{"collection":"myth-cosmogony","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_57723/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_57723","id":"gutenberg_57723","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/57723","summary":null,"tags":["Category: History - European","Category: Mythology, Legends & Folklore","Orkney (Scotland) -- Antiquities","Orkney (Scotland) -- History","Scotland -- Antiquities"],"text":"Produced by Ted Garvin, Barry Abrahamsen, and the Online\nDistributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n                          THE ORKNEYINGA SAGA\n\n\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                        Printed by R. & R. Clark\n\n                                  FOR\n\n                    EDMONSTON & DOUGLAS, EDINBURGH.\n\n                LONDON          HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO.\n                CAMBRIDGE   MACMILLAN AND CO.\n                GLASGOW      JAMES MACLEHOSE.\n\n\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n[Illustration: ST. MAGNUS CATHEDRAL\n(South Transept and part of Choir)]\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                                  THE\n\n\n                            ORKNEYINGA SAGA\n\n\n\n                     TRANSLATED FROM THE ICELANDIC\n                 BY JON A. HJALTALIN AND GILBERT GOUDIE\n\n\n\n                  EDITED, WITH NOTES AND INTRODUCTION\n\n                           BY JOSEPH ANDERSON\n\n      KEEPER OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND\n\n\n\n                               EDINBURGH\n                         EDMONSTON AND DOUGLAS\n                                  1873\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                                PREFACE.\n\n                                -------\n\n\nTHE ORKNEYINGA SAGA is the history of the Orkneymen, Earls and Odallers\nof Norwegian extraction, who established an Earldom of Norway in the\nNorthern Scottish Isles a thousand years ago, and whose descendants for\nseveral centuries held sway over the Hebrides and Northern Mainland of\nScotland. Commencing with the conquest of the Isles by Harald Harfagri,\nthe Saga relates the subsequent history of the Earldom of Orkney under\nthe long line of its Norse Jarls, and is, for a period of three\ncenturies and a half, the principal authority for the history of\nNorthern Scotland. The narrative is mainly personal, and therefore\npicturesque, pourtraying the men in person and character, impartially\nrecording their deeds, and mentioning what was thought of them and their\nactions at the time. Occasionally the Saga-writer is enabled to do this\nin the words of a contemporary Skald. The skaldic songs, so often\nquoted, were the materials from which the Sagas were subsequently\nelaborated. In estimating their value as historical materials, it must\nbe borne in mind that all history has begun in song. When great events\nand mighty deeds were preserved for posterity by oral recitation alone,\nit was necessary that the memory should be enabled to retain its hold of\nthe elements of the story by some extraneous artistic aid, and therefore\nthey were welded by the word-smith\u2019s rhymes into a compact and\nhomogeneous \u201clay.\u201d Thus, worked into a poetical setting (as the jeweller\nmounts his gems to enhance their value and ensure their preservation),\nthey passed as heirlooms from generation to generation, floating on the\noral tradition of the people. Snorri Sturluson tells us that the songs\nof the skalds who were with Harald Harfagri in his wars were known and\nrecited in his day, after an interval of nearly four centuries. \u201cThese\nsongs,\u201d he says, \u201cwhich were sung in the presence of kings and chiefs,\nor of their sons, are the materials of our history; what they tell of\ntheir deeds and battles we take for truth; for though the skalds did no\ndoubt praise those in whose presence they stood, yet no one would dare\nto relate to a chief what he and those who heard it knew to be wholly\nimaginary or false, as that would not be praise but mockery.\u201d Our\nearliest Scottish chroniclers did not disdain to make use of the\nlay-smith\u2019s craft, as a help to history, long after the Iceland skald\nhad been succeeded by the Saga-writer, and the flowery recitative of an\nunclerkly age superseded by the terser narrative of the parchment\nscribe. The art is as old as Odin and the gods, if indeed it be not\nolder, and these its creations. But its golden age had passed ere\nPaganism began to give way before Christianity, and the specimens we\nhave in this Saga are mostly of the period of its decadence and by\ninferior skalds. Yet it is significant of the esteem in which the art\ncontinued to be held by the settlers in the Orkneys, that we find Earl\nSigurd honouring Gunnlaug Ormstunga with princely gifts, Arnor\nJarlaskald enjoying the special favour and friendship of Earl Thorfinn,\nand Earl R\u00f6gnvald, the founder of the cathedral, courting for himself\nthe reputation of an accomplished skald.\n\nBut though we can thus trace to some extent the authorship of the\nunwritten materials from which the Saga was framed, there is nothing to\nshow where or by whom it was written. There is proof, however, that it\nwas known in Iceland in the first half of the thirteenth century. Its\nearlier chapters, down to the division of the Earldom between Thorfinn\nand Br\u00fasi, are incorporated into the Olaf Saga of Snorri Sturluson, and\nare there cited as from the \u201cJarla Saga,\u201d or Saga of the Earls. It must\ntherefore have been in existence as a completed work before 1241, the\ndate of Snorri\u2019s death. The compiler of the Fagrskinna, which is shown\nby internal evidence to have been written between 1222 and 1225, also\nquotes from it, by the title of \u201cJarla Sagan.\u201d The closing chapters of\nthe Orkneyinga Saga, in its present form, recording the burning of\nBishop Adam, could not have been written before 1222; but, as it is\nstated in the last chapter that the terrible retribution exacted by the\nScottish King for the murder of the Bishop was still in fresh memory, it\nmay very well have been completed before 1225. No manuscript of the\nJarla Saga is known to exist, and the original form of what is now\ncalled \u201cThe Orkneyinga Saga\u201d is thus matter of conjecture. We know it\nonly as the substance of its earlier chapters was given by Snorri\nprevious to 1241, and in the expanded version of the Flateyjarb\u00f3k, where\nit is pieced into the Sagas of Olaf Tryggvi\u2019s son and Olaf the Holy. The\nFlateyjarb\u00f3k, however, is nearly a century and a half later than\nSnorri\u2019s work, having been written between the years 1387 and 1394.\n\nThe object of the present issue being simply to provide a plain,\nreadable, and unadorned translation of the Orkneyinga Saga (which has\nbeen hitherto inaccessible to the English reader), it has been deemed\nadvisable to adhere to the form of the Saga adopted by its first editor\nJon\u00e6us, though not to Jon\u00e6us\u2019s text, which is by no means free from\ncorruptions. The Christiania edition of the Flateyjarb\u00f3k, printed\nliterally from the manuscript, has afforded the means of rectifying the\ntext where necessary; and the expanded version of the earlier chapters\ngiven in the Flateyjarb\u00f3k has also been translated and inserted as an\nappendix, for the sake of the fuller details which it supplies of the\nearlier history of the Earldom. In one sense it might have been\ndesirable to have compiled a text which would have given the fullest\nhistory of the Orkney Earls, but this would not have been the\n\u201cOrkneyinga Saga.\u201d It would have necessitated the collection and\ncritical collation of all the passages in all the Sagas and early\nwritings relating to the history of the Northmen in Scotland\u2014a work\nwhich has long been in progress in abler hands, and under more\nfavourable auspices.\n\nThe Introduction, however, has been compiled with a view to supplement\nthe Saga narrative, as well as to furnish a continuation of the history\nof the Earldom down to the time when it ceased to form part of the\nNorwegian dominions. Some account of the islands previous to the Norse\ninvasion, and a few notices of their antiquities and ecclesiastical\nremains, as well as of the existing traces of the Norsemen, seemed\nrequisite to supplement the notes in illustration of the text.\nChronological and Genealogical Tables have been added to facilitate\nreference; and on the maps of Scotland and of the island-groups which\nformed the Earldom proper are shown the names of the principal places\nmentioned in the Sagas as known to the Northmen.\n\nIn conclusion, I have to express my obligations to those kind friends\nwho have aided me with their advice and assistance. To Dr. John Stuart,\nDr. John Hill Burton, Sir Henry Dryden, Bart., and Colonel Balfour of\nBalfour and Trenaby, I am indebted for many valuable suggestions. To the\nfirst-named gentleman I am also under obligations for the use of the\nwoodcuts of the symbols of the Sculptured Stones. The Society of\nAntiquaries of Scotland have generously contributed the woodcuts of the\nBressay Stone, the Saverough Bell, and the Sword and Scabbard-tip; to\nthe Society of Antiquaries of London I am indebted for the illustrations\nof the Stones of Stennis; to Mr. James Ferguson and Mr. John Murray for\nthose of Maeshow; to Mr. Thomas S. Muir for the Dragon of Maeshow, the\netchings of the churches of Weir and Lybster, and the ground-plans of\nthe ancient churches; to Messrs. Chambers for the woodcut of Mousa; and\nto Dr. Daniel Wilson and Messrs. Constable for those of the Brooch and\nComb, illustrating the burial-usages of the Norsemen. The view of\nEgilsey church is from a photograph, for which I am indebted to Mr.\nGeorge Petrie of Kirkwall, whose pleasant companionship in a pilgrimage\namong the localities described in the Saga is gratefully remembered.\n\n                                                                   J. A.\n\n         NATIONAL MUSEUM\n    OF THE ANTIQUARIES OF SCOTLAND,\n         October 1873.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                               CONTENTS.\n\n\nINTRODUCTION.\n\n                                                        PAGE\n\n                I. EARLIEST HISTORICAL NOTICES OF         ix\n                     THE ORKNEYS\n\n               II. EARLY CHRISTIANITY OF THE              xi\n                     ISLANDS\n\n              III. ARRIVAL OF THE NORTHMEN AND           xxi\n                     ESTABLISHMENT OF\n                      THE EARLDOM OF ORKNEY AND\n                     CAITHNESS\n\n               IV. THE EARLDOM IN THE NORSE LINE,      xxiii\n                     872-1231\n\n                V. THE EARLDOM IN THE ANGUS LINE,       xlvi\n                     1231-1312\n\n               VI. THE EARLDOM IN THE STRATHERNE          lv\n                     LINE, 1321-1379\n\n              VII. THE EARLDOM IN THE LINE OF ST.        lxi\n                     CLAIR, 1379-1469\n\n             VIII. THE BISHOPRIC OF ORKNEY,             lxxi\n                     1102-1469\n\n               IX. THE BISHOPRIC OF CAITHNESS,         lxxix\n                     1150-1469\n\n                X. ANCIENT CHURCHES OF ORKNEY        lxxxvii\n\n               XI. MAESHOW AND THE STONES OF              ci\n                     STENNIS\n\n              XII. MOUSA AND THE PICTISH TOWERS          cix\n\n             XIII. REMAINS OF THE NORTHMEN               cxi\n\n                   CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE                  cxxv\n\n                   GENEALOGICAL TABLES                cxxxii\n\n\n            ORKNEYINGA SAGA.                          1-201\n                  APPENDIX                          201-212\n                  INDEX                                 213\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                         LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.\n\n                                -------\n\n                           ON SEPARATE PAGES.\n\n         View of South Transept and part of Choir Frontispiece\n           of the Cathedral of St. Magnus\n\n         Map of Scotland, with Norse names                viii\n\n         The Bressay Sculptured Stone                      xvi\n\n         The Bressay Sculptured Stone, Reverse of         xvii\n\n         Symbols on the Sculptured Stones of               xix\n           Scotland\n\n         Cathedral of St. Magnus, Kirkwall,           lxxxviii\n           exterior view.\n\n         The Church of Egilsey                            xcii\n\n         Chancel Arch of Church of Weir, and            xcviii\n           Chancel Doorway of Church at Lybster,\n           Reay\n\n         Map of the Orkney Islands                       cxlii\n\n         Map of the Shetland Islands                     Ibid.\n\n         Dragon-ship of the Viking period                  132\n\n\n                              IN THE TEXT.\n\n                                                          Page\n\n         Square-sided Iron Bell found at                   xiv\n           Saverough, Orkney\n\n         Ground-plan of Egilsey Church and Tower,          xci\n           Orkney\n\n         Ground-plan of Round Church at Orphir,           xciv\n           Orkney\n\n         Ground-plan of Church at Weir, Orkney            xcvi\n\n         Ground-plan of Church at Lybster, Reay,         xcvii\n           Caithness\n\n         Ground-plan and Section of Maeshow,               cii\n           Orkney\n\n         View of the Chamber in Maeshow, Orkney           ciii\n\n         Dragon carved on the wall in Maeshow              civ\n\n         Stone Circle at Brogar, Stennis, Orkney           cvi\n\n         Stone Circle at Stennis, and Cromlech,           cvii\n           from the northward\n\n         Stone Circle at Stennis, from the                cvii\n           westward\n\n         Pictish Tower of Mousa (Moseyarborg),             cix\n           Shetland\n\n         Norse Sword found at Gorton, Morayshire          cxvi\n\n         Scabbard-Point found in a Norse Grave in        cxvii\n           Westray, Orkney\n\n         Bronze Tortoise Brooch found in a Norse          cxxi\n           Grave in Caithness\n\n         Comb found in a Norse Grave in Westray,         cxxii\n           Orkney\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                       SYLLABUS OF INTRODUCTION.\n\n\n                                                                  Pages\n\n     I. Early Population of the Orkneys\u2014Monuments and            ix-xi.\n          Structural Remains\u2014Saxon Invasion in the 5th\n          century\u2014The Orkneys under Pictish rule\u2014Dalriad\n          Invasion in the 6th century\u2014Wasting of the\n          Orkneys by the Pictish King Bruide.\n\n    II. Visitation of the Islands by Irish                      xi-xxi.\n          Clerics\u2014Dicuil\u2019s Account of Iceland, the Faroes,\n          Shetland and Orkney\u2014Irish Christian Settlers\n          driven away by the Northern Robbers\u2014Indications\n          of the early Christianity of the Islands\u2014Bells\n          and Christian Monuments of an early Age found in\n          the Islands\u2014Art of their early Sculptured\n          Stones\u2014Symbols of the Sculptured Monuments of\n          the Scottish Mainland: their probable\n          Period\u2014Indications of an early Christianity in\n          the Norse Topography of the Islands.\n\n   III. Earliest Notices of Northmen on British Shores:      xxi-xxiii.\n          their first Inroads on the Irish Coasts; they\n          plunder Iona\u2014Establishment of a Norse Kingdom at\n          Armagh\u2014Olaf the White, King of Dublin\u2014Harald\n          Harfagri\u2019s Expedition to the Orkneys\u2014Subjugation\n          of Orkney, Shetland, the Hebrides, and Man.\n\n    IV. Sigurd, first Earl of the Orkneys\u2014Earl Sigurd and   xxiii-xlvi.\n          Thorstein the Red subdue Caithness and\n          Sutherland\u2014Sigurd\u2019s Death and Burial at\n          Ekkialsbakki\u2014Thorstein the Red King of \u201chalf of\n          Scotland\u201d\u2014Thorstein slain in Caithness\u2014Duncan,\n          Earl of Duncansbay\u2014Guttorm Earl\u2014Hallad Earl\u2014Torf\n          Einar Earl\u2014Thorfinn Hausakliuf Earl\u2014Ragnhild\n          murders her Husbands\u2014Battle at Skida Myre in\n          Caithness\u2014Earl Hl\u00f6dver\u2014Earl Sigurd the\n          Stout\u2014Earl Finnleik\u2014Battle at Skida Myre\u2014Earl\n          Sigurd\u2019s Raven Banner\u2014Battle at Duncansbay\u2014Earl\n          Sigurd marries a Daughter of Malcolm, King of\n          Scots: is converted to Christianity by King\n          Olaf, Tryggvi\u2019s Son; falls at the Battle of\n          Clontarf\u2014Earls Thorfinn, Br\u00fasi, and Einar\u2014Kali\n          Hundason takes the Kingdom in Scotland\u2014Battles\n          at Deerness and Baefiord\u2014R\u00f6gnvald\n          Brusison\u2014Battle off Raudabiorg\u2014Earl Thorfinn,\n          surprised by R\u00f6gnvald, escapes from the burning\n          House\u2014R\u00f6gnvald slain on Papa Stronsay\u2014Earl\n          Thorfinn\u2019s Death\u2014Ingibiorg, his Widow, marries\n          King Malcolm Canmore\u2014Battle of Stamford\n          Bridge\u2014Expeditions of King Magnus Barelegs to\n          Scotland\u2014He carries off the Orkney Earls Paul\n          and Erlend, and places his own son Sigurd over\n          Orkney\u2014Earl Hakon Palson\u2014Murder of St.\n          Magnus\u2014Harald (Slettmali) dies from a poisoned\n          Shirt\u2014Paul the Silent\u2014R\u00f6gnvald Kolson wins the\n          Orkneys\u2014Earl Paul carried off to Athole by Swein\n          Asleifson\u2014Harald, Son of Maddad Earl of Athole,\n          made joint Earl of Orkney\u2014Earl R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s\n          Pilgrimage to Jerusalem\u2014Erlend Ungi besieged in\n          Mousa by Earl Harald\u2014Earl R\u00f6gnvald slain\u2014Earl\n          Harald at War with King William the Lion\u2014The\n          Eyarskeggiar\u2014Earl Harald makes Peace with King\n          Sverrir, and Shetland is taken from him: is\n          captured by King William the Lion, and\n          imprisoned in Edinburgh Castle; is released on\n          his son Thorfinn being given up as a Hostage;\n          storms a Borg at Scrabster, and mutilates Bishop\n          John\u2014Penance prescribed for the Mutilation of\n          the Bishop\u2014Earl John\u2014Burning of Bishop Adam at\n          Halkirk\u2014Earl John slain at Thurso\n\n     V. Magnus, son of Gilbride, Earl of Angus, made Earl      xlvi-lv.\n          of Caithness and Orkney\u2014Gilbride Earl\u2014Magnus,\n          son of Gilbride\u2014King Hakon Hakonson\u2019s expedition\n          against Scotland\u2014Battle of Largs\u2014Death of King\n          Hakon at Kirkwall: his Body lies in State in the\n          Cathedral; is temporarily interred in the Choir;\n          is removed to Bergen\u2014Earl Magnus Magnusson\u2014Earl\n          John\u2014Marriage of King Eirik of Norway with\n          Margaret of Scotland\u2014Death of Queen Margaret\u2014Her\n          Daughter Margaret, \u201cthe Maid of Norway,\u201d made\n          Heiress to the Scottish Throne, and betrothed to\n          Prince Edward of England\u2014The Maid of Norway dies\n          on her voyage to Scotland\u2014King Eirik marries\n          Isabella Bruce\u2014Earl John betrothed to their\n          Daughter Ingibiorg\u2014Appearance at Bergen of \u201cthe\n          False Margaret,\u201d a German woman who gave herself\n          out as the Maiden of Norway\u2014The False Margaret\n          burnt at Bergen, and her Husband\n          beheaded\u2014Magnus, last Earl of the Angus line\n\n    VI. Malise, Earl of Stratherne, succeeds to the             lv-lxi.\n          Earldom of Orkney: falls at the Battle of\n          Halidon Hill\u2014Forfeiture of the Earldom of\n          Stratherne\u2014Malise the Younger goes to Norway:\n          marries two of his Daughters to Swedish\n          Noblemen\u2014Erngisl Suneson, son-in-law of Malise,\n          made Earl of Orkney\u2014Duncan Anderson\u2019s\n          Manifesto\u2014Alexander de Ard made Earl of Orkney\n          for one Year\u2014Resigns his Lands in Caithness\u2014The\n          Stewarts Earls of Caithness\u2014Sir George Crichtoun\n          made Earl of Caithness\u2014William St. Clair made\n          Earl of Caithness\n\n   VII. First Notices of the St. Clairs in Orkney\u2014Obscure     lxi-lxxi.\n          Questions connected with the Succession of the\n          St. Clairs\u2014Henry St. Clair made Earl of Orkney\n          and Shetland\u2014Malise Sperra slain at\n          Scalloway\u2014Henry II. Earl of Orkney\u2014Bishop\n          Tulloch made Commissioner for the King of\n          Norway\u2014David Menzies made Commissioner: his\n          oppressions\u2014William St. Clair, last Earl under\n          the Norwegian Dominion\u2014Impignoration of the\n          Isles\n\n  VIII. Origin of the Bishopric of Orkney\u2014Bishops of        lxxi-lxxix.\n          Orkney consecrated at Hamburg\u2014Bishops of Orkney\n          consecrated at York\u2014William the Old, \u201cfirst\n          Bishop\u201d\u2014William II.\u2014Bjarni\u2014Jofreyr\u2014Henry\n          I.\u2014Peter\u2014Dolgfinn\u2014William III.\u2014William\n          IV.\u2014William V.\u2014Henry II.\u2014John\u2014Patrick\u2014Thomas de\n          Tulloch\u2014William de Tulloch\u2014The See of Orkney\n          placed under the Metropolitan Bishop of St.\n          Andrews\n\n    IX. Earliest Notices of the Bishopric of               lxxix-lxxxvii.\n          Caithness\u2014Andrew, first known\n          Bishop\u2014John\u2014Adam\u2014Letter of Pope Honorius\n          referring to the burning of Bishop Adam\u2014Gilbert\n          the Saint\u2014William\u2014Walter\u2014Archibald\u2014Alan\u2014Adam\u2014\n          Andrew\u2014Ferquhard\u2014Nicolas\u2014David\u2014Alan\u2014Thomas\u2014\n          Malcolm\u2014Alexander\u2014Robert\u2014William.\n\n     X. Cathedral of St. Magnus\u2014Removal of the Relics of    lxxxvii-ci.\n          St. Magnus from Christ\u2019s Church in Birsay to St.\n          Olaf\u2019s Church in Kirkwall: Transference to the\n          Cathedral\u2014Egilsey Church\u2014Munch\u2019s view of the\n          Origin of the Name Egilsey\u2014Discussion of the\n          probable Age of the Church\u2014Church of Orphir\n          built in imitation of the Church of the Holy\n          Sepulchre at Jerusalem\u2014Earl Hacon probably its\n          Founder\u2014Christ\u2019s Church in Birsay the first\n          recorded Christian Church in the Islands\u2014Remains\n          of an older Church at the Site of the present\n          Parish Church\u2014Church of Weir: Bishop Bjarni\n          probably its Founder\u2014Church at Lybster, in Reay,\n          Caithness\u2014Church on the Brough of Birsay\n          probably twin-towered\u2014Church on the Brough of\n          Deerness: Superstitious Practices at it in last\n          Century\u2014Old Parish Church of Deerness\u2014Towered\n          Churches of Shetland\n\n    XI. Maeshow, the Orkahaug of the Saga\u2014The                 ci-cviii.\n          Hogboy\u2014Description of Maeshow\u2014The Runic\n          Inscriptions on its Walls\u2014Carved Dragon and\n          Cross on its Buttresses\u2014The Jorsala-farer\n          s\u2014Names of Persons mentioned in the Saga carved\n          on it\u2014The Stones of Stennis\u2014The Ring of\n          Brogar\u2014The Ring of Stennis, and Cromlech\u2014The\n          Ring of Bookan\u2014Stennis mentioned in the\n          Saga\u2014Havard\u2019s teigr\u2014Earl Havard\u2019s Grave-Mound\n\n   XII. Mousa and its Tower\u2014Description of                     cix-cxi.\n          Moseyarborg\u2014Number and Distribution of the\n          Pictish Towers\u2014Results of recent Excavations in\n          them\u2014Condition of the People who lived in\n          them\u2014Roman Coins found in them\u2014Notices of the\n          Tower of Mousa in the Sagas\n\n  XIII. The Norse Territory in Scotland still               cxi-cxxiii.\n          distinguished by its Norse Place-names\u2014Notices\n          of the Norse Language in Orkney and\n          Shetland\u2014Norse Ballads\u2014The Ballad of Hiluge and\n          Hildina recovered by Low in Foula: Outline of\n          its Story; its Dialect and Date\u2014Runic Monuments\n          in Orkney and Shetland\u2014Actual Relics of the\n          Northmen\u2014Burial Customs of the Pagan Northmen in\n          Orkney and Shetland\u2014Narrative of an Eye-witness\n          of the Incremation of the Body of a Norse Chief\n          of the 10th century\u2014Description of the Funeral\n          Rites\u2014\u201cThe Dead Man\u2019s Angel\u201d\u2014Sacrifice of Oxen,\n          Horses, etc.\u2014Slaughter of a Female Slave to\n          accompany the Chief\u2014Burning of the Bodies and\n          erection of the Grave-Mound\u2014Diversity of the\n          Burial Usages\u2014Burial in Stone Urns and Cooking\n          Pots\u2014Brooches of a peculiar Scandinavian type\n          found with Norse Burials in Scotland\u2014Group of\n          Norse Graves in Westray, Orkney\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n[Illustration: SKOTLAND EDMONSTON & DOUGLAS, EDINBURGH.]\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                             INTRODUCTION.\n\n\n             I. EARLIEST HISTORICAL NOTICES OF THE ORKNEYS.\n\n\nThe historical notices of the Orkneys previous to the Norse occupation\nare few in number, and exceedingly obscure. We learn little more from\nthe allusions of the Roman writers than that scarcely anything was known\nto them with certainty of these remote localities. It may be inferred,\nhowever, that the first wave of Celtic population that overspread the\nnorthern mainland of Britain must have gradually extended northward to\nthe outlying Isles. The correspondence of the early remains found in the\nIslands with those of northern Scotland is of itself a striking\ntestimony to the connection of their early population with the Celtic\nstock of the northern mainland of Scotland. We gather from these remains\nthat the earliest population of the Islands, of which we have any\nreliable evidence, lived in the same manner as the natives of the\nnorthern mainland, fought with the same varieties of weapons of stone\nand bronze, erected the same forms of defensive structures, practised\nthe same funereal rites, and constructed similar forms of sepulchral\nchambers, over which they piled the great mounds which are among the\nmost striking features of an Orkney landscape.[1] The number and\nmagnitude of these monuments and structural remains bear witness in a\nmost remarkable manner to the activity, intelligence, and social\norganisation of the times that have no other record.\n\nIt is not until the middle of the 5th century of the Christian era that\nthe early chronicles begin to cast occasionally a feeble and uncertain\nlight upon the history of the northern isles. It is stated in the\n\u201cHistoria Britonum\u201d of Nennius that the Saxon chiefs Ochtha and Ebissa,\nwho came over with \u201cforty keels\u201d in the year 449, laid waste the Orkney\nIslands, and seized a great many regions beyond the Frisic Sea.[2] At\nthat time, and for a long period previously (according to Nennius), the\nPicts had been in possession of the Orkneys. Whatever value may be\nattached to these statements as referring to events which took place 400\nyears before the author\u2019s own time, there can be no reason for\ndiscrediting his testimony when he says that the Picts continued in\npossession of the Orkneys in his day.[3]\n\nAdamnan, in his Life of St. Columba, mentions that the saint being on a\nvisit to Bruide Mac Meilcon, king of the Northern Picts, at his\nstronghold on the river Ness, requested the king to recommend to the\n_reguli_ of the Orkneys (one of whom was then present, and whose\nhostages were then in the king\u2019s hands) that Cormac and the clerics who\nhad accompanied him on a missionary voyage to the Orkneys should receive\nno harm; and it is added that this was the means of saving them from a\nviolent death. But if the authority and influence of the king of the\nNorthern Picts extended to these islands in the reign of Bruide, it does\nnot seem to have been effectual in protecting them from foreign\ninvasion. Bruide Mac Meilcon died in 584, and some time before his death\nthe new and rising power of the Dalriadic kings had made itself felt as\nfar as the Orkneys. In the Annals of Ulster there is a notice under the\nyear 580 of an expedition against the Orkneys by Aedan, son of Gabran,\nseventh king of the Dalriad Scots, who, coming over from Ireland (then\ncalled Scotia) about the year 503, had established themselves in Argyle\nand the Western Highlands, and founded the kingdom of Dalriada. From the\ndate of Aedan\u2019s expedition in 580 we have no mention of the islands in\nthe native chronicles for a whole century, and the next entry, which\noccurs under the year 682, gives colour to the supposition that they may\nhave been under Dalriadic rule in the interval. The record in 682 is\nsimply, that the Orkneys were wasted by Bruide Mac Bile, the king of the\nNorthern Picts, and apparently brought once more under the rule of the\nNorthern Pictish kings.\n\n\n                 II. EARLY CHRISTIANITY OF THE ISLANDS.\n\n\nIt is probable that both the island groups of Orkney and Shetland were\nvisited at a very early period by wandering clerics of the Irish Church,\nwhose missionary efforts contributed so much to the diffusion of\nChristianity in Scotland. But we have no record of an earlier visitation\nthan that of the companions of St. Columba, although there are\nindications that between that time and the colonisation of the islands\nby the heathen Northmen, these Irish clerics were no strangers in any of\nthe island groups.\n\nThe Irish monk Dicuil, who wrote his treatise \u201cDe Mensura Orbis\nTerrarum\u201d in or about the year 825, states that \u201cthirty years before\nthat time some clerics had told him that they had lived in an island\nwhich they supposed to be Thule, where at the summer solstice the sun\nonly hid himself behind a little hill for a short time during the night,\nwhich was quite light; and that a day\u2019s sail towards the north would\nbring them from thence into the frozen sea.\u201d This island is obviously\nIceland. He then states that there are many other islands in the\nnorthern British sea, which lie at the distance of two days and two\nnights from the northern islands of Britain, in a straight course, and\nwith a fair wind and a full sail. \u201cOne of these,\u201d he says, \u201ca certain\nhonest monk told me he had visited one summer after sailing a day, a\nnight, and another day, in a two-benched boat.\u201d These appear to be the\nShetland Islands. Dicuil further states that \u201cthere are also some other\nsmall islands, almost all divided from each other by narrow sounds,\ninhabited for about a century by hermits proceeding from our Scotia;[4]\nbut as they had been deserted since the beginning of the world, so are\nthey now abandoned by these anchorites on account of the Northern\nrobbers; but they are full of countless sheep, and swarm with sea-fowl\nof various kinds. We have not seen these islands mentioned in the works\nof any author.\u201d Here the reference to the \u201csmall isles separated by\nnarrow sounds\u201d is distinctive of the Faroes, of which the long narrow\nsounds are the peculiar physical feature; while the statement that they\nare full of countless sheep, taken in connection with the fact that the\nNorthmen named them \u201cSheep-isles\u201d (F\u00e6r-eyiar), establishes the identity\nof the group which Dicuil describes. The Faroes were colonised by \u201cthe\nNorthern robbers,\u201d led by Grim Kamban, in 825, the very year in which\nDicuil was writing.\n\nThe first Norwegian settlement was made in Iceland in 875, by Leif and\nIngulf, who carried with them a number of Irish captives; and the\nLandnamab\u00f3k states that \u201cbefore Iceland was colonised from Norway, men\nwere living there whom the Northmen called Papas; they were Christians,\nand it is thought they came over the sea from the west, for after them\nwere found Irish books, and bells, and crosiers, and other things, so\nthat one could see that they were Westmen: these things were found in\nPapey, eastwards, and in Papyli.\u201d Again, in the Islendingab\u00f3k of Ari\nFrodi the same reason is assigned for the departure of the monks as is\ngiven by Dicuil. Ari Frodi also says, speaking of Iceland:\u2014\u201cChristian\nmen were here then called by the Northmen _Papa_, but afterwards they\nwent their way, for they would not remain in company with heathens; and\nthey left behind them Irish books, and bells, and pastoral staves, so\nthat it was clear that they were Irishmen.\u201d\n\nThus by the concurrent testimony of Adamnan, the biographer of St.\nColumba, himself an abbot of the monastery of Hy; of the Irish monk\nDicuil, writing during the lifetime of the men who had fled from the\nNorthern robbers; and lastly, of the Icelandic historians themselves\u2014it\nis established that the whole of the northern islands were visited by\nChristian teachers, and probably, in part at least, converted to the\nChristian faith, before they were overrun by the Norwegian invaders, and\nthe new faith swallowed up in the rising tide of heathenism thrown upon\ntheir shores from the land of Odin and the Aser.\n\nIn the absence of all record we cannot expect to ascertain to what\nextent these early missionary settlements had succeeded in leavening the\nCeltic population of the islands of Orkney and Shetland with the\nChristian faith. But it seems probable that during the three centuries\nthat intervened between the coming of Cormac in his coracle and the\narrival of Harald Harfagri with his fleet of war galleys, the new faith\nhad been firmly established and widely extended both in the northern\nmainland of Scotland and in the remoter isles.