together;
Strong were all the old one’s people.
South of Man did these things happen.
On the native land of Britons
Brought the Earl his banner forward;
Reddened then his beak the eagle;
Forward pressing hard his warriors,
Battle waxed, and men diminished;
Fugitives were chased by victors;
Blazed the fire, with red rays gleaming
Of the wood’s foe, leaping heavenward.
Earl Thorfinn had two pitched battles in England. Besides, he had many
casual encounters, and slew many people. He stayed there throughout the
summer, and went back in autumn to the Orkneys for the winter.
CHAPTER XIV
KALF FLEES TO THE ORKNEYS.
ABOUT this time Kálf Arnason was banished by King Magnus. He crossed the
seas, and went to Earl Thorfinn, his brother-in-law. Thorfinn’s wife was
then Ingibiorg, the mother of the Earls (Paul and Erlend), and daughter
of Earl Finn Arnason. There was great friendship between Kálf and Earl
Thorfinn. The Earl had a great many of his men about him, which became
very expensive to him. Then there were many who advised him not to leave
two-thirds of the Islands to Rögnvald, since his own expenses were so
large. Thereupon Earl Thorfinn sent men into the Islands to demand from
Rögnvald that third portion which had belonged to Earl Einar Rangmuth
(wry-mouth).
Upon receiving this message, the Earl (Rögnvald) consulted with his
friends. Then he called Earl Thorfinn’s messengers, and told them that
he had received that portion of the Islands which they claimed as a fief
from King Magnus, and that the King called it his patrimony. “It was
therefore,” he said, “in the power of King Magnus to decide which of
them should have it; and he would not give it up if the King wished him
to retain it.”
The messengers went away, and told these words to Earl Thorfinn, adding
that the third portion [which he had demanded] would certainly not be
got without trouble. On hearing this, Earl Thorfinn became very angry,
and said that it was unfair if King Magnus should have the inheritance
of his brother, adding that he had yielded to the demand more because he
was then in King Olaf’s power than because it was a just claim. “Now,”
he said, “I think Rögnvald does not return me well my good will in
having left him in quiet possession for a time, if I am not to have the
inheritance of my brother now except by fighting for it.” Now Earl
Thorfinn became so enraged that he straightway sent men to the Hebrides
and to Scotland, and collected together an army, making it known that he
would march against Rögnvald, and demand that without abatement which he
had not got when he asked peacefully for it.
When this was told to Earl Rögnvald, he called his friends together, and
complained to them of his kinsman Thorfinn intending to come and make
war on him. He then asked what help they would offer him, saying that he
would not give up his own without a trial of strength. But when he asked
them to declare themselves, their opinions were very different. Some
spoke in favour of Earl Rögnvald, and said that one could not be hard
upon him for not being willing to part with his possessions; others
again said it was excusable on the part of Earl Thorfinn to desire to
have those possessions for a while which Rögnvald had had before, and
which had belonged to Earl Einar. Further, they said it was the greatest
foolishness for Rögnvald to fight with such troops as he could get from
two-thirds of the Islands against Thorfinn, who had one-third, with
Caithness, a great deal of Scotland, and all the Hebrides besides. There
were also those who advised reconciliation. They asked Earl Rögnvald to
offer Earl Thorfinn one-half of the Islands, so that they might still be
friends, as it was meet they should be, owing to their relationship. But
when Rögnvald found that their opinions were divided, and that they all
dissuaded him from resistance, he made known his determination that he
would not part with his possessions by any arrangement, but that he
would rather leave them for a time, and go to King Magnus, his
foster-brother, and see what assistance he would give him to retain
them. Then he made ready, and went to Norway, and did not rest until he
came to King Magnus, and told him how matters stood.
The King received Earl Rögnvald very well, and invited him to stay as
long as he liked, and to receive such lands from him as were sufficient
to keep him and his men; but Earl Rögnvald said he wished assistance to
recover his possessions. King Magnus said he would certainly give him
such aid as he stood in need of. Rögnvald stayed a short time in Norway,
until he had made ready his expedition for the Orkneys. He had a
numerous and well-equipped army, which King Magnus had given him. The
King also sent word to Kálf Arnason that he should have his estates
restored to him, and be permitted to stay in Norway, if he took Earl
Rögnvald’s part in his dispute with Earl Thorfinn.
CHAPTER XV
BATTLE OF RAUDABIORG.
EARL RÖGNVALD sailed from Norway for the Orkneys, and landed in
Hjaltland (Shetland), where he collected men, and went thence to the
Orkneys. There he summoned his friends to meet him, and obtained
reinforcements. Earl Thorfinn was in Caithness, and news soon reached
him of Earl Rögnvald’s proceedings. He collected forces from Scotland
and the Sudreyar (Hebrides). Rögnvald immediately sent King Magnus’s
message to Kálf Arnason, who apparently received very well all that the
King had said. Earl Rögnvald collected his army together in the Orkneys,
intending to cross over to Caithness, and when he sailed into the
Pentland Firth he had thirty large ships. There he was met by Earl
Thorfinn, who had sixty ships, but most of them small. They met off
Raudabiorg[268] (red cliff), and at once prepared for battle.
Kálf Arnason was there also; he had six ships, all of them large, but
did not take part in the fight.
Now the battle began with the utmost fury, both Earls encouraging their
men. When the fighting had thus continued for a while, the loss of men
began to be heaviest on Earl Thorfinn’s side, the chief cause being the
great difference in the height of the ships. Thorfinn himself had a
large ship, well equipped, in which he pressed forward with great
daring; but when the smaller vessels were cleared, the Earl’s ship was
attacked from both sides, and they were placed in great danger. Many of
the Earl’s men were killed, and others dangerously wounded. Then Earl
Rögnvald commanded his men to leap on board; but when Thorfinn perceived
the imminent danger, he caused the ropes to be cut with which his ship
was fastened to the other, and rowed towards the shore. He had seventy
dead bodies removed from his ship, and all those who were disabled by
wounds went also on shore. Then Thorfinn ordered Arnór Jarlaskáld, who
was among the Earl’s men and high in his favour, to go on shore; and on
landing he sang these verses:—
This will I not hide from comrades,
Though ’tis right one’s chief to follow,
Yet am I myself unwilling
Thus to meet the son of Brúsi.
When these Earls so fierce in battle
Close in fight, then will our case be
Hard beyond the case of most men
In this trial of our friendship.
Earl Thorfinn selected the ablest of his men to man his ship, and then
he went to see Kálf Arnason, and asked his assistance. He said that Kálf
would not be able to buy king Magnus’s friendship, since he had already
been banished, and was therefore unable to keep the king’s favour, even
when they were once reconciled. “You may be sure,” he added, “that if
Rögnvald overcomes me, and he and King Magnus become masters here in the
west, you will not be welcome in this quarter, but if I come off
victorious you shall lack nothing that it is in my power to give you. If
we two keep together we shall be a match for any one here in the west,
and I hardly think you will allow yourself to lie crouching aside like a
cat among stones while I am fighting for behoof of us both. Moreover our
ties are so close that it is more seemly for us to aid each other, since
you have no ties of blood or affinity with our enemies.”