\n\nThe indications which point to a Christian occupation of the isle, of no\ninconsiderable extent and continuance, previous to their occupation by\nthe Norsemen, are:\u2014The dedications of the early ecclesiastical\nfoundations; the occurrence of monumental stones sculptured in the style\npeculiar to the earliest Christian monuments of the mainland of\nScotland, and bearing inscriptions in the Ogham character; the finding\n(as at Saverough and Burrian) of ecclesiastical bells of the\nsquare-sided form, peculiar to the early ages of the Church; and the\noccurrence in the Norse topography of the islands of place-names\nindicative of the previous settlement of Celtic Christian priests.\n\n\n[Illustration: SQUARE-SIDED BELL FOUND AT SAVEROUGH, ORKNEY.]\n\n\nThe earliest dedications were probably those to St. Ninian and St.\nColumba, St. Brigid, and St. Tredwell. It may be significant that in the\nsouth parish of South Ronaldsay, where in all probability the companions\nof St. Columba would make their first landing in Orkney, there were no\nfewer than three chapels dedicated to him.[5]\n\nThe sculptured monuments furnish us with three collateral lines of\ninference, tending to the same conclusion. These inferences are derived\nfrom the inscriptions, the ornamentation, and the symbols of the\nmonuments.\n\nTwo of these monuments bear inscriptions in the Ogham character, a style\nof cryptographic writing characteristic of the early inscribed stone\nmonuments of Ireland, but occurring also in Cornwall, in Wales, and in\nScotland. One of these two was found near the ancient church of\nCulbinsbrugh, in the island of Bressay in Shetland. It is a slab of\nchlorite slate, 4 feet in length, about 16 inches wide at the top,\ntapering to a little less than a foot at the bottom, and about 1\u00be inch\nthick. It is sculptured on both sides in low relief, and the inscription\nis incised on the edges of the stone. On one of its sculptured faces it\nbears the Christian emblem of the cross, and among the figures\nsculptured on it are those of two ecclesiastics with pastoral staves\n(see Plates). The other inscribed stone was found by Dr. William Traill\nin the Pictish Tower or \u201cBroch\u201d of Burrian, in North Ronaldsay in\nOrkney. The inscription scratched on it has not yet been deciphered. It\nalso bears the Christian emblem of the cross. The association of the\ncross with these Ogham inscriptions[6] points to a period anterior to\nthe Norse occupation of the islands.\n\n\n[Illustration: THE BRESSAY STONE. Showing one side and Ogham inscription\non edge.]\n\n\n[Illustration: THE BRESSAY STONE. Showing the other side and Ogham\ninscription on edge.]\n\n\nIn examining the characteristics of the art of these monumental stones,\nwe are guided to similar conclusions. The Bressay stone bears none of\nthe symbols peculiar to the Scottish monuments, and in its artistic\nfeatures it comes nearer to some of the Irish than to the general style\nof the Scottish sculptures. It is sculptured in low relief, while all\nthe Orkney examples are merely incised. But some of the forms of their\nornamentation are also characteristic of the art of the illuminated\nIrish manuscripts of the 7th and 8th centuries, and others are equally\ncharacteristic of the art of the bronzes of what has been styled the\nlate Celtic period.\n\nThe Scottish sculptured monuments scattered over the territory ranging\nfrom the Forth to the Orkneys are characterised by a peculiar set of\nsymbols of unknown significance, which are often associated with the\nChristian emblem of the cross.[7] The symbol which is of most frequent\noccurrence, and which may therefore be said to be the most\ncharacteristic of the period of the monuments, is a crescent conjoined\nwith what has been called a double sceptre, as represented in the first\nfigure of the accompanying Plate.\n\n\n[Illustration: SYMBOLS ON THE SCULPTURED STONES OF SCOTLAND.]\n\n\nThis characteristic symbol occurs on a sculptured slab which was found\nbuilt into St. Peter\u2019s Church in South Ronaldsay, and which had\nevidently formed part of a monument older than the church. It occurs\nalso on the slab found at Firth, on the mainland of Orkney. Most\nsingularly, it occurs on the phalangial bone of an ox which was found in\nthe Broch of Burrian along with the slab previously described as bearing\nan Ogham inscription and a peculiar form of cross. It occurs associated\nwith the same form of cross on the elaborately-sculptured stone at\nUlbster in Caithness. We have this crescent symbol also associated with\nthe cross on the inscribed stone of St. Vigeans in Forfarshire. This\nstone bears the only inscription which is known to have been left to us\nin the Pictish language:\u2014[8]\n\n            DROSTEN \u2502 IPE  \u2502 VORET  \u2502     ELT      \u2502 FORCUS\n            \u201cDrost, \u2502son of\u2502 Voret, \u2502of the race of\u2502Fergus,\u201d\n\nand is believed to refer to that Drost, king of the Picts, who fell at\nthe battle of Blathmig, according to the Annals of Tighearnac, in A.D.\n729.\n\nThe indications afforded by the Norse topography of the Islands, if\ntaken in connection with the passages previously quoted from the\nLandnamab\u00f3k and the Islendingab\u00f3k of Ari Frodi regarding the origin of\nthe names Papa and Papyli in Iceland, require only to be mentioned. The\nmost obvious of these are the frequency with which the name Papa[9]\noccurs both in the topography of Orkney and Shetland, and the occurrence\nof such names as St. Ninian\u2019s Isle in Shetland, Rinansey (Ringan\u2019s-ey,\nSt. Ninian\u2019s Isle) in Orkney, Daminsey, now Damsey (St. Adamnan\u2019s Isle),\nand Enhallow (Eyin-Helga, Holy Isle), given, we must suppose,\nintelligently by the Norsemen.\n\nThus, at the very starting-point of their recorded history, we find\nindications of Christianity, with suggestions even of its civilisation\nand its art shedding their benign influence over the isles.\n\n\nIII. ARRIVAL OF THE NORTHMEN, AND ESTABLISHMENT OF THE EARLDOM OF ORKNEY\n                             AND CAITHNESS.\n\n\nThe earliest notice we have of the visits of the Northmen to the shores\nof Britain occurs in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle under the date A.D. 787:\u2014\n\n    \u201cIn this year King Beorhtric took Eadburh, King Offa\u2019s daughter, to\n    wife. And in his days first came three ships of Northmen from\n    H\u00e6retha-land; and then the reeve rode thereto, and would drive them\n    to the king\u2019s vill, for he knew not what they were, and they there\n    slew him. These were the first ships of Danish men that sought the\n    land of the English race.\u201d\n\nAs they came from H\u00e6retha-land, now H\u00f6rdaland, on the west coast of\nNorway, they were Norwegians, not Danes.\n\nThe Irish Annals and the Welsh Chronicles agree in representing the\nfirst inroads of the Norsemen on the Irish coasts as having commenced in\nthe year 795. In 798 they plundered Inispatrick of Man and the Hebrides;\nin 802, and again in 806, they ravaged Iona, slaying in the latter year\nsixty-eight of the monastic family there. In 807 they established\nthemselves on the mainland of Ireland; and a few years afterwards we\nfind a Norseman making Armagh the capital of his kingdom.\n\nIn 852, Olaf the White, a chieftain descended from the same family as\nHarald Harfagri, conquered Dublin, and founded the most powerful and\npermanent of the Norse kingdoms in Ireland.\n\nBy the victory of Hafursfiord in 872, Harald Harfagri made himself sole\nmonarch of Norway. Large numbers of the wealthy and powerful odallers,\nwhom he had dispossessed of their territorial possessions, fled to the\nislands of Orkney and Shetland, which, for a full century previous to\nthis time, had been well known to the Norsemen as the viking station of\nthe western haf\u2014the rendezvous of the Northern rovers, who swept the\ncoasts of the Hebrides and swarmed in the Irish Seas. Being fugitives\nfrom their country, and outlaws of the new kingdom which Harald had\nsucceeded in establishing in Norway, they settled themselves permanently\nin the islands. Then they turned their haven of refuge into a base of\noperations for retaliatory warfare, harrying the coasts of Norway during\nthe summer months, and living at leisure in the islands during winter on\nthe plunder. At length King Harald, irritated by their incessant\nravages, collected a powerful fleet, and visiting Shetland, Orkney, and\nthe Hebrides, in succession, he swept their coasts clear of the\nplunderers, subduing the whole of the Northern and Western islands as\nfar south as Man.\n\nIn this expedition Ivar, a son of R\u00f6gnvald, Earl of Moeri, was\nkilled.[10] In order to recompense R\u00f6gnvald for the loss of his son,\nKing Harald bestowed on him the territory of the subjugated isles of\nOrkney and Shetland, with the title of Earl of the Orkneys. Harald seems\nto have dealt similarly with the Hebrides, but his conquest of the\nvikings in these remote isles was not so complete as in the Orkneys.\nKetil Flatnef (Flat nose), who, according to the Laxd\u00e6la Saga, had\nemigrated to the Hebrides because he could not resist King Harald in\nNorway, had married his daughter Aud to Olaf the White, the powerful\nking of Dublin, and had established himself in a kind of independent\nsovereignty in the Hebrides; and though he seems to have migrated from\nthem to Iceland in consequence of King Harald\u2019s expedition, the\ncontinued hostility to King Harald\u2019s rule is evinced by the fact that\nthe second earl whom he sent to the Hebrides, AsBj\u00f6rn Skerablesi, was\nslain by two relatives of Ketil Flatnef, his wife and daughter taken\ncaptive, and the latter sold as a slave. R\u00f6gnvald, however, returned to\nhis own Earldom in Norway, and made over his newly-acquired possessions\nto his brother Sigurd, the \u201cfirst earl\u201d of the Saga.\n\n\n              IV. THE EARLDOM IN THE NORSE LINE, 872-1231.\n\n\nThorstein the Red, son of Olaf the White, king of Dublin, came then to\nthe north, and allying himself with Earl Sigurd, they crossed over to\nthe mainland of Scotland, and subdued Caithness and Sutherland as far as\nEkkialsbakki, and afterwards carried their conquests into Ross and\nMoray. In this invasion Earl Sigurd killed Maelbrigd the buck-toothed\n(Melbrigda t\u00f6nn), a Scottish maormor of Ross or Moray; and having tied\nhis head to his saddle-bow, \u201cthe tooth,\u201d which was very prominent,\ninflicted a wound on his leg, and the wound inflaming caused the death\nof the earl, who was hoy-laid (buried in a mound or cairn) on\nEkkialsbakki.[11] After his death, Thorstein the Red reigned as king\nover the conquered districts of Scotland, which at that time, says the\nLandnamab\u00f3k,[12] comprehended \u201cCaithness and Sutherland, Ross and Moray,\nand more than the half of Scotland.\u201d The Laxd\u00e6la Saga[13] says that in\nhis engagements with the Scots Thorstein was always successful, \u201cuntil\nat length he became reconciled with the King of the Scots, and obtained\npossession of the half of Scotland, over which he became king.\u201d But he\nwas shortly afterwards slain in Caithness by the treachery of the Scots;\nand after his death Aud, his mother, migrated to Iceland. Previous to\nher departure she had given Groa, the daughter of Thorstein, in marriage\nto Duncan, earl or maormor of Duncansby in Caithness. Thus the Norse\nearldom of Caithness passed for a time into the family of one of its\nnative chiefs. But by the subsequent marriage of Grelauga, the daughter\nof Duncan and Groa, with Thorfinn Hausakliuf, son of Torf-Einar, Earl of\nOrkney, the Scottish earldom was again added to the earldom of the\nIsles.\n\nWhile Thorstein the Red ruled on the northern mainland of Scotland,\nGuttorm, the son of Sigurd Eysteinson, had succeeded to the Orkney\nearldom on the death of his father, but after having held it for one\nyear he died childless.\n\nMeantime, when R\u00f6gnvald, Earl of Moeri, heard in Norway of the death of\nhis brother Sigurd, he obtained a grant of the earldom of Orkney from\nKing Harald for his own son Hallad. Hallad found the Islands so much\ninfested by vikings that he soon gave up the earldom in disgust, and\nreturned to Norway, preferring the life of a farmer to that of an\nearl.[14]\n\nThen R\u00f6gnvald sent another son, Einar, to take possession of the\nearldom. Einar was a man of a different stamp from Hallad. He soon made\nhis power felt among the western vikings, and freed his possessions\nentirely from their ravages. The sons of Harald Harfagri, Halfdan H\u00e1legg\nand Guthrod, grew up to be men of great violence. One spring they went\nnorth to Moeri and burnt Earl R\u00f6gnvald in his own house with sixty of\nhis men. Halfdan H\u00e1legg then sailed west to Orkney to dispossess Einar\nof the earldom, but having allowed himself to be surprised by Einar, he\nwas captured in Rinansey, and killed by having a blood-eagle cut on his\nback.[15] Harald Harfagri came west, and fined the Orkneys in sixty\nmarks of gold for the death of his son. Earl Einar offered to the\nB\u0153ndr[16] that he would pay the money on condition that he should have\nall the odal possessions in the islands\u2014a condition to which they agreed\nthe more readily, says the Saga, \u201cthat all the poorer men had but small\nlands, while those who were wealthy said they would redeem theirs when\nthey pleased.\u201d[17] But the odal lands remained in the possession of the\nearl till Einar\u2019s great-grandson, Sigurd Hl\u00f6dverson, was obliged to buy\nthe assistance of the odallers against the Scots when hard pressed by\nthe Scottish earl Finnleik.[18]\n\nWhen Einar died he left three sons, two of whom, Arnkell and Erlend,\nwere killed with King Erik Bloodyaxe in England. The third, Thorfinn\nHausakliuf, married Grelauga, daughter of Duncan, earl of Duncansbay,\nand thus reunited in the Norse line the two earldoms of Orkney and\nCaithness. Earl Thorfinn Hausakliuf left five sons. Arnfinn, the eldest,\nwho was married to Ragnhild, a daughter of King Erik Bloodyaxe, was\nkilled by his wife at Myrkhol (Murkle) in Caithness. She then married\nHavard, his brother. She soon tired of him, and instigated Einar\nKlining, his sister\u2019s son, to kill him. Havard fell in the fray at\nStennis, and was buried there.[19] Ragnhild had promised to marry Einar\nif he killed her husband Havard. When the deed was done, however, she\nrefused to perform her promise, and instigated another Einar, by the\npromise of her hand, to slay Einar Klining. This he did, but again\nRagnhild was faithless. Then she married Liot, the third son of Earl\nThorfinn Hausakliffer, and brother of the two husbands whom she had\nalready had and slain. Meanwhile Skuli, a fourth brother, had gone to\nScotland and obtained an earl\u2019s title for Caithness from the King of\nScots.[20] He was defeated by Liot, and slain in the Dales of Caithness,\nand thus Liot became sole earl of Caithness and Orkney. He fell in\nbattle with a native chieftain, named Magbi\u00f3d[21] in the Sagas, at Skida\nMyre[22] (Skitten) in Caithness, and was succeeded in the earldom by\nHl\u00f6dver, the last of the five brothers.\n\nEarl Hl\u00f6dver married Audna, the daughter of the Irish king Kiarval. He\ndied shortly after his accession to the earldom, and was buried at Hofn\n(Huna) in Caithness.[23] His son Sigurd, sometimes called \u201cthe Stout,\u201d\nsucceeded him. He is said to have been a mighty warrior, and to have\ndriven the Scots completely from Caithness.[24] But he was not left in\nundisturbed possession of his Scottish earldom. The Scottish earl or\nmaormor, Finlay (MacRuari?) invaded Caithness and gave him battle at\nSkida Myre, where his uncle Liot had fallen before another Scottish\nmaormor not long previously. Finlay had so large a force that there were\nno less than seven Scotsmen to one of Sigurd\u2019s men, and the Orkneymen\nwho were with Earl Sigurd were unwilling to fight against such odds.\nThen Sigurd offered to restore to the B\u0153ndr their allodial lands, which\nthey had resigned to Earl Einar, his great-grandfather. By this means,\nmore than by the charmed raven-banner made for him by his Irish mother,\nhe obtained the victory. \u201cAfter this,\u201d says the Njal Saga,[25] \u201cEarl\nSigurd became ruler over these dominions in Scotland, Ross and Moray,\nSutherland and the Dales\u201d (of Caithness), which seem also to include the\nold Strathnaver. But his troubles with the Scots were not yet over.\nCaithness was invaded by two Scottish maormors, called Hundi and\nMelsnati in the Saga.[26] A battle took place at Duncansbay, in which\nMelsnati was slain, but Hundi fled, and the Norsemen, learning that\nanother Scottish earl, Malcolm, was assembling an army at Duncansbay,\ngave up the pursuit and returned to Orkney. Afterwards Sigurd became\nreconciled to Malcolm, King of the Scots, and obtained his daughter in\nmarriage.\n\nBut the most notable event in the life of Earl Sigurd was that which\nbefel him as he lay in the harbour of Osmondwall shortly after his\naccession to the earldom. Olaf Tryggvason, King of Norway, returning\nfrom a western cruise, happened to run his vessels into the same\nharbour, as the Pentland Firth was not to be passed that day. On hearing\nthat the earl was there he sent for him on board his ship, and told him,\nwithout much parley, that he must allow himself to be baptized, and make\nall his people profess the Christian faith. The Flateyjarb\u00f3k says that\nthe king took hold of Sigurd\u2019s boy, who chanced to be with him, and\ndrawing his sword, gave the earl the choice of renouncing for ever the\nfaith of his fathers, or of seeing his boy slain on the spot. In the\nposition in which he found himself placed, Sigurd became a nominal\nconvert, but there is every reason to believe that the Christianity\nwhich was thus forced upon the Islanders was for a long time more a name\nthan a reality. Nearly twenty years afterwards we find Earl Sigurd\nbearing his own raven-banner \u201cwoven with mighty spells,\u201d at the battle\nof Clontarf, against the Christian king Brian; and Sigurd\u2019s fall was\nmade known in Caithness by the twelve weird sisters (the Valkyriar of\nthe ancient mythology) weaving the woof of war:\u2014[27]\n\n                       \u201cThe woof y-woven\n                        With entrails of men,\n                        The warp hardweighted\n                        With heads of the slain.\u201d\n\nAn incident which occurred just before he set out for Ireland gives a\nstriking illustration of the fierce manners of the times. King Sigtrygg,\nwho had come from Dublin to obtain Earl Sigurd\u2019s aid, was being\nentertained at the Yule-feast in Earl Sigurd\u2019s hall in Hrossey (the\nMainland of Orkney), and was set on the high seat, having Earl Sigurd on\nthe one side and Earl Gilli, who had come with him, on the other. Gunnar\nLambi\u2019s son was telling the company the story of the burning of Njal and\nhis comrades, but giving an unfair version of it, and every now and then\nlaughing out loud. It so happened that as, in answer to an inquiry of\nKing Sigtrygg\u2019s how they bore the burning, he was saying that one of\nthem had given way to tears, one of Njal\u2019s friends, Kari by name, who\nhad just arrived in Orkney, chanced to come into the hall. Hearing what\nwas said, Kari drew his sword, and smote Gunnar Lambi\u2019s son on the neck\nwith such a sharp blow that his head spun off on to the board before the\nking and the earls, so that the board was all one gore of blood, and the\nearls\u2019 clothing too. Earl Sigurd called out to seize Kari and kill him,\nbut no man stirred, and some spoke up for him, saying that he had only\ndone what he had a right to do, and so Kari walked away, and there was\nno hue and cry after him.\n\nThe battle of Clontarf, in which Earl Sigurd fell, is the most\ncelebrated of all the conflicts in which the Norsemen were engaged on\nthis side of the North Sea. \u201cIt was at Clontarf, in Brian\u2019s battle,\u201d\nsays Dasent, \u201cthat the old and new faiths met in the lists face to face\nfor their last struggle,\u201d and we find Earl Sigurd arrayed on the side of\nthe old faith, though nominally a convert to the new. The Irish account\nof the battle[28] describes it as seen from the walls of Dublin, and\nlikens the carnage to a party of reapers cutting down a field of oats.\nSigurd is described as dealing out wounds and slaughter all around\u2014\u201cno\nedged weapon could harm him, and there was no strength that yielded not,\nand no thickness that became not thin before him.\u201d Murcadh, son of Brian\nBorumha, was equally conspicuous on the side of the Irish. He had thrice\npassed through the phalanx of the foreigners, slaying a mail-clad man at\nevery stroke. Then perceiving Sigurd, he rushed at him, and by a blow of\nhis right-hand sword, cut the fastenings of his helmet, which fell back,\nand a second blow given with the left-hand sword cut into his neck, and\nstretched him lifeless on the field. In the Njal Saga the incidents\nconnected with Earl Sigurd\u2019s death are differently related. His\nraven-banner, which was borne before him, was fulfilling the destiny\nannounced by Audna, when she gave it to him at Skida Myre, that it would\nalways bring victory to those before whom it was borne, but death to him\nwho bore it. Twice had the banner-bearer fallen, and Earl Sigurd called\non Thorstein, son of Hall of the Side, next to bear the banner.\nThorstein was about to lift it, when Asmund the White called out, \u201cDon\u2019t\nbear the banner, for all they who bear it get their death.\u201d \u201cHrafn the\nRed!\u201d cried Earl Sigurd, \u201cbear thou the banner.\u201d \u201cBear thine own devil\nthyself,\u201d said Hrafn.[29] Then said the earl, \u201c\u2019Tis fittest that the\nbeggar should bear the bag,\u201d and with that he took up the banner, and\nwas immediately pierced through with a spear. Then flight broke out\nthrough all the host.\n\nWhen the news of Earl Sigurd\u2019s death reached Scotland King Malcolm gave\nthe earldom of Caithness to Thorfinn, his daughter\u2019s son by Sigurd, then\nonly five years of age, and Sumarlidi, Br\u00fasi, and Einar, Sigurd\u2019s sons\nby his former marriage, divided the Orkneys between them. Sumarlidi soon\ndied, and Einar got his portion. Einar made himself unpopular by the\nviolence with which he exacted his services from the B\u0153ndr for his\nviking expeditions, and was killed by Thorkel F\u00f3stri (Amundi\u2019s son) at\nSandwick, in Deerness. Br\u00fasi then took possession of the whole earldom\nof the Orkneys, as Thorfinn had that of Caithness. Thorfinn, however,\nclaimed a share of the Islands, and as he had the assistance of his\ngrandfather Malcolm, the King of Scots, Br\u00fasi felt himself unable to\ncope with him. He therefore went to Norway to negotiate with King Olaf\nHaraldson for a grant of the whole of the earldom of the Islands.\nThorfinn followed him on the same errand, but the king was more than a\nmatch for them both, and the result was that he gave each a third of the\nIslands, declaring the third which had belonged to Earl Einar to be\nforfeited to himself for the murder of his friend and henchman Eyvind\nUrarhorn, whom Einar had slain in revenge for Eyvind\u2019s helping the Irish\nking Conchobhar against him at Ulfreksfiord. After Thorfinn\u2019s departure,\nhowever, he gave Br\u00fasi to understand that he was to have the forfeited\nthird of the earldom, as well as his own third, to enable him to hold\nhis own against Thorfinn. An arrangement was afterwards made between\nBr\u00fasi and Thorfinn that the latter should receive two-thirds of the\nIslands on condition of his undertaking the defence of the whole, as\nthey were at that time much exposed to the predatory incursions of Norse\nand Danish vikings.\n\nWhen Thorfinn\u2019s maternal grandfather, King Malcolm, died, Kali\nHundason[30] took the kingdom in Scotland. He attempted to exact tribute\nfrom Thorfinn for his dominions in the north of Scotland, and failing in\nthis he sent his sister\u2019s son, Moddan, into Caithness, giving him the\ntitle of Earl. Thorfinn was supported by the inhabitants, however, and\nafter an unsuccessful attempt to establish himself in Caithness, Moddan\nreturned to King Kali with the news that Thorfinn was plundering in Ross\nand Sutherland. King Kali embarked a considerable force in eleven ships\nat Beruvik (apparently Berriedale on the southern frontier of\nCaithness), and sent Moddan northwards by land with another division of\nhis army, intending to enclose Thorfinn in the north-east corner of\nCaithness, and attack him from two sides at once. Thorfinn, however, was\naware of the trap laid for him, and retired to the Islands. There Kali\ncame up with him off Deerness, in Orkney, and a fierce battle took\nplace, in which Kali was defeated. He fled southwards, and Thorfinn,\nfollowing him, obliged him again to give battle at Baefiord, where he\nwas again defeated, while Thorkel F\u00f3stri fell upon Moddan at Thurso and\nslew him. Then, say the Sagas, Earl Thorfinn overran Scotland as far\nsouth as Fife, burning and slaying, and subduing the land wherever he\nwent. By these conquests he became the most powerful of all the Earls of\nOrkney.\n\nR\u00f6gnvald Brusison was in Norway when he heard of his father\u2019s death, and\nbeing odal-born to his father\u2019s third of the Islands, and having\nreceived from King Magnus Olafson a grant of that third which King Olaf\nhad declared forfeited to himself for Eyvind Urarhorn\u2019s murder, he went\nwest to the Orkneys, prepared to maintain his rights against the claims\nof Thorfinn, who had taken possession of the whole. An amicable\narrangement was made between the kinsmen, and they joined their forces\nfor viking forays upon the Hebrides, venturing even upon an extensive\nforay in England during the absence of Hardicanute in Denmark. After an\neight years\u2019 alliance, however, discord broke out between the kinsmen,\nand in a sea-fight in the Pentland Firth, off Rauda Biorg,[31] in\nCaithness, R\u00f6gnvald was defeated and fled, and Thorfinn reduced the\nwhole of the Islands. R\u00f6gnvald went to Norway, and stayed some time with\nKing Magnus. Then he came west to the Islands in a single ship, and\nsurprising Thorfinn in a house on the Mainland of Orkney, he set fire to\nit. Thorfinn broke down part of the wall of the house and leapt out,\ncarrying his wife Ingibiorg in his arms, and escaped through the smoke.\nR\u00f6gnvald, believing that Thorfinn had perished, took possession of the\nIslands. Thorfinn, who had got secretly over to his dominions in\nCaithness, returned shortly afterwards, and surprising R\u00f6gnvald in a\nhouse on Papa Stronsay, burnt the house and all who were in it, except\nR\u00f6gnvald, who sprang over the heads of the men who surrounded him, and\ngot away in the darkness. He concealed himself among the rocks by the\nshore, but was discovered by the barking of his dog, and slain by\nThorkel F\u00f3stri. Thus Thorfinn was again sole ruler of the Orkney\nearldom, as well as that of Caithness. He went to Norway to make his\npeace with King Magnus, who was foster-brother to Earl R\u00f6gnvald, and\ntherefore would seek vengeance for his death. At that time Magnus was at\nwar with Swein Ulfson, King of Denmark. While he lay with his fleet at\nSeley two war-ships rowed up to the king\u2019s vessel, and a man in a white\ncloak went straight aboard, and up to the quarter-deck, where the king\nsat at meat. Saluting the king, the man reached forth his hand, took a\nloaf from the table, broke it, and ate of it. The king handed the cup to\nhim when he saw that he had broken bread at his table, and then he\nlearned that it was Earl Thorfinn, who, having broken his bread and\ndrunk from his cup, was, for the present at least, safe from his\nvengeance, according to the ancient laws of hospitality. He deemed it\nwise, however, to take his departure without having obtained a formal\nreconciliation. King Magnus died shortly afterwards, and was succeeded\nby his uncle Harald Hardradi. Thorfinn again went to Norway on hearing\nof King Magnus\u2019 death, and effected a reconciliation with King Harald,\nso that he was now established in the earldom of Orkney by consent of\nthe over-lord, the King of Norway.\n\nFrom Norway he went to Denmark, visiting King Swein at Aalborg, and\nproceeded thence through Germany on a pilgrimage to Rome, where he\nobtained absolution for all his deeds. After his return from Rome it is\nsaid that he turned his mind more to the government of his dominions and\nthe welfare of his people than he had previously done in his career of\nconquest. He built Christ\u2019s Kirk in Birsay, and established there the\nfirst bishop\u2019s see in the Orkneys. He died in 1064, having been Earl, by\nthe Saga account, for \u201cseventy winters,\u201d and the most powerful and\nwide-landed of all the Earls of the Orkneys. After his death, as the\nSaga states, his widow Ingibiorg was married to King Malcolm\nCanmore,[32] and became the mother of Duncan, whom, however, the\nScottish historians have always represented as a bastard.\n\nThorfinn was succeeded by his two sons, Paul and Erlend, who were with\nKing Harald Hardradi in his unfortunate expedition to England. After the\nbattle of Stamford Bridge, in which King Harald fell, the Orkney earls\nwere allowed to go home by the victorious Harold Godwinson, and they\nruled their dominions jointly in great harmony till their sons grew up\nto manhood, when there began to be discord between the families. Hakon,\nthe son of Paul, was of a turbulent and overbearing disposition. He\nseems to have had a lingering attachment to the Pagan faith of his\nforefathers, for, while in Sweden (which was longer in being converted\nto Christianity than Norway), he is said to have sought out the Pagan\nspaemen to learn his future from them. Coming to Norway he tried hard to\ninduce King Magnus Barelegs to undertake an expedition to the Orkneys\nand the Western Isles, hoping that the king would conquer the Islands\nfor the glory of the conquest, and hand them over to him, as Harald\nHarfagri had given them to R\u00f6gnvald, Earl of M\u0153ri. He was more\nsuccessful than he anticipated. King Magnus, fired with the love of\nconquest, did make the expedition, but he deposed Paul and Erlend, and\ncarried them to Norway, placing his own son Sigurd, a mere child, over\nthe Orkneys.\n\nAlthough the Saga speaks as if there had been only one expedition by\nKing Magnus to Scotland, there were in reality three. Fordun[33] states\nthat when Donald Bane, Duncan, and Edgar, were struggling for the\nkingdom on the death of Malcolm in 1093, King Magnus was ravaging the\ngulfs of the Scottish seaboard, and it is stated in the Saga[34] that he\nassisted Murcertach in the capture of Dublin in 1094. In his second\nexpedition in 1098 he carried off the Earls Paul and Erlend, and made\nhis own son Sigurd Earl of Orkney. Munch surmises that the motives of\nthis expedition were two-fold\u2014to secure his power in the Orkneys, and to\nassist his prot\u00e9g\u00e9 Donald Bane, who had again usurped the crown of\nScotland on the death of Duncan in 1095, and was in 1097 hard pressed by\nEdgar with an English army. King Magnus took with him from the Orkneys\nMagnus Erlend\u2019s son (afterwards St. Magnus), and proceeded southwards to\nthe Hebrides, where he ravaged Lewis, Skye, Uist, Tiree, and Mull,\nsparing Iona on account of its sanctity. The Saga says that he opened\nthe door of the little church of Columbkill (St. Oran\u2019s chapel), and was\nabout to enter, but stopped suddenly, closed the door, forbade any one\nto enter, and gave the inhabitants peace. Then he went on to Isla and\nKintyre, and thence to Man and Anglesea, where he fought the battle with\nthe two Hughs, Earls of Chester and Shrewsbury. On his return northward\nhe caused his vessel to be drawn across the isthmus of Tarbert, in\nimitation of the fabulous sea-king Beite, of whom a similar story is\ntold. He returned to Norway in 1099, and during the next two years was\noccupied with the Swedish war. In 1102 he returned to the west, married\nhis son Sigurd to Biadmynia, the daughter of Murcertach, and fell in a\nskirmish with the Irish in Ulster in 1103. He was buried in St.\nPatrick\u2019s church in Down.[35]\n\nSigurd, the son of King Magnus, remained Earl of the Orkneys until his\nfather\u2019s death, when he succeeded to the throne of Norway.\n\nHakon Paul\u2019s son, and Magnus Erlend\u2019s son, then succeeded to the\nearldom, and held it jointly until Magnus was murdered in Egilsey by\nHakon on the 16th April, A.D. 1115.[36]\n\nAfter the murder of Magnus, Hakon became sole earl. He went on a\npilgrimage to Rome and the Holy Land, and after his return became a good\nruler, and was so popular \u201cthat the Orkneymen desired no other rulers\nthan Hakon and his issue.\u201d\n\nEarl Hakon left two sons, Harald and Paul (the silent). Harald, who had\nsucceeded to the earldom of Caithness, which \u201che held from the King of\nScots,\u201d was in some way unintentionally put to death by his mother Helga\nand her sister Fr\u00e1kork. As the Saga tells the story, he met his death by\ninsisting on putting on a poisoned shirt which the sisters intended for\nhis half-brother Paul, who, on Harald\u2019s death, became sole Earl of the\nOrkneys.\n\nA new claimant arose, however, in the person of Kali, son of Kol, a\nnobleman resident at Agdir, in Norway, who had married a sister of Earl\nMagnus the saint. Kali received from King Sigurd the gift of half the\nOrkneys, which had belonged to his uncle Magnus, and his name was\nchanged from Kali Kolson to R\u00f6gnvald, because his mother said that\nR\u00f6gnvald Brusison was the most accomplished of all the Earls of Orkney,\nand thought the name would bring her son good fortune.\n\nR\u00f6gnvald had many romantic adventures in the prosecution of his attempt\nto obtain possession of half of the earldom held by Paul, which are\ndetailed at length in the Saga. At last he was advised by his father Kol\nto make a vow to St. Magnus, that if he should succeed in establishing\nhimself in the Orkneys he would build and endow a \u201cstone minster\u201d at\nKirkwall, dedicated to St. Magnus, \u201cto whom the half of the earldom\nrightly belonged.\u201d The vow was made, and R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s next expedition was\nsuccessful. He landed in Shetland, and by a dexterous stratagem the\nbeacons on Fair Isle and in the Orkneys were made to give a false alarm\nof his descent upon the Orkneys, so that when he did land there he was\nunopposed. Then he secured the intervention of the bishop, and an\nagreement that he should have half the Islands was concluded between him\nand Earl Paul. Shortly thereafter Earl Paul was captured by Swein\nAsleifson, a notable leader at that time in the Islands, and the last\nand greatest of the Orkney vikings. Swein carried the earl off in his\nvessel, and, landing him on the southern shore of the Moray Firth,\ndelivered him into the safe keeping of Maddad, Earl of Athole,[37] who\nwas married to Margaret, a sister of Earl Paul. What became of the earl\nis not known, \u201cbut this,\u201d says the Saga, \u201cis well known, that he came\nnever again to the Orkneys, and had no dominions in Scotland.\u201d Swein\nAsleifson returned to Orkney, and by the joint consent of Earl R\u00f6gnvald,\nBishop William of Orkney, and Bishop John of Athole, Harald, the son of\nMaddad, earl of Athole, was made Earl, along with R\u00f6gnvald, though he\nwas at that time a child of only five years old. This arrangement was\nafterwards confirmed by a meeting, held in Caithness, of the B\u0153ndr and\nchiefs of the Orkneys and Caithness.\n\nThe Earls R\u00f6gnvald and Harald visited King Ingi by invitation at Bergen,\nand there Earl R\u00f6gnvald met with Eindridi Ungi, a returned Crusader, and\nbecame possessed by a strong desire to visit the Holy Land. On his\nreturn voyage to Orkney, Earl R\u00f6gnvald was shipwrecked at Gulberwick in\nShetland, and narrowly escaped with his life. Bishop William strongly\napproved of his project to go on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and\nagreed to accompany him. Accordingly he went back to Norway to organise\nthe expedition, and returned to the Orkneys followed by a large number\nof Jorsala-farers\u2014mostly adventurers of very indifferent character, if\nwe are to judge by their turbulent and lawless behaviour during their\nstay in the Orkneys, where they spent the winter previous to their\ndeparture for the East. Early in the spring of the year 1152 Earl\nR\u00f6gnvald called a Thing-meeting of the inhabitants of the Islands, and\ntold them of his purposed voyage, announcing that he was to leave the\nsole government in the hands of Harald during his absence, and asking\nthem all to obey him and help him faithfully as their lawful lord. The\nsummer was far advanced before he sailed, but he had a prosperous\nvoyage, the adventures of which are detailed in the Saga; and after\nvisiting Jerusalem and bathing in the Jordan, he returned by way of\nConstantinople, Durazzo, Apulia, and Rome, and so overland to Norway,\nthe whole expedition occupying about three years.\n\nIn the same summer that Earl R\u00f6gnvald left the Orkneys on his\npilgrimage, King Eystein came from Norway with a large force, and\nseizing Earl Harald Maddadson as he lay at Thurso with a single ship,\nmade him pay a ransom of three marks of gold, and swear fealty to him\nfor Orkney and Shetland. Earl Maddad of Athole was now dead, and\nMargaret, the mother of Earl Harald, had come to the Orkneys. Erlend,\nthe son of the Earl Harald (Slettmali), who was killed by the poisoned\nshirt, had set up his claim to half the earldom after R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s\ndeparture. His cause was favoured by King Eystein, and espoused by Swein\nAsleifson, and Earl Harald was obliged to make peace by taking oath to\nallow Erlend to remain in possession of the Islands, an arrangement\nwhich was afterwards confirmed by a Thing-meeting of the B\u0153ndr of the\nOrkneys, Earl R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s claim to his share of the Islands being,\nhowever, reserved. Earl Harald (Maddadson) was thus denuded of all power\nin the Islands. He fled across to Caithness, but after a time he\nreturned to the Orkneys with four ships and a hundred men, and after an\nunsuccessful attempt to surprise Erlend[38] he was obliged to abandon\nthe enterprise for a time. Meanwhile, Erlend had carried off Harald\u2019s\nmother Margaret (who seems to have been still a beautiful woman, though\nof very indifferent character), and fled with her to the island of Mousa\nin Shetland, where they fortified themselves in the old Pictish tower or\nborg of Mousa, which about two centuries before had given shelter during\na whole winter to a pair of lovers from Norway, under circumstances\nsomewhat similar.[39] Harald pursued them, and laid siege to the borg,\nwhich could not be taken by assault, but the two earls came to a mutual\nunderstanding, and the siege was abandoned. Erlend married Margaret, and\nthe same summer he and Harald went each on a visit to Norway to meet\nEarl R\u00f6gnvald on his return from the Holy Land.\n\nErlend succeeded in making an alliance with Earl R\u00f6gnvald. Earl Harald\nwas not aware of this till he returned from Norway, and heard the news\nin Orkney. He and R\u00f6gnvald met at Thurso, and a skirmish took place\nbetween their respective followers, in which thirteen of R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s men\nwere slain, but by the efforts of their mutual friends the two earls\nwere brought to an agreement of peace. Erlend and his faithful ally\nSwein Asleifson surprised the squadron of the two earls at Scapa, taking\nfourteen ships, and putting both the earls to flight. They crossed over\nto Caithness during the night, each in a separate boat, and returning\nsome time after with a fresh force, they surprised Erlend in Damsey, and\nslew him. Then they made peace with Erlend\u2019s old ally, Swein Asleifson,\nalthough this was not effected without some difficulty. Harald and\nR\u00f6gnvald then ruled the two earldoms jointly, and apparently in great\nharmony, until the death of the latter in 1158. R\u00f6gnvald was slain at\nCalder, in Caithness, by Thorbi\u00f6rn Klerk, the former friend and\ncounsellor of Earl Harald, who had been made an outlaw by Earl R\u00f6gnvald\nfor a murder committed in Kirkwall, following on a series of acts of\nviolence.[40]\n\nEarl Harald Maddadson now became sole ruler of the earldoms of Orkney\nand Caithness. But by his second marriage he had allied himself with\nHoarflad (Gormlath), daughter of Malcolm MacHeth, the so-called Earl of\nMoray, ex-bishop Wimund, and pretender to the Scottish throne, and\nconsequently there could be no pacific relations between him and King\nWilliam the Lion. The events of this period are somewhat confusedly told\nin the chronicles, but it seems probable that Harald was one of the six\nearls who rebelled against King Malcolm in 1160, in order to place\nWilliam of Egremont, grandson of Duncan, on the throne,[41] and that he\nalso supported Donaldbane, the son of William who aspired to the throne,\nand from 1180 maintained himself in Moray and Ross, till he was slain at\nthe battle of Macgarvey, 1187.[42] When Harald Ungi, son of Eirik\nSlagbrellir, by Ingigerd (or Ingirid), daughter of Earl R\u00f6gnvald,\nappeared as a rival claimant to the earldom of Orkney, having received\nfrom King Magnus Erlingson a grant of his grandfather\u2019s share of the\nIslands, King William embraced his interests, and gave him a grant of\nhalf of Caithness, which was thus taken from Earl Harald. Then Earl\nHarald became involved in difficulties with his other suzerain, the\nreigning King of Norway, through the expedition of the Eyarskeggiar or\npartisans of Sigurd, son of Magnus Erlingson, whom they endeavoured to\nplace upon the throne in opposition to King Sverrir. Sigurd\u2019s cause was\nlargely espoused by the Orkneymen, and the expedition (which was\norganised and fitted out in Orkney) did much mischief in Norway. Earl\nHarald was obliged to present himself before King Sverrir in Bergen. He\nwent from Orkney accompanied by Bishop Bjarni. In presence of a great\nassembly in the Christ\u2019s Kirk garth, the earl confessed his fault,\nsaying that he was now an old man, as his beard bore witness; that he\nhad bent the knee before many kings, sometimes in closest friendship,\nbut oftener in circumstances of misfortune; that he had not been\nunfaithful to his allegiance, although some of his people might have\ndone that which was contrary to the king\u2019s interests; and that he had\nnot been always able to rule the Orkneys entirely according to his own\nwill; and that now he came to yield up himself and all his possessions\ninto the king\u2019s power. So saying, he advanced, and casting himself to\nthe earth, he laid his head at King Sverrir\u2019s feet. The king granted him\npardon, but took from him the whole of Shetland,[43] \u201cwhich never after\nthat formed part of the Norwegian earldom of Orkney,\u201d though after the\ntime of the Saga-writer, Shetland as well as Orkney was granted to Henry\nSt. Clair in 1379 by King Hakon Magnusson, the second of that name.\n\nYet though humiliated in this manner, and stripped of a great part of\nhis dominions, Earl Harald, according to Hoveden, dared to contest the\npossession of Moray with King William, instigated no doubt by his wife,\nin whose right alone he could have had any feasible claim to its\npossession.\n\nRoger de Hoveden, chaplain to Henry II., a contemporary chronicler, thus\nrecords the events that followed:\u2014[44]\n\n\u201cIn the same year (1196) William, King of Scots, having gathered a great\narmy, entered Moray to drive out Harald MacMadit, who had occupied that\ndistrict. But before the king could enter Caithness, Harald fled to his\nships, not wishing to risk a battle with the king. Then the King of\nScots sent his army to Turseha (Thurso), the town of the aforesaid\nHarald, and destroyed his castle there. But Harald, seeing that the king\nwould completely devastate the country, came to the king\u2019s feet and\nplaced himself at his mercy, chiefly because of a raging tempest in the\nsea, and the wind being contrary, so that he could not go to the\nOrkneys; and he promised the king that he would bring to him all his\nenemies when the king should again return to Moray. On that condition\nthe king permitted him to retain a half of Caithness, and the other half\nhe gave to Harald, the younger, grandson of Reginald (R\u00f6gnvald), a\nformer Earl of Orkney and Caithness. Then the king returned to his own\nland, and Harald to the Orkneys. The king returned in the autumn to\nMoray, as far as Ilvernarran (Invernairn), in order to receive the\nking\u2019s enemies from Harald. But though Harald had brought them as far as\nthe port of Lochloy near Invernairn, he allowed them to escape; and when\nthe king returned late from hunting, Harald came to him, bringing with\nhim two boys, his grandchildren, to deliver them to the king as\nhostages. Being asked by the king where were the king\u2019s enemies whom he\nhad promised to deliver up, and where was Thorfinn his son, whom he had\nalso promised to give as a hostage, he replied, \u2018I allowed them to\nescape, knowing that if I delivered them up to you they would not escape\nout of your hands. My son I could not bring, for there is no other heir\nto my lands.\u2019 So, because he had not kept the agreement which he had\nmade with the king, he was adjudged to remain in the king\u2019s custody\nuntil his son should arrive and become a hostage for him. And because he\nhad permitted the king\u2019s enemies to escape, he was also adjudged to have\nforfeited those lands which he held of the king. The king took Harald\nwith him to Edinburgh Castle, and laid him in chains until his men\nbrought his son Thorfinn from the Orkneys; and on their delivering him\nup as a hostage to the king, Harald was liberated.\n\n\u201cSo Harald returned to Orkney, and there remained in peace and quiet,\nuntil Harald the younger, having received a grant of the half of the\nOrkneys from Sverrir Birkebein, the King of Norway, joined himself to\nSigurd Murt, and many other warriors, and invaded Orkney. Harald the\nelder, being unwilling to engage with him in battle, left the Orkneys\nand fled to the Isle of Man. He was followed by Harald the younger, but\nHarald the elder had left Man before his arrival there, and gone by\nanother way to the Orkneys with his fleet, and there he killed all the\nadherents of the younger Harald whom he found in the Islands. Harald the\nyounger returned to Caithness to Wick, where he engaged in battle with\nHarald the elder, and in that battle Harald the younger and all his army\nwere slain. Harald the elder then went to the King of Scots, on the safe\nconduct of Roger and Reginald, the bishops of St. Andrews and\nRosemarkie, and took to the king a large sum in gold and silver for the\nredemption of his lands of Caithness. The king said he would give him\nback Caithness if he would put away his wife (Gormlath), the daughter of\nMalcolm MacHeth, and take back his first wife, Afreka, the sister of\nDuncan, Earl of Fife, and deliver up to him as a hostage Laurentius his\npriest,[45] and Honaver the son of Ingemund, as hostages. But this\nHarald was unwilling to do; therefore came Reginald, son of Sumarlid,\nKing of Man and the Isles, to William, King of Scots, and purchased from\nhim Caithness, saving the king\u2019s annual tribute.\u201d\n\nReginald, being supplied with auxiliary forces from Ireland by his\nbrother-in-law, John of Courcy, overran Caithness, and, returning home,\nleft the conquered earldom in charge of three deputies. Harald procured\nthe murder of one of them, and then, coming over from Orkney with a\nstrong force, landed at Scrabster, where the bishop met him and\nendeavoured to mollify him. But Harald had a special grudge against\nBishop John, which added to his rage at what he considered the defection\nof his Caithness subjects. The bishop had refused to collect from the\npeople of Caithness a tax of one penny annually from each inhabited\nhouse, which Earl Harald had some years previously granted to the papal\nrevenues. Accordingly he stormed the \u201cborg\u201d at Scrabster, in which the\nbishop and the principal men of the district had taken refuge, slew\nalmost all that were in it, and caused the bishop to be blinded and his\ntongue to be cut out.[46] The two remaining deputies of King Reginald\nfled to the King of Scots, whose first act was to take revenge on\nHarald\u2019s son Thorfinn. He was blinded and castrated after the barbarous\nmanner of the times, and died miserably in the dungeon of Roxburgh\nCastle. King William, then collecting a great army, marched north to\nEysteinsdal on the borders of Caithness in the spring of 1202. Though\nHarald had collected a force of 6000 men, he felt himself unable to cope\nwith the king, and was obliged to sue for peace, which was obtained on\nthe hard condition of the payment of every fourth penny to be found in\nCaithness, amounting to 2000 marks of silver.\n\nEarl Harald\u2019s career was now drawing to a close. He died in 1206, at the\nadvanced age of seventy-three, having had the earldom for twenty years\njointly with Earl R\u00f6gnvald, and forty-eight years after R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s\ndeath.\n\nHis sons John and David succeeded him, and ruled jointly for seven\nyears, when David died and John became sole Earl of Orkney and\nCaithness. The most notable event of his time was the burning of Bishop\nAdam at Halkirk in Caithness.\n\nBishop Adam was a man of low birth. According to the Saga he was a\nfoundling, and had been exposed at a church door. Previous to his\nconsecration to the see of Caithness, in 1214, he had been Abbot of\nMelrose.[47] He arbitrarily increased the exaction of the bishop\u2019s seat\nto such an extent that the populace rose in a body, and proceeding\ntumultuously to Halkirk, where he was residing, demanded abatement of\nthe unjust exactions. Earl John, who was in the neighbourhood at the\ntime, declined to interfere, and the exasperated populace, finding the\nbishop indisposed to treat them more liberally, first killed his\nadviser, Serlo, a monk of Newbottle, and then burnt the bishop. In the\nquaint language of Wyntoun\u2014\n\n               \u201cThre hundyre men in cumpany\n                Gaddyrt on hym suddanly,\n                Tuk hym owt quhare that he lay\n                Of his chawmyre befor day,\n                Modyr naked hys body bare;\n                Thai band hym, dang hym, and woundyt sair\n                In-to the nycht or day couth dawe.\n                The monk thai slwe thare, hys falawe,\n                And the child that in hys chawmyr lay,\n                Thare thai slwe hym before day.\n                Hymself bwndyn and wowndyt syne\n                Thai pwt hym in hys awyn kychyne,\n                In thair felny and thare ire\n                Thare thai brynt hym in a fyre.\u201d\n\nThe Saga tells that when the tidings of this outrage reached King\nAlexander he was greatly enraged, and that the terrible vengeance he\ntook was still fresh in memory when the Saga was written. Fordun states\nthat the king had the perpetrators of this deed mangled in limb and\nracked with many a torture. The Icelandic Annals are more precise. They\nsay that he caused the hands and feet to be hewn from eighty of the men\nwho had been present at the burning, and that many of them died in\nconsequence.\n\nWith this tragic and ill-omened event the chequered history of the line\nof the Norse Earls draws to a close. Earl John sought to clear himself\nfrom the guilt of complicity in the murder of the bishop by the\ntestimony of \u201cgood men\u201d that he had no hand in it; but seeing that he\nhad neither assisted the bishop nor sought to punish his murderers, he\nwas heavily fined by King Alexander, and deprived of part of his\nScottish earldom. Subsequently he had an interview with the king at\nForfar, and bought back his lands. In the summer of 1224 he was summoned\nby King Hakon to Norway, having fallen under suspicion of a desire to\naid the designs of Earl Skule against Hakon\u2019s power in Norway; and after\na conference with the king at Bergen he returned to Orkney, leaving his\nonly son Harald behind him as a hostage. In 1226 Harald was drowned at\nsea, probably on his passage home from Norway. In 1231, Earl John having\nbecome involved in a feud with Hanef Ungi, a commissioner whom King\nHakon had sent over to the Orkneys, Sn\u00e6koll Gunnason, grandson of Earl\nR\u00f6gnvald (Kali Kolson), and Aulver Illteit, they attacked him suddenly\nin an inn at Thurso, set fire to the house, and slew him in the cellar,\nwhere he had sought to conceal himself.\n\nThus the ancient line of the Norse Earls, that had ruled the Orkneys\nsince 872\u2014a period of 350 years\u2014became extinct, and the earldom passed\ninto the possession of the house of Angus.\n\n\n              V. THE EARLDOM IN THE ANGUS LINE\u20141231-1312.\n\n\nOn the failure of the line of the Norse Earls by the death of Earl John\nin 1231, King Alexander II. of Scotland, in 1232, granted the earldom of\nNorth Caithness to Magnus,[48] the second son of Gilbride, Earl of\nAngus. Sutherland, or the southern land of Caithness, was now made a\nseparate earldom, and given to William, son of Hugh Freskyn, who was\nthus the first of the Earls of Sutherland.\n\nMagnus seems to have been confirmed in the earldom of Orkney by the King\nof Norway; but from this time the notices of Orkney and its earls in the\nIcelandic or Norwegian records are so few and obscure, that but little\nis to be gathered from them. The Iceland Annals, however, record the\ndeath of Magnus, Earl of Orkney, in 1239.\n\nIn the Diploma of Bishop Thomas Tulloch, drawn up _circa_ 1443,[49] it\nis stated that this Magnus was succeeded by Earl Gilbride, to whom\nsucceeded Gilbride his son, who held both the earldoms of Orkney and\nCaithness in Scotland. The Annals only notice one Gilbride, whom they\ncall \u201cGibbon, Earl of Orkney.\u201d His death is placed in the year 1256.\n\nAccording to the Diploma, Gilbride had one son, Magnus, and a daughter,\nMatilda. This Magnus is mentioned in the Saga of Hakon Hakonson as\naccompanying the ill-fated expedition of that monarch against Scotland\nin 1263. \u201cWith King Hakon from Bergen went Magnus, Earl of Orkney, and\nthe king gave him a good long-ship.\u201d Pilots had previously been procured\nfrom the Orkneys, and the fleet, after being two nights at sea with a\ngentle wind, put into Bressay Sound in Shetland, where they remained\nnearly half a month. Then they sailed for the Orkneys, and lay for some\ntime in Elwick Bay, opposite Inganess, near Kirkwall. Then they moved\nround South Ronaldsay, and lay some time in Ronaldsvoe, while men were\nsent over to Caithness to levy a contribution from the inhabitants,[50]\nof which the scald sings that \u201che imposed tribute on the dwellers on the\nNess, who were terrified by the steel-clad exactor of rings.\u201d Ordering\nthe Orkneymen to follow him as soon as they were ready, the king sailed\nsouth to Lewis and Skye, where he was joined by Magnus, King of Man. The\nfleet, which now consisted of more than a hundred vessels, for the most\npart large and all well equipped, was divided into two squadrons, one of\nwhich, consisting of fifty ships, plundered the coasts of Kintyre and\nMull, rejoining King Hakon at Gigha. A detached squadron now plundered\nBute, and the fleet cast anchor in Arran Sound, from which King Hakon\nsent Gilbert, Bishop of Hamar, and Henry, Bishop of Orkney, with three\nother envoys, to treat for peace with the Scottish King. The\nnegotiations failed, and soon after the fleet was disabled by a storm,\nand the power of the Norwegian King utterly broken in the battle of\nLargs. King Hakon, gathering together the shattered remnants of his\nfleet and army, retired slowly northwards, meeting with no impediment\nuntil they arrived off Durness, in Sutherlandshire, when the wind fell\ncalm, and the fleet steered into the sound, where seven men of a boat\u2019s\ncrew, who had been sent ashore for water, were killed by the Scots. In\npassing through the Pentland Firth one vessel went down with all on\nboard in the \u201cSwelkie,\u201d a dangerous whirlpool in certain states of the\ntide, and another was carried by the current helplessly through the\nFirth, and made straight for Norway. King Hakon laid up his fleet in\nMidland Harbour and Scapa Bay. He then rode to Kirkwall, and lay down to\ndie. He was lodged in the bishop\u2019s palace, and after having been\nconfined to his bed for some days, he recovered so much that he attended\nmass in the bishop\u2019s chapel, and walked to the cathedral to visit the\nshrine of St. Magnus. But there came a relapse, and he was again laid\nprostrate. He caused the Bible and Latin books to be read to him to\nbeguile the tedium of the sick bed, until he was no longer able to bear\nthe fatigue of reflecting on what he heard; and then he desired that\nNorwegian books should be read to him night and day\u2014first the Sagas of\nthe Saints, and then the Chronicles of the Kings, from Halfdan the Black\nthrough all the succession of the Kings of Norway. Then he set his\naffairs in order, caused his silver plate to be weighed out to pay his\ntroops, and received the sacrament. He died at midnight on Saturday,\n15th December 1263. On Sunday the corpse, clothed in the richest\ngarments, with a garland on the head, was laid in state in the upper\nhall of the palace. The king\u2019s chamberlains stood round it with tapers,\nand all day long the people came to view the remains of their king. The\nnobles kept watch over the bier through the night; and on Monday the\nroyal remains were borne to St. Magnus\u2019 Cathedral, where they lay in\nstate all that night. On Tuesday they were temporarily interred in the\nchoir of the church, near the steps leading to the shrine of St. Magnus.\nBefore his death the king had given directions that his body should be\ncarried east to Norway, and buried beside the remains of his father and\nhis relatives in Bergen. In the month of March the corpse was exhumed\nand conveyed to Scapa, where it was placed on board the great ship in\nwhich he had sailed on the unfortunate expedition to Largs, and taken to\nBergen, where it was interred in the choir of Christ\u2019s Church.\n\nMagnus Gilbride\u2019s son, who was Earl of Orkney at the time of King\nHakon\u2019s expedition, died (according to the Annals) in 1273.\n\nHe was succeeded by a son of the same name. The Annals have the entry\nunder the year 1276:\u2014\u201cMagnus, King of Norway, gave to Magnus, son of\nEarl Magnus of Orkney, the title of Earl, at Tunsberg.\u201d He appears also\nas Earl of Orkney in the document, dated 5th February 1283, declaring\nMargaret, the Maiden of Norway, the nearest heir to the Scottish\nthrone.[51] The death of Earl Magnus, Magnus\u2019 son, is recorded in the\nyear 1284,[52] along with that of Bishop Peter of Orkney and Sturla the\nLawman. The Diploma states that he died without issue, and was succeeded\nby his brother John in the earldom of Orkney and Caithness.\n\nJohn, as Earl of Caithness, appears in 1289 as one of the signatories to\nthe letter addressed by the nobles to King Edward of England proposing\nthat the young Prince Edward should marry Margaret, the Maid of Norway.\nHis name also occurs in the list of those summoned to attend the first\nparliament of Balliol. He swore fealty to King Edward at Murkle in\nCaithness, in 1297.\n\nKing Eirik of Norway in 1281 had married the Scottish princess Margaret,\ndaughter of Alexander III. She died in 1283, leaving one daughter,\nMargaret, \u201cthe Maid of Norway,\u201d who became sole heiress to the crown of\nScotland, and in 1289 was formally betrothed to Prince Edward of\nEngland. She died at sea off the coast of Orkney,[53] on her way to\nScotland, in September or October 1290. There is no record of the\ncircumstances of her death,[54] but we learn from a letter of Bishop\nAudfinn of Bergen,[55] written twenty years after the event in\nconnection with the case of the false Margaret, who was burned at Bergen\nin 1301 (as will be detailed hereafter), that her remains were brought\nback to Bergen in charge of the Bishop (most probably of the Orkneys)\nand Herr Thore Hakonson, whose wife, Ingibiorg Erlingsdatter, was\nMargaret\u2019s attendant on the voyage. In 1293 Eirik married Isabel, who is\nstyled in the Iceland Annals \u201cdaughter of Sir Robert, son of Robert,\nEarl of Brus.\u201d[56] It appears that on the 24th of July of that year King\nEdward gave permission to Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick, the father of\nIsabella Bruce, to go to Norway,[57] and to remain there for a time; and\nMunch, the Norwegian historian, conjectures that he had then brought\nover his daughter, and stayed till the marriage took place,[58] and that\nKing Eirik may have hoped by this alliance to bring the crown of\nScotland once more into the possession of a branch of his own royal\nline. In 1297 Isabella bore him a daughter named Ingibiorg. King Eirik\ndied 13th July 1299, and was succeeded by his brother Hakon (Magnusson).\n\nJohn, Earl of Orkney, seems to have gone to Norway to take the oath of\nallegiance to King Hakon immediately after his accession, for we find in\nthe Icelandic Annals that he was betrothed to King Eirik\u2019s daughter in\n1299. The statement is explicit, and though it may seem strange to us\nthat an infant scarcely two years of age should be betrothed to a man of\nforty, Munch makes the remark that such unlikely contracts were by no\nmeans so unusual in those days as to oblige us to discredit the\nstatement. In fact, we find this same King Hakon betrothing his own\ndaughter when an infant of one year to a man who, though he was much\nyounger than Earl John, was nevertheless a full-grown man. But Earl John\nseems to have died shortly after the betrothal, for we find that\nIngibiorg was betrothed anew in 1311, and John\u2019s successor in the\nearldom appears on record in 1312, with Ferquhard, Bishop of Caithness,\nwitnessing the confirmation by King Robert I. and Hakon V. (at\nInverness, 28th October) of the prior treaty executed at Perth, 6th July\n1266, between King Alexander III. and Magnus IV. (the son of the\nunfortunate Hakon), by which the Kings of Norway ceded for ever the Isle\nof Man and all the other islands of the Sudreys, and all the islands in\nthe west and south of the great Haf, except the isles of Orkney and\nShetland, which were specially reserved to Norway. In consideration of\nthis the King of Scotland became bound to pay to the King of Norway and\nhis heirs for ever an annual sum of 100 marks, within St. Magnus\u2019\nchurch, in addition to a payment of 4000 marks to be paid within the\nspace of four years.\n\nIt was about the time of Earl John\u2019s visit to the court of King Hakon,\non the occasion above referred to, that there occurred in Norway one of\nthe most extraordinary instances of imposture on record. A woman\nappeared in Bergen, in 1300, declaring that she was the princess\nMargaret, daughter of King Eirik, and heiress to the crown of Scotland,\nwho was believed by all in Norway and in Britain to have died off the\ncoast of Orkney some ten years previously. She had come over in a ship\nfrom Lubeck,[59] and her story was that she had been \u201csold\u201d or betrayed\nby her attendant Ingibiorg Erlingsdatter, in the interest of certain\npersons who wished her out of the way, and had falsely given her out for\ndead. Although her appearance and circumstances were strongly against\nthe credibility of her story, it seems to have taken a strong hold of\nthe popular mind, and not a few of the clergy and the higher classes,\npossibly influenced by political motives, appear to have given her\ncountenance. She was a married woman, and was accompanied by her\nhusband, a German. She is described by Bishop Audfinn as being well up\nin years, her hair was greyish, and partially whitened with age, and to\nall appearance she was at least twenty years older than the date of King\nEirik\u2019s marriage with Margaret of Scotland, and consequently about seven\nyears older than King Eirik himself, who was but thirteen when he was\nmarried. \u201cYet,\u201d says Munch, \u201cthough the king\u2019s daughter Margaret had\ndied in the presence of some of the best men of Norway, though her\ncorpse had been brought back by the bishop and Herr Thore Hakonson, to\nKing Eirik, who himself had laid it in the open grave, satisfied himself\nof the identity of his daughter\u2019s remains, and placed them in the\nChrist\u2019s Kirk by the side of her mother\u2019s;\u2014though this woman, in short,\nwas a rank impostor, yet she found many among the great men to believe\nher story, and not a few of the priests also gave her their countenance\nand support. That this German woman, purely of her own accord, should\nhave attempted to personate the princess Margaret ten years after her\ndeath, and should have ventured to appear publicly in Norway on such an\nenterprise, seems hardly credible. It is more likely that she may have\nbeen persuaded to it by some parties perceiving in her a certain\npersonal resemblance, who schooled her in the story she must tell to\ngive her personation an air of reality.\u201d King Hakon was away from\nBergen, and no action was taken in regard to her case until he returned\nin the early part of the winter of 1301. It was natural that he should\nwish personally to see and examine the impostor, and confront her with\nthe princess\u2019s attendants, especially to hear the testimony of Ingibiorg\nErlingsdatter, before deciding on anything. There is no record of the\ntrial, but soon after the king\u2019s arrival the \u201cfalse Margaret\u201d was burnt\nat Nordness in Bergen, as an impostor, and her husband was beheaded. As\nshe was being taken through the Kongsgaard gate to the place of\nexecution, she is reported to have said\u2014\u201cI remember well when I as a\nchild was taken through this self-same gate to be carried to Scotland.\nThere was then in the High Church of the Apostles an Iceland priest,\nHaflidi[60] by name, who was the court priest of my father King Eirik;\nand when the clergy ceased singing, then Sir Haflidi struck up with the\n\u2018Veni Creator,\u2019 and the hymn was sung out to the end just as I was being\ntaken on board the ship.\u201d Notwithstanding the manifest nature of the\nimposture she was regarded by the multitude as a martyr; a chapel was\nerected on the spot where she suffered, and the number of pilgrimages\nmade to it increased to such an extent that Bishop Audfinn interfered\nand forbade them.[61]\n\nEarl John\u2019s successor in the earldom of Orkney and Caithness was his son\nMagnus, the fifth of the name, and last of the Angus line. He first\nappears on record in 1312 in the treaty between King Robert Bruce and\nHakon Magnusson, concluded at Inverness. In 1320, as Earl of Caithness\nand Orkney, he subscribed the famous letter to the Pope, asserting the\nindependence of Scotland.[62] It seems as if he had been dead in 1321,\nfor in a document addressed by King Robert Bruce to the \u201cballivi\u201d of the\nKing of Norway in Orkney, and dated at Cullen, 4th August 1321, he\ncomplains that Alexander Brun, \u201cthe king\u2019s enemy,\u201d convicted of _lese\nmajestatis_, had been received into Orkney and had been refused to be\ngiven up, though instantly demanded by \u201cour ballivus in Caithness, Henry\nSt. Clair.\u201d He was certainly dead in 1329, for in that year Katharina,\nas his widow, executes two charters in her own name as Countess of\nOrkney and Caithness, by which she purchases from the Lord High Steward\n(Drottset), Herr Erling Vidkunnson, certain lands in R\u00f6gnvaldsey,\nincluding the Pentland Skerries.[63] In one of these documents she\nspeaks of Earl John as he from whom her husband had inherited his\npossessions which he left to her, thus corroborating the statement of\nthe Diploma that Magnus was the son of John.[64]\n\n\n           VI. THE EARLDOM IN THE STRATHERNE LINE\u20141321-1379.\n\n\nThe Diploma states that the earldom now passed by lineal succession to\nMalise, Earl of Stratherne, Magnus V. having left no male issue. In 1331\nMalise, Earl of Stratherne, possessed lands in Caithness,[65] doubtless\nin right of his wife, probably a daughter of Magnus V. Malise fell in\nthe battle of Halidon Hill in 1333, and was succeeded by his son, also\nnamed Malise, who became heir to the three earldoms of Stratherne,\nCaithness, and Orkney.\n\nMalise (the younger) styles himself Earl of Stratherne, Caithness, and\nOrkney, in a document dated at Inverness in 1334,[66] in which he grants\nhis daughter Isabella in marriage to William, Earl of Ross, granting her\nalso the earldom of Caithness failing heirs male of himself and his wife\nMarjory.