When Kálf heard Thorfinn’s persuasions he called his men and gave orders
to fall to and fight on the side of Earl Thorfinn. Now Thorfinn and Kálf
both rowed back to the fight, and when they arrived Thorfinn’s men were
ready to fly, and many of them had been slain. The Earl pushed his ship
forward against that of Earl Rögnvald, and a fierce fight ensued. As is
said by Arnór Jarlaskáld—
Then I saw the two wealth-givers
Hewing down each other’s warriors.
Fierce the fight was in the Pentland,
As the sea swelled and the red rain
Crimsoned all the yielding timbers,
While from shield-rims sweat of hot blood
Dripping, stained the warriors’ garments.
Kálf attacked Rögnvald’s smaller ships, and speedily cleared them, as
there was a great difference in the height of the ships. When the hired
troops from Norway saw the vessels beside them cleared they cut away
their ship and fled. Then only a few ships remained with Earl Rögnvald,
and the victory began to lean the other way. So says Arnór Jarlaskáld:—
Then the prince so fierce in battle,
Valiant kinsman of the Vikings,
All the old land might have conquered
With assistance of the Islesmen.
Fewer were his slaughtered heroes;
But the chief’s strong men in helmets,
All the way to northern Hjaltland,
Chased the weak and flying remnant.
And when the main portion of the troops had fled, Kálf and Earl Thorfinn
attacked Earl Rögnvald’s ship together, and then a great number of his
men were slain. When he saw the imminent danger, and that he would not
be able to overcome Thorfinn and Kálf, he had the cables cut, and fled.
It was now late in the day, and darkness was coming on. Earl Rögnvald
stood out to sea the same night, and sailed for Norway, and did not stop
till he found King Magnus, who received him well, as he had done before,
and invited him to remain with him, and there he stayed some time.
CHAPTER XVI
EARL THORFINN SUBDUES THE ISLANDS.
NOW it is to be told of Earl Thorfinn that on the morning after the
battle he sent boats to all the islands to search for the fugitives.
Many were killed, and some were pardoned. Earl Thorfinn subdued all the
Islands, and made all the inhabitants his subjects, even those who had
sworn allegiance to Earl Rögnvald. Thorfinn then fixed his residence in
the Orkneys, keeping a great number of men about him; he imported
provisions from Caithness, and sent Kálf Arnason to the Sudreyar
(Hebrides), and ordered him to remain and maintain his authority there.
When Earl Rögnvald had stayed with King Magnus for some time, he said to
the King that he wished to go back to the Islands. When the King heard
this he said it was not wise, and advised him to remain until the winter
had passed away and the sea was free from ice. Yet he said that he would
give him as many men as he wanted, and a sufficient number of ships.
Rögnvald in reply said that this time he would go without the King’s
men, adding that he could not lead an army against Earl Thorfinn without
a great loss of men, as he had such extensive dominions in the west.
“This time,” he continued, “I intend to go to the west in a single ship,
as well manned as possible; thus I expect there will be no news of us
beforehand; and if I get to the Islands I shall take them by surprise,
and then we may speedily gain such a victory as could hardly, if at all,
be gained by a number of troops; but if they become aware of our
movements we can still let the sea take care of us.”
King Magnus said he might go as he pleased, and return to him when he
wished.
After this Rögnvald made his ship ready, and selected the crew
carefully. Several of King Magnus’s henchmen went with him, and
altogether he had a picked crew in his vessel. When they were ready they
sailed out to sea and had a fair wind. This was early in the winter.
CHAPTER XVII
RÖGNVALD COMES TO THE ISLANDS.
RÖGNVALD first came off the coast of Hjaltland (Shetland), and heard
that Earl Thorfinn was in the Orkneys with few men, because he did not
expect any enemies in the depth of winter. Rögnvald went straightway to
the Orkneys. Earl Thorfinn was in Hrossey,[269] suspecting nothing. When
Rögnvald arrived in the Orkneys, he went where he had heard that Earl
Thorfinn was, and came upon him unawares, so that his presence was not
known until he had secured all the doors of the house in which the Earl
and his men were. It was in the night time, and most of the men were
asleep, but the Earl was still sitting over his drink. Rögnvald and his
men set fire to the house. When Earl Thorfinn became aware of the
presence of enemies he sent men to the door to know who they were. They
were told that it was Earl Rögnvald. Then they all leaped to their
weapons, but they were unable to do anything in the way of defence, as
they were all prevented from getting out. The house was soon in flames,
and Earl Thorfinn said that permission should be asked for those to go
out who were to receive quarter. When this was asked of Earl Rögnvald he
permitted all the women and thralls to go out, but he said that most of
Thorfinn’s henchmen would be no better to him alive than dead. Those who
were spared were dragged out, and the house began to burn down. Earl
Thorfinn bethought him of a plan, and broke down part of the woodwork of
the house and leaped out there, carrying Ingibiorg, his wife, in his
arms. As the night was pitch dark he got away in the smoke unperceived
by Earl Rögnvald’s men, and during the night he rowed alone in a boat
over to Ness (Caithness). Earl Rögnvald burnt the house, with all who
were in it, and no one thought otherwise than that Earl Thorfinn had
perished there.
After this Rögnvald went over the Islands and took possession of them
all. He also sent messages over to Ness (Caithness), and to the Sudreyar
(Hebrides), to the effect that he intended to have all the dominions of
Thorfinn, and nobody spoke against him. Earl Thorfinn was then in
Caithness in hiding with his friends, and no news went abroad of his
escape from the burning.
CHAPTER XVIII
EARL RÖGNVALD SLAIN.
EARL RÖGNVALD resided in Kirkiuvag (Kirkwall), and brought there all
necessaries for the winter; he had a great number of men, and
entertained them liberally. A little before Christmas the Earl went with
a numerous following into little Papey[270] to fetch malt for the
Christmas brewing. The evening which they stayed in the islands they sat
a long time round the fires to warm themselves, and he who had to keep
up the fires said they were running short of fuel. Then the Earl made a
slip of the tongue in speaking, and said: “We shall be old enough when
these fires are burnt out,” but he intended to have said that they would
be warm enough; and when he noticed his blunder he said: “I made a slip
of the tongue in speaking just now; I do not remember that I ever did so
before, and now I recollect what my foster-father King Olaf said at
Stiklestad when I noticed a slip of the tongue which he made—namely,
that if it ever so happened that I should make a slip in my speech I
should not expect to live long after it. It may be that my kinsman
Thorfinn is still alive.”
At that moment they heard that the house was surrounded by men. It was
Earl Thorfinn and his men. They set the house on fire immediately, and
heaped up a large pile before the door. Thorfinn permitted all others to
come out except Earl Rögnvald’s men, and when most of them had gone out
a man came to the door dressed in linen clothes only, and asked Earl
Thorfinn to lend a hand to the deacon; this man placed his hands on the
wall and sprang over it and over the ring of men, and came down a great
way off, and disappeared immediately in the darkness of the night. Earl
Thorfinn told his men to go after him, saying: “There went the Earl, for
that is his feat and no other man’s.” They went away, and divided into
parties to search for him. Thorkel Fóstri with some others went along
the beach, and they heard the barking of a dog among the rocks by the
sea. Earl Rögnvald had had his favourite dog with him. Thorkel had the
Earl seized, and asked his men to kill him, offering them a reward in
money. But no one would do it. So Thorkel Fóstri slew Earl Rögnvald
himself, as he knew that one of the two (Earls) must die. Then Earl
Thorfinn came up, and did not find fault with the deed. They spent the
night in the island, and all were killed who had accompanied Earl
Rögnvald thither.