[67]\n\nWilliam, Earl of Ross, succeeded his father Hugh, who fell at Halidon\nHill in 1333, but it is stated that he was not confirmed in the earldom\nfor three years, on account of his absence in Norway.[68]\n\nIt seems that Earl Malise must have passed over to Norway about the same\nperiod, in all probability to obtain formal investiture of the earldom\nof Orkney from the Norwegian King Magnus, and William, Earl of Ross, may\nhave accompanied his father-in-law. There is no record of Malise\u2019s\nmovements, but we learn incidentally that he had betaken himself to his\nnorthern possessions,[69] when he lost the earldom of Stratherne, which\nwas declared forfeited by King Edward and given to John de Warrenne,\nEarl of Surrey. It is stated that Malise, apparently seeking to preserve\nthe earldom in a branch of his own family, gave one of his daughters in\nmarriage to John de Warrenne, and that King David then declared the\nearldom forfeited,[70] and bestowed it on his nephew, Maurice de\nMoravia,[71] son of Sir John de Moravia of Abercairny, who had married\nMalise\u2019s sister Mary.[72]\n\nMalise appears to have made an effort to recover the earldom of\nStratherne in 1334. In that year King Edward, by a letter dated 2d\nMarch, directed Henry de Beaumont, Earl of Boghan, not to allow any\nprocess to be made before him respecting the earldom of Stratherne\nforfeited for treason by Earl Malise. He also wrote a letter of the same\ndate to Edward Balliol, stating that he has heard that Malise, Earl of\nStratherne, claims the county of Stratherne, which he had granted to\nJohn de Warrenne, Earl of Surrey, and requesting Balliol to act with\ndeliberation.[73]\n\nThe Diploma states that Malise was first married to Johanna, daughter of\nSir John Menteith, and that by her he had a daughter Matilda, married to\nWayland de Ard. But there is a record of a confirmation by Robert I.\n(1306-1329) of a grant of the lands of Carcathie (Cortachy) in\nForfarshire, and half of Urkwell in the earldom of Stratherne, by\nMalise, Earl of Stratherne, to his wife Johanna, daughter of the late\nJohn de Monteith.[74] As Malise the younger only became Earl of\nStratherne on the death of his father in 1333, if the confirmation be\ncorrectly ascribed to Robert I., this must refer to the Malise who was\nearl previous to 1333, and who had a daughter Matilda contracted to\nRobert de Thony in 1293, \u201cbeing not yet in her 20th year.\u201d[75]\n\nThe Diploma further states that Malise (the younger) was married the\nsecond time to a daughter of Hugh, Earl of Ross, consequently a sister\nof William, Earl of Ross, who married Malise\u2019s daughter Isabella. From\nthe deed of 1334 we learn that Malise\u2019s wife\u2019s name was Marjory. In a\ndeed of 1350 we find William, Earl of Ross, styling his sister Marjory\nCountess of Caithness and Orkney,[76] and with her consent appointing\nhis brother Hugh his heir in the event of his own death without male\nissue. From this it would appear that Malise was then dead. He must have\nbeen dead before 1353, when his son-in-law, Erngils Suneson, obtained\nthe title of Earl of Orkney from the King of Norway. He is mentioned as\ndead in 1357 and 1358,[77] and the Earl of Ross is then said to have\nentered to his lands in Caithness, doubtless in right of his wife\nIsabella, and in terms of that deed of 1334 previously noticed.[78]\n\nWhile Malise was in Norway and Sweden two of his daughters had been\nmarried to Swedish noblemen\u2014one to Arngils[79] or Erngisl, son of Sune\nJonsson, and another to Guttorm Sperra.[80] On the death of Malise, or\nshortly thereafter, Erngisl Suneson claimed his wife\u2019s share of the\nearldom. In the year 1353 we find him executing a deed on the 10th April\nas plain Erngisl Suneson, and on the 6th May thereafter his signature\nappears to a document drawn up at Vagahuus concerning the queen\u2019s dowry,\noccupying the foremost place among the nobles of Norway, and with the\ntitle of Earl of Orkney.[81] Although the Diploma states that he held\nonly his wife\u2019s share of the earldom, it is plain from this document\nthat he must have received the title of Earl of the Orkneys from the\nKing of Norway. He soon became involved with the Swedish party in favour\nof King Eirik of Pomern, and in 1357 King Magnus sequestrated his\nestates in Norway, and declared his title forfeited. His right to the\nearldom would have lapsed with the death of his wife, who died childless\nbefore 1360.[82] Nevertheless he continued to style himself Earl of\nOrkney during his lifetime.[83] He died in 1392.\n\nOn the sequestration of Erngisl\u2019s rights by the king, a certain Duncan\nAnderson, who appears to have been a Scotchman, and probably agent for\nAlexander de Ard, the son of Matilda, called the eldest daughter of\nMalise, issued a manifesto, notifying to the inhabitants of Orkney that\nhe has the true and legitimate heir of Earl Malise, the former Earl of\nOrkney, under his guardianship; that this heir has now the full and\nundeniable right to the earldom; and that, as he has heard that the King\nof Norway has recently sequestrated the revenues of the earldom, he\nwarns the inhabitants not to allow these revenues to be taken furth of\nthe land till the true heir be presented to them, which will be ere very\nlong, if the Lord will. The inhabitants, who seem to have been somewhat\ndisquieted by the missive, sent a representation on the subject to the\ncourt of Norway. It would seem that a representation must have been made\nby the court of Norway to the Scottish King regarding the troubling of\nthe islands by the claimants or their friends in Scotland, for an edict\nwas issued by King David from Scone, in 1367, forbidding any of his\nsubjects, of whatever rank or condition, to pass into Orkney, or\nfrequent its harbours, on any other errand than that of lawful commerce.\n\nIn 1375, King Hakon of Norway granted the earldom of Orkney for a single\nyear till next St. John\u2019s Day to Alexander de Ard,[84] naming him,\nhowever, in the document not as Earl but simply as Governor and\nCommissioner for the King, and declaring, in the document addressed to\nthe Islanders, that this grant is given provisionally until the said\nAlexander shall establish his claim to the earldom. He seems not to have\nbeen regarded with much favour by the king, for this grant was not\nrenewed, and in 1379 Henry St. Clair and Malise Sparre preferred their\nclaims to the earldom.\n\nAlexander de Ard had succeeded to the earldom of Caithness by the law\nand custom of Scotland, in right of his mother as heir to Earl Malise.\nIn 1375 he resigned the castle of Brathwell (Brawl), and all the lands\nin Caithness or any other part of Scotland which he inherited in right\nof his mother, Matilda de Stratherne, to King Robert II., who bestowed\nthem on his own son, David Stewart.\n\nEarl David Stewart appears in 1377-78 as Earl Palatine of Stratherne and\nCaithness. King Robert III. gave the earldom of Caithness to his\nbrother, Walter Stewart, of Brechin, who held it till about 1424. He\nthen resigned it to his son Alan, who was slain at Inverlochy in 1431.\nThe earldom reverted to his father, who in 1437 was forfeited for his\nshare in the murder of King James I. The earldom remained in possession\nof the crown till 1452, when it was granted by King James II. to Sir\nGeorge Crichtoun, Admiral of Scotland. On his death in 1455 King James\ngranted the earldom of Caithness to William St. Clair, then Earl of\nOrkney, in whose line it has continued till the present day.\n\n\n          VII. THE EARLDOM IN THE LINE OF ST. CLAIR\u20141379-1469.\n\n\nThe genealogical questions connected with the succession of the St.\nClairs of Roslin to the earldom of Orkney are involved in apparently\ninextricable confusion.\n\nSo early as 1321 we find a Henry St. Clair acting as the \u201cballivus\u201d of\nKing Robert Bruce in Caithness,[85] and in 1364 we also find a Thomas\nSt. Clair installed at Kirkwall as the \u201cballivus\u201d of the King of Norway,\nan Alexander St. Clair, and a Euphemia de Stratherne, styling herself\none of the heirs of the late Malise, Earl of Stratherne.[86]\n\nThe Diploma states explicitly that one of the four daughters of Malise,\nEarl of Stratherne,[87] by his wife Marjory, daughter of Hugh, Earl of\nRoss, was married to William St. Clair. This must be William St. Clair,\nson of the Sir William St. Clair who fell with the Douglas in Spain\nfighting against the Saracens in 1330.[88] The Diploma goes on to\nnarrate that Henry St. Clair, the son of William St. Clair and this\ndaughter of Malise, succeeded to the earldom of Orkney apparently in\nright of his mother. We know from the deed of investiture that his\naccession to the earldom took place in 1379.\n\nIn a charter of 1391 Earl Henry names his mother Isabella St. Clair. It\nis usually said that his father, William St. Clair, married Isabella,\ndaughter of Malise, Earl of Stratherne. But, as we have seen from the\ndeed of 1334, Isabella was married to William, Earl of Ross, not to\nWilliam, Earl of Roslin. Yet it appears from the deed of 1391 that\nHenry\u2019s mother\u2019s name was Isabella, and though he does not style her a\ndaughter of Malise, the terms of the document imply that she was heiress\nto lands in Orkney and Shetland. The Diploma only mentions one of the\nEarls Malise, and it may be that the Isabella whom William St. Clair\nmarried was the daughter of the elder and sister of the younger Malise\nof Stratherne.\n\nIf he had married one of the four daughters of the younger Malise it\nseems unaccountable why he did not claim his wife\u2019s portion of the\nearldom. We find that the representatives of the other sisters were\nclaimants, and that one of them, Erngisl Suneson, actually received his\nwife\u2019s share, and enjoyed the title of Earl of Orkney, while Alexander\nde Ard is said to have succeeded to the earldom of Caithness in virtue\nof a similar claim, and had his rights to the earldom of Orkney so far\nrecognised by the King of Norway on the forfeiture of Erngisl Suneson.\nThe Earl of Ross, as we have seen, also succeeded to the share falling\nto his wife Isabella. But no claim seems to have been made for the\nIsabella who is said to have been married to William St. Clair. If she\nhad been a daughter of the younger Malise it can scarcely be doubted\nthat such a claim would have been made, and if made, established as\nreadily as that of the other sisters. William St. Clair was alive in\n1358, five years after the claim of the sister married to Erngisl\nSuneson had been made good, and one year after Erngisl\u2019s title to the\nearldom had been declared forfeited.\n\nBut a more fatal objection to the statement of the Diploma, that\nWilliam\u2019s wife was a daughter of the younger Malise, arises from the\nfact that in the attestation by the Lawman and Canons of Orkney in\nfavour of James of Cragy (1422) it is expressly certified that Henry\nSinclair was himself married to a daughter of the younger Malise, styled\n\u201cElizabeth de Stratherne, daughter of the late reverend and venerable\nMalise, Earl of Orkney,\u201d and that by her he had a daughter, Margaret,\nwho was married to James of Cragy. The Diploma, on the other hand,\nstates that Henry was married to Janet Haliburton, daughter of Walter\nHaliburton of Dirleton, and by her had a son Henry, who succeeded him.\nIt is quite possible, however, that both these statements might be true,\nthe attestation in favour of James of Cragy having no reason to mention\nthe second wife, and the Diploma having no special reason to mention the\nfirst wife in connection with the succession which it derives through\nthe mother, making her, moreover, such a remarkable instance of\nlongevity that she survived her husband, her son, and all her younger\nsisters, and all their sons and daughters, and became sole heiress to\nthe earldom after Earl Henry\u2019s death, although he left a son who ought\nto have succeeded him, but who, according to the Diploma, succeeded to\nher, his grandmother.\n\nIn whatever way these apparently contradictory statements are to be\nreconciled, the statement of the Diploma that Henry St. Clair was the\nfirst of the line who enjoyed the title of Earl of Orkney is undoubtedly\nborne out by the records. In the summer of 1379 he passed over to Norway\nand received formal investiture from King Hakon of the earldom of Orkney\nand also of the lordship of Shetland,[89] which, since the time of its\nforfeiture to King Sverrir by Earl Harald Maddadson, had been in the\npossession of the crown of Norway. The conditions on which he accepted\nthe earldom are set forth at length in the deed of investiture, and\ncontrasting them with the semi-independence of the ancient earls a\nrecent writer has remarked that they left him little more than the lands\nof his fathers.[90] Although the Earls of Orkney had precedence of all\nthe titled nobility of Norway, and their signatures to the national\ndocuments stand always after the Archbishops, and before the Bishops and\nnobles, though the title was the only hereditary one permitted in Norway\nto a subject not of the blood royal, yet it was now declared to be\nsubject to the royal option of investiture. The earl was to govern the\nIslands and enjoy their revenues during the king\u2019s pleasure, but he was\ntaken bound to serve the king beyond the bounds of the earldom, with a\nhundred men fully equipped, when called on by the king\u2019s message; he was\nto build no castle or place of strength in the Islands, make no war,\nenter into no agreement with the bishop, nor sell or impignorate any of\nhis rights, without the king\u2019s express consent; and moreover he was to\nbe answerable for his whole administration to the king\u2019s court at\nBergen. At his death the earldom and all the Islands were to revert to\nthe King of Norway or his heirs, and if the earl left sons they could\nnot succeed to their father\u2019s dignity and possessions without the royal\ninvestiture. At the following Martinmas he was taken bound to pay to the\nking 1000 English nobles.[91] It was part of the compact also that\nMalise Sperra, son of Guthorm Sperra, should depart from all his claims\nto the earldom in right of his mother;[92] and he left with King Hakon,\nas hostages for the due fulfilment of his share of the contract, the\nfollowing from among his friends and followers:\u2014 William Daniel, knight,\nMalise Sperra, and David Crichton.\n\nBut King Hakon died in the year after Earl Henry\u2019s investiture, and the\nevents that took place in the Orkneys during the reign of King Olaf, his\nsuccessor, are entirely unknown to the Norwegian chroniclers. Earl Henry\nseems neither to have courted the favour of his suzerain nor to have\nstood in awe of his interference. He built the castle of Kirkwall in\ndefiance of the prohibition contained in the deed of his investiture,\nand seems to have felt himself sufficiently independent to rule his\nsea-girt earldom according to his own will and pleasure.\n\nThe fact that King Hakon\u2019s investiture of Earl Henry took him bound not\nto enter into any league with the bishop nor to establish any friendship\nwith him without the king\u2019s express consent, shows us that the bishop\nwas then acting in opposition to the king and the representatives of the\ncivil power. The likelihood is that Earl Henry found this opposition of\nthe bishop favourable to his own design of making himself practically\nindependent, and represented it as the excuse for the erection of the\ncastle of Kirkwall, contrary to the terms of his agreement with the\ncrown. Munch attributes the discord to the growing dislike of the\nNorwegian inhabitants of the Islands to Scotsmen, whose numbers had been\nlong increasing through the influence of the Scottish family connections\nof the later earls. Whatever may have been its origin, the end of it was\nthat in some popular commotion, of which we have no authentic account,\nthe bishop was slain in the year 1382.[93]\n\nMalise Sperra appears to have endeavoured to establish himself in\nShetland[94] in opposition to Earl Henry. He had seized, it is not\nstated upon what grounds, the possessions in Shetland which had belonged\nto Herdis Thorvaldsdatter, and of which J\u00f3n Hafthorson and Sigurd\nHafthorson were the lawful heirs. It seems as if a court had been about\nto be held by the earl to settle the legal rights of the parties\nconcerned. The court would be held at the old Thingstead, near\nScalloway, but a conflict took place, the dispute was terminated by the\nstrong hand, and Malise Sperra was slain.[95] As a number of his men\nwere slain with him, it seems probable that he had been the aggressor.\nAs both he and the earl are among those who were present at the assembly\nof nobles at Helsingborg, on the accession of King Eirik of Pomern in\nSeptember 1389, and the Iceland Annals place the death of Malise Sperra\nin this same year, it is probable that the earl landed in Shetland on\nhis way home from Norway for the express purpose of seeing justice done\nin the cause of the heirs of Thordis. In 1391, by a deed executed at\nKirkwall (and subsequently confirmed by King Robert III.), he dispones\nthe lands of Newburgh and Auchdale in Aberdeenshire,[96] to his brother\nDavid for his services rendered, and in exchange for any rights he may\nhave to lands in Orkney and Shetland, derived from his mother Isabella\nSt. Clair. In 1396 a deed was executed at Roslin by John de Drummond of\nCargyll, and Elizabeth, his wife, in favour of Henry, Earl of Orkney,\nLord Roslyn, \u201cpatri nostro,\u201d by which they renounce in favour of the\nearl\u2019s male issue, and for them and their heirs, all claims to the\nearl\u2019s lands \u201cinfra regnum Norvagie.\u201d[97]\n\nThe Diploma states that after the death of the first Henry St. Clair,\nhis mother, the daughter of Malise,[98] came to Orkney, and, outliving\nall her sisters and all their sons and daughters, became the only\nheiress of the earldom. It is added that of this thing there were\nfaithful witnesses still living who had seen and spoken with the mother\nof Henry the first.\n\nHer grandson Henry, son of the first Henry, succeeded to the earldom,\nbut there seems to be no record of his investiture by the Norwegian\nking. In 1404 he was entrusted with the guardianship of James I., and on\nhis way to France with the young prince, for whose safety it was judged\nnecessary that he should be removed from Scotland, he was captured by\nthe English off Flamborough Head, and retained some time in\ncaptivity.[99] In 1412 he went to France with Archibald Douglas to\nassist the French against the English.[100] In 1418 John St. Clair, his\nbrother, swears fealty to King Eirik at Helsingborg for the king\u2019s land\nof Hjaltland, and becomes bound to administer the Norse laws according\nto the ancient usage, and it is stipulated that at his death Shetland\nshould again revert to the crown of Norway.[101] It seems from this that\nEarl Henry must have been dead in 1418, though Bower in his continuation\nof Fordun says that he died in 1420.[102] A dispensation was granted for\nhis widow\u2019s marriage in 1418.[103]\n\nHenry was succeeded by his son William, the last of the Orkney earls\nunder Norwegian rule. But the investiture of the new earl did not take\nplace till 1434, and for a period of fourteen years the administration\nof the Islands was carried on by commissioners appointed by King Eirik.\n\nOn the death of Earl Henry, Bishop Thomas Tulloch was appointed\ncommissioner in 1420. He swore fealty to King Eirik in the church of\nVestenskov in Laland, undertaking the administration of the Islands\naccording to the Norsk law-book and the ancient usages.[104] On 10th\nJuly 1422 he received as a fief from the king \u201cthe palace of Kirkwall\nand pertinents, lying in Orkney, in Norway, together with the lands of\nOrkney and the government thereof.\u201d[105]\n\nIn 1423 the administration of the Orkneys and Shetland was committed to\nDavid Menzies of Wemyss by King Eirik. In 1426 a complaint was sent to\nthe king by the inhabitants, setting forth that they had been subjected\nto oppression and wholesale spoliation during the period of his\nadministration.[106] Among the accusations preferred against him it was\nasserted that he diminished the value of the money by one-half, that he\nthrew the Lawman of the Islands into prison unjustly, and illegally\npossessed himself of the public seal and the law-book of the Islands,\nwhich the Lawman\u2019s wife had deposited on the altar of the Church of St.\nMagnus for their security; that he exacted fines and services illegally\nand with personal violence, and was guilty of many other illegal acts of\ntyrannical oppression.\n\nThe government of the Islands seems to have been again entrusted to\nBishop Tulloch[107] until 1434, when the young earl received his formal\ninvestiture.[108]\n\nWilliam, the last of the Orkney earls under Norwegian rule, succeeded to\nhis father Henry, and received investiture on terms nearly similar to\nthose imposed upon his grandfather. Moreover, he was to hold for the\nking and his successors the castle of Kirkwall, which his grandfather\nhad built without the king\u2019s consent. He had taken the title before he\nreceived investiture from King Eirik, for in 1426 he appears as Earl of\nOrkney on the assize at Stirling, for the trial of Murdoch, Duke of\nAlbany.[109] In 1435, as Lord High Admiral of Scotland, he had command\nof the fleet that conveyed the Princess Margaret to France. In 1446 he\nwas summoned by the Norwegian Rigsraad to appear at Bergen on next St.\nJohn\u2019s Day,[110] to take the oath of allegiance to King Christopher, the\nsuccessor of Eirik of Pomern. In 1460 the king\u2019s commissioners in\nKirkwall certify to King Christian I. that John of Ross, Lord of the\nIsles, has for a long time most cruelly endeavoured to depopulate the\nIslands of Orkney and Shetland by burning the dwellings and slaying the\ninhabitants, and that in these circumstances Lord William St. Clair, the\nEarl of Orkney and Caithness,[111] had been prevented from coming to the\nking.[112] On 28th June 1461 Bishop William of Orkney writes to the king\nfrom Kirkwall excusing the earl for not having come to take the oath of\nallegiance, because in the month of June of that year he had been\nappointed one of the regents of the Kingdom of Scotland on account of\nthe tender years of the prince (King James III.), and therefore was\npersonally resident in Scotland. The bishop also repeats the complaint\nagainst John of Ross, Lord of the Isles, and the bands of his Islesmen,\nIrish, and Scots from the woods, \u201cwho came in great multitudes in the\nmonth of June, with their ships and fleets in battle array, wasting the\nlands, plundering the farms, destroying habitations, and putting the\ninhabitants to the sword, without regard to age or sex.\u201d[113] Tradition\nstill points in several parts of the Islands to \u201cthe Lewismen\u2019s graves,\u201d\nprobably those of the invaders who were killed in their plundering\nexpeditions through the Islands.\n\nOn the 8th September 1468 a contract of marriage was signed between\nJames III. of Scotland and Margaret, daughter of King Christian I. of\nDenmark, Sweden, and Norway, by which, after discharging the arrears of\nthe tribute due by Scotland for Man and the Hebrides,[114] King\nChristian engaged to pay a dowry of 60,000 florins with his daughter,\nstipulating for certain jointure lands (including the palace of\nLinlithgow and the castle of Doune), and her terce of the royal\npossessions in Scotland if left a widow. Of the dowry 10,000 florins\nwere to be paid before the princess\u2019s departure, and the Islands of\nOrkney were pledged for the balance of 50,000 florins. Only 2000 florins\nof the 10,000 promised were paid, and the Islands of Shetland were\npledged for the remainder. The amount for which the whole of the Islands\nof Orkney and Shetland were thus impignorated was 58,000 florins of 100\npence each, or about \u00a324,000.\n\nIn 1471 King James III. gave William, Earl of Orkney, the castle and\nlands of Ravenscraig in Fife in exchange for all his rights to the\nearldom of Orkney, and an Act of Parliament was passed on the 20th of\nFebruary of the same year annexing to the Scottish Crown \u201cthe Erledome\nof Orkney and Lordship of Schetland, nocht to be gevin away in time to\ncum to na persain or persainis, excep alenarily to ane of the king\u2019s\nsonnis of lauchful bed.\u201d\n\n\n                VIII. THE BISHOPRIC OF ORKNEY\u20141060-1469.\n\n\nThe origin of the bishopric of Orkney is involved in obscurity. Its\nearly history is complicated by the fact that there were two if not\nthree distinct successions of bishops, only one of which is recognised\nby the Norse writers.\n\nThe Saga statement regarding the origin of the bishopric unfortunately\nis lacking in precision. It is stated that Earl Thorfinn built Christ\u2019s\nKirk in Birsay, apparently after his return from his pilgrimage to Rome,\nand that the first bishop\u2019s see in the Orkneys was established there.\nTaking this in connection with the statement that William the Old, who\nwas bishop in 1115, when St. Magnus was murdered, was the first bishop,\nthe inference would be that the bishopric was erected in his time. The\nstatement regarding his tenure of office for sixty-six years is scarcely\ncredible; but supposing it to be the fact, as he died in 1167, we obtain\n1102 as the date of the erection of the bishopric.\n\nOn the other hand, Adam of Bremen states[115] that Thorolf was the first\nBishop of Orkney, and that he was consecrated by Adalbert, Archbishop of\nHamburg, in the middle of the 11th century,[116] and that another bishop\nnamed Adalbert succeeded him. Now, as William the Old was not\nconsecrated before 1102, if there was a bishop in Earl Thorfinn\u2019s time\n(the date of his death being 1064), it must have been this Thorolf. If\nThorolf was consecrated in the middle of the 11th century, it was\nprobably before Earl Thorfinn\u2019s death in 1064. But it seems that the see\nwas vacant or unoccupied before 1093.\n\nIt appears from a letter of Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury\n(1070-1089), that Earl Paul of Orkney had sent to him a cleric whom he\nwished to be consecrated a bishop, and Lanfranc orders Wulstan, Bishop\nof Worcester, and Peter, Bishop of Chester, to go to York and assist the\narchbishop there at the consecration. This must refer to the Earl Paul,\nson of Thorfinn, who with his brother Erlend was carried to Norway by\nKing Magnus on his second expedition to the west in 1098, and neither of\nthem ever returned. The name of this bishop is not given in Lanfranc\u2019s\nletter. But the English writers[117] mention that in the end of the 11th\ncentury a cleric named Ralph was consecrated Bishop of Orkney by Thomas,\nArchbishop of York. Thomas was archbishop from A.D. 1070 to 1100. It is\nmentioned that when the right of the Archbishop of York to consecrate\nTurgot Bishop of St. Andrews was asserted in 1109, it was proposed that\nhe should do it by the assistance of the (English) Bishops of Scotland\nand of Orkney. Anselm, Archbishop of Canterbury (1092-1107), wrote[118]\nto Earl Hakon Palson, exhorting him and his people to obey the bishop\n\u201cwhom now by the grace of God they had.\u201d\n\nA second bishop, named Roger, was consecrated by Gerard, who was\nArchbishop of York in the beginning of the 12th century, from 1100 to\n1108.\n\nA third bishop, named Ralph, previously a presbyter of York, said to\nhave been elected by the people of Orkney, was consecrated by Archbishop\nThomas, the successor of Gerard. It is this Ralph who figures in the\naccounts of the battle of Northallerton, 1138. Pope Calixtus II. and\nPope Honorius II. addressed letters to the Norwegian Kings, Sigurd and\nEystein, in favour of Ralph.[119] In the letter of Pope Honorius it is\nexpressly stated that another bishop had been intruded in the place of\nRalph. This must refer to William the Old, whom the Sagas make bishop\nfrom the year 1102.\n\nThe explanation of all this seems to be that the Archbishops of Hamburg\nand York both tried in vain to secure the right of consecrating the\nBishops of Orkney; the former on the ground that as the successors of\nSt. Anschar they were primates of the Scandinavian churches, and the\nlatter on the same ground on which they claimed the right to consecrate\nthe Bishop of St. Andrews\u2014viz. that their jurisdiction extended to the\nwhole of Scotland and the Isles. In the appendix to Florence of\nWorcester\u2019s Chronicle,[120] written in the beginning of the 12th\ncentury, it is said that \u201cthe Archbishop of York had jurisdiction over\nall the bishops north of the Humber, and all the bishops of Scotland and\nthe Orkneys, as the Archbishop of Canterbury had over those of Ireland\nand Wales.\u201d Meantime, however, the Norwegians made their own bishops,\nand these, having obtained possession of the see, were the real bishops\nof Orkney, though the others might enjoy the empty title.\n\nThus WILLIAM THE OLD was the first of the actual bishops of Orkney of\nwhom we have distinct record. As the Saga and the Saga of St. Magnus\nboth state explicitly that he held the bishopric for sixty-six years,\nand the Annals place his death in 1168, he must have been consecrated in\n1102. The see, which was first at Birsay, where Earl Thorfinn erected\nthe Christ\u2019s Kirk,[121] was removed to Kirkwall on the erection of the\nCathedral, 1137-52. He went with Earl R\u00f6gnvald to the Holy Land in 1152.\nWhen Pope Anastasius erected the metropolitan see of Trondheim in 1154\nhe declared the Bishop of Orkney one of its suffragans, and Bishop\nWilliam\u2019s canonical rights were thus implicitly recognised. He died in\n1168; and in 1848, when certain repairs were being executed on the\ncathedral, his bones were found enclosed in a stone cist thirty inches\nlong and fifteen inches wide, along with a bone object like the handle\nof a staff, and a leaden plate, inscribed in characters apparently of\nthe 13th century:\u2014\n\n            HIC REQUIESCIT WILLIALMUS SENEX, FELICIS MEMORI\u00c6,\n            PRIMUS EPISCOPUS.\n\nThe position in which the bones were found in the choir seems to\nindicate that they must have been moved from their previous\nresting-place. Bishop William\u2019s bones, and the cist which contained\nthem, were carted away with the rubbish when the church was re-seated in\n1856.[122] The leaden plate and bone object which were found in the cist\nare preserved in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.\n\nWILLIAM II., the second bishop, is only known from the entry of his name\nin the list of bishops[123] (1325), and the entry of his death under the\nyear 1188 in the Icelandic Annals.\n\nBJARNI, son of Kolbein Hruga (who built the castle on the island of\nWeir), was the third bishop. His mother, Herborg, was a\ngreat-granddaughter of Earl Paul.[124] Bjarni himself was a famous poet,\nand to him is ascribed the _Jomsvikinga-drapa_\u2014the Lay of the Jomsburg\nVikings.[125] A bull of Pope Innocent III., dated at the Vatican, 27th\nMay 1198,[126] is addressed to him in connection with the refusal of\nBishop John of Caithness to collect an annual tribute in his diocese, as\nnoticed hereafter.[127] It appears from a deed of his in the Chartulary\nof the monastery of Munkalif at Bergen that he possessed lands in\nNorway, as well as his patrimonial lands in Orkney and castle in the\nisland of Weir. By that deed he gives to the monastery, \u201cfor the souls\nof his father (Kolbein Hruga), his mother, his brother, his relations\nand friends,\u201d the lands called _Holand_, near the Dalsfiord, north of\nBergen. It is curious thus to find in authentic records a mortification\nof lands to a church in Norway to provide masses for the soul of a man\nwho is now known in his own former home in Orkney only as _Cobbie Row_,\n\u201cthe giant,\u201d or \u201cgoblin\u201d of the castle, which he built and inhabited.\nBishop Bjarni was present with John, Earl of Orkney, at the great\nassembly of nobles at Bergen,[128] in 1223, and died shortly thereafter.\n\nJOFREYR, the fourth bishop, was consecrated in 1223, according to the\nAnnals. There was a Jofreyr, Dean of Tunsberg, present at the same\nassembly in Bergen above referred to, and as the name is a very uncommon\none, it is probable that he is the same who was made Bishop of the\nOrkneys. He seems to have been long an invalid, for, by a bull dated at\nViterbo, 11th May 1237,[129] Pope Gregory IX. enjoins Sigurd, Archbishop\nof Nidaros (Drontheim), to move Bishop Jofreyr of Orkney, who had been\nparalytic and confined to bed for many years, to resign office, or, if\nhe was unwilling to resign, to provide him with a wise and prudent\nhelper. Jofreyr retained the see, however, for ten years after this. The\nAnnals place his death in 1247.\n\nHENRY (I.) was the fifth bishop. A papal dispensation for the defect of\nhis birth, by Pope Innocent IV., is dated 9th December 1247.[130] He was\nthen a canon in the Orkneys. He was with King Hakon\u2019s expedition in\n1263, and died in 1269.\n\nPETER, the sixth bishop, was consecrated in 1270. A brief of his,[131]\ndated at Tunsberg, 3d September 1278, grants forty days\u2019 indulgence to\nthose in his diocese who contribute in aid of the restoration of St.\nSwithin\u2019s cathedral at Stavanger, which had been destroyed by fire. He\ndied in 1284.\n\nDOLGFINN, the seventh bishop, was consecrated in 1286. Nothing is known\nof him but the name. He died, according to the Annals, in 1309.\n\nWILLIAM (III.) was the eighth bishop. He was consecrated in 1310. At the\nProvincial Council held at Bergen, in 1320, there were several\ncomplaints made by the archbishop against William, Bishop of\nOrkney.[132] Kormak, an archdeacon of the Sudreys, and Grim Ormson,\nprebendary of Nidaros, had been sent by the archbishop on a visitation\nof the diocese of Orkney, and had reported that William had squandered\nthe property of the see, that he had bestowed the offices of the church\non foreigners and apostates, that he had compromised his dignity as a\nprelate of the church by participation in the boisterous pastime of\nhunting and other unseemly diversions, that he had been careless and\nlukewarm in the exercise of his spiritual office, and had not sought out\nthose who practised idolatry and witchcraft, or who were heretics or\nfollowed ungodly ways. Moreover, he had imprisoned Ingilbert Lyning, a\ncanon of Orkney, whom the archbishop had sent to make inquiry into the\ncollection of the Peter\u2019s pence, and had deprived him of his prebendary\nand all his property. He had also clandestinely appropriated to himself\nduring fifteen years a portion of the church dues, amounting to the\nvalue of 53 marks sterling, and he had refused to permit the removal of\nthe corpse of a woman from Orkney, although her will had been that she\nshould be interred in the cathedral of Trondheim. He was suspended in\nthe following year (1321) by the archbishop, but in 1324 we find him\nassisting at the consecration of Laurentius, Bishop of Hole.