Next morning they took a barge and filled it with malt; then they went
on board and ranged the shields which had belonged to Earl Rögnvald and
his men along the bulwarks, neither had they more men in the barge than
Rögnvald had had. So they rowed to Kirkiuvag (Kirkwall); and when those
of Rögnvald’s men who were there saw the vessel they thought it was Earl
Rögnvald and his men returning, and they went unarmed to meet them.
Thorfinn seized thirty of them and slew them; most of them were henchmen
and friends of King Magnus. To one of the King’s henchmen the Earl gave
quarter, and told him to go east to Norway and tell King Magnus the
tidings.
CHAPTER XIX
EARL RÖGNVALD’S BURIAL.
THE body of Earl Rögnvald was brought to the larger Papey[271] and
buried there. Men said that he was one of the most accomplished and
best-beloved of all the Earls of the Orkneys; and his death was greatly
lamented by all the people.
After this Earl Thorfinn took possession of the whole of the Islands,
and no one spoke against him.
Early in the spring these tidings came east to Norway to King Magnus. He
regarded the death of Rögnvald, his foster-brother, as a great loss, and
said he would avenge him by and by, but just then he was at war with
King Swein, Ulf’s son.[272]
CHAPTER XX
EARL THORFINN COMES TO KING HARALD.
ABOUT this time King Harald, Sigurd’s son,[273] King Magnus’s uncle,
arrived in Norway, and King Magnus gave him the half of the kingdom. One
winter they called out men from the whole of Norway, intending to go
south to Denmark, but while they lay in Seley[274] two war ships rowed
into the harbour and up to King Magnus’s ship. A man in a white cloak
went from the [strange] ship, and along the [King’s] ship, and up to the
quarterdeck. The King sat at meat; the man saluted him, and taking up a
loaf he broke it and ate of it. The King received his salutation, and
handed the cup to him when he saw that he ate the bread. The King looked
at him and said: “Who is this man?”
“My name is Thorfinn,” he said.
“Art thou Earl Thorfinn?” said the King.
“So am I called in the west,” he said, “and I am here with two ships of
twenty benches, well manned considering our means, and I wish now to
join in this expedition with you, if you will accept my assistance; all
my men and I myself are in God’s power and yours, my lord, on account of
my great misdeeds by which I have offended you.”
In the meantime some men gathered together and listened to their
conversation.
“It is true, Earl Thorfinn” (said the King), “that I intended, in case
we should meet, that you should not have to tell of our parting, but now
matters stand so that it does not become my dignity to have you slain,
and you shall go with me now, but the terms of our reconciliation I will
declare when I am more at leisure.”
Earl Thorfinn thanked the King and returned to his ship. The King stayed
a long time in Seley, and men gathered to him from Vík;[275] for he
intended to sail to Jutland when he obtained a fair wind. Thorfinn was
often in conversation with the King, who treated him in a friendly
manner, and had him frequently present at his councils.
One day the Earl went on board the King’s ship, and went up to the poop.
The King asked him to sit down. The Earl sat down, and they both drank
together and were merry. A tall brave-looking man, dressed in a red
tunic, came to the poop and saluted the King, who received his greeting
graciously. He was one of the King’s henchmen. He said: “I have come to
see you, Earl Thorfinn.”
“What is your business with me?” said the Earl.
“I wish to know what compensation you intend to give me for my brother
who was killed by your orders out west in Kirkiuvag (Kirkwall), along
with others of King Magnus’s henchmen.”
“Have you never heard,” said the Earl, “that it is not my wont to pay
money for the men whom I cause to be killed?”
“I have nothing to do with how you have treated other people, if you pay
the manbote for him for whom it devolves on me to seek compensation. I
also lost some money there myself, and was shamefully treated. It is
more binding on me than any one else to seek redress for my brother and
myself, and therefore I now demand it. The King may remit offences
committed against himself, even if he thinks it of no importance that
his henchmen are led out and slaughtered like sheep.”
The Earl answered: “I understand it to be to my advantage here that I am
not in your power. Are not you the man to whom I gave quarter there?”
“True enough,” said he, “it was in your power to have killed me like the
others.”
Then the Earl said: “Now the saying proves true—‘That often happens to
many which they least expect.’ I never thought I should be so placed
that it would be injurious to me to have been too generous to my
enemies; but now I have to pay for having given you quarter; you would
not have denounced me to-day in the presence of chiefs if I had caused
you to be killed like your comrades.”
The King looked at the Earl and said: “There it comes out still, Earl
Thorfinn, that you think you have killed too few of my henchmen without
compensation.” While saying this the king turned blood-red [with anger].
The Earl started up and left the poop, and returned to his own ship, and
all was quiet during the evening. In the morning, when the men awoke, a
fair wind had sprung up, and they rowed away from the harbour. The King
sailed south to Jutland with the whole fleet. In the earlier part of the
day the Earl’s ship stood out farther to sea, and in the afternoon he
took a westerly course, and there is nothing to be told of him till he
arrived in the Orkneys, and resumed the government of his dominions.
King Magnus and Harald sailed to Denmark, and spent the summer there.
King Swein was unwilling to meet them, and stayed in Skàney[276] with
his army. That summer King Magnus was seized with an illness of which he
died; but he had previously declared that he gave the whole kingdom of
Norway to his uncle Harald.
CHAPTER XXI
EARL THORFINN’S MESSAGE TO KING HARALD (HARDRADI).
EARL THORFINN now ruled the Orkneys and all his dominions. Kálf Arnason
was frequently with him. Sometimes he made viking expeditions to the
west, and plundered in Scotland and Ireland. He was also in England, and
at one time he was the chief of the Thingmen.
When Earl Thorfinn heard of the death of King Magnus, he sent men to
Norway to King Harald with a friendly message, saying that he wished to
become his friend. When the messengers reached the King he received them
well, and promised the Earl his friendship. When the Earl received this
message from the King he made himself ready, taking from the west two
ships of twenty benches, with more than a hundred men, all fine troops,
and went east to Norway. He found the King in Hördaland, and he received
him exceedingly well, and at their parting the King gave him handsome
presents. From thence the Earl went southwards along the coast to
Denmark. He went through the country, and found King Svein in
Alaborg;[277] he invited him to stay, and made a splendid feast for him.
Then the Earl made it known that he was going to Rome;[278] but when he
came to Saxland he called on the Emperor Heinrek, who received him
exceedingly well, and gave him many valuable presents. He also gave him
many horses, and the Earl rode south to Rome, and saw the Pope, from
whom he obtained absolution for all his sins.
Then the Earl returned, and arrived safely home in his dominions. He
left off making war expeditions, and turned his mind to the government
of his land and his people, and to the making of laws. He resided
frequently in Birgishérad (Birsay), and built there Christ’s Kirk, a
splendid church; and there was the first Bishop’s see in the Orkneys.
Thorfinn’s wife was Ingibiorg, [called] the mother of the Earls. They
had two sons who arrived at manhood; one was called Paul, the other
Erlend. They were men of large stature, fine-looking, wise, and gentle,
more resembling their mother’s relations. They were much loved by the
Earl and all the people.
CHAPTER XXII
OF EARL THORFINN’s DEATH.
EARL THORFINN retained all his dominions to his dying day, and it is
truly said that he was the most powerful of all the Earls of the
Orkneys. He obtained possession of eleven Earldoms in Scotland, all the
Sudreyar (Hebrides), and a large territory in Ireland. So says Arnór
Jarlaskáld—
Unto Thorfinn, ravens’ feeder,
Armies had to yield obedience
From Thussasker[279] right on to Dublin.
Truth I tell, as is recorded.
Earl Thorfinn was five winters old when Malcolm[280] the King of Scots,
his mother’s father, gave him the title of Earl, and after that he was
Earl for seventy winters. He died towards the end of Harald Sigurdson’s
reign.[281] He is buried at Christ’s Kirk in Birgishérad (Birsay), which
he had built. He was much lamented in his hereditary dominions; but in
those parts which he had conquered by force of arms many considered it
very hard to be under his rule, and [after his death] many provinces
which he had subdued turned away and sought help from the chiefs who
were odal-born to the government of them.[282] Then it soon became
apparent how great a loss Thorfinn’s death was to his dominions.
The following stanzas were made about the battle between Earl Rögnvald,
Brùsi’s son, and Earl Thorfinn:—
Since the Earls have broken friendship
Peace I can enjoy no longer.
Feasts of corpses to the ravens
Each has in his turn provided.
Off the Islands were the blue tents
By the mighty rent asunder,
Dabbled were the foul birds’ feathers
In red blood ’neath lofty branches.
Have ye heard how Kalfr followed
Finnr’s son-in-law in battle?
Quickly didst thou push thy vessels
’Gainst the Earl’s ships on the water.
To destroy the son of Brúsi,
Thou, courageous ship’s commander
Wast unwilling, but of hatred
Mindful, didst thou help Thorfinn.
When the Earls had joined in battle
Misery there was unbounded.
Thick and fast the men were falling
In the struggle; sad the hour when
Nearer went the daring Eastmen
To the unexampled fire-rain.
In that battle off the Red Biorg
Many a noble man was wounded.
Swarthy shall become the bright sun,
In the black sea shall the earth sink,
Finished shall be Austri’s labour,
And the wild sea hide the mountains,
Ere there be in those fair Islands
Born a chief to rule the people—
May our God both help and keep them—
Greater than the lost Earl Thorfinn.
CHAPTER XXIII
OF THE EARLS PAUL AND ERLEND, AND GENEALOGIES.
NOW the sons of Earl Thorfinn succeeded him. Paul was the elder of the
two, and he ruled for both of them. They did not divide their
possessions, yet they almost always agreed in their dealings.
Ingibiorg, the mother of the Earls, was married to Malcolm, King of
Scots,[283] who was called Langháls (Longneck), and their son was
Duncan, King of Scots, the father of William the excellent man; his son
was called William Odling (the Noble), whom all the Scots wished to have
for their King.[284]
Earl Paul, Thorfinn’s son, married the daughter of Earl Hákon, Ivar’s
son, by whom he had many children. They had a son called Hákon, and a
daughter called Thóra, who was married in Norway to Haldór, son of
Brynjúlf Ulfaldi (camel). Another son of theirs, named Brynjúlf, married
Gyrid, Dag’s daughter. A second daughter of Paul, called Ingirid, was
married to Einar Vorsakrák. Herbiörg was the third daughter of Paul. She
was the mother of Ingibiorg Ragna, who was married to Sigurd of
Westness; their sons were Hákon Pík, and Brynjúlf. Sigrid was a second
daughter of Herbiörg. She was the mother of Hakon Barn and of Herborg,
who was married to Kolbein Hruga. The fourth daughter of Earl Paul was
Ragnhild, who was the mother of Benidikt, the father of Ingibiorg, the
mother of Erling Erkidiákn (archdeacon). Ragnhild had a daughter, by
name Bergliót, who was married to Hávard, Gunnar’s son. Their sons were
Magnus, Hákon Kló (claw), Dúfniál, and Thorstein. All those were the
families of Earls and chiefs in the Orkneys, and all of them will be
mentioned in this Saga afterwards. The wife of Earl Erlend, Thorfinn’s
son, was Thóra, the daughter of Sumarlidi, Ospak’s son; the mother of
Ospak was Thórdís, the daughter of Hall of Sída (in Iceland). Their sons
were Erling and Magnus, and their daughters Gunnhild, and Cecilia, who
was married to Isak, and their sons were Indridi and Kol. Erling had a
natural daughter called Játvör; her son was Berg.
CHAPTER XXIV
HERE IS TOLD OF THE DEATH OF KING HARALD AND HIS DAUGHTER.
When the brothers Paul and Erlend had succeeded to the government of the
Orkneys, King Harald Sigurdson (Hardradi) came from Norway with a large
army. He first touched Hjaltland; from thence he went to the Orkneys,
and left there his Queen Ellisif, and their daughters Maria and
Ingigerd. From the Orkneys he had many troops; both the Earls went with
him on the expedition. He went from Orkney to England, and landed at a
place called Klifland (Cleaveland), and took Skardaborg (Scarborough).
Then he touched at Hallarnes (Holderness), and had a battle there, in
which he was victorious. The Wednesday next before Matthiasmas (20th
September) he had a battle at Jórvík (York) with the Earls Valthióf and
Mórukári. Mórukári was slain there.[285] Next Sunday the borg at
Stamfordbridge surrendered to him; and he went on shore to arrange the
government of the town; and there he left his son Olaf, the Earls Paul
and Erlend, and his brother-in-law Eystein Orri. While he was on shore
he was met by Harald Gudinason (Godwinson) at the head of a numerous
army. In that battle King Harald Sigurdson fell. After the death of the
King, Eystein Orri and the Earls arrived from the ship, and made a stout
resistance. There Eystein Orri fell, and almost the whole army of the
Northmen with him.
After the battle King Harald (Godwinson) permitted Olaf, the son of King
Harald Sigurdson, and the Earls to leave England, with all the troops
that had not fled. Olaf sailed in the autumn from Hrafnseyri[286] to the
Orkneys. The same day and at the same hour as King Harald fell, his
daughter Maria died, and it is said that they had but one life.
Olaf spent the winter in the Orkneys, and was very friendly to the
Earls, his kinsmen. Thóra, the mother of King Olaf, and Ingibiorg, the
mother of the Earls, were daughters of two brothers. In the spring Olaf
went to Norway, and was made King along with his brother Magnus.
While the brothers (Paul and Erlend) ruled the Orkneys they agreed
extremely well a long time; but when their sons came to manhood Erling
and Hákon became very violent. Magnus was the quietest of them all. They
were all men of large stature, and strong, and accomplished in
everything. Hákon, Paul’s son, wished to take the lead among his
brothers; he considered himself of higher birth than the sons of Erlend,
as he was the daughter’s son of Earl Hákon Ivar’s son, and Ragnhild, the
daughter of King Magnus the Good. Hákon wished his friends to have the
lion’s share of everything before those who leant to the sons of Erlend,
but Erlend did not like his sons to be inferior to any in the Islands.
Matters went so far that the kinsmen could not be together without
danger. Then their fathers persuaded them to compose their differences.
A meeting was appointed, but it soon became apparent that each [of the
fathers] was inclined to take the part of his sons, and therefore they
did not agree. Thus dissensions arose between the brothers, and they
parted without coming to an agreement, which was by many considered a
great misfortune.