[133] By a\ndeed,[134] dated at Bergen, 9th September 1327, he mortgages his dues of\nShetland to his metropolitan, Eilif, Archbishop of Nidaros, for the\npayment of 186 marks sterling, which he should have paid the archbishop\nfor six years\u2019 teinds. By another document of the same year,[135] Bishop\nAudfinn of Bergen requests Bishop William of Orkney to assist his priest\nIvar in the collection of the _Sunnive-miel_\u2014a contribution which the\ninhabitants of Shetland had paid from old time to the shrine of St.\nSunniva at Bergen. The date of this bishop\u2019s death has not been\nascertained.\n\nWILLIAM (IV.), ninth bishop, succeeded him, sometime after the year\n1328. There is extant an agreement between him and Hakon Jonsson, dated\nat Kirkwall, 25th May 1369.[136] The next mention we have of him is the\nentry in the Annals, under the date 1382\u2014\u201cThen was heard the mournful\ntidings that Bishop William was slain in the Orkneys.\u201d\n\nWILLIAM (V.), tenth bishop, appears only in a record of the time of King\nRobert III. of Scotland. Munch supposes that he may have been the\nWilliam Johnson who appears as Archdeacon of Zetland, in a Norse deed\ndated at Sandwick in Shetland, March 4, 1360.\n\nHENRY (II.), eleventh bishop, according to Torf\u00e6us, appears in a record\nof 1394.\n\nJOHN, twelfth bishop, appears in the Union Treaty of Calmar in 1397.\n\nPATRICK, thirteenth bishop, appears in an Attestation by the Lawman of\nOrkney, two canons of the church of St. Magnus, and four burgesses of\nKirkwall, of the descent and good name of James of Cragy, laird of\nHupe.[137] He is otherwise unnoticed, but as he is there referred to by\nhis canonical title, and the many losses, injuries, and disquietudes\nwhich he endured at the hands of his adversaries, are specially alluded\nto, there seems to be no doubt that he held the bishopric between the\ndeath of John and the incumbency of Thomas de Tulloch.\n\nTHOMAS de Tulloch, fourteenth bishop, first appears in existing records\nin 1418. He seems to have been previously Bishop of Ross.[138] On 17th\nJune 1420, at the church of Vestenskov in Laland, he gives his pledge to\nKing Eirik and his successors, and undertakes that he will hold the\ncrown lands of Orkney committed to him, for the Kings of Norway,\npromising at the same time to give law and justice to the people of\nOrkney according to the Norsk law-book and the ancient usages.[139] In\n1422 he receives the palace and pertinents of Kirkwall\u2014\u201cthet slot oc\nfaeste Kirkqwaw liggende j Orknoy j Norghe meth landet Orknoy,\u201d etc.\u2014as\na fief from King Eirik. A record of the set of the threepenny lands of\nStanbuster, in the parish of St. Andrews, executed by him on 12th July\n1455, and confirmed by his successor in 1465, is preserved at Kirkwall.\nHis death took place before 28th June 1461, when we find his successor\nin office.[140]\n\nWILLIAM (VI.) de Tulloch, the last bishop during the dominion of Norway\nin the Orkneys, was bishop in June 1461, and tendered his oath of\nallegiance in 1462.\n\nA bull of Pope Sixtus IV., dated at the Vatican, 17th August 1472,\nplaced the see of the Orkneys under the metropolitan Bishop of St.\nAndrews.\n\n\n               IX. THE BISHOPRIC OF CAITHNESS\u20141150-1469.\n\n\nThe Bishopric of Caithness appears to have been co-extensive with the\nolder earldom, comprehending Caithness and Sutherland as far south as\nEkkialsbakki or the Kyle of Sutherland. In later times the cathedral\nchurch was at Dornoch.[141] But it would seem as if the episcopal see\nhad at one time been at Halkirk (called in the Saga _H\u00e1 Kirkia_, or the\nHigh Kirk), near Thurso, where we find the bishops frequently residing.\nThe date of the erection of the bishopric is unknown.\n\nANDREW is the first bishop who appears in authentic records. About the\nyear 1153 King David granted to him the lands of Hoctor Comon,[142] and\nabout the same time he himself gave a grant of the Church of the Holy\nTrinity of Dunkeld to the monks of Dunfermline.[143] About the year 1165\nhe and Murethac, his clerk, are witnesses to a charter of Gregory,\nBishop of Dunkeld, confirming the said gift. About the year 1181 he is a\nwitness to the grant by Earl Harald Maddadson to the see of Rome of a\npenny annually from every inhabited house in Caithness, which brought\nhis successor, Bishop John, into such trouble.[144] He is also a witness\nto the remarkable document engrossed in the Book of Deer, by which King\nDavid I. declares the clerics of Deer to be free from all lay\ninterference and undue exaction, \u201cas it is written in their book, and as\nthey pleaded at Banff and swore at Aberdeen.\u201d[145] The Chronicle of\nMailros records his death at Dunfermline on 30th December 1185. He seems\nto have been a learned man, and was much about the court of David I. He\nis said to have been the author of part of the curious treatise \u201cDe Situ\nAlbani\u00e6,\u201d attributed to Giraldus Cambrensis.\n\nJOHN, second bishop, succeeded him. He seems to have refused to exact\nfrom the inhabitants the papal contribution of one penny annually from\neach inhabited house in Caithness granted by Earl Harald, for in a\nbull[146] dated at the Vatican, 27th May 1198, Pope Innocent III.\nenjoins Bishop Bjarni of Orkney and Bishop Reginald of Ross to compel\nBishop John to give up his opposition to its collection on pain of the\ncensure of the Church. About this time also Caithness had been taken\nfrom Harald by King William the Lion, with whom he was involved in\nhostilities, and given over to Reginald Gudrodson, the petty king of the\nHebrides. Hence, on Harald\u2019s recovery of his possessions in 1202, he was\nso exasperated that he took vengeance on the bishop[147] by blinding him\nand cutting out his tongue, and inflicted severe punishments on the\npeople, whom he held to have been guilty of rebellion. Bishop John\nappears to have survived his mutilation till 1213.\n\nADAM, third bishop, was consecrated in 1214 by Malvoisin, Bishop of St.\nAndrews. He was a foundling exposed at a church door, but he had been\nAbbot of Melrose previous to his appointment to the see of Caithness. In\n1218 he went with the Bishops of Glasgow and Moray on a pilgrimage to\nRome. He seems to have been of an opposite disposition to that of his\npredecessor, who suffered martyrdom in the cause of his people. It was\nan old custom in Caithness that the husbandmen paid the bishop a _spann_\nof butter for every twenty cows. Bishop Adam exacted the contribution\nfirst for every fifteen, and at length for every ten cows. Exasperated\nby these exactions, the people rose in a body and came to him at\nHalkirk, where in the tumult a monk of Newbottle named Serlo was killed\nand the bishop himself burned in his own kitchen. A letter of Pope\nHonorius III., dated in January 1222, and addressed to the Scottish\nbishops of the time, is extant in the archives of the Vatican,[148] in\nwhich, after commending King Alexander for his promptitude and zeal in\navenging Bishop Adam\u2019s murder, he goes on to tell that, having learned\nfrom their letters what a horrible crime, what a detestable deed had\nbeen committed, his spirit quailed and his heart trembled and his ears\ntingled as he realised the daring atrocity of the deed. \u201cYour letters,\u201d\nhe says, \u201chave informed us that a dispute having arisen between Adam,\nBishop of Caithness, of adorable memory, on the one part, and his\nparishioners on the other, concerning the tithes and other rights of the\nChurch, and these matters having been submitted to the king himself by\nthe mediation of certain ecclesiastics, with consent of the bishop, and\nthe king being absent in England, his parishioners, moved with anger\nagainst him because he upheld the cause of his Church against them, fell\non their pious pastor like ravening wolves, on their father like\ndegenerate sons, and on their Lord Christ like emissaries of the devil,\nstripped him of his clothing, stoned him, mortally wounded him with an\naxe, and finally killed and burned him in his own kitchen.\u201d The letter\nconcludes with an injunction to excommunicate all concerned in the\nmurder. The bishop\u2019s body was interred in the church at Skinnet, and is\nsaid to have been subsequently removed to Dornoch in 1239.[149] The Saga\nstates that the fearful vengeance taken by King Alexander II. for the\nmurder of the bishop was still fresh in memory in the writer\u2019s time; and\nwe learn from the Annals that \u201cthe Scottish king caused the hands and\nfeet to be hewn from eighty men who had been present at the burning, so\nthat many of them died.\u201d\n\nGILBERT de Moravia, fourth bishop, had been Archdeacon of Moray previous\nto his elevation to the see of Caithness in 1223. He built the cathedral\nat Dornoch, and his charter of constitution[150] is still extant in the\nrecord-room at Dunrobin Castle. For many years there had been an\nintimate connection between the diocese of Caithness and the abbey of\nScone,[151] and in the constitution of his cathedral Bishop Gilbert\nnamed the Abbot of Scone one of the canons. The fourteen churches\nassigned to the prebends were those of Clyne, Dornoch, Creich, Rogart,\nLairg, Farr, Kildonan, and Durness, in Sutherland; and Bower, Watten,\nSkinnet, Olrig, Dunnet, and Canisbay, in Caithness. Golspie and Loth,\nReay, Thurso, Wick, and Latheron, were reserved to the bishop.\n\nHe seems to have been a man of mark in his time. He built the \u201cBishop\u2019s\nCastle\u201d at Scrabster, and was made keeper of the king\u2019s castles in the\nnorth.[152] He seems also to have been the first discoverer of gold in\nSutherlandshire, for Sir Robert Gordon states that he \u201cfound a mine of\ngold in Duriness, in the lands belonging to his bishoprick.\u201d He died at\nScrabster in 1245, and was afterwards canonised. His relics were\npreserved in the cathedral church at Dornoch, and continued to be held\nin reverence down to the middle of the 16th century. In a record of the\nyear 1545 it is stated that the parties compearing before Earl John of\nSutherland in the chapter-house of the cathedral at Dornoch made oath by\ntouching the relics of the blessed Saint Gilbert. He is the only bishop\nof Caithness, except Bishop Adam, whose death is recorded in the\nIcelandic Annals. The entry is under the year 1244:\u2014\u201cDeath of Gilibert,\nbishop in Scotland.\u201d\n\nWILLIAM, fifth bishop, was his successor. In 1250 he appears among the\nother Scottish bishops in a document addressed to Alexander III.\nconcerning the liberties of the Church. He died in 1261 or 1262.\n\nWALTER de Baltrodin, a canon of Caithness, was chosen as his successor.\nPope Urban IV. in 1263 addressed a letter[153] to the bishops of\nDunkeld, Brechin, and Ross, setting forth that his election had not been\nproceeded with according to canonical form, but as it had been\nunanimous, and in consideration of the poverty of the Church, and the\nexpense of making such long journeys to distant places, he enjoins them\nto prefer the said Walter to the bishopric if they find that he is not\ndisqualified by defect of birth or otherwise. He died before 1274. On\nhis death, Nicolas, Abbot of Scone, was chosen as his successor, but\nrejected by the Pope.[154]\n\nARCHIBALD, Archdeacon of Moray, was chosen on the rejection by the Pope\nof Nicolas, Abbot of Scone. The Pope\u2019s letter confirming his election\nmentions R., the Dean, Patrick, the treasurer, and Roger de Castello,\ncanon of Caithness, as the parties by whom he was nominated. In his time\nBoyamund de Vitia was commissioned by Pope Gregory X. to collect a\nspecial subsidy in aid of the crusade, and his accounts furnish us with\nthe names of a number of the churches in the diocese of Caithness and\nthe amounts contributed.[155]\n\nBishop Archibald must have been dead before 1279, for in that year the\nPope addressed a letter to the Bishops of St. Andrews and Aberdeen,[156]\nsetting forth that the see of Caithness being vacant, the chapter had\nproceeded to the election of R., the Dean of Caithness, and had\nconstituted Henry of Nottingan[157] (in Caithness) their procurator to\nobtain confirmation of the said election, and that the said Henry, in\nthe Pope\u2019s presence, had confessed that the said dean had a son thirty\nyears old or more, and that he was said to have another, although he\n(Henry of Nottingan) did not believe it; and, moreover, that he had been\nstricken with paralysis, and was old and debilitated. The bishops are\nenjoined to use their influence to oblige him to resign.\n\nALAN de St. Edmund, eighth bishop, was an Englishman, elected by the\ninfluence of Edward I. of England. In 1290 he signs the letter addressed\nto that king, proposing a marriage between the Maid of Norway and the\nyoung Prince Edward. Alan was a favourite with King Edward, and was made\nChancellor of Scotland in 1291. In that year a writ[158] was addressed\nby the king to Alexander Comyn, keeper of the royal forest of Ternway,\nin Moray, ordering him to give Bishop Alan 40 oaks suitable for material\nfor the fabric of the cathedral church of Caithness, which the king had\ngranted for the souls of Alexander, King of Scotland, and Margaret, his\nqueen, the sister of King Edward. Bishop Alan died in 1291, and on his\ndeath King Edward ordered the Bishops of St. Andrews and Glasgow to\ncommit the vacant cure to some cleric in the king\u2019s allegiance.[159] The\nfulfilment of this mandate is not on record, but we learn from the\nletter of Pope Boniface VIII.[160] addressed to Bishop Adam in 1296,\nthat on the death of Alan the chapter of Caithness had chosen the\nArchdeacon of Caithness, whose name is given as I(oannes?) to be his\nsuccessor, but because the election had not been in canonical form it\nwas not confirmed by the Pope, who preferred to the vacant diocese Adam,\nthen precentor of the church of Ross.\n\nADAM, ninth bishop, as we learn from the Pope\u2019s letter above mentioned,\nwas not elected in the usual way, but preferred by the Pope and\nconsecrated by the Bishop of Ostia. The letter addressed by the\nPope[161] \u201cto the chapter of Caithness, to the people of the district\nand diocese of Caithness, and to our dearest son in Christ the King of\nScots,\u201d in 1296, announces his preferment, and the reasons that led to\nit. He died at Sienna very shortly after the date of this letter.[162]\n\nANDREW, abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Cupar,[163] was now\npreferred to the see of Caithness; and because, \u201con account of the wars\nthat are imminent in those parts, and the dangers of the way, which is\nlong and perilous, it is impossible for him to approach the apostolic\nseat for consecration,\u201d a mandate was addressed to the Bishops of\nAberdeen, Glasgow, and Ross, to give him consecration.\n\nFERQUHARD, Bishop of Caithness, appears in 1310, among the other bishops\nof Scotland, acknowledging Robert Bruce as King of Scotland. In 1312,\nalong with Magnus, Earl of Caithness and Orkney, he attests the payment\nof 100 marks sterling (the annual tribute payable for the Hebrides) by\nKing Robert Bruce to the King of Norway, in St. Magnus\u2019 Cathedral,\nKirkwall. He was dead and the see vacant in 1328.[164]\n\nNICOLAS, a deacon, was bishop-elect in 1332.[165]\n\nDAVID was the next bishop, but of him we have no record except that he\nwas dead before 1340.[166]\n\nALAN, Archdeacon of Aberdeen, was confirmed as Bishop of Caithness in\n1341 by Pope Benedict XII.[167] He died in 1342.\n\nTHOMAS de Fingask was elected on the death of Alan, and his confirmation\nby Pope Clement VI. is dated in November 1342.[168] He is witness to a\nwrit by William, Earl of Ross, in 1355, declaring the abbey of Ferne\nexempt from all the king\u2019s taxes.[169] He appears as witness to a deed\nwith Ingelram of Caithness, Archdeacon of Dunkeld, in 1359.[170] He died\nat Elgin in 1360, and was buried in our Lady\u2019s aisle of the chanonry\nchurch of Elgin, under the bishop\u2019s seat.\n\nMALCOLM is the next bishop of whom we have any authentic account.[171]\nHis confirmation by Pope Urban V. is dated Feb. 21, 1369.[172] A bull of\nPope Gregory XI., dated at Avignon in March 1376, confirms to Dr.\nWilliam of Spynie the chanonry and prebendary of the church of Orkney,\nwhich had become vacant by the preferment of Malcolm to be Bishop of\nCaithness.[173]\n\nALEXANDER appears as Bishop of Caithness in 1389, when, along with\nAlexander, Bishop of Ross, and Adam, Abbot of Kinloss, he takes part in\nthe settlement of a dispute between the Earl and Bishop of Moray.[174]\nHe appears by proxy at the provincial synod held at Perth in 1420.[175]\n\nROBERT was bishop in 1434, and his successor WILLIAM, who appears as\nbishop in 1449, was still in office at the period of the transference of\nthe Orkneys from the Norwegian to Scottish rule, in 1469.\n\n\n                     X. ANCIENT CHURCHES OF ORKNEY.\n\n\n\u201cThe Cathedral of St. Magnus,\u201d says Worsaae, \u201cis incontestably the most\nglorious monument of the time of the Norwegian dominion to be found in\nScotland.\u201d \u201cIt is,\u201d says Peterkin, \u201cone of the two cathedral churches in\nScotland remaining entire, and is, therefore, a national monument,\ninteresting from its antiquity, its beauty, and the rarity of such\nrelics in this part of the empire.\u201d Nothing conveys to the mind of the\nstranger visiting Kirkwall a more vivid impression of the ancient\nimportance of this quaint little town, which has been the capital of the\nOrkneys for at least 800 years, than the grandeur of its cathedral, and\nthe imposing aspect of the ruins of the palaces of the Bishops and Earls\nof Orkney.\n\nThe Saga tells how the erection of the cathedral was undertaken by Earl\nR\u00f6gnvald II. (Kali Kolson), in fulfilment of a vow which he had made to\nbuild and endow a splendid stone minster in Kirkwall in honour of St.\nMagnus, his mother\u2019s brother, from whom he derived his right to a share\nof the earldom of the Orkneys. He won the earldom in the year 1136, and\nthe erection of the cathedral was commenced under the superintendence of\nhis father Kol, in 1137, and carried on until the earl\u2019s means failed.\nBy agreement with the odallers, a mark for each ploughland in the\nislands was contributed for the purpose of carrying on the work, and\nthis brought in money enough to enable the erection of the church to be\nproceeded with.\n\nThe cathedral, as it now stands, however, is by no means the work of\nEarl R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s time, although the portion built by him is still clearly\ndistinguishable. \u201cThe church,\u201d says Sir Henry Dryden,[176] \u201cas designed\nand partly built in the time of Kol (father of Earl R\u00f6gnvald), was of\nthe same width as at present, but possibly one bay shorter at the west\nend. There can be little doubt that the choir terminated in an apse,\nwhich began about half-way along the great piers in front of the\nsubsequent altar steps, and extended as far as the line of those steps.\nThe builders, having laid out the whole church, carried up the choir and\nits two aisles and the transepts to the eaves, and built the piers of\nthe central tower.\u201d The architectural history of the structure, however,\nis puzzling. \u201cThough I spent eighteen weeks at the cathedral,\u201d says Sir\nHenry in a letter to Mr. Worsaae, \u201cand have thought over the thing many\ntimes, I cannot make out the history of the building to my own\nsatisfaction. There is no doubt that there is a great deal of copying in\nit, _i.e._ of building at one time in the style of another.\u201d[177] The\nchief interest of the structure lies in the fact that it was built by a\nNorwegian earl, and designed and superintended by the Norwegian Kol, who\nhad the principal oversight of the whole work. It is significant of\ntheir community of origin that the oldest portions of St. Magnus show\ntraces of the same peculiarities of style which are found in the nearly\ncontemporary but somewhat older Norman churches in Normandy, the home of\nthe Christian descendants of the Vikings who followed Hr\u00f3lf the\nConqueror, son of R\u00f6gnvald, Earl of Moeri.\n\n\n[Illustration: St. MAGNUS CATHEDRAL, KIRKWALL from the South east]\n\n\nThe cathedral was erected for the express purpose of receiving the\nrelics of St. Magnus, but we have no record of their transference to the\nnew church. There is reason to believe that they had been brought to\nKirkwall before the erection of the cathedral was begun, and, though it\nis not so stated, it may be inferred that on their removal from Christ\u2019s\nChurch in Birsay, they were deposited in the church of St. Olaf at\nKirkwall, and remained there for some years until the cathedral was\nready to receive them. It seems probable that it is to the church of St.\nOlaf that Kirkwall owes its name of _Kirkiu-vagr_, the Creek of the\nKirk. This name does not occur in the Saga before the time of Earl\nR\u00f6gnvald Brusison, who is said to have resided there, and it is most\nlikely that the church of St. Olaf was built by him in memory of his\nfoster-father, King Olaf the Holy. Earl R\u00f6gnvald was in the battle of\nStiklestad (1030) in which the warrior saint of Norway fell, and being\nhis foster-son he was more likely than any of the subsequent earls to\ndedicate a church to his memory. We are told in the Saga[178] that the\nrelics of St. Magnus were exhumed by Bishop William twenty years after\nhis death and placed in a shrine at Christ\u2019s Kirk. Shortly thereafter,\nsays the Saga, St. Magnus appeared in a dream to a man who lived in\nWestray, by name Gunni, and ordered him to tell Bishop William that he\n(St. Magnus) wished to go out of Birgish\u00e9rad and east to Kirkwall. Gunni\nwas afraid to do so lest he should excite the wrath of Earl Paul, whose\nfather had been the murderer of St. Magnus. The following night St.\nMagnus again appeared to him, ordering him to disclose his dream\nwhatever the consequences might be, and threatening him with punishment\nin the life hereafter if he disobeyed. Struck with terror, Gunni went to\nthe Bishop and told him in the presence of Earl Paul and all the\ncongregation. Earl Paul, it is said, turned red with anger, but all the\nmen there united in requesting the bishop to proceed at once to carry\nthe wishes of St. Magnus into execution. So the bishop went east to\nKirkwall with the relics, accompanied by a great concourse of people,\nand \u201cplaced them in a shrine upon the altar of the church which then was\nthere,\u201d and which could have been no other than St. Olaf\u2019s,[179] seeing\nthat the building of the cathedral was not commenced until after Earl\nPaul had been carried off to Athole by Swein Asleifson. The Saga of St.\nMagnus adds that there were then few houses in the town, but that after\nthe relics of St. Magnus had been transferred thither the town rapidly\nincreased.\n\n\n[Illustration: EGILSHA S. MAGNUS.]\n\n\nEarl R\u00f6gnvald (II.) himself was buried[180] in the cathedral in 1158. In\nthe winter of 1263 the remains of King Hakon Hakonson were deposited in\nthe cathedral previous to their removal to Bergen. Worsaae states that\nthe remains of the Princess Margaret, the Maid of Norway, were interred\nin the cathedral in 1290, and the local tradition is to the same effect,\nbut there is no authority for the statement. The princess\u2019s remains were\ntaken back to Norway and buried in the High Church of Bergen by King\nEirik, beside the remains of her mother.[181]\n\nEGILSEY CHURCH, on the little isle of Egilsey, is interesting from the\nsuggestions of its connection with the earlier Christianity of the\nislands previous to the Norse invasion.\n\nThe church stands on the highest ground of the island, on the west side,\nand is a conspicuous object in the landscape from all sides. It consists\nof chancel and nave, but differs from all the existing churches in the\nislands in having a round tower rising at the west end of the nave. It\nis of small size, the nave being 30 feet long by 15\u00bd feet in breadth\ninside, and the chancel 15 feet long by 9\u00bd feet in breadth. The chancel\nis vaulted, and the walls are about 3 feet thick. The tower, which seems\nto have been built with the nave, is 7 feet diameter inside, and is now\n48 feet high, the walls being about 3\u00bd feet thick. It is stated that\nabout 15 feet were taken off the height to prevent its falling.[182] The\nonly two windows in the nave that are original are round-headed and 3\nfeet high, with jambs splaying inwards from 8\u00bd to 33 inches wide, and\nhaving no external chamfer. Two windows in the chancel are exactly\nsimilar but smaller. Over the chancel vault there is a small chamber\nlighted by a flat-headed window 18 inches high.\n\nIts original dedication is unknown,[183] and there is nothing to fix the\ndate of its erection with absolute certainty.\n\n\n[Illustration: EGILSEY CHURCH, from the South east (from a Photograph)]\n\n\n\u201cThe church of Egilsey,\u201d says Munch, \u201cis shown by its construction to\nhave been built before the Northmen arrived in Orkney, or, at all\nevents, to belong to the more ancient Christian Celtic population; both\nits exterior and its interior show so many resemblances to the old\nchurches in Ireland of the 7th and 8th centuries, that we are compelled\nto suppose it to have been erected at that time by Irish priests or\n_Papas_. As we find no remains of any similar churches on the\nislands,[184] we must suppose it to have been the first of the few on\nthe thinly inhabited isle-group. The island on which it stood might,\ntherefore, very justly be called \u2018Church isle.\u2019 But the Irish word\n_Ecclais_ (church), derived from the Latin _Ecclesia_, might easily be\nmistaken by our forefathers for Egils, the genitive of the man\u2019s name\nEgil.\u201d\n\nIf we could unhesitatingly adopt Munch\u2019s view of the origin of the name\nEgilsey, it might be safely assumed that this was the church which gave\nits name to the island, as no other ecclesiastical site is known within\nits bounds. The Norsemen were heathens down to the time of the\nChristianising cruise of King Olaf Tryggvason in A.D. 1000, and not very\nhearty in their Christianity for a long time after that. The church\ncould not have been built, therefore, between 872 and the accession of\nEarl Thorfinn in 1014. Nor is it likely to have been erected during\nThorfinn\u2019s minority, for he was only five years old when his father fell\nfighting under a heathen banner at Clontarf. The Saga tells that\nThorfinn built Christ\u2019s Church in Birsay, and made it the first bishop\u2019s\nsee in the Orkneys. If he, or any of his successors previous to the\ndeath of St. Magnus, had erected such a notable structure as that of\nEgilsey, it would probably have been recorded. There was a church in\nEgilsey in 1115 when St. Magnus was murdered, and the only question is\nwhether it was the present church. Its resemblances to the Irish\nchurches of the 7th and 8th centuries are not sufficiently definite and\ndeterminative to enable us to assign to it unhesitatingly an Irish\norigin; while, on the other hand, the resemblance to the round-towered\nchurches of Norfolk suggests that it may have been of Scandinavian\norigin. But there is nothing in the architecture of the building either\nto fix the date of its erection or to determine the questions of Celtic\nor Scandinavian origin with any degree of certainty.[185]\n\n\n[Illustration: ORPHIR.]\n\n\nThe CHURCH OF ORPHIR is one of the few circular churches in Britain,\nbuilt in imitation of the church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem. The\ncrusades were the means of importing this form into the ecclesiastical\narchitecture of the west. A few of these round churches remain in\nDenmark, and, like those of England, they are mostly of the 12th\ncentury.[186]\n\nAll that remains of this interesting structure is merely the\nsemicircular chancel and about 9 feet of the walls of the circular nave\non either side, as shown in the annexed ground-plan. It is described in\nthe Old Statistical Account as having been a rotundo, 18 feet in\ndiameter and 20 feet high, two-thirds of which were taken down to build\nthe present parish church. The curvature of the part of the walls still\nremaining would give a diameter of 18 to 19 feet. The semicircular\nchancel is 7 feet wide and a little more than 7 feet deep. The walls are\nwell built of yellow Orphir freestone. The only remaining window is a\nsmall one in the east end of the chancel, 30 inches high, having a\nsemicircular head, and the jambs splaying inwards from 10\u00bd inches to 20\ninches wide. It has a groove for glass.\n\nThe Rev. Alex. Pope of Reay, who visited Orphir in 1758, has given a\ndescription of \u201cThe Temple of Orphir, or Gerth House,\u201d but there is\nlittle to be gathered from it, and the measurements as given[187] are\nevidently wrong. He states, however, that extensive remains, supposed to\nbe those of the Earls\u2019 Palace at Orphir, had been discovered in\nexcavating the foundations of the neighbouring farm-buildings.\nIndications of these, and of an extensive refuse-heap, are still to be\nseen.\n\nThe church of Orphir is first mentioned in the Saga in connection with\nEarl Paul Hakonson\u2019s residence at Orphir. The church is there referred\nto as a splendid structure, and it is not spoken of as recently erected,\nor as having been built by Earl Paul. But Earl Hakon, his father, who\nhad made a pilgrimage to Rome and the Holy Land, is said in the Saga to\nhave brought back relics which he would doubtless deposit in the church\nat Orphir, where he seems to have resided. The probability is that the\nchurch was built by him after his return from his pilgrimage, perhaps as\nan expiatory offering for the murder of his cousin, St. Magnus. Earl\nHakon died in 1122, and three out of the six round churches in Britain\nhad been built before that time.\n\nCHRIST\u2019S CHURCH in Birsay is the first church of which we have any\nrecord in the Saga, and, so far as we know, the first church erected in\nthe Orkneys after the conversion of the Norwegian inhabitants to\nChristianity. It was built by Earl Thorfinn some time about the middle\nof the 11th century. Earl Thorfinn made a pilgrimage to Rome about the\nyear 1050, and it is likely that Christ\u2019s Church would be built after\nhis return to Orkney, or between 1050 and 1064, the date of his death.\nIt was the seat of the bishopric previous to the erection of the\ncathedral of St. Magnus, and William the Old, who was the first (actual)\nbishop, lived to see the bishopric transferred to Kirkwall some time\nafter 1137.\n\nIt is doubtful whether any recognisable traces of the original Christ\u2019s\nChurch now remain. Neale says, \u201cThe parish church, which contains some\nfragments of old work, seems to have been the famous Christ\u2019s Church\nbuilt by Earl Thorfinn.\u201d But it does not seem at all likely that any\nportion of the existing parish church can be as old as the middle of the\n11th century. There are remains of an older church, however, beside it,\nwhich are still known as the Christ\u2019s Kirk, and Mr. George Petrie, who\nhas made a ground-plan of the structure (of which only part of the\nfoundation remains), has ascertained that it had an apse at the east\nend.\n\n\n[Illustration: WEIR]\n\n\nThe CHURCH OF WEIR, on the island of the same name, consists of chancel\nand nave, the extreme length exteriorly being 36 feet, and the width 18\u00bd\nfeet. The nave is 19 feet by 13 feet inside, and the chancel little more\nthan 7 feet square. The door is in the west end, having parallel jambs\nwith no rebate. The doorway has a semicircular head, roughly arched with\nthin slaty stones set on edge, the arch being set a little back on the\nimposts.[188] There are two windows on the south side of the nave, only\none of which appears to be original. It is flat-headed, 22 inches high\nand 8 inches wide, the jambs splaying inwards to a width of 27 inches.\nThe chancel arch, of which a representation is given in the accompanying\nplate, is exactly like the doorway. There is one window in the south\nside, which seems to have been round-headed, 27 inches high by 11 inches\nwide.\n\nOf this chapel Mr. Muir says,[189] \u201cExcepting that at Lybster, in\nCaithness, the entrance to the chancel is the most diminutive, not of\nprimitive date, I have ever seen, the total height being only 4 feet. In\nplan, size, and general expression, Weir and Lybster are remarkably\nalike, and in all probability both buildings are the work of the same\nperiod, though Lybster is perhaps fully the older of the two.\u201d Sir Henry\nDryden also remarks the similarity of the chapels of Weir and Lybster,\nand adds \u201cProbably Weir is of the 12th or 13th century, but the\ncharacteristics are not decisive enough to approximate more closely to\nits date.\u201d\n\nIt is most probable that this chapel[190] was built by Bishop Bjarni,\nthe son of Kolbein Hruga, who built the castle on the island of Weir, as\nrecorded in the Saga. Bjarni was bishop from 1188 to 1223, and would\nprobably reside on his paternal estate in Weir when not required by the\nduties of the episcopate to be in Kirkwall. This period answers to the\nindications afforded by the architectural characteristics of the\nbuilding, and we have no record of any other person who was likely to\nhave erected a chapel on this little island. The fact that it is still\ncalled \u201cCobbie Row\u2019s Chapel\u201d points to its connection with Kolbein\nHruga\u2019s family.\n\n\n[Illustration: LYBSTER S. MARY]\n\n\nThe CHURCH AT LYBSTER[191] (Reay), in Caithness, corresponds in style\nand plan so closely to the church of Weir that it may be described here\nbriefly. There is no other church in Caithness of any antiquity which\ndemands special notice. Ecclesiastical sites of early date are thickly\nscattered over the county, but the ruins of the buildings themselves\nhave suffered so much that there is scarcely an architectural feature\nleft to guide us to conclusions as to their date. The church at Lybster\nis fortunately an exception. It consists of chancel and nave, slightly\nlarger than Weir, and very rudely constructed. There is a doorway with\ninclined jambs in the west end, of which a representation is given in\nthe accompanying plate; but Mr. Muir notices as a singular feature of\nthe building that there are nowhere traces of windows, although all the\nelevations except the east one, which is broken down to a little below\nthe gable line, remain nearly entire. The entrance to the chancel is of\nthe same form as the doorway, having inclined jambs. \u201cWith regard to\neven the probable age of this building,\u201d says Mr. Muir, \u201cI would not\nlike to venture an opinion. The diversified shapes and sizes of the\nstones, and the primitive form and smallness of the entrances to the\nnave and chancel, would suggest extreme earliness of date; whilst, on\nthe other hand, the refined character of the ground-plan would indicate\na period of time not more remote than the 12th century.\u201d\n\n\n[Illustration: Chancel-Arch of Church at Weir.]\n\n\n[Illustration: Doorway in West end of Church at Lybster, Reay.]\n\n\nST. PETER\u2019S CHURCH, on the Brough of Birsay, a holm of about 40 acres,\nseparated from the mainland by a channel about 150 yards wide, and dry\nat low water, consists of nave, chancel, and apse, all well defined, and\napparently built at the same time, the material being a grey whinstone.\nThe total length of the building is 57 feet. The nave is 28 feet by 15\u00bd\ninside, and the chancel about 10 feet square. There is but one doorway,\nin the west end of the church. It has parallel jambs without any rebate\nfor a door.[192] There are the remains of a window in the north wall, 3\nfeet high by 10\u00bd inches wide, square-headed, and splaying both\ninternally and externally to a width of 22\u00bd inches. Only the foundations\nof the apse remain. The floor was originally level to the end of the\napse, but subsequently there had been a reredos which blocked off the\napse, and then there were steps to the altar, some portion of which\nstill remains. A stone projection or \u201cseat,\u201d 14 inches high and the same\nin width, runs all round the nave. In the north-east and south-east\ncorners are two circular spaces, 5\u00bd feet in diameter, in one of which\nare the remains of a spiral stone staircase. In all probability the\nchurch was twin-towered, like many of the Scandinavian churches dating\nfrom the 13th century. Barry states that this church was dedicated to\nSt. Peter, but the dedication seems to have been unknown in the\nlocality[193] in 1627.\n\nThere are the remains of a chapel similarly situated on the Brough of\nDeerness, at the east end of the Mainland. The Brough of Deerness is an\noutlying rock, nearly 100 feet high, and covered with green sward on the\ntop. The chapel stands near the centre of the area, and is surrounded by\na stone wall enclosing an area of about 60 feet by 45. The chapel, which\nis a smaller and ruder building than that on the Brough of Birsay, is a\nsimple parallelogram of not more than 17 feet by 10 inside, the walls\nbeing from 3 to 4 feet thick. The doorway is in the west end, and there\nare the remains of a window in the east end, but the heads of both are\ngone. Around the chapel there are the foundations of about a score of\nstone-built huts scattered irregularly over the area of the Brough. They\nare irregularly built, with a tendency towards the rectangular form, the\nwalls being from 2\u00bd to 3 feet thick. Several of them are nearly as long\nas the church, but not so wide, the internal area measuring about 18\nfeet by 6. Low[194] states that in his time, notwithstanding the\ndifficulty and danger of the access to the Brough, \u201ceven old age\nscrambled its way through a road in many places not six inches broad,\nwhere certain death attended a slip.\u201d Jo. Ben, in 1529, mentions that\npeople of all classes and conditions were in the habit of climbing up to\nthe top of the Brough on their hands and knees to visit the chapel\ncalled the \u201cBairns of Brugh;\u201d and when they had reached the top, \u201con\ntheir bended knees and with hands joined they offered their\nsupplications with many incantations to the Bairns of Brugh, throwing\nstones and water behind their backs, and making the circuit of the\nchapel twice or thrice.\u201d There is still a fine spring on the Brough,\nwhich doubtless had the reputation of a \u201choly well\u201d in connection with\nthese superstitious practices. The Brough was fenced with a strong stone\nwall toward the land side in Low\u2019s time, and from this and the remains\nof the huts he concludes that it had been a rock fort subsequently\nconverted into a sanctuary by the ecclesiastics.\n\nThe old parish church of Deerness, of which Low has preserved three\nsketches (one of which is engraved in Hibbert\u2019s Shetland), had the\npeculiarity of being twin-towered, as the church on the Brough of Birsay\nseems also to have been, and as many of the Scandinavian churches dating\nfrom the 13th century were.[195] Low describes it as having a vaulted\nchancel at the east end, of which the twin towers rose from each corner.\nThe tower on the south-east corner of the chancel was entered by a\ndoorway opening from the chancel (in the same manner as the one at\nBrough of Birsay), and a spiral staircase led to a small apartment or\nvestry between the towers, on the second storey. From this apartment was\nthe entrance to the other tower.\n\nThere were three towered churches in Shetland\u2014St. Laurence in West\nBurra, St. Magnus at Tingwall, and Ireland Head, but, like the old\nchurch of Deerness, they have long disappeared, and there is no\ndescription of them more precise than the casual notices of Low and\nBrand. It is not even quite clear whether they were single-towered or\ntwin-towered. If single-towered they may have been examples of the rare\nform of which Egilsey is now the only remaining instance.\n\n\n                 XI. MAESHOW AND THE STONES OF STENNIS.\n\n\nMaeshow, the Orkahaug of the Saga, is connected in such an interesting\nway with the Norse history of the Isles that it is necessary to notice\nbriefly its most peculiar features.\n\nIt stands about a mile to the north-east of the great stone ring of\nStennis. Its external appearance is that of a truncated conical mound of\nearth, about 300 feet in circumference at the base and 36 feet high,\nsurrounded by a trench 40 feet wide. Nothing was known of its internal\nstructure till the year 1861, when it was opened by Mr. Farrer,\nM.P.,[196] but the common tradition of the country represented it as the\nabode of a goblin, who was named \u201cthe Hogboy,\u201d[197] though no one knew\nwhy. When excavated, the mound was found to cover a great cairn of\nstones, in the centre of which was a chamber about 15 feet square, the\nwalls of which still remained entire to a height of 13 feet. A long low\npassage led from the west side of the chamber to the exterior of the\nmound, a distance of about 54 feet, and on the other three sides of the\nchamber there were small cells or _loculi_ entered by openings in the\nwalls about 2\u00bd feet square at a height of about 3 feet above the floor.\n\n\n[Illustration: Plan and Section of Maeshow.]\n\n\nStructurally, Maeshow belongs to a class of chambered sepulchral cairns\nof common occurrence in the north of Scotland, but to a special variety\nof that class which is peculiar to the Orkneys.[198] These chambered\ntombs occur in groups in certain places, thus suggesting the probability\nthat, as in the great royal cemeteries of early times in Ireland, they\nmay have been for centuries the gathering places of the tribes and the\nburying-places of their kings.\n\nBut the most interesting fact connected with Maeshow was the discovery\nthat a large number of Runic inscriptions had been scratched on the\nstones of the interior walls of the chamber. It was evident, from the\nheight at which the inscriptions occurred, as well as from indications\nof the weathering of the stones previous to their being inscribed, that\nwhen the runes were cut the chamber was roofless and partially filled up\nwith rubbish. The form of the letters of which the inscriptions are\ncomposed is that of the later class of Norse Runes, \u201cwhich,\u201d says\nProfessor Munch, \u201care never older than A.D. 1100 at least.\u201d The majority\nof the inscriptions are such as men seeking the shelter or concealment\nof the \u201cbroken how\u201d might scribble from mere idleness. One gives the\nRunic alphabet. A number of others are simple memoranda consisting of\nthe name of a man and the statement that he \u201chewed this\u201d or \u201ccarved\nthese runes.\u201d But one of the longer inscriptions supplies the important\ninformation that \u201cthe Jorsala-farers broke open the Orkahaug in the\nlifetime of the blessed earl.\u201d This seems to imply that the inscription\nwas carved after the death of \u201cthe blessed earl\u201d R\u00f6gnvald, or subsequent\nto 1158. The Jorsala-farers who accompanied him from Norway in 1152\nremained a considerable time in Orkney before the expedition was ready,\nand as we learn from the Saga their conduct during that time was such as\nwould naturally result from the enforced idleness of a numerous body of\nrough and uncontrolled adventurers. The \u201cbreaking of a how\u201d in the hope\nof finding treasure was a common exploit among the Northmen. It seems to\nhave been done sometimes also as a proof of courage, for the bravest\nwere not altogether void of superstitious fears. From another part of\nthe inscription we gather that the Jorsala-farers who broke the Orkahaug\nwere disappointed in the hope of finding treasure, as it had been\npreviously carried away. In all probability they were not the first who\nhad been tempted by the magnitude of the monument to try the venture. On\none of the buttresses, long slabs inserted in the corners of the\nchamber, is carved a cross, and on another a dragon, similar in style to\nthat in the tomb of King Gorm the Old at Jellinge in Denmark, and\nbearing also some resemblance to one sculptured on the Runic stone dug\nup in St. Paul\u2019s Churchyard, London, and to another at Hunestad in\nScania. The tomb of King Gorm is dated about the middle of the 10th\ncentury. Rafn assigns the stone dug up in London to about the middle of\nthe 11th century; while the Hunestad example is assigned to about 1150,\nwhich is close on the date of Earl R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s expedition to the Holy\nLand, which brought the Jorsala-farers to Orkney.\n\n\n[Illustration: View of Chamber in Maeshow.]\n\n\n[Illustration: RUBBING FROM MAESHOW TUMULUS.]\n\n\nAmong the names thus carved on the stones of Maeshow are those of\nIngibiorg, Ingigerd, Thorer, Helgi, Ingi, and Arnfinn. All these are\nnames of persons who are mentioned in the Saga as living in Earl\nR\u00f6gnvald\u2019s time, and several of whom were closely connected with him.\nIngigerd, his daughter, was married to Eric Slagbrellir, and they had a\ndaughter named Ingibiorg. Helgi was a particular friend of Earl\nR\u00f6gnvald\u2019s. Arnfinn was taken prisoner by Earl Harald the morning after\nhe and his men had spent the Yule-feast day at Orkahaug on his way to\nsurprise Earl Erlend.[199] There is nothing, however, to identify any of\nthese names with certainty as the names of the persons mentioned in the\nSaga. But the fact that the name Orkahaug, which only occurs once in the\nSaga, is not known to occur anywhere else except in the inscription\ncarved on the walls of Maeshow, referring to the breaking open of the\ntumulus, is interesting in more ways than one. It shows that the\nNorsemen were ignorant of the origin of the tumulus, which they knew\nonly as the Orka-haug[200] or \u201cmighty how.\u201d In one of the inscriptions\nthe writer assigns its construction to the sons of Lodbrok, which is\nequivalent to saying that its origin was quite unknown[201] to them.\n\n\n[Illustration: Ring of Brogar, from the south-west.]\n\n\nAbout a mile to the south-west of Maeshow, and scattered over the ness\nor tongue of land separating the loch of Stennis from the sea, is a\nremarkable group of stone circles and tumuli.[202] The largest of the\ncircles, the \u201cRing of Brogar,\u201d having a diameter of 366 feet, encloses\nan area of 2\u00bd acres. It is surrounded by a trench 29 feet broad and 6\nfeet deep. Within the enclosure thirteen stones of the great circle\nstill remain standing, the stumps of thirteen more are visible, and ten\nare lying prostrate. The original number of the stones, says Captain\nThomas, on the presumption that they were placed at nearly equal\ndistances apart, would have been sixty, so that twenty-four have been\nentirely obliterated. The highest stone stands almost 14 feet above the\nsurface of the ground, and the lowest is about 6 feet, the average being\nfrom 8 to 10 feet. It is difficult to realise the amount of laborious\neffort expended in the construction of a work like this, which does not\nappeal to the eye like the magnitude of the great mounds around it. But\nwhen one reflects on what is implied in the transportation and erection\nof these great stones, and the excavation of a ditch round them of 10\nyards wide, 2 yards deep, and 366 yards long, it loses none of its\nmagnificence in comparison with the more imposing monuments.\n\n\n[Illustration: Ring of Stennis and Cromlech, from the northward.]\n\n\nThe smaller circle, called the \u201cRing of Stennis,\u201d is more clearly\nmonumental than the Ring of Brogar, as it contains the remains of a\ncromlech within it. It seems to have consisted originally of twelve\nstones placed round the circumference of a circle of about 100 feet in\ndiameter, and surrounded by a deep and broad trench with a\ncircumscribing mound, now nearly obliterated. Only two stones of the\ncircle remain standing, and a third lies prostrate. Peterkin states that\nsome were thrown down and removed by the tenant of the adjoining lands\nin 1814. The cromlech is also thrown down, but one of the supports of\nthe massive capstone is still standing, and the capstone, which lies\nbeside it, is 9 feet long by 6 feet broad.\n\n\n[Illustration: Ring of Stennis, from the westward.]\n\n\nThe Ring of Bookan is a circular space 136 feet in diameter, surrounded\nby a trench 44 feet broad and 6 feet deep. There are upwards of twenty\ntumuli, some of them very large, in the immediate vicinity.\n\nIn the Saga of Olaf, Tryggvi\u2019s son, Stennis is mentioned as the place\nwhere Havard, eldest of the five sons of Earl Thorfinn Hausakliuf, was\nslain in battle with his sister\u2019s son Einar. The Saga says:[203]\u2014\u201cHavard\nwas then at St\u00e6insnes in Hrossey. There it was they met, and there was a\nhard battle, and it was not long till the Earl fell. The place is now\ncalled Havard\u2019s _teigr_.\u201d Teigr is an individual\u2019s share, or allotment,\nof the tun or town-land, and the expression might be taken to mean\nrather that Havard was buried by simple inhumation than that there was a\ncairn or tumulus raised over him, in which case it would have been known\nas Havard\u2019s How. But the name of Havard was never connected with the\ngreat tumulus known as Maeshow, and if he was buried in a tumulus at\nall, it is more likely that his corpse was burnt with the customary\nceremonies of that heathen time and his ashes placed in a great stone\nurn. The grave-mounds of the Viking period in Norway prove this to have\nbeen then the common practice. Such a mound, enclosing such an urn, was\nopened at Stennis by Mr. Farrer, M.P., in 1853. This tumulus, if not\nHavard\u2019s, was apparently Norse, and being the largest in the\nneighbourhood of Stennis, must have been that of a person of great\ndistinction.\n\nThe fact that the Norsemen at this early period (about A.D. 970) called\nthis place Steins-ness, shows that it was known to them, only as it is\nto us, as the ness of the monumental stones. If they had had anything to\ndo with the erection of any of these monuments, in all probability we\nshould have had some incidental record of the fact in one or other of\nthe Sagas.\n\n\n                   XII. MOUSA AND THE PICTISH TOWERS.\n\n\nThe little island of Mousa (the Mosey of the Saga), lying off the\nMainland of Shetland, is interesting as containing the best preserved\nspecimen of the \u201ctowers of defence,\u201d which were the strongholds of the\nnative inhabitants previous to the Norse invasion.\n\n\n[Illustration]\n\n\nThe tower of Mousa, of which a view is here given, consists of a\ncircular dry-built wall, 15 feet thick at the base, enclosing an area or\ncircular court 30 feet in diameter, and open to the sky, so as to admit\nlight to the ranges of windows which open from the galleries towards the\ninterior. The doorway leading through the wall into this interior court\nis the only opening to the outside of the tower. From the court other\nopenings in the wall give access to small ovoid chambers in the\nthickness of the wall on the ground-floor, and to a stair which ascends\nto the upper galleries. Above the chambers on the ground-floor the wall\nis carried up hollow, or rather there are two concentric walls with a\nspace of about 3\u00bd feet between them, which is divided into storeys or\ngalleries by horizontal courses of transverse slabs, which bind the two\nwalls together. Thus each of these courses of horizontal slabs forms the\nroof of the gallery beneath it, and serves as a floor to the one above\nit.\n\nThese singularly-constructed towers were once thickly planted over the\nwhole of the northern mainland of Scotland, as well as over the most of\nthe Northern and Western Isles.[204] A number of them have been\nexcavated of late years, and the results of these excavations[205]\nfurnish us with interesting evidences of the conditions of life among\nthe people who lived in them. The relics that have been obtained from\nthem have no connection as a class with those that are usually found in\nthe cisted graves and chambered tombs of earlier times.[206] But judging\nfrom the general character of their included remains, the people who\nlived in these towers were possessed of a considerable degree of\ncivilisation. There is abundant evidence that they were not only expert\nhunters and fishers, but that they kept flocks and herds, grew grain and\nground it by hand-mills,[207] practised the arts of spinning and\nweaving, had ornaments of gold of curious workmanship, and were not\nunskilled workers in bronze and iron. Their pottery was rude, but not\nruder than the pottery manufactured and used for common or domestic\npurposes in some of the islands of Scotland within the present century.\nIt is true that silver denarii of the Roman Emperors Antoninus, Trajan,\nand Vespasian, have been found in the outbuildings connected with the\nBroch or \u201cPictish Tower\u201d of Lingrow at Scapa in Orkney; but it is to be\nnoticed that upwards of 4000 of these Roman denarii have been found in\nScandinavia, where the Romans never were, and found so often associated\nwith relics of the Viking period as to suggest that they were carried\nthither some centuries after their dates.\n\nThe Tower of Mousa, Moseyjar-borg, is twice mentioned by the Saga\nwriters. The earliest notice occurs in the Saga of Egill Skalagrimson,\nthe warrior-poet, and refers to a period about A.D. 900. It is there\nstated that Bj\u00f6rn Brynulfson, fleeing from Norway with Thora Roald\u2019s\ndaughter, because his father would not allow him to celebrate his\nmarriage with her, was shipwrecked on the island of Mousa, landed his\ncargo, and lived in the Borg through the winter, celebrating his\nmarriage in it, and afterwards sailed for Iceland. The second notice of\nMousa,[208] singularly enough, occurs on an occasion somewhat similar to\nthis, when Earl Erlend Ungi fled from Orkney with Margaret, the widow of\nMaddad, Earl of Athole, and was besieged in the Borg by Earl Harald\n(Maddadson), who was displeased at the prospect of having Erlend for a\nstep-father.\n\n\n                     XIII. REMAINS OF THE NORTHMEN.\n\n\nTurning from the pages of the Saga to the scenes of the events which it\nrecords, we find, both in the topography and traditions of the\nlocalities, and in the customs and characteristics of the people,\nabundant evidence of the substantial truth of the narrative.\n\nThe range of territory possessed and occupied by the Norsemen may still\nbe distinguished on the map of Scotland by the prevalence of Norse\nplace-names. In Shetland and Orkney the topography is altogether Norse.\nIn Caithness and Sutherland there is a core of Celtic topography in the\ncentral mountain districts, while the Norse names spread out through the\nvalleys, forming a broad fringe along the seaboard, and occupying the\nwhole angle of lowland Caithness. But south of Ekkialsbakki they rapidly\nthin out, and finally disappear, with a few outlying instances, in\nMoray. The permanent dominions of the Northmen in the mainland of\nScotland were limited to the earldom proper, the southern boundary of\nwhich was the Kyle of Sutherland. The Saga says they conquered the\ncountry as far south as Ekkialsbakki; and though they sometimes extended\ntheir power over parts of Ross and Moray, and even made a raid on one\noccasion as far south as Fife, they made no permanent lodgment south of\nthe Moray Firth, and their presence in Ross has but slightly affected\nthe topography between the Kyle of Sutherland and the Beauly Firth.\n\nIn the Hebrides the Norse names, though much disguised by contact with\nthe Celtic, still form a considerable if not a preponderating element in\nthe topography, and their old Norse name, \u201cSudreyar,\u201d still survives in\nthe title of the Bishop of Sodor and Man. Along the western seaboard of\nthe Scottish mainland, from Cape Wrath to the Mull of Kintyre, the\nNorthmen have left their traces more sparsely, but very distinctly, upon\nthe topography. In Bute, Arran, and the Cumbraes, and on the shores of\nthe Solway Firth, the topography also shows the influence of the\nNorthern element, exerted during the existence of the Norse \u201cKingdom of\nMan and the Isles.\u201d\n\nThere are many remnants of the older usages[209] in the peculiar local\ncustoms; and in the characteristics of the people of the Northern Isles\nthere are also, of necessity, many striking resemblances to those of the\nScandinavian race. The elucidation of these, however, would lead into a\nfield far too wide to be entered on here. The language of the early\ncolonists, which must have survived as long as the Islands were governed\n\u201caccording to the Norse law-book and the ancient usages,\u201d seems to have\ndied out rapidly after they were transferred to Scottish rule. Yet Jo.\nBen found it existing in Rendal in Orkney in 1529; and it is stated[210]\nthat in 1593 a clergyman, named Magnus Norsk, who was ordained to a\nShetland parish, went to Norway to learn the Norse language, in order to\nqualify himself for his ministry, because the Shetlanders at that time\nunderstood no other tongue. Even so late as 1774, Low found people in\nFoula who could repeat the Lord\u2019s Prayer in Norse, and he gives\nthirty-five stanzas of an old Norse ballad which he took down from oral\nrecitation. In the Faroe Isles a large number of these ballads and\nmetrical tales have been collected.[211] There can be no doubt that they\nwere equally common in the neighbouring island groups, but no literary\nantiquary possessed of the requisite knowledge seems to have visited\nShetland and Orkney in time to rescue them from oblivion.\n\nThe curious literary fragment, taken down phonetically by Low, who was\ncompletely ignorant of the language, is plainly akin to the old\nScandinavian _K\u00e6mpeviser_. The story is based on the _S\u00f6rlathattr_, one\nof the scenes of which is laid in the island of Hoy. The main incidents\nof the older poem are as follow:\u2014Hedin, a prince of Serkland, had sworn\nmutual brotherhood with Hogni, King of Denmark. Nothing occurred to\ndisturb their friendship until Hogni went on a war expedition. Hedin,\nwandering in the woods, fell in with a sorceress, from whom he received\na magic philtre to enable him to win the love of Hilda, Hogni\u2019s\ndaughter. The result was that he ran off with her in a splendid ship\nbelonging to Hogni, and made for Serkland. When Hogni came home he set\noff in pursuit, and came up with them at the island of Hoy. There they\nboth landed with their men, and a furious battle commenced. Odin (who\nenjoyed a good fight) cast a spell upon the combatants, so that they\nwere obliged to fight on without ceasing, until a Christian should come\nwho should have the hardihood to mingle in the fray, of which Hilda was\ndoomed to be all the time an agonised spectator. At last Olaf Tryggvi\u2019s\nson came to the Orkneys, and Ivar Liomi, one of his men who landed in\nHoy, went into the fight and broke the spell, killed Hedin and Hogni,\nand bore off the prize.[212]\n\nThe story of the Shetland ballad is that Hiluge, a young nobleman at the\ncourt of Norway, made love to the king\u2019s daughter Hildina, and was\nrejected by her, though her father supported his pretensions to her\nhand. When the king and Hiluge were away at the wars, an Earl of Orkney\ncame to Norway, and found such favour with Hildina that she consented to\nfly with him to the Orkneys. When the king and Hiluge returned and\ndiscovered what had happened in their absence, they set sail, with a\ngreat host, in pursuit of the fugitives. Hildina persuaded the earl to\ngo unarmed to meet her father, and ask for his pardon and peace. The\nking was pleased to forgive him, and to grant his consent to their\nunion. But now Hiluge, by artfully working on the king\u2019s mind, stirs up\nhis latent wrath against the earl, and induces him to revoke his\nconsent. The result is, that he decides that Hiluge and the earl shall\nmeet in single combat, and fight it out to the death of one or other.\nHiluge was victorious; and, not content with the death of his enemy, he\ncut off his head and cast it into Hildina\u2019s lap with taunting words.\nHildina answered his taunts boldly, and conceived a bloody revenge. But\nshe must now follow him to Norway, where he renewed his courtship. Ere\nlong she seemed to relent, and gave him her promise, but besought her\nfather to grant her this boon, that she herself should fill out the\nfirst wine-cup at the bridal. Her request was granted. The guests came,\nthe feast was set, and Hildina filled up the wine-cups for them. The\nwine was drugged, and they were all cast into a deep sleep, from which\nnothing could awake them. Hildina now caused her father to be carried\nforth, and set fire to the house. Hiluge, awaking in the midst of the\nburning, cried out for mercy. Hildina replied that she would give him\nthe same mercy as he had given to her earl, and left him to perish in\nthe flames.\n\n\n[Illustration: sword]\n\n\nThe dialect of the ballad resembles that which prevailed in Norway in\nthe middle of the 15th century, but presents several peculiarities of\nlocal origin. The allusions in it to St. Magnus show that it cannot be\nolder than the 12th century in its present form, although the story of\nHedin and Hogni, on which it appears to have been founded, belongs to\nthe heathen time.\n\nLooking at the number of Runic monuments in the island of Man,[213] and\nthe beauty of their workmanship, it certainly seems surprising that none\nof these characteristic works of northern art should have survived in\nthe Orkneys.[214] Previous to the discovery of the inscriptions in\nMaeshow, the only Rune-inscribed monument known within the bounds of the\nancient earldom was the stone in the churchyard of Crosskirk,\nNorthmavine, Shetland, described by Low, which reads (according to his\nimperfect copy) \u201cBid pray for the soul of \u2014\u2014,\u201d and consequently belongs\nto the Christian time. That there were similar monuments in other\nplaces, however, is shown by the recent discovery of a Runic fragment at\nAithsvoe, Cunningsburgh, Shetland.[215] It is a mere fragment of the\nterminal part of a monumental inscription, incised on the edge of the\nstone, consisting of the letters KVIMIK, which Professor Stephens reads\nas the concluding part of the customary formula, \u201c\u2014\u2014 hewed me,\u201d _i.e._\ncarved this stone.\n\nBut perhaps the most interesting and suggestive remains of the Northmen\nare those that have been from time to time recovered from the soil which\nthey made their own\u2014the relics which were actually possessed by the men\nand women of the Saga time; the weapons they used, and the ornaments\nthey wore. In the grave-mounds of the heathen period, the warrior Viking\nstill lies as he was laid, with his shield at his shoulder, and his\nsword ready to his hand.\n\nThe sword here figured, which is of a distinctively Scandinavian type,\nwas dug up in making the railway near Gorton, in Morayshire, and is now\nin the museum of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland. It is 35 inches\nin length, of excellent workmanship, damascened along the centre of the\nblade, and the pommel and recurved guard are beautifully inlaid with\nsilver. A number of fragments of shield-bosses and broken swords, from\nOrkney graves, are also in the museum. The swords are chiefly of the\nolder form, with straight guard and massive square or triangular pommel.\nIn one of the interments at Westray the scabbard-tip here figured was\nfound, and in others the bones of the dog and horse were found along\nwith the human skeleton, indicating the continuance in Orkney of the\nsepulchral rites which prevailed in the heathen time in Norway.\n\n\n[Illustration: Scabbard-tip]\n\n\nFor at least a century and a half after the establishment of the Norse\nearldom in Orkney and Shetland, the heathen Norsemen practised the\nburial customs which they had brought with them from Norway. Sigurd,\nEystein\u2019s son, the first Earl of Orkney, was buried in a cairn on\nEkkialsbakki, (and his grave-mound was known as Sigurd\u2019s How\n(_Siwardhoch_) in the 12th century,[216]) and Torf Einar caused his men\nto rear a cairn over the remains of Halfdan H\u00e1legg, the son of Harald\nHarfagri, whom he offered to Odin in Rinansey.\n\nA vivid picture of the ceremonies attending the burial of a Norse chief\nof the 10th century is preserved in the narrative of an eye-witness, in\nthe work of an Arab geographer;[217] and all its details are amply\nconfirmed by the contents of the grave-mounds of the period. Ahmed Ibn\nFozlan, being in the country on the upper part of the Volga (then\noccupied by the Norsemen), as ambassador from the Caliph Al Moktader\n(A.D. 907-932), resolved to see for himself whether what he had heard of\ntheir burial customs was true. A great chief among the Norsemen had just\ndied, and Ibn Fozlan describes, with curious minuteness of detail, the\nstrange things he witnessed on the occasion. He gives a most\ncharacteristic picture of the drinking habits of the Northmen. \u201cThis\nnation,\u201d he says, \u201cis much given to wine and drink, by day and night,\nand it is not uncommon for one or another of them to die with beakers in\ntheir hands. When a chieftain dies, his family ask his maids\n(concubines) and men-servants, \u2018Which of you will die with him?\u2019 One of\nthem will say, \u2018I,\u2019 and by this promise he is bound, and cannot revoke\nit. If he should desire to do so, he is not permitted.\u201d It is mostly the\nmaids who are willing to be thus sacrificed, says Ibn Fozlan, and on\nthis occasion it was one of them who offered to die with her lord. She\nwas accordingly given in charge to the other servants, who were to\nindulge her in every wish till the day of her sacrifice; and he adds,\nthat \u201cevery day she drank, sang, was lively and merry.\u201d Meantime the\ndead man had been laid in a temporary grave, and strong drink, fruits,\nand musical instruments placed beside him, as if to relieve the tedium\nof his confinement until the completion of the preparations for the\nfuneral rites. A splendid suit of clothing was prepared for him, his\nship was hauled up on the strand, and placed on four posts erected for\nthe purpose. A bed was prepared in the midst of the deck, with a\ntent-like canopy over it, and covered with gold-embroidered cloth. In\nthe preparation of this bed there comes on the scene an old hag, \u201cwhom\nthey called the dead man\u2019s angel.\u201d It was she who took charge of the\nmaking of the dead man\u2019s clothing and all needful arrangements, and she\nit was also who was to put the girl to death. \u201cI saw her,\u201d says Ibn\nFozlan; \u201cshe was sallow and stern.\u201d While the \u201cdead man\u2019s angel\u201d was\narranging the bed, the multitude were away at the temporary grave,\ndisinterring the corpse. They clothed him in the rich garments provided\nfor the occasion, and then bore him to the ship, where he was laid in\nstate under the canopy. \u201cSo they laid him on the mattress, and stayed\nhim up with pillows, then brought the strong drink, the fruits, and\nodoriferous herbs, and set them by his side, placing bread, meat, and\nonions also before him. Then came a man forward with a dog, hewed it\ninto two portions, and cast them into the ship. So brought they all the\ndead man\u2019s weapons and laid them by his side. Then they led forth two\nhorses, made them run till they were covered with sweat, then hewed them\nin pieces with the sword, and cast the flesh into the ship. So also they\nbrought forth two oxen, hewed them in pieces, and cast them into the\nship. Next they came with a cock and hen, slew them, and cast them also\ninto the ship.\u201d In the meantime the woman who was to die kept going\nbackwards and forwards in and out of the tent. At last they led her away\nto an object which they had made in the form of the framework of a\ndoor\u2014two posts, with a cross piece on the top, or, as is suggested, a\nsubstitute for a trilithon. \u201cShe set her feet on the palms of men\u2019s\nhands, stepped up on the frame, and said some words in their tongue,\nafter which they made her stand down. Then they lifted her up a second\nand third time, and she went through the same ceremony. Now they handed\nher a hen, the head of which she cut off and cast away, but the body\nthey cast into the ship. I asked my interpreter what it was that the\nwoman had said. He answered, she said the first time, \u2018Lo! I see my\nfather and my mother;\u2019 the second time, \u2018Lo! here I see seated all my\ndeceased relations;\u2019 the third time, \u2018Lo! here I see my master seated in\nparadise\u2014paradise, beautiful and green, my master surrounded by his men\nand his menials; he calls for me; bring me to him.