CHAPTER XXV
A MEETING OF PEACE.
AFTER this well-disposed men interfered and tried to reconcile them. A
meeting for reconciliation was appointed in Hrossey,[287] and at that
meeting they made peace on the understanding that the Islands should be
divided in two shares, as they had been between Thorfinn and Brúsi, and
thus matters stood for a while.
When Hákon had arrived at the age of manhood he was continually on war
expeditions. He became a very violent man, and greatly molested those
who adhered to Erlend and his sons; and this went so far that they came
to open enmity a second time, and attacked each other with numerous
troops. Hávard, Gunnar’s son, and all the principal friends of the
Earls, consulted once more and tried to make peace between them. This
time Erlend and his sons refused to make peace if Hákon remained in the
Islands; and because their friends considered their quarrels so
dangerous to themselves, they besought Hákon not to let the condition
that he should leave the Islands for a time stand in the way of peace.
Then, by the advice of good men, they became reconciled.
After this Hákon left the Islands, and first went east to Norway, and
saw there King Olaf Kyrri (the quiet), and stayed with him for a while.
This was towards the end of his reign. After that he went east to Sweden
to King Ingi, Steinkel’s son, who received him well. He found friends
and kinsmen there, and was highly honoured on account of the esteem in
which Hákon, his mother’s father, was held. He had possessions from
Steinkel, the King of the Swedes, ever since he was banished by King
Harald, Sigurd’s son, and became greatly beloved both by the King and
the people. A second daughter’s son of Earl Hákon, Ivar’s son, was Hákon
who was called the Norwegian; he was the father of King Eirík Spaki (the
wise), who was King of Denmark after Eirík Eymuni (the ever-remembered).
Hákon remained in Sweden for a while, and was well treated by King Ingi.
But when some time had passed in this way he felt so home-sick that he
wanted to go west again to the Islands. Christianity then was young, and
newly planted in Sweden. Many men still dabbled in ancient lore, and
were persuaded that by such means they were able to ascertain future
events. King Ingi was a good Christian man, and loathed all those that
meddled in ancient [superstitious] lore, and made strenuous efforts to
abolish the evil customs which for a long time had accompanied
heathenism; but the chiefs and leading Bœndr murmured loudly if they
were reproved for their evil habits, and at last matters went so far
that the Bœndr elected another King, Swein, the brother of the Queen,
who permitted them to make sacrifices, and was therefore called
“Sacrificing Swein.” King Ingi had to flee from him to Western Gautland
(Gothland); but their dealings ended thus, that King Ingi caught Swein
by surprise in a house, and burnt the house and him in it. After this he
subdued the whole country, and uprooted many wicked customs.
CHAPTER XXVI
OF THE WORDS OF THE SPAE-MAN.
WHEN Hákon, Paul’s son, was in Sweden he had heard of a man in that
country who practised sorcery and spae-craft, whether he used for those
purposes witchcraft or other magical arts. Hákon became very curious to
see this man, and anxious to know what he could ascertain about his
future. So he went in search of the man, and at last he found him in a
seaside district, where he went from one feast to another, and foretold
the seasons and other things to the country people. When Hákon had found
this man, he inquired of him whether he would succeed in regaining his
dominions, or what other fortune awaited him. The spae-man asked him who
he was, and he told him his name and family—that he was the daughter’s
son of Hákon, Ivar’s son.
The spae-man then said: “Why should you ask foresight or knowledge of
the future from me? You know well that your kinsmen have had little
liking for such men as I am; and yet it might be necessary for you to
try to ascertain your fate from your friend, Olaf the Stout, in whom all
your faith is placed; but I suspect that he would not condescend to tell
you what you are anxious to know, or else he may not be so mighty as you
call him.”
Hákon answered: “I will not reproach him, and I should rather think I
was not worthy to learn wisdom from him, than that he was incapable; so
that I might learn from him for that matter. But I have come to you,
because I thought that we had no reason to envy each other on account of
virtue or religion.”
The spae-man replied: “I am glad to find that you place your entire
trust in me, and not in that faith which you and your kinsmen profess.
Truly they who apply themselves to such things are strange men. They
keep fasts and vigils, and believe that by such means they will be able
to ascertain that which they desire to know; but the more they apply
themselves to these things, the less they ascertain of what they wish to
know when it is most important to them to know it. But we undergo no
bodily pains, yet we always obtain knowledge of those things which it is
of importance to our friends not to be ignorant of. Now matters will go
between us in this way, that I shall help you because I understand that
you think you will rather obtain the truth from me than from the
preachers of King Ingi, in whom he puts his entire trust. After three
nights’ time you shall come to me, and then we shall try whether I may
be able to tell you any of the things you wish to know.”
Upon this they parted, and Hákon stayed in the district. When three
nights had passed, he went again to see the spae-man. He was in a
certain house alone, and groaned heavily as Hákon entered. He passed his
hand across his forehead, and said that it had cost him much pain to
obtain the knowledge which Hákon desired. Hákon then said he wished to
hear his future.
The spae-man said: “If you wish your whole fate unfolded, it is long to
tell, for there is a great future in store for you, and grand events
will happen at certain periods of your life. I foresee that you will at
last become the sole ruler of the Orkneys; but you will perhaps think
you have long to wait. I also see that your sons will rule there. Your
next journey to the Orkneys will be a very eventful one, when its
consequences appear. In your days you will also commit a crime,[288] for
which you may or may not obtain pardon from the God in whom you believe.
Your steps go farther out into the world than I am able to trace, yet I
think you will rest your bones in the northern parts. Now I have told
you what has been given me to tell you at this time, but what
satisfaction you may have derived from your visit rests with yourself.”
Hákon replied: “Great things you have foretold, if they turn out to be
true; but I think my fate will prove itself better than you have said;
and perhaps you have not seen the truth.”
The spae-man said he was free to believe what he liked of it, but that
such events would not the less surely come to pass.
CHAPTER XXVII
OF THE SCHEMES OF HAKON, PAUL’S SON.
AFTER this Hákon went to see King Ingi, and stayed with him a short
while. Then he obtained leave from the King to depart. He went first to
Norway to see his kinsman, King Magnus, who received him very well.
There he heard that the government of the Orkneys was almost exclusively
in the hands of Earl Erlend and his sons, and that they were greatly
loved, but that his father Paul took little part in the government. He
also thought he could perceive from conversations with men from the
Orkneys, who gave him a true account of the state of matters, that the
Orkneymen had no desire for his return home. They were living in peace
and quiet, and were afraid that Hákon’s return would give rise to
disturbance and strife. When Hákon was turning this over in his mind, he
thought it likely that his kinsmen would try to keep him out of his
possessions, and that it would be dangerous for him if he did not go
west with a numerous retinue. Then he devised a scheme to induce King
Magnus to put him into his possessions in the Orkneys.
CHAPTER XXVIII
HAKON’S INTERVIEW WITH KING MAGNUS.
THIS was after King Magnus had put Steigar Thórir and Egil to death, and
put down all opposition to his rule. Hákon was a sagacious man, and he
thought he could understand from King Magnus’s conversation that he was
ambitious of grand undertakings, and covetous of the possessions of
other rulers. Hákon began to tell the King that it would be a princely
feat to make an expedition to the west, and subdue the Islands, as
Harald the Fairhaired had done. He also said that if he established his
power in the Sudreyar (Hebrides), he might easily make forays into
Ireland and Scotland from them. Then, having subdued the western
countries, he might attack the English, with the help of the Northmen,
and thus take revenge for his grandfather Harald, Sigurd’s son.