\u2019 Thereupon they\nconveyed her to the ship. She took the bracelets from her arms, and gave\nthem to the crone whom they called \u2018the dead man\u2019s angel;\u2019 and the rings\nfrom her ankles, and gave them to the two young girls who had attended\nher, and who were \u2018the dead man\u2019s angel\u2019s daughters.\u2019 Then came men with\nshields and staves, and brought her a beaker of strong drink. She sang a\nsong, and drank it out. Folk said to me that she thereby took leave of\nher friends. They reached her a second beaker. She took it, and sang a\nlong time. The old hag bade her hasten to empty it, and go into the tent\nwhere her dead master was. I watched her; she was out of herself. In\nattempting to go into the tent she stuck by the head in the space\nbetween the tent and the ship. The old hag caught hold of her by the\nhead and dragged her in with her, while the men commenced to beat their\nshields with the staves, that her shrieks might not be heard, and so\nfrighten other girls, and make them unwilling to die with their lords.\u201d\nThe sequel is too horrible to be given as it stands in the old Arab\u2019s\nplain-spoken narrative. A cord was finally wound round her neck, at the\nends of which two men pulled, while the \u201cdead man\u2019s angel\u201d stabbed her\nto the heart with a broad-bladed knife. Then the relatives of the dead\nman set fire to the pile. A storm that was just beginning to rage fanned\nthe flames, and drove them aloft to a great height. A Norseman who was\nstanding by said to Ibn Fozlan \u201cYou Arabs are fools. You take the man\nwhom you most have loved and honoured, and put him down into the earth,\nwhere vermin and worms devour him. We, on the contrary, burn him up in a\ntwinkling, and he goes straight to paradise.\u201d After the pile was\nconsumed to ashes they raised a great-mound over the spot, and set up on\nit a pillar made of a tree-trunk, on which they carved the names of the\ndead man and of their king.\n\nThe burial usages, however, were not always the same. Great men were\nburied with the pomp and ceremony befitting their rank, while meaner men\nwere simply reduced to ashes and inhumed in a clay urn, or in a stone\npot, not unfrequently in the stone cooking-kettle that had served them\nwhen in life.[218] This burial in stone urns, or in cooking vessels of\nsteatite, is of common occurrence in the grave-mounds of the Viking\nperiod in Norway, and is also not unfrequently found in Orkney and\nShetland.\n\n\n[Illustration: Bronze brooch]\n\n\nAssociated with such burials in Norway there are occasionally found the\npeculiar brooches which are characteristic of the later Pagan time.[219]\nAlthough they occur perhaps more frequently with unburnt burials, they\nlink on with the custom of cremation. Thus they afford a valuable index\nto the chronology of these remains in Scotland, because the Pagan period\nof the Scandinavian occupation may be said to be limited to the time\nbetween the expedition of Harald Harfagri and the battle of Clontarf\n(872-1014). These brooches are found in Scandinavian graves of this\nperiod, in Scotland, England, Ireland, Normandy, Russia, and Iceland\u2014in\nshort, wherever the heathen Vikings effected a settlement. In Scotland\nthey have been found in various places\u2014in Sutherland, in Caithness, in\nOrkney, in the Hebrides, and even in remote St. Kilda. The specimen here\nfigured, which is now in the Museum of the Society of Antiquaries of\nScotland is one of a pair found in a stone cist on a mound which covered\nthe remains of a \u201cPictish Tower\u201d at Castletown in Caithness.[220] They\nare usually found in pairs, one near each shoulder of the skeleton. This\ncorresponds with the statement of an ancient Arab writer, that the Norse\nwomen used to wear such brooches in pairs on their breasts.[221]\n\n\n[Illustration: Comb]\n\n\nThe most remarkable discovery of these characteristic Scandinavian\ninterments that has hitherto occurred in Scotland was made in the island\nof Westray, Orkney, in 1849, by Mr. William Rendall.[222] A number of\ngraves were found in the sandy links near Pierowall (the Hofn of the\nSaga), in some of which were swords and shield-bosses, indicating that\nthe skeletons were those of men. But in one a pair of tortoise or\nshell-shaped brooches and a trefoil ornament were the only objects found\nwith the skeleton. In another, a pair of these brooches were found on\nthe breast, and a pair of combs, of the form here figured, lay on either\nside of the neck, apparently as they had fallen out of the hair. In a\nthird, a pair of brooches, a pair of combs, and a bronze pin, were\nfound. It appears from these examples that the brooches undoubtedly\nbelonged to women, and that the warriors were usually buried with sword\nand shield and \u201cpanoply of war;\u201d and, as we read in Ibn Fozlan\u2019s\naccount, the dog and the horse of the deceased appear also to have been\nsacrificed at the grave, and interred with him, in Orkney as well as on\nthe banks of the Volga.\n\nBut we meet with few memorials of the daily life of the Norsemen beyond\nthose which have been buried with them in the early period of their\noccupation of the Islands. Christianity abolished the custom of burying\nsuch relics with the dead, and for the remains of the Christian period\nwe must look to the yet unexcavated sites of the _sk\u00e1lis_ and homesteads\nof which we read in the Saga. It would be equally interesting to the\narch\u00e6ologist, and instructive to the historian, to be able to compare\nthe relics from such sites as those of Kolbein Hruga\u2019s castle in Weir,\nthe castle of which Bl\u00e1n was the keeper in Damsey, or the _sk\u00e1li_ of\nSwein Asleifson at Langskail in Gairsay, with the extensive collections\nobtained in recent years from the \u201cPictish Towers\u201d of Orkney, which have\ngiven us such suggestive glimpses of the domestic life of the period\npreceding the Norse occupation.\n\nIt gives a curious feeling of reality to the ancient legends when we can\nthus handle the blades and bucklers of which we read such stirring\nstories, and remember that it was because the Norse sword was then the\nlongest, and the Norse arm the strongest, that we now read the earliest\nchapters of the history of northern Scotland in the guise of an Iceland\nSaga.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n                          CHRONOLOGICAL TABLE.\n\n\nA.D.\n\n795. First appearance of the Norse Vikings in the Western Seas. They\n      plunder the Isle of Rachrin.\n\n798. Invasion of the Isle of Man by the Norsemen. Inispatrick burned.\n\n802. I Columbkill burned by the Norsemen.\n\n806. I Columbkill again plundered by the Norsemen, and sixty-eight men\n      of the monastery slain.\n\n807. First invasion of the mainland of Ireland by the Norsemen.\n\n815. Turgesius (Thorkel?), chief of the invading Northmen, establishes\n      himself as king of the foreigners in Ireland, making Armagh the\n      capital of the kingdom.\n\n824. Bangor, in the north of Ireland, the seat of the monastery of St.\n      Comhgall, burned, and the bishop and clergy slain by the Northmen.\n\n843. Union of the Picts and Scots under Kenneth M\u2019Alpin, founder of the\n      Scottish dynasty.\n\n853. Arrival of Olaf the White in Ireland. He seizes Dublin, establishes\n      himself there as king, makes an expedition to Scotland, and\n      besieges and takes Dumbarton.\n\n872. Harald Harfagri becomes sole King of Norway; makes an expedition\n      against the western Vikings, who have established their viking\n      station in Orkney, drives them from their haunts, and subdues\n      Shetland, Orkney, the Hebrides, and Man. He gives Orkney and\n      Shetland, as an earldom of Norway, to R\u00f6gnvald, Earl of M\u0153ri,\n      father of Hr\u00f3lf (Rollo), the conqueror of Normandy.\n\n875. Earl Sigurd Eysteinson, who had received the earldom of Orkney from\n      his brother R\u00f6gnvald, Earl of M\u0153ri, forms an alliance with\n      Thorstein the Red, son of Olaf the White, King of Dublin. They\n      invade the northern mainland of Scotland, and subdue Caithness and\n      Sutherland as far as Ekkialsbakki. Thorstein the Red is shortly\n      afterwards killed in Caithness; and Earl Sigurd dies, and is\n      buried under a cairn at Ekkialsbakki.\n\n893. Einar (Torf Einar) slays Halfdan H\u00e1legg, one of the sons of Harald\n      Harfagri, and buries him under a cairn in North Ronaldsay.\n\n933. Death of Harald Harfagri. Eirik Bloodyaxe, his son, becomes King of\n      Norway. About this time the name \u201cScotia\u201d and \u201cScotland,\u201d\n      previously applied to Ireland, is first given to North Britain,\n      which had formerly been called Caledonia, Pictavia, or Alban.\n\n950. Fall of King Eirik Bloodyaxe, and of Arnkell and Erlend, sons of\n      Torf Einar, and Earls of Orkney, in battle in England.\n\n963. Thorfinn Hausakliuf Earl of Orkney. The sons of Eirik Bloodyaxe\n      arrive in Orkney.\n\n980. Sigurd Hl\u00f6dverson becomes Earl of Orkney.\n\n986. I Columbkill plundered by the Norsemen, and the abbot and fifteen\n      of the clerics slain.\n\n992. Olaf Tryggvi\u2019s son, while on a roving expedition, is baptized by a\n      hermit in the Scilly Isles.\n\n995. Olaf Tryggvi\u2019s son becomes King of Norway, and immediately\n      establishes Christianity by the strong hand. Returning from a\n      western cruise, on his way to Norway he finds Earl Sigurd\n      Hl\u00f6dverson by chance at Osmondwall in the Orkneys, and obliges him\n      to profess Christianity, and to promise to establish the true\n      faith in the Orkneys.\n\n1000. Fall of King Olaf Tryggvi\u2019s son at the battle of Swalder in\n      Norway.\n\n1014. Battle of Clontarf, near Dublin, in which Sigurd Hl\u00f6dverson, Earl\n      of Orkney, fell. Thorfinn, his son, is made Earl of Caithness and\n      Sutherland by Malcolm II., King of Scots, his maternal\n      grandfather.\n\n1015. Olaf Haraldson (afterwards St. Olaf) becomes King of Norway.\n\n1018. Battle of Ulfreksfiord, in which Earl Einar is vanquished by\n      Eyvind Urarhorn and King Conchobhar.\n\n1019. Einar (Wrymouth), Earl of Orkney, slain by Thorkel F\u00f3stri at\n      Sandwick, in Deerness, Orkney.\n\n1020. The Earls Thorfinn and Br\u00fasi acknowledge the suzerainty of King\n      Olaf the Holy over the Orkneys.\n\n1028. Olaf the Holy driven from Norway by Canute the Great, King of\n      England and Denmark.\n\n1030. Fall of King Olaf the Holy at the battle of Stiklestad.\n\n1034. Death of Malcolm II., King of Scots. According to the Saga, \u201cKali\n      Hundason takes the kingdom,\u201d and according to the Scottish\n      historians Duncan I. succeeds to the throne in Scotland. Mission\n      of Einar Thambarskelfir and Kalf Arneson to Russia to offer their\n      aid to Magnus, son of King Olaf the Holy, to obtain the throne of\n      Norway.\n\n1035. Magnus the Good, son of Olaf Haraldson (the Holy), succeeds to the\n      throne of Norway, and R\u00f6gnvald Brusison becomes Earl of Orkney.\n\n1039. Duncan I., King of Scots, slain by Macbeth, who becomes king.\n\n1047. Magnus the Good dies in Denmark, and is succeeded by Harald\n      Sigurdson, surnamed Hardradi.\n\n1050. Einar Thambarskelfir and the sons of Eindridi slain in Norway by\n      Harald Hardradi.\n\n1054. Macbeth defeated by Malcolm (Canmore), son of Duncan.\n\n1057. Malcolm Canmore crowned at Scone.\n\n1064. Death of Thorfinn Sigurdson, Earl of Caithness and Orkney. He is\n      succeeded by his sons Paul and Erlend, and his widow, Ingibiorg\n      (according to the Saga) is married to Malcolm Canmore.\n\n1066. Fall of King Harald Sigurdson (Hardradi) at the battle of Stamford\n      Bridge, near York, in which Harald Godwinson was victor. His son\n      Olaf (Kyrre) and the Orkney Earls, Paul and Erlend, who were with\n      him in the battle, receive peace from the conqueror and liberty to\n      return to Orkney. Olaf Kyrre succeeds to the throne of Norway.\n\n1067. Malcolm Canmore marries Margaret, sister of Edgar Atheling.\n\n1093. Malcolm Canmore killed at Alnwick. Death of King Olaf Kyrre, and\n      accession of Magnus Barelegs to the throne of Norway. He makes an\n      expedition to the west, ravages the Scottish coasts, and assists\n      Muirceartach in the capture of Dublin.\n\n1098. King Magnus makes a second expedition to the west, seizes the\n      Earls of Orkney, Paul and Erlend, and sends them both to Norway\n      (where they died); places his own son, Sigurd, over the Orkneys;\n      and overruns the Hebrides, Kintyre, and Man.\n\n1103. Magnus, King of Norway, slain in Ireland. His son, Sigurd, goes\n      from Orkney to Norway, and succeeds to the kingdom jointly with\n      his brothers Eystein and Olaf. Magnus Erlendson (St. Magnus), and\n      Hakon, Paul\u2019s son, succeed to the earldom of Orkney.\n\n1106. Accession of Alexander I. to the throne of Scotland.\n\n1107. King Sigurd (Magnusson) sets out on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem,\n      which occupies him for three years. He is thenceforth called\n      Sigurd, the Jorsala-farer.\n\n1115. Magnus Erlendson (St. Magnus) slain in Egilsey by his cousin\n      Hakon, Paul\u2019s son.\n\n1124. Death of Alexander I., and accession of David I., King of Scots.\n\n1130. Death of King Sigurd, the Jorsala-farer, and accession to the\n      throne of Norway of King Harald Gilli, an illegitimate son of King\n      Magnus Barelegs, from the Hebrides.\n\n1136. Harald Gilli slain by Sigurd Slembidiakn. R\u00f6gnvald (Kali) Kolson\n      obtains the earldom of Orkney from Earl P\u00e1ll, son of Hakon, who is\n      carried off to Athole by Swein Asleifson.\n\n1139. Death of Sigurd Slembidiakn. Visit of Bishop John of Athole to\n      Orkney. Harald Maddadson, son of Maddad, Earl of Athole, shares\n      the earldom of Caithness and Orkney with Earl R\u00f6gnvald (Kali).\n\n1151. Earl R\u00f6gnvald and Erling Skakki leave Norway to prepare for their\n      pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The Jorsala-farers winter in Orkney.\n\n1152. Earl R\u00f6gnvald leaves the Orkneys on his pilgrimage to Jerusalem.\n      King Eystein comes to Orkney from Norway, and seizing Earl Harald\n      Maddadson at Thurso obtains from him an acknowledgment of his\n      suzerainty over the Orkneys.\n\n1153. Death of David I., King of Scotland, and accession of Malcolm the\n      Maiden.\n\n1155. Earl R\u00f6gnvald returns from Palestine. Erlend Ungi receives\n      R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s mother, Margaret, in marriage, and is shortly\n      afterwards slain by the Earls R\u00f6gnvald and Harald.\n\n1158. Earl R\u00f6gnvald slain at Calder in Caithness by Thorbi\u00f6rn Klerk.\n      Earl Harald becomes sole ruler of Caithness and Orkney.\n\n1165. Malcolm the Maiden dies at Jedburgh, and is succeeded by King\n      William the Lion.\n\n1168. Death of William the Old, first Bishop of Orkney.\n\n1176. Magnus Erlingson becomes King of Norway. Harald Ungi (son of Eirik\n      Slagbrellir by a daughter of Earl R\u00f6gnvald) receives from King\n      Magnus the title of earl and half of the Orkneys, and from King\n      William the Lion half of Caithness, and is subsequently defeated\n      and slain in Caithness by Earl Harald Maddadson.\n\n1184. Magnus Erlingson, King of Norway, slain by King Sverrir, who\n      succeeds him.\n\n1188. Death of William II., Bishop of Orkney.\n\n1192. Canonisation of R\u00f6gnvald (Kali), Earl of Orkney, who was killed by\n      Thorbi\u00f6rn Klerk.\n\n1194. The Eyjarskeggiar collect forces in Orkney, and attempt to place\n      Sigurd, son of Magnus Erlingson, on the throne of Norway, but are\n      defeated, and nearly all slain, by King Sverrir at Floruvogr, near\n      Bergen.\n\n1195. Earl Harald Maddadson, compromised by this expedition, goes to\n      Norway with Bishop Bjarni, lays his head at the king\u2019s feet,\n      saying that he is now an old man, and entirely in the king\u2019s\n      power. He is pardoned by King Sverrir, but on condition of\n      forfeiting to the crown of Norway the whole of Shetland, which\n      does not again form part of the domain of the Norwegian Earls of\n      Orkney till 1379.\n\n1202. King William the Lion marches north to Eysteinsdal on the borders\n      of Caithness, with a great army, to take revenge for the\n      mutilation of Bishop John, and the expulsion of the deputies of\n      R\u00f6gnvald Gudrodson from Caithness by Earl Harald. Harald purchases\n      peace by a payment of 2000 marks.\n\n1206. Death of Earl Harald Maddadson. He is succeeded by his surviving\n      sons, John and David. Thorfinn, his eldest son, died in Roxburgh\n      Castle, where he was confined as a hostage, and had been mutilated\n      by King William the Lion.\n\n1214. Death of King William the Lion, and accession of Alexander II. to\n      the throne of Scotland. Death of David, son of Harald Maddadson.\n      His surviving brother John becomes sole Earl of Orkney and\n      Caithness.\n\n1222. Burning of Bishop Adam at Halkirk in Caithness, by the enraged\n      peasantry. The King of Scots caused the hands and feet to be hewed\n      from a number of those who were present at the burning, and many\n      of them died in consequence.\n\n1223. Death of Bishop Bjarni, and consecration of Jofreyr to the see of\n      the Orkneys.\n\n1231. Earl John slain at Thurso. The line of the ancient Norwegian Earls\n      of Orkney having become extinct by his death, King Alexander II.\n      creates Magnus, son of Gilbride, Earl of Angus, Earl of Caithness,\n      and separating Sutherland into another earldom, gives it to\n      William, son of Hugh Freskyn.\n\n1239. Death of Magnus, Earl of Caithness and Orkney.\n\n1243. Death of Gilbert, Bishop of Caithness.\n\n1247. Death of Jofreyr, Bishop of Orkney.\n\n1249. Death of Alexander II., King of Scots, at Kerrera, Argyllshire.\n\n1256. Death of Gilbride II., Earl of Orkney.\n\n1263. Expedition of King Hakon Hakonson, of Norway, to Scotland; he is\n      defeated at Largs, and dies at Kirkwall.\n\n1266. Cession of the Hebrides and Man to Scotland by treaty between\n      Magnus IV., King of Norway, and Alexander III., King of Scotland.\n\n1273. Death of Magnus, son of Gilbride, Earl of Orkney.\n\n1276. Magnus, son of Magnus, made Earl of Orkney by King Magnus\n      Hakonson, at Tunsberg.\n\n1281. Marriage of King Eirik Magnusson to Margaret, daughter of King\n      Alexander II. of Scotland.\n\n1283. Death of Margaret, Queen of Norway.\n\n1284. Margaret, infant daughter of Eirik, King of Norway, recognised as\n      heiress to the Scottish throne. Death of Magnus Magnusson, Earl of\n      Orkney.\n\n1286. Death of King Alexander III. of Scotland.\n\n1289. Betrothal of the Princess Margaret, the Maiden of Norway, to\n      Prince Edward of England.\n\n1290. Death of Margaret, the Maiden of Norway, off the coast of Orkney,\n      on her way to Scotland.\n\n1293. Marriage of King Eirik Magnusson of Norway to Isabella, daughter\n      of Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick.\n\n1300. Appearance at Bergen of the false Margaret, a German woman who\n      gave herself out as the \u201cMaiden of Norway,\u201d daughter of King Eirik\n      and Queen Margaret, stating that she had been \u201csold\u201d by Ingibiorg\n      Erlingsdatter, and spirited away by parties who had an interest in\n      her disappearance.\n\n1301. The false Margaret is burnt as an impostor at Nordness in Bergen,\n      and her husband beheaded.\n\n1310. Death of John, Earl of Orkney.\n\n1312. Treaty of Perth (1266) renewed at Inverness.\n\n1314. Battle of Bannockburn.\n\n1333. Battle of Halidon Hill. Death of Malise, Earl of Stratherne.\n\n1334. Forfeiture of the earldom of Stratherne, and marriage of Isabella,\n      daughter of Malise, Earl of Stratherne, Caithness and Orkney, to\n      William, Earl of Ross. Malise goes to Norway.\n\n1353. Erngisl Suneson, son-in-law of Malise, Earl of Stratherne, made\n      Earl of Orkney.\n\n1375. King Hakon grants the earldom of Orkney for one year to Alexander\n      de Ard, who resigns all his lands in Caithness to King Robert II.\n\n1379. Henry St. Clair made Earl of Orkney and Shetland by King Hakon\n      Magnusson, at Marstrand.\n\n1382. Bishop William of Orkney slain.\n\n1389. Malise Sperra slain near Scalloway by Henry, Earl of Orkney.\n\n1392. Death of Erngisl Suneson.\n\n1397. Union Treaty of Calmar, by which Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, were\n      made one kingdom.\n\n1400 (_circa_). Death of Earl Henry St. Clair.\n\n1418 (_circa_). Death of Earl Henry (II.) St. Clair.\n\n1420. Bishop Thomas Tulloch made commissioner in the Orkneys for the\n      King of Norway.\n\n1423. David Menzies of Wemyss made commissioner in the Orkneys for the\n      King of Norway.\n\n1434. William St. Clair made Earl of Orkney.\n\n1468. Contract of marriage between King James III. of Scotland and\n      Margaret, Princess of Denmark, and impignoration of the islands of\n      Orkney and Shetland for the Princess\u2019s dowry.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                          GENEALOGICAL TABLES.\n\n\n               I. THE NORSE LINE OF THE EARLS OF ORKNEY.\n\n\n    IVAR UPPLENDINGAJARL.\n\n    Eystein Glumra.\n\n    R\u00f6gnvald, Earl of M\u0153ri, d. 890.\n    Gave the earldom of Orkney to his brother. Sigurd, 1st Earl of M\u0153ri,\n       d. 874.\n\n    Guttorm, Earl of Orkney, d. 875.\n\n    Ivar, d. 870.\n    Th\u00f3rir the Silent, m. daughter of Harald Harfagri.\n    Hr\u00f3lf, conqueror of Normandy, d. 931.  Hallad, Earl of Orkney.\n    Hrollaug.\n    Torf Einar, Earl of Orkney,  d. circa  910.\n\n    William, Earl of Normandy, d. 942.\n\n    Arnkell, Earl of Orkney, d. 950. Erlend, Earl of Orkney,\n    d. 950. Thorfinn Hausakliuf, Earl of Orkney, d. circa\n    963; m. Grelauga, daughter of Duncan, Earl of Duncansbay.\n\n    Richard, Earl of Normandy, d. 1002.\n\n    Richard II., Earl of Normandy, d. 1026. Emma, m. (1) King Ethelred,\n       (2) King Canute.\n    (1) Edward, K. of England, d. 1066.\n    (2) Hardicanute, K. of England and Denmark, d. 1042.\n\n    Arnfinn, Earl of Orkney, m. Ragnhild, daughter of Eirik Bloodyaxe.\n    Havard, Earl of Orkney, m. Ragnhild. Liot, Earl of Orkney, m.\n       Ragnhild.\n    Skuli.\n    Hl\u00f6dver, Earl of Orkney, d. circa 980.\n    Sigurd the Stout, slain at Clontarf, 1014; m. (1) unknown, (2)\n    daughter of Malcolm II., King of Scots.\n\n    Richard III., Earl of Normandy, d. 1028. Robert le Diable, d. 1035.\n    William, the Conqueror of England, d. 1087.\n\n    (1) Hundi, d. before 1014.\n    Sumarlidi, Earl of Orkney, d. circa 1015. Br\u00fasi, Earl of Orkney, d.\n       1031.\n    Einar, Earl of Orkney, d. 1026.\n    (2) Thorfinn, Earl of Orkney, d. 1064; m. Ingibiorg, daughter of\n       Earl Finn Arnason.\n\n    R\u00f6gnvald, Earl of Orkney, d. 1046.\n\n    THORFINN, EARL, m. Ingibiorg Arnason.\n\n    Paul, Earl of Orkney, d. 1098; m. daughter of Hakon Ivarsson.\n    Erlend, Earl of Orkney, d. 1098; m. Thora, daughter of Sumarlidi\n       Ospakson.\n\n    Hakon, Earl of Orkney, d. circa 1122.      Thora.\n    Herbi\u00f6rg.\n    Ragnhild.\n\n    Erling, slain in Ireland.\n    Gunhild, m. Kol, Kali\u2019s son.\n    Magnus, Earl of Orkney, slain 1115, canonised 1135.\n    Cecelia, m. Isak.\n\n    Ingibiorg Ragna, m. Sigurd of Westness.    Sigrid.\n\n    Herborg, m. Kolbein Hruga.\n    Bjarni, Bishop of Orkney.\n\n    R\u00f6gnvald (Kali Kolson), Earl of Orkney, d. 1158, canonised 1192.\n    Ingirid, m. Jon P\u00e9trsson.\n\n    Harald Slettmali, d. circa 1127.\n    Ingibiorg, m. Olaf, King of the Sudreyar.\n    Margaret, m. (1) Maddad, Earl of Athole; (2) Erlend Ungi\n    Paul, Earl of Orkney, carried off to Athole by Swein Asleifson.\n\n    Ingigerd, m. Eirik Slagbrellir.\n    Harald Ungi, Earl of Orkney, d. circa 1198.\n    Magnus Mangi, d. 1184.\n    R\u00f6gnvald.\n    Ingibiorg.\n    Elin.\n    Ragnhild, m. (1) Lifolf Skalli, (2) Gunni Andreson.\n    Snaekoll Gunnison.\n\n    Harald Maddadson, made Earl of Orkney 1139; d. 1206; m.\n    (1) Afreka, sister of Duncan, Earl of Fife; (2) Gormlath, daughter\n       of\n    Malcolm MacHeth.\n\n    Gudr\u00f6d, King of Man.\n    R\u00f6gnvald Gudrodson, d. 1229.\n\n    Ragnhild, m. Sumarlid of Argyle and the Isles.\n    Reginald, Dugald, Angus.\n\n    (2.) Henry, Earl of Ross.\n    Hakon.\n    Helena.\n    Margaret.\n    (1.) Thorfinn, d. in Roxburgh Castle 1201.\n    David, Earl of Orkney, d. 1214.\n    John, Earl of Orkney, d. 1231, leaving no male issue.\n    Gunhild.\n    Herborg.\n    Langlif.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n               II. THE ANGUS LINE OF THE EARLS OF ORKNEY.\n\n\n    GILBRIDE, Earl of Angus, married a sister or daughter of John, Earl\n       of Orkney, son of Harald Maddadson.\n                              |\n            +\u2014\u2014\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014-+\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2014\u2014\u2014-+\n           |                                   |\n       Magnus II., Earl of Orkney        Gilbride I., Earl of\n      and Caithness, d. 1239.         Orkney and Caithness.\n                                               |\n                                      Gilbride II., Earl of Orkney\n                                        and Caithness, d. 1256.\n                                               |\n                                     +\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013+\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014+\n                                     |                      |\n                        Magnus III., Earl of Orkney       Matilda.\n                         and Caithness, d. 1275.\n                                    |\n                        +\u2014\u2014\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2014\u2014\u2013\u2014-+\u2014\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014+\n                        |                            |\n      Magnus IV., Earl of Orkney        John, Earl of Orkney\n       and Caithness, d. 1284.    and Caithness, d. circa 1310.\n                                                |\n                                   Magnus V., Earl of Orkney and\n                                   Caithness, m. Katharina, d.\n                                           circa 1320.\n                                                    |\n                          +\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2014\u2014-+\u2014\u2014\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2014\u2014\u2014+\n                          |                                      |\n          Margaret, m. Simon Fraser,        Isabella (?) m. Malise,\n        who fell at Halidon Hill, 1333.    Earl of Stratherne, who fell\n                                                at Halidon Hill, 1333.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n            III. THE STRATHERNE LINE OF THE EARLS OF ORKNEY.\n\n\n      MALISE, Earl of Stratherne, m. Isabella (?),\n          daughter of Magnus, Earl of Orkney.\n                             |\n                 +\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2014\u2014\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014+\n                 |                                 |\n    Isabella (?) m. to Sir          Malise, Earl of Stratherne,\n    William St. Clair of Roslin.      Caithness, and Orkney, m.\n                                      (1) Johanna, daughter of Sir\n                                      John Menteith; (2)  Marjory,\n                                      daughter of Hugh, Earl of\n                                        Ross; d. circa 1350.\n                                                    |\n             +\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013+\u2014\u2013\u2013\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2014\u2014\u2014+\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2014\u2014+\u2014\u2014\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013\u2013-+\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014\u2014-+\n             |            |              |                |         |\n     Matilda, m. to       | Agnetta, m. to Arngils or     |  Elisabeth,\n        m. to\n    Wayland (?), de Ard.  |   Erngisl Suneson, who was    |   Henry St.\n       Clair,\n             |            |   made Earl of Orkney 1353.   |    Earl of\n       Orkney.\n             |            |                               |\n             |  Isabella, m. to William,    (?) m. to Guttorm Sperra.\n             |    Earl of Ross, in 1334.                  |\n             |                               Malise Sperra, slain at\n       Scalloway\n      Alexander de Ard.                        by Earl Henry St. Clair,\n       1389.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n             IV. THE ST. CLAIR LINE OF THE EARLS OF ORKNEY.\n\n\n                      WILLIAM ST. CLAIR of Roslin _m._ Isabella (?),\n                         daughter of Malise, Earl of Stratherne.\n              _______________________________|____________\n              |                                           |\n            David.                 Henry, made Earl of Orkney 1379; _m._\n               (1)\n                                        Elisabeth, daughter of Malise\n                                           (the younger),\n                                        Earl of Stratherne, Caithness,\n                                           and Orkney;\n                                        (2) Janet, daughter of Walter\n                                           Haliburton\n                                        of Dirleton; and _d. circa_\n                                           1400.\n              _________________________________________________|____________________\n              |                 |                   |\n                                               |\n    Margaret, m. to           | Henry, Earl of Orkney, _m._ Egidia\n       Douglas,      John.\n    James of Cragy.           | daughter of Lord William Douglas; _d._\n                                   |    _circa_ 1418.       |\n                                   |                |\n                      Elisabeth, _m._ to            |\n                      John de Drummond.           |\n                                                        |\n                                     William, Earl of Orkney, exchanged\n                                        his\n                                       rights to the Earldom of Orkney\n                                          for the\n                                       lands of Ravenscraig, 1471.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n[Illustration: HJALTLAND.]\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n[Illustration: ORKNEYAR.]\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                            ORKNEYINGA SAGA.\n\n                                -------\n\n\n                               CHAPTER I.\n\n                             OF THE EARLS.\n\n\nIt is said that the Orkney Islands were colonised in the days of Harald\nthe Fairhaired,[223] but previously they were a station for\nVikings.[224]\n\nThe first Earl of the Orkneys was called Sigurd. He was the son of\nEystein Glumra (the loud-talking), and brother of R\u00f6gnvald, Earl of\nMoeri.[225]\n\nAfter Sigurd his son Guttorm ruled one year.\n\nTorf-Einar,[226] son of Earl R\u00f6gnvald, succeeded him. He was a man of\ngreat power, and was Earl a long time. H\u00e1lfd\u00e1n H\u00e1legg[227] (high-legs)\nmade an expedition against Torf-Einar, and drove him from the Orkneys.\nEinar returned, and slew H\u00e1lfd\u00e1n in Rinansey.[228] Thereupon King Harald\nbrought an army over to the Orkneys. Then Einar fled to Scotland. King\nHarald made the Orkneymen swear oaths of fealty to him for themselves\nand all their possessions. The Earl and King Harald were afterwards\nreconciled. He became the King\u2019s man, and held the land as a fief from\nhim. He had, however, no tribute to pay, as there was much predatory\nwarfare then in the islands; but he paid the king sixty marks of\ngold[229] (once for all). After this, King Harald made a raid on\nScotland, as is told in the Glumdrapa.[230]\n\nAfter Torf-Einar, Arnkell, Erlend, and Thorfinn Hausakliuf\n(skull-splitter), his sons, succeeded him. In their days Eirik\nBl\u00f3d\u00f6x[231] (bloody axe) came over from Norway, and the Earls were his\nvassals. Arnkell and Erlend fell in battle,[232] but Thorfinn governed\nthe land and became an old man. His sons were Arnfid, H\u00e1vard, L\u00f6dver,\nLj\u00f3t, and Sk\u00fali; their mother was Gr\u00e9laug, daughter of Earl Dungad\n(Duncan) in Caithness.[233] Her mother was Gr\u00f3a, daughter of Thorstein\nthe Red.\n\nIn the days of Earl Thorfinn the sons of Eirik Bl\u00f3d\u00f6x arrived from\nNorway, when they had fled from Earl H\u00e1kon, and they did many deeds of\nviolence in the islands. Earl Thorfinn died on a sickbed, and his sons,\nof whom there are extensive histories, succeeded him. L\u00f6dver survived\nhis brothers, and ruled the land alone. His son was Earl Sigurd the\nStout; he was a powerful man, and a great warrior.\n\nIn his days Olaf, Tryggvi\u2019s son, returning from a viking expedition to\nthe west, came to the Orkneys with his men, and seized Earl Sigurd in\nR\u00f6rv\u00e1g,[234] as he lay there with a single ship. King Olaf offered the\nEarl to ransom his life on condition that he should embrace the true\nfaith and be baptized; that he should become his man, and proclaim\nChristianity over all the Orkneys. He took his son Hundi or Hvelp\n(whelp) as a hostage, and left the Orkneys for Norway, where he became\nKing; and Hundi stayed with him some years, and died there.\n\nAfter that Earl Sigurd paid no allegiance to King Olaf. He married the\ndaughter of Malcolm, King of Scots,[235] and their son was Earl\nThorfinn; his elder sons [by a former marriage] were Sumarlidi, Br\u00fasi,\nand Einar.