When they were speaking about these things, it became evident that the
King was pleased with this proposal, and said it was spoken like a
nobleman, and quite according to his own mind. “But I wish you not to be
surprised, Hákon,” said the King, “in case I shall be persuaded by your
words to carry an army into the west, if I put forward a strong claim to
the possessions there, without regard to the claims of any man.”
When Hákon heard this suggestion, he was not so well pleased, because he
suspected the real meaning of the King’s words; and after this he no
longer persuaded the King to go; neither was it required, for after
their conversation, the King sent messages throughout his dominions to
make known that he was soon to lead out an expedition, and then he made
it known to the people that he was going to the west, whatever might be
the result. Preparations were made for the expedition throughout the
whole kingdom. King Magnus took with him his son Sigurd, who was eight
winters old, and a hopeful boy.
CHAPTER XXIX
THE WESTERN EXPEDITION OF MAGNUS BARELEGS.
WHEN the brothers Paul and Erlend ruled the Orkneys, King Magnus came
from Norway. He had a large army. Many of his vassals followed him,
among whom were Vidkunn Jonsson, Sigurd Hrani’s son, Serk from Sogn, Dag
Eilif’s son, Skapti from Gizki, Ogmund, Finn and Thórd, Eyvind Olnbogi
(the King’s High Steward), Kali, Snæbiörn’s son from Agdir, the son of
Thorleif Spaki (the wise) who was maimed by Hallfred, and Kol his son.
Kali was a very wise man, much esteemed by the king, and made verses
well.
When King Magnus came to the Orkneys, he seized the Earls Paul and
Erlend, and sent them east to Norway, but placed his son Sigurd over the
Isles, and gave him counsellors. King Magnus went to the Sudreyar
(Hebrides), accompanied by Magnus and Erling, the sons of Earl Erlend,
and Hákon, Paul’s son. But when King Magnus came to the Islands, he
began hostilities first at Liódhús (Lewis), and gained a victory there.
In this expedition he subdued the whole of the Sudreyar, and seized
Lögman, the son of Gudröd, King of the Western Islands. Thence he went
to Bretland (Wales), and fought a great battle in Anglesea Sound with
two British chiefs[289]—Hugh the Stout and Hugh the Bold. When the men
took up their arms and buckled for the fight, Magnus, Erlend’s son, sat
down on the foredeck, and did not take his arms. The King asked why he
did not do so. He said he had nothing against any one there, and would
not therefore fight.
The King said: “Go down below, and do not lie among other people’s feet
if you dare not fight, for I do not believe that you do this from
religious motives.”
Magnus took a psalter and sang during the battle, and did not shelter
himself. The battle was long and fiercely contested, and both swords and
missiles were used. For a long time the result of the battle was
doubtful. King Magnus shot from a bow, and a man from Hálogaland[290]
was with him. Hugh the Bold fought valiantly. He had a suit of armour
which covered him entirely, except his eyes. King Magnus ordered the man
from Hálogaland to shoot at the same time as he did, and they shot both
at once. One of the arrows struck the nose-piece of the helmet, and the
other pierced the eye, and that was said to be the king’s arrow.
CHAPTER XXX
KALI’S DEATH.
AFTER Hugh’s death the British (Normans) fled, and King Magnus obtained
a great victory. He lost there many brave men, and many others were
wounded. Kali had received many wounds, but none mortal. After the
battle King Magnus sailed from the south along the coasts of Bretland
and Scotland, having conquered all the Sudreyar and Anglesea, which is
one-third of Bretland.
King Magnus had appointed Magnus, Erlend’s son, as one of the waiters at
his table, and he performed continually the duties of that office; but
after the battle in Anglesea Sound the king showed that Magnus had
incurred his serious displeasure. He had not been wounded, although he
had not sheltered himself. During the night he stole away from the King,
and hid himself for some time in the woods, while the King’s men made a
search for him. Magnus made his way to the court of Malcolm,[291] the
King of Scots, and remained there a while. For some time he was with a
certain bishop in Bretland. He was also in England; but he did not come
to the Orkneys while King Magnus was alive.
King Magnus held northward, along the coasts of Scotland, and messengers
came to him from Malcolm, the King of Scots, to ask for peace. They said
that the King of Scots was willing to give him all the islands lying
west of Scotland, between which and the mainland he could pass in a
vessel with the rudder shipped. Thereupon King Magnus landed in Satiri
(Kintyre), and had a boat drawn across the neck (isthmus) of
Satiri,[292] he himself holding the helm, and thus he gained possession
of the whole of Satiri, which is better than the best island of the
Sudreyar, Man excepted. It is in the west of Scotland, and on the land
side there is a narrow isthmus, across which vessels are frequently
drawn. Thence King Magnus went to the Sudreyar, and sent his men into
Scotland’s Fiord.[293] They rowed in along one coast and out along
another, and thus took possession of all the islands west of Scotland.
Then the King made it known that he was going to spend the winter in the
Sudreyar, but gave permission to those who had most urgent business to
go home. When the troops knew this, they all wished to go home, and
murmured greatly at being longer detained. The King then held a council
with his advisers, and looked at the wounds of his men. He saw Kali, and
asked about his wounds. Kali said they did not heal well, and that he
did not know what the end would be. The King asked for his advice. Kali
said: “Is it not so that your friends are now failing you?” The King
said he did not think so. Kali asked him to hold a wapinschaw, and thus
to ascertain the number of his troops. This the King did; then he missed
many men. This he told to Kali. Then Kali sang:
How do thy great chiefs repay thee
For the bounties lavished on them?
Now, O King, of this make trial—
On western currents ships are shaken.
The King replied:
Surely it was in my folly
That my wealth I gave to these men;
Yet my long ships, swiftly speeding,
Still shall climb the chilly billows.
After this the King kept a watch to prevent men from deserting.
When King Magnus was in the Sudreyar, he obtained the hand of Biadmonia,
the daughter of Mýrkiartan,[294] the son of Thiálbi, the King of the
Irish in Kunnáttir (Connaught), for his son Sigurd, who was then nine
winters old, and she five. This winter Kali died from his wounds. Sigurd
Sneis (slice), Kali’s kinsman, a Lenderman from Agdir, had fallen in
Anglesea Sound.
CHAPTER XXXI
BIRTH OF KALI, SON OF KOL.
EARLY in the spring King Magnus left the Sudreyar, and went first to the
Orkneys, where he heard of the death of the Earls. Erlend died in
Nidaros,[295] and was buried there; and Paul died in Biörgvin (Bergen).
Then King Magnus married Gunnhild, the daughter of Earl Erlend, to Kol,
Kali’s son, in order to compensate him for (the loss of) his father. Her
dowry consisted of possessions in the Orkneys, including a farm at
Papul.[296] Some say that Erling, Erlend’s son, fell in Anglesea Sound,
but Snorri Sturluson says he fell in Uladstir[297] with King Magnus. At
his wedding Kol became King Magnus’s vassal. Afterwards he went to
Norway with the King, and home to Agdir with his wife, and went to
reside at his estates there. Kol and Gunnhild had two children; their
son was called Kali, and their daughter Ingirid. They were both very
promising children, and brought up with affectionate care.
CHAPTER XXXII.
SIGURD MADE KING.
When Magnus had been king nine winters, he went to the west, and made
war in Ireland, and spent the winter in Kunnáttir (Connaught). The next
summer, on St. Bartholomew’s Day, he fell in Uladstir (Ulster). When
Sigurd heard in the Orkneys of the death of his father, he went
immediately to Norway, and was made king, along with his brothers
Eystein and Olaf. He had left the daughter of the Irish king in the
west.
One winter or two after the death of King Magnus, Hákon, Paul’s son,
came from the west, and the kings gave him an earl’s title and
possessions beseeming his birth. Then he returned to the west and took
possession of the Orkneys. He had always accompanied King Magnus while
he was alive. He was with him in his expedition to Gautland, which is
mentioned in the song made about Hákon, Paul’s son.
CHAPTER XXXIII
MAGNUS (ERLEND’S SON) OBTAINS THE TITLE OF EARL.
WHEN Earl Hákon had ruled the Orkneys for some time, Magnus, the son of
Earl Erlend, came from Scotland, and wished to take possession of his
patrimony. The Bœndr were highly pleased with this, for he was beloved
among them, and had many kinsmen and connections who wished to help him
to his dominions. His mother was married to a man called Sigurd. Their
son was named Hákon Karl (man). They had estates in Papul. When Earl
Hákon heard that Earl Magnus had come to the Orkneys, he collected men
together, and refused to give up any part of the Islands. But their
friends tried to make peace between them, and at last they succeeded so
far that Hákon consented to give up half of his dominions if the Kings
of Norway approved of it. Magnus went immediately to Norway to see King
Eystein, for King Sigurd had then gone to Jerusalem.[298] King Eystein
received him exceedingly well, and gave up to him his patrimony,
one-half of the Orkneys, with the title of Earl. Thereupon Magnus went
west to his dominions, and his kinsmen and friends and all the people
were glad to see him back. Through the kind offices of mutual friends,
Magnus and Hákon agreed very well. So long as their friendship continued
there were good times and peace in the Orkneys.
CHAPTER XXXIV
OF EARL MAGNUS (ERLEND’S SON).
THE holy Magnus, Earl of the Islands, was a most excellent man. He was
of large stature, a man of a noble presence and intellectual
countenance. He was of blameless life, victorious in battles, wise,
eloquent, strong-minded, liberal and magnanimous, sagacious in counsels,
and more beloved than any other man. To wise men and good he was gentle
and affable in his conversation; but severe and unsparing with robbers
and vikings. Many of those who plundered the landowners and the
inhabitants of the land he caused to be put to death. He also seized
murderers and thieves, and punished rich and poor impartially for
robberies and thefts and all crimes. He was just in his judgments, and
had more respect to divine justice than difference in the estates of
men. He gave large presents to chiefs and rich men, yet the greatest
share of his liberality was given to the poor. In all things he strictly
obeyed the divine commands; and he chastened his body in many things,
which in his glorious life were known to God, but hidden from men. Thus,
he made known his intention to espouse a maiden of a most excellent
family in Scotland, and having celebrated his marriage, he lived with
her for ten winters free from the defilement of carnal lusts, for he was
pure and spotless with regard to all such sins, and if he were tempted,
he bathed in cold water, and prayed for divine assistance. Many other
glorious virtues he exhibited to God himself, but concealed from men.
CHAPTER XXXV
OF MAGNUS AND HAKON.
MAGNUS and Hákon ruled their lands and defended them for some time, the
two agreeing very well. In a song made about them, it is said that they
fought with a chief called Dúfniál, their third cousin, who fell before
them. They also slew a famous man named Thorbiörn, in Borgarfiord,[299]
in Hjaltland. Other deeds of theirs are set forth in song, though not
specially narrated here. When they had ruled the land for some time, it
happened, as often is the case, that men of evil dispositions were found
who destroyed their good understanding. Hákon was more disposed to
listen to these miserable men, because he was very jealous of the
popularity and greatness of his kinsman Magnus.
CHAPTER XXXVI
OF EARL MAGNUS.
TWO men with Earl Hákon are chiefly mentioned as being the worst in
creating enmity between the two kinsmen. These were Sigurd and Sighvat
Sokki (sock). Through the slander of wicked men this enmity went so far
that the Earls gathered troops together and went to meet each other.
Both went to Hrossey, where the Orkney Thingstead[300] was, and when
they arrived there, both drew up their troops in battle array, and
prepared to fight. There were both the Earls and all the chief men, many
(of whom) were friends of both, and did all they could to make peace
between them, showing much goodwill and virtuous disposition. This
meeting was during Lent. But, as many well-disposed men joined
themselves together to avert hostilities between them, and to assist
neither of them against the other, they confirmed their reconciliation
with oaths and shaking of hands.
Some time after this, Earl Hákon, with hypocrisy and fair words,
appointed a day of meeting with the blessed Earl Magnus, so that their
friendship and the newly-made peace should neither be disturbed nor
destroyed. This meeting, which was to confirm their peace and
reconciliation, should take place in the spring, in the Pasch week, in
Egilsey.[301] Earl Magnus was well pleased with this arrangement, as he
thought it was meant to confirm a sincere peace, without any suspicions,
treachery, or covetousness. Each of them should have two ships and an
equal number of men (at the conference). Both swore to keep the peace,
on conditions dictated by the wisest men.
Immediately after Easter, preparations were made for the meeting. Earl
Magnus summoned all those whom he knew to be best disposed to him, and
most likely to make matters smooth between them. He had two ships, and
as many men as had been agreed upon, and when he was ready he went to
Egilsey. As they were rowing in calm and smooth water a great wave rose
under the ship, which was steered by the Earl, and broke over it where
he sat. His men wondered very much at such an occurrence,—that a breaker
should rise in smooth water where no man could remember a breaker to
have arisen, and where the water was so deep. Then the Earl said: “No
wonder that you are surprised at this. Indeed, I take this as a
foreboding of my death. Perhaps it will come to pass as was prophesied
about Earl Hákon, and this may be to prepare us for Hákon, my kinsman,
not dealing honestly with me at this meeting.” The Earl’s men became
very sorrowful when he spoke of his death being near at hand, and begged
him to take care of his life, and not to trust himself to the good faith
of Earl Hákon. Earl Magnus answered: “Let us go this time, and let all
that depends on our journey be in God’s will.”
CHAPTER XXXVII
EARL HAKON AND EARL MAGNUS.
NOW it is to be told of Earl Hákon that he gathered together a numerous
army, and had many ships equipped as if for battle. And when the troops
were assembled, he made known to his men that he intended that this
meeting should decide between him and Earl Magnus, so that both of them
should not rule over the Orkneys. Many of his men approved of this plan,
adding many wicked suggestions to it, yet Sigurd and Sighvat Sokki
counselled the worst things.
Then they began to row fast, and went along quickly. Hávard, Gunnar’s
son, who was the friend and counsellor of the Earls, and equally
faithful to both, was on board the Earl’s ship. Hákon had concealed this
wicked plan from him, in which he would by no means have had any part.
And when he knew that the Earl was so resolute in this wicked purpose,
he jumped overboard, and swam to a certain uninhabited island.
Earl Magnus arrived first with his men at Egilsey, and when they saw
Earl Hákon coming they perceived that he had eight war-ships. Then Earl
Magnus suspected that he intended to act treacherously towards him. So
he walked along the island with his men, and went into the church to
pray. His men offered to defend him. The Earl replied: “I will not put
your lives in danger for mine, and if peace cannot be established
between us, let it be as God wills.” His men now recognised the truth of
his words, and as he foreknew the hours of his life—whether from his
wisdom or from a divine revelation—he would neither fly nor avoid his
enemies. He prayed devoutly, and had a mass sung for him.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
THE OFFERS OF EARL MAGNUS.
HAKON and his men came up in the morning, and ran first to the church
and ransacked it, but did not find the Earl. He had gone to another part
of the island, to a certain hiding-place, accompanied by two men. But
when the holy Earl Magnus saw that they searched for him, he called to
them, and thus made known to them where he was, and said they need
search no farther. And when Hákon saw him, he and his men ran thither
with loud yelling and clangour of their weapons.
Earl Magnus was praying when they came up to him, and when he had
finished his prayer he made the sign of the cross, and said firmly to
Earl Hákon: “You did not act well, kinsman, when you broke your oaths,
and it is highly probable that you were instigated to this more by the
wickedness of others than your own. Now, I will make you three offers,
that you may rather accept one of them than break your oaths, and slay
me who am innocent.”
Hákon’s men asked what these offers were.
“The first is, that I shall go to Rome, or away to Jerusalem, and visit
the holy places, taking with me two ships from the Orkneys, with the
necessary equipment for the journey, and obtain benefits for the souls
of us both. I shall swear never to return to the Orkneys.”
This offer was promptly rejected.
Then said Earl Magnus: “Now, because my life is in your power, and I
have offended against Almighty God in many things, you shall send me to
Scotland, to our mutual friends, and keep me in custody there, with two
men for companionship. Make such provision that I shall not be able to
escape from this custody.”
This too was promptly refused.
Magnus then said: “There is yet one more offer which I will make, and
God knows that I think more of your soul than of my own life, for it
were better that you should do as I shall offer you than that you should
take my life. Let me be maimed as you like, or deprived of my eyes, and
throw me into a dark dungeon.”
Then said Earl Hákon: “This offer I accept, and I ask for no more.”
But the chiefs started up and said to Earl Hákon: “One of you will we
kill now, and from this day you shall not both rule the lands of the
Orkneys.”
Earl Hákon replied: “Slay him then, for I will rather have earldom and
lands than instant death.”
Thus their conversation was related by Höldbodi, a truthful Bondi in the
Sudreyar, who was one of the two of Earl Magnus’s men who were with him
when he was taken.
CHAPTER XXXIX
THE BEHEADING OF EARL MAGNUS.
THE worthy Earl Magnus was as cheerful as if he were invited to a
banquet, and spoke neither words of offence nor anger. After these words
had passed, he fell on his knees to pray, hiding his face in his hands,
and shedding many tears before God. Then, when the holy Earl Magnus was
thus doomed to death, Hákon ordered his banner-bearer, Ofeig, to slay
the Earl, but he refused, with the utmost wrath. Then forced he Lífólf,
his cook, to be the slayer of Magnus, but he began to weep aloud. “Weep
not thus,” said Earl Magnus, “for this is an honourable task. Be firm,
and you shall have my clothing, according to the custom and laws of the
men of old. Be not afraid, for you do this against your will, and he who
forces you sins more than you.”
When he had said this, he took off his tunic and gave it to Lífólf. Then
he asked for permission to pray, which was granted to him. He fell upon
the earth, and gave himself to God, offering himself as a sacrifice. He
prayed not only for his friends, but also for his enemies and murderers,
and forgave them, with all his heart, their offences against himself. He
confessed his sins to God, and prayed that they might be washed from him
in the shedding of his blood. He commended his spirit to God’s keeping,
and prayed that His angels might come to meet his soul and carry it into
the rest of paradise. Some say that he took the sacrament when the mass
was sung. Then, when God’s friend was led to execution, he said to
Lífólf: “Stand before me, and hew me a mighty stroke on the head, for it
is not fitting that high-born lords should be put to death like thieves.
Be firm, poor man, for I have prayed to God for you, that he may have
mercy upon you.” After that he signed the sign of the cross, and stooped
under the blow, and his spirit passed into heaven.
CHAPTER XL
THE SAINTSHIP OF EARL MAGNUS MADE MANIFEST.
THE place where Earl Magnus was slain was previously covered with moss
and stones, but shortly afterwards his merits before God became manifest
in this wise, that it became green sward where he was beheaded. Thus God
showed that he had suffered for righteousness’ sake, and had obtained
the beauty and verdure of paradise, which is called the land of the
living.
Earl Hákon did not permit his body to be brought to the church (for
burial).
The day of Earl Magnus’s death was two days after Tiburtiusmas (14th
April). Then he had been seven winters Earl in the Orkneys along with
Earl Hákon. Seventy-four winters had passed since the death of King
Olaf. The Kings of Norway were at this time Sigurd, Eystein, and Olaf.
It was one thousand and ninety-one winters after the birth of
Christ.[302]
CHAPTER XLI
THE EARL’S BODY BROUGHT TO CHURCH.
THORA, the mother of Earl Magnus, had invited both the Earls to a
banquet after their meeting, and Earl Hákon went there after the murder
of the holy Earl Magnus. Thóra herself served at the banquet, and
brought the drink to the Earl and his men who had been present at the
murder of her son. And when the drink began to have effect on the Earl,
then went Thóra before him and said: “You came alone here, my lord, but
I expected you both. Now, I hope you will gladden me in the sight of God
and men. Be to me in stead of a son, and I shall be to you in stead of a
mother. I stand greatly in need of your mercy now, and (I pray you to)
permit me to bring my son to church. Hear this my supplication now, as
you wish God to look upon you at the day of doom.”
The Earl became silent, and considered her case, as she prayed so
meekly, and with tears, that her son might be brought to church. He
looked upon her, and the tears fell, and he said, “Bury your son where
it pleases you.”
Then the Earl’s body was brought to Hrossey, and buried at Christ’s Kirk
(in Birsay), which had been built by Earl Thorfinn.
CHAPTER LXII
THE MIRACLE-WORKING OF MAGNUS THE MARTYR.
SOON after this a heavenly light was seen above his burial-place. Then
men who were placed in danger began to pray to him, and their prayers
were heard. A heavenly odour was frequently perceived above his
burial-place, from which people suffering from illness received health.
Then sufferers made pilgrimages thither both from the Orkneys and
Hjaltland, and kept vigils at his grave, and were cured of all their
sufferings.[303] But people dared not make this known while Earl Hákon
was alive.
It is said of the men who were most guilty in the murder of the holy
Earl Magnus that most of them met with a miserable death.
CHAPTER XLIII
THE MIRACLES WROUGHT BY THE BLESSED FRIEND OF GOD, MAGNUS.
William was Bishop of the Orkneys at this time. He was the first bishop
there. The bishop’s seat was at Christ’s Kirk in Birgishérad (Birsay).
William was bishop for six winters of the seventh decade.[304] For a
long time he disbelieved in the sanctity of Earl Magnus, until his
merits became manifest to such a degree that God made his holiness grow
the more conspicuous the more it was tried, as is told in the book of
his miracles.