\n\nFive years after the death of King Olaf, Tryggvi\u2019s son,[236] Earl Sigurd\nwent to Ireland. He set his elder sons over his domains, and sent\nThorfinn to the King of Scots, his mother\u2019s father. While on this\nexpedition Sigurd was killed in Brian\u2019s battle;[237] and as soon as the\nnews came to the Orkneys his sons Sumarlidi, Br\u00fasi, and Einar, were\naccepted as Earls, and they divided the islands among them, each taking\none third.\n\nThorfinn was five winters old when their father fell. When the King of\nScots heard of the Earl\u2019s death he bestowed Caithness and Sutherland\nupon his grandson, with the title of Earl, and gave him men to rule the\ndomain along with him. Earl Thorfinn was very precocious in the maturity\nof all his powers. He was of large stature and strong, but ungainly. As\nhe grew up it soon became apparent that he was avaricious, harsh, and\ncruel, yet a very clever man.\n\nThe brothers Einar and Br\u00fasi were different in their dispositions. Br\u00fasi\nwas clever and fond of company, eloquent and beloved. Einar was stubborn\nand taciturn, disagreeable and avaricious, yet a great warrior.\nSumarlidi was like Br\u00fasi in his disposition. He was the eldest, and the\nmost short-lived of the brothers. He died on a sickbed.\n\nAfter his death Thorfinn demanded his share of [Sumarlidi\u2019s portion of]\nthe Orkneys, although he already had Caithness and Sutherland which had\nbelonged to his father Sigurd. This Einar considered to be much more\nthan a third of the Orkneys, and he would not give up any part of them\nto Thorfinn. Br\u00fasi, however, consented to give up his share [of the\nportion belonging to Sumarlidi], saying that he did not covet more of\nthe land than his own proper third. Then Einar took possession of two\nshares of the islands. He became then a powerful man, and had a large\nnumber of retainers. In the summer he made war expeditions, calling out\ngreat levies of his men from their homes; but these expeditions were not\nalways successful, and the B\u0153ndr[238] began to grow tired of them, but\nthe Earl exacted all his services with violence, and did not suffer any\none to speak against them. He was indeed a man of the greatest violence.\nThen there arose great scarcity in the islands on account of the labour\nand large expense to which the B\u0153ndr were thus subjected. However, in\nthe parts belonging to Br\u00fasi there were good seasons and easy life, and\nhe was greatly liked by the B\u0153ndr.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER II\n\n                         OF AMUNDI AND THORKEL.\n\n\nTHERE was a powerful and wealthy man, by name Amundi, who lived in\nHrossey,[239] at Sandvik on Laufandaness. He had a son, by name Thorkel,\nwho was the most accomplished man in all the Orkneys.\n\nOne spring the Earl called out the B\u0153ndr as usual, but they murmured\ngreatly, and brought their grievances before Amundi, and asked him to\nsay a good word for them to the Earl. He replied that the Earl was not\ndisposed to listen to advice, and it would be of no avail to ask him to\ndo this, as he and the Earl were such good friends; he further said\nthat, from what he knew of his own temper and that of the Earl, there\nwas great danger that they might become enemies, and he would have\nnothing to do with the matter. Then they asked Thorkel, and he was very\nreluctant, although at last he yielded to their solicitations, but\nAmundi thought he had been too rash to promise.\n\nWhen the Earl held a meeting (Thing)[240] Thorkel spoke on behalf of the\nB\u0153ndr. He begged the Earl to spare the people, and told him of their\ndistress. The Earl answered blandly, and said he would give great weight\nto Thorkel\u2019s words. \u201cI had intended,\u201d he said, \u201cto take out six ships,\nbut now I shall not take more than three; but thou, Thorkel, do not ask\nthis of me a second time.\u201d\n\nThe B\u0153ndr were very grateful to Thorkel for his assistance, and the Earl\nmade an expedition during the summer, and again in the autumn.\n\nNext spring the Earl again called out his men, and held a meeting with\nthe B\u0153ndr. Thorkel spoke again on their behalf, and begged the Earl to\nspare them. The Earl became wroth, and said that for his speech the lot\nof the B\u0153ndr should be far worse than before. Then he became so mad with\nrage, that he said that one or other of them should not leave the\nmeeting unhurt, and immediately dissolved the meeting.\n\nWhen Amundi heard what Thorkel and the Earl had said to each other, he\nbade his son go abroad, and Thorkel went to Earl Thorfinn in Caithness.\nHe stayed there a long time, and became foster-father to the Earl, who\nwas still young. From that time he was called Thorkel F\u00f3stri, and became\na man of great repute. Other men of note and influence fled from the\nOrkneys on account of Earl Einar\u2019s violence; some to Earl Thorfinn, some\nto Norway, and some to other countries.\n\nWhen Earl Thorfinn came to man\u2019s estate, he sent to his brother Einar,\nand demanded from him what he considered his share of the Orkneys. Einar\nwas not inclined to divide his possessions: so, when Earl Thorfinn heard\nthis, he called out men from Caithness, and set out for the Orkneys.\nWhen Earl Einar had news of this, he collected an army, with the intent\nto defend his possessions. Earl Br\u00fasi also collected an army, and went\nto meet them, and tried to reconcile them; and peace was made on\ncondition that Thorfinn should have one-third of the Orkneys as his own\nproper share.\n\nThen Br\u00fasi and Einar joined their portions, on the footing that the\nlatter should rule them and defend them for both, and that he who\nsurvived the other should inherit his portion. But this compact was\nthought unfair, as Br\u00fasi had a son, by name R\u00f6gnvald, and Einar had no\nson. Thorfinn appointed his own deputies to manage his possessions in\nthe islands, but he himself lived for the most part in Caithness.\n\nIn the summer Einar went on expeditions to Ireland, Scotland, and\nBretland (Wales). One summer, when ravaging Ireland, he fought in\nUlfreksfiord[241] with Konuf\u00f6gr,[242] an Irish king, and was defeated,\nwith a heavy loss of men. The next summer Eyvind Urarhorn[243] (bull\u2019s\nhorn) came from Ireland on his way to Norway, and being overtaken by a\nviolent gale, he turned his ships into Asmundarvag,[244] and lay there\nfor a while. When Earl Einar heard this, he went thither with many men,\nseized Eyvind, and caused him to be killed, but gave quarter to most of\nhis followers. They went to Norway in the autumn, and when they met King\nOlaf,[245] they told him of Eyvind\u2019s murder. He said little about it,\nbut it was afterwards found that he considered this a great loss and a\nserious offence against himself, though he never said much about things\nwith which he was displeased.\n\nEarl Thorfinn sent Thorkel F\u00f3stri to collect his revenues, but Earl\nEinar regarded it as chiefly owing to Thorkel that Earl Thorfinn had\ncome into [his possessions in] the Islands. Thorkel left the islands\nsuddenly, and went to Ness (Caithness). He told Earl Thorfinn that he\nhad become aware that Earl Einar had intended to kill him, if his\nrelatives and friends had not given him warning. \u201cAnd now,\u201d he added, \u201cI\nwill avoid the risk of having such a meeting with the Earl as shall\nbring matters to a crisis between us, and I will go farther away, where\nhis power does not reach me.\u201d\n\nThorfinn persuaded him to go to King Olaf, in Norway, and spend the\nwinter with him in great friendship; \u201cfor you will,\u201d he said, \u201cbe highly\nesteemed wherever you come among noble men; but I know your temper and\nthat of the Earl to be such that you will not long refrain from\nhostilities.\u201d\n\nThorkel then prepared for his departure, and in the autumn he went to\nNorway to visit King Olaf, and spent the winter with him in great\nfriendship. The King often sought Thorkel\u2019s advice, because he\nconsidered him a wise man and a weighty counsellor, and such was the\ntruth. In telling of the Earls, the King found that he was very partial,\na great friend of Thorfinn, and an enemy of Earl Einar. Early in the\nspring the King sent a ship with a message to Earl Thorfinn, asking him\nto come and see him; and the Earl did not put off the journey, for\nprotestations of friendship had accompanied the message.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER III\n\n                       THORKEL SLAYS EARL EINAR.\n\n\nTHORFINN went east to King Olaf in Norway, where he was well received,\nand spent the summer there; and when he prepared to go westward again,\nKing Olaf gave him a large and excellent war-ship, fully equipped.\nThorkel F\u00f3stri went with the Earl, who gave him the ship in which he had\ncome from the west in the summer. The King and the Earl parted great\nfriends.\n\nIn the autumn Earl Thorfinn came to the Orkneys. When Earl Einar heard\nof it, he stayed with many men in his ships. Br\u00fasi went to meet the two\nbrothers, and tried to reconcile them; and once more they made peace and\nconfirmed it with oaths. Thorkel F\u00f3stri should be pardoned, and be a\nfriend of Earl Einar, and each of them should give the other a banquet,\nand the Earl should first come to Thorkel at Sandvik.[246]\n\nWhen Einar came, he and his men were most sumptuously treated, yet the\nEarl was not cheerful. The banqueting hall was a large one, with doors\nat each end. When the Earl was going away, Thorkel was to accompany him,\nand he sent men to examine the way by which they were to go. When they\nreturned, they said they had discovered three divisions of armed men in\nambush, and were certain that foul play was intended. Upon hearing this,\nThorkel delayed starting, and called his men together. The Earl asked\nhim to make himself ready, and said it was now time to go. Thorkel\nreplied that he had many things to see to, and kept going out and in.\n\nThere were fires on the floor, and Thorkel walked about, and once when\nhe entered by one of the doors he was followed by an Icelander, by name\nHallvard, from the east of Iceland, who shut the door after him. As\nThorkel passed between the fire and where the Earl sat, the latter said:\n\u201cAre you ready now?\u201d\n\nThorkel replied: \u201cI am ready now,\u201d and struck the Earl a blow on the\nhead, so that he fell forward on the floor.\n\nHallvard said: \u201cI never saw people with so little presence of mind as\nyou who are here. Why do you not take the Earl out of the fire?\u201d\n\nWith his axe he again struck the Earl on the back of the head, and\npulled him towards the bench. Then Thorkel and his men walked out\nquickly by the door opposite to that by which he had entered, and there,\noutside the door, were the rest of his men fully armed.\n\nThe Earl\u2019s men took hold of their master and found that he was dead.\nThey were too much stupified to take revenge, as the thing was done so\nsuddenly, and no one expected such a deed from Thorkel; besides, the\nEarl\u2019s men were mostly without arms, and many of them were good friends\nof Thorkel\u2019s before. Thus Thorkel had to thank his good fortune that he\nenjoyed a longer life.\n\nThe Earl\u2019s men went away, and Thorkel to his ship. In a few days,\nshortly after the beginning of the winter, he left for the east, and\narrived safely in Norway. He went immediately to see King Olaf, who\nreceived him very graciously, and felt much pleasure at his deed; and\nwith him Thorkel spent the winter.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER IV\n\n                             OF EARL BR\u00daSI.\n\n\nAFTER the death of Earl Einar, Earl Br\u00fasi took possession of that\nportion of the domain which had belonged to his brother (Einar), for\nthere had been many witnesses to the compact which they had made.\nThorfinn thought it right that they should each have one-half of the\nIslands, yet Br\u00fasi had two-thirds that year. Next year Thorfinn demanded\none-half, to which Br\u00fasi did not consent, and they had many meetings\nabout it. Their friends tried to settle matters between them, but\nThorfinn would not take anything less than half of the Islands.\n\nBr\u00fasi said: \u201cI was satisfied with that third part which I inherited from\nmy father, and no one claimed it from me, and I have inherited a second\nthird after my brother according to a lawful agreement; and although I\nam unable to contend with you, brother, I will have recourse to other\nmeans than giving up my lands and title at present.\u201d\n\nThus the meeting ended. But Br\u00fasi saw that he had no strength to hold\nhis own against Thorfinn, because he had much larger possessions, and,\nbesides, some hope of assistance from his grandfather, the King of\nScots. He therefore resolved to go to Olaf, King of Norway, taking with\nhim his son R\u00f6gnvald, who was then ten years old. The King received him\nwell, and he told him his business and explained to him how matters\nstood between him and his brother, and begged his assistance to keep his\npossessions, offering in return his full friendship.\n\nThe King replied by stating that Harald the Fairhaired had reserved to\nhimself all odal rights[247] in the Orkneys, and that the Earls since\nthat time always held those lands as fiefs, and never as their own.\n\n\u201cIt is a proof of this,\u201d he said, \u201cthat when Eirik Bl\u00f3d\u00f6x and his sons\nwere in the Orkneys, the Earls were their vassals; and when Olaf,\nTryggvi\u2019s son, my kinsman, came there, your father, Earl Sigurd, became\nhis man. Now, I have succeeded to the entire heritage of Olaf, Tryggvi\u2019s\nson. I will give you the islands as a fief, on condition that you become\nmy man, and then I will try whether my help will not be of more avail to\nyou than the aid and assistance of the King of Scots to your brother\nThorfinn. But if you will not accept these terms, I will try to recover\nthe possessions and dominion which my kinsmen have inherited and\npossessed there in the west.\u201d\n\nThe Earl considered these words thoughtfully, and sought the advice of\nhis friends as to whether he should consent to King Olaf\u2019s terms and\nbecome his man. \u201cI do not see,\u201d he said, \u201chow matters will go with me at\nour parting if I refuse, because the King has made an unequivocal claim,\nand regards the Islands as his property. Now, considering his great\npower, and the circumstance that we are here, he will have no scruples\nin making my case such as he likes.\u201d\n\nThus, although the Earl had objections to both alternatives, he resolved\nto give up all, himself and his dominions, into the King\u2019s power. Then\nKing Olaf asserted his suzerainty over all his hereditary possessions,\nand the Earl became his man, and confirmed this compact with oaths.\n\nEarl Thorfinn heard that his brother Br\u00fasi had gone east to King Olaf to\nsolicit his assistance; but as he had himself seen the King before, and\nsecured his friendship, he thought that his case had been well prepared\nthere, and he knew that many would advocate his cause. Nevertheless, he\nresolved to prepare to go to Norway as quickly as possible, intending\nthat he should arrive there very nearly at the same time with his\nbrother, so that he might see the King himself before his brother had\nconcluded his business. This, however, turned out otherwise than the\nEarl intended, for he did not see King Olaf until the treaty between\nEarl Br\u00fasi and the King was fully concluded; and he did not know that\nEarl Br\u00fasi had given up his dominions until he came to the King.\n\nAt their first interview the King made the same claim to the dominion of\nthe Orkneys which he had made before to Earl Br\u00fasi; and he made the same\nrequest of Thorfinn\u2014namely, that he should acknowledge the King\u2019s\nsuzerainty over his portion of the islands.\n\nThe Earl gave a courteous answer to this demand, saying: \u201cI consider\nyour friendship of great importance; and if you think you require my\nassistance against other chiefs, you have well deserved it; but I cannot\nwell pay you homage, as I am already an Earl of the King of Scots, and\nhis vassal.\u201d\n\nBut when the King found from these words that the Earl wished to avoid\nthe claims which he had put forward, he said: \u201cIf you will not become my\nman, there is the other alternative\u2014viz., that I place that man over the\nIslands whom I choose. But I wish you to promise me with oaths not to\nclaim those lands, and to leave him in peace whom I place over them.\nNow, if you will not accept any of those conditions, he who governs the\nland will say that hostilities may be expected from you, and in that\ncase you must not think it strange if a dale meets a hill.\u201d[248]\n\nThe Earl answered by requesting time to consider these matters. The King\ngave him time, and permission to consult with his friends; but then the\nEarl asked the King for a further delay to the next summer, so that he\nmight go home; \u201cfor,\u201d said he, \u201cmy counsellors are at home, and my\njudgment is not yet mature on account of my age.\u201d The King told him to\nmake his choice.\n\nThorkel F\u00f3stri was with the King at the time, and he sent a message to\nthe Earl secretly, telling him that whatever else his intentions were he\nshould not think of parting with the King without being reconciled to\nhim for the present, as he had got him in his power. Now the Earl\nthought there was no alternative but to let the King have his will,\nalthough he did not consider it by any means a desirable thing to\nrelinquish all hope of his patrimony, and to promise with oaths to leave\nthose in undisturbed possession of his dominions who had no hereditary\nright to them. But because he was not certain about his departure (if he\nrefused), he chose to submit to the King, and to become his man, as\nBr\u00fasi his brother had previously done.\n\nThe King perceived that Thorfinn was a man of much stronger will than\nBr\u00fasi, and distrusted him therefore more. He saw that Thorfinn would\nthink himself sufficiently powerful, with the aid of the King of Scots,\nthough he broke this treaty; and the King was sagacious enough to\nperceive that, while Br\u00fasi agreed to everything sincerely, and made only\nsuch promises as he intended to keep, Thorfinn agreed cheerfully to\neverything, while at the same time he had resolved within himself what\ncourse he would take; and though he made no objections to anything which\nthe King proposed, yet the King suspected that he intended to act upon\ntheir agreements afterwards in his own way.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER V\n\n                    OF THE EARLS BR\u00daSI AND THORFINN.\n\n\nWHEN King Olaf had considered all these matters, he had a general\nmeeting summoned by the blowing of a trumpet, to which the Earls were\nalso called.\n\nThe King said: \u201cI will now make publicly known the treaty between me and\nthe Earls of the Orkneys. They have acknowledged my suzerainty over all\nthe Orkneys and Hjaltland (Shetland), promising to become my men, and\nconfirming these their promises with oaths. In return, I will give to\nBr\u00fasi one-third of the land, and to Thorfinn another third, which they\nhad before; but the last third, which belonged to Earl Einar, I adjudge\nto be forfeited to me, because he slew Eyvind Urarhorn, my henchman[249]\nand beloved comrade. Of this portion I will dispose as I shall think\nfit; and I make it a condition with you, my Earls, that you be\nreconciled to Thorkel Amundi\u2019s son concerning your brother Einar\u2019s\nslaying, and I wish to act as an arbitrator between you if you agree to\nthis.\u201d\n\nThe Earls consented to this, as to everything else which the King\nproposed. Then Thorkel stepped forward and submitted his case to the\nKing\u2019s decision, after which the meeting was dissolved. King Olaf\nawarded a weregild[250] for Earl Einar as for three Lendermen;\none-third, however, should be remitted in consideration of the Earl\u2019s\nguilt.\n\nEarl Thorfinn asked permission to depart, and when he had obtained it,\nhe made himself ready in great haste. One day, when all was ready, and\nthe Earl was drinking on board his ship, Thorkel, Amundi\u2019s son, came and\nlaid his head on the Earl\u2019s knees, and asked him to do with it what he\nliked.\n\nThe Earl said: \u201cWhy do you do this? We are reconciled according to the\nKing\u2019s arbitration; arise.\u201d\n\nHe rose and said: \u201cI will abide by the King\u2019s arbitration concerning\ndifferences between me and Br\u00fasi; but, as far as you are concerned, I\nleave everything to you. Although the King has reserved for me\npossessions and safety in the Orkneys, I am so well acquainted with your\ndisposition that I know it would be impossible for me to go there unless\nI have your confidence; and I will promise you never to go to the\nOrkneys, whatever the King says.\u201d\n\nThe Earl replied slowly, and said: \u201cWould you rather have me to adjust\nour affairs than abide by the King\u2019s decision? If so, I make it the\nfirst condition that you shall go with me to the Orkneys, and remain\nwith me, and not leave me except with my permission; that you shall be\nin duty bound to defend my land, and to do everything I wish to have\ndone while we are both alive.\u201d\n\nThorkel replied: \u201cI leave this to you, like everything else that\nconcerns me.\u201d Thereupon he submitted his case to the Earl\u2019s decision.\n\nThe Earl said he would fix the money payment [for his brother\u2019s death]\nafterwards, and received oaths from Thorkel according to their\nagreement; and Thorkel prepared to go with him. The Earl left as soon as\nhe was ready, and he and King Olaf never met afterwards.\n\nEarl Br\u00fasi remained behind, and prepared for his departure more\nleisurely. Before he left, King Olaf had an interview with him, and\nsaid: \u201cI think it advisable to make you my confidential agent in the\nwestern parts. I intend to give you two-thirds of the islands, which you\nhad before, because I do not wish you to have less power, now that you\nare my man, than you had before; and as a pledge of my good faith, I\nwill keep your son R\u00f6gnvald with me. I see that with two-thirds of the\nland and my assistance you may well hold your own against Earl\nThorfinn.\u201d\n\nBr\u00fasi was thankful for two-thirds of the land. He stayed a little while\nyet before he left, and came west to the Islands (the Orkneys) in the\nautumn. His son R\u00f6gnvald remained with King Olaf. These facts are\nmentioned by Ottar Svarti (the swarthy):\n\n                 Readily these noble people\n                 Will obey thee as thy subjects.\n                 Use your power with moderation;\n                 Hjaltlanders! your fame is well known.\n                 Till we had thee, fierce in battle,\n                 To these eastern shores, there was not\n                 Any prince on earth who conquered\n                 Those far distant western islands.\n\nWhen the brothers Thorfinn and Br\u00fasi came west to the Islands, Br\u00fasi\ntook possession of two-thirds of the domain, and Thorfinn of one, but he\nwas all the time in Caithness, in Scotland, and placed deputies over the\nislands. Br\u00fasi alone had to defend them, for they were in those times\nvery much exposed to the ravages of Norwegians and Danes, who called\nthere on their viking expeditions to the west, and plundered in the\noutlying parts. Br\u00fasi made complaints to his brother Thorfinn on account\nof his not contributing anything to the defence of the Orkneys or\nHjaltland (Shetland), although he received his full share of all the\nland-dues and revenues. Then Thorfinn proposed to Br\u00fasi to take\ntwo-thirds of the Islands, undertaking the defence of the whole, and\nleave Br\u00fasi one-third. Although this division did not take place\nimmediately, yet it is said in the History of the Earls that it did take\nplace, and that Thorfinn had two-thirds of the Islands, and Br\u00fasi\none-third, when Canute the Great conquered Norway, after the flight of\nKing Olaf.\n\nKing Olaf, Harald\u2019s son, received no homage from Earl Thorfinn after he\nmade the treaty with him and Br\u00fasi.\n\nEarl Thorfinn now became a powerful chief. He was a man of very large\nstature, uncomely, sharp-featured, dark-haired, and sallow and swarthy\nin his complexion. Yet he was a most martial-looking man, and of great\nenergy; greedy of wealth and of renown; bold and successful in war, and\na great strategist. He was five years old when he received the title of\nEarl and the revenues of Caithness from King Malcolm,[251] his\ngrandfather, and fourteen when he went forth from his own territory on\nmaritime expeditions, and attacked the possessions of other chiefs. So\nsays Arn\u00f3r Jarlask\u00e1ld (the Earls\u2019 poet):\n\n                 By the prince in storm of helmets\n                 Was the sword\u2019s edge deeply crimsoned.\n                 Scarcely fifteen, the great-hearted\n                 Sought renown on fields of battle,\n                 Ready to defend his own land,\n                 Or to ravage in another\u2019s.\n                 Under heaven a braver leader\n                 Ne\u2019er was found than Einar\u2019s brother.\n\nEarl Thorfinn was greatly supported by the King of Scots. This\nassistance being so near, it much increased his power in the Orkneys.\n\nThe King of Scots died after the reconciliation of the brothers. Karl\nHundason[252] took the kingdom in Scotland. He considered Caithness to\nbelong to him, as to the former kings, and demanded tribute from it as\nfrom other places. Thorfinn, however, did not think his inheritance from\nhis mother\u2019s father large, though he had Caithness; and besides,\naccording to his own opinion, it had been given to him first; he was\ntherefore unwilling to pay any tribute. Thus they became open enemies,\nand made war on each other. King Karl wished to appoint a chief, by name\nModdan, over Caithness; he was his sister\u2019s son, and he gave him the\ntitle of Earl. Then Moddan went down from Scotland and collected forces\nin Sutherland.\n\nWhen Earl Thorfinn heard of this, he gathered together an army in\nCaithness. Thorkel F\u00f3stri also came to Earl Thorfinn from the Orkneys\nwith many men, and their united forces were somewhat more numerous than\nthose of the Scots. When the Scots knew this they hesitated in their\ninvasion, and returned to Scotland. Earl Thorfinn subdued Sutherland and\nRoss, and plundered far and wide in Scotland, and returned again to\nCaithness, and Thorkel went back to the Islands; their men also returned\nhome. Earl Thorfinn stayed at Dungalsb\u00e6, in Caithness, where he had five\nwar-ships and followers numerous enough to man them.\n\nModdan came to find King Karl (at Beruvik)[253] and informed him of his\nunsuccessful expedition. The King became very angry at his land being\nplundered, and started immediately with eleven war-ships and a numerous\narmy. He sailed northward along Scotland, after having despatched Moddan\nto Caithness a second time with many troops. Moddan went by land, and it\nwas intended that he should make the attack from that side, so that Earl\nThorfinn might be placed between the two armies.\n\nNow, it is to be told of King Karl that he did not stop until he arrived\nat Caithness, and he and Earl Thorfinn were not far from each other.\nThorfinn went on board his ships, and sailed out on the Pentland Firth,\nintending to go to the Orkneys; and so near were they that King Karl saw\ntheir sails as he sailed into the Firth from the east, and immediately\nsailed after them. Earl Thorfinn directed his course to the east of the\nOrkneys, intending to go to Sandvik.[254] He moored his ships on the\neast side of Dyrness, and immediately sent word to Thorkel to collect\ntroops.\n\nEarl Thorfinn arrived at Dyrness late in the evening; but as soon as it\nwas daylight next morning, King Karl came upon them unawares with eleven\nwar-ships. There were only two alternatives\u2014one to run on shore, and\nleave the ships with all their valuable contents to the enemy; the other\nwas to meet the King, and let fate decide between them. Earl Thorfinn\nexhorted his men, and ordered them to have their arms ready. He said he\nwould not flee, and told them to row briskly towards the enemy. Then\nboth parties fastened their ships together. Earl Thorfinn addressed his\nmen, advising them to be smart and to make the first attack fiercely,\nand saying that few of the Scotsmen would be able to make a stand. The\nfighting was long and fierce. Arn\u00f3r Jarlask\u00e1ld says:\n\n                Once, off Dyrness, to the eastward,\n                Came King Kali in a mail-coat\n                Famous for its strength and brightness;\n                But the land was not defenceless,\n                For, with five ships, nothing daunted,\n                Scorning flight in warlike temper,\n                Valiantly the Prince went forward\n                \u2019Gainst the King\u2019s eleven vessels.\n\n                Then the ships were lashed together\u2014\n                Know ye how the men were falling?\n                All their swords and boards were swimming\n                In the life-blood of the Scotsmen;\n                Hearts were sinking\u2014bowstrings screaming,\n                Darts were flying\u2014spear-shafts bending;\n                Swords were biting, blood flowed freely,\n                And the Prince\u2019s heart was merry.\n\nNow Earl Thorfinn incited his men to the utmost, and a fierce conflict\nensued. The Scots in the King\u2019s ships made but a feeble resistance\nbefore the mast, whereupon Thorfinn jumped from the quarter-deck, and\nran to the foredeck, and fought fiercely. When he saw the crowd in the\nKing\u2019s ships getting thinner, he urged his men to board them. King Karl,\nperceiving this, gave orders to his men to cut the ropes, and get the\nships away instantly; to take to their oars, and bear away. At the same\ntime Thorfinn and his men fastened grappling-hooks in the King\u2019s ship.\nHe called for his banner to be borne before him, and a great number of\nhis men followed it. King Karl jumped from his ship into another vessel,\nwith those of his men who still held out; but the most part had fallen\nalready. He then ordered them to take to their oars; and the Scots took\nto flight\u2014Thorfinn pursuing them. Thus says Arn\u00f3r:\n\n                 Never was a battle shorter;\n                 Soon with spears it was decided.\n                 Though my lord had fewer numbers,\n                 Yet he chased them all before him;\n                 Hoarsely croaked the battle-gull, when\n                 Thickly fell the wounded king\u2019s-men;\n                 South of Sandwick swords were reddened.\n\nKing Karl fled all the way south to Breidafiord,[255] where he went on\nshore, and collected an army anew. Earl Thorfinn went back after the\nbattle, when Thorkel F\u00f3stri came to him with a numerous army. They then\nsailed south to Breidafiord in pursuit of King Karl, and when they came\nto Scotland they began to plunder. Then they were told that Earl Moddan\nwas at Thurso, in Caithness, with a large army. He had sent to Ireland\nfor men, because he had there many relatives and friends, and he was\nwaiting for these troops. Then it was thought advisable that Thorkel\nshould go to Caithness with a portion of the army; but Thorfinn remained\nin Scotland, and plundered there. Thorkel went secretly, because all the\ninhabitants of Caithness were true and faithful to him; and no news went\nof his journey till he came to Thurso by night, and surprised Earl\nModdan in a house, which they set on fire. Moddan was asleep in an upper\nstorey, and jumped out; but as he jumped down from the stair, Thorkel\nhewed at him with a sword, and it hit him on the neck, and took off his\nhead.\n\nAfter this his men surrendered, but some escaped by flight. Many were\nslain, but some received quarter.\n\nThorkel did not stay there long, but went to Breidafiord, bringing with\nhim all the men he had been able to collect in Caithness, Sutherland,\nand Ross. He met Earl Thorfinn in Moray, and told him what he had done\nin his expedition, for which he received hearty thanks from the Earl,\nand there they both stayed for a while.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER VI\n\n                           OF THE ORKNEYMEN.\n\n\nNOW it is to be told of King Karl that he went to Scotland after the\nbattle with Earl Thorfinn, and collected an army as well from the south\nas the west and east of Scotland, and all the way south from Satiri\n(Kintyre); the forces for which Earl Moddan had sent also came to him\nfrom Ireland. He sent far and near to the chieftains for men, and\nbrought all this army against Earl Thorfinn. They met at Torfnes,[256]\non the south side of B\u00e6fiord. There was a fierce battle, and the Scots\nwere by far the most numerous. Earl Thorfinn was among the foremost of\nhis men; he had a gold-plated helmet on his head, a sword at his belt,\nand a spear in his hand, and he cut and thrust with both hands. It is\neven said that he was foremost of all his men. He first attacked the\nIrish division, and so fierce were he and his men, that the Irish were\nimmediately routed, and never regained their position. Then King Karl\nhad his standard brought forward against Earl Thorfinn, and there was\nthe fiercest struggle for a while; but it ended in the flight of the\nKing; and some say he was slain. Thus Arn\u00f3r Jarlask\u00e1ld:\n\n                  Reddened were the wolf\u2019s-bit\u2019s edges\n                  At a place\u2014men call it Torfness;\u2014\n                  It was by a youthful ruler\n                  This was done, upon a Monday.\n                  Pliant swords were loudly ringing\n                  At this War-Thing, south of Ekkial,\n                  When the prince had joined in battle\n                  Bravely with the King of Scotland.\n\n                  High his helm the Lord of Hjaltland\n                  Bore amid the clang of weapons;\n                  In the battle ever foremost,\n                  Reddened he his gleaming spear-point\n                  In the wounds it gave the Irish.\n                  Thus my lord his mighty prowess\n                  Showed beneath his British buckler\u2014\n                  Taking many warriors captive;\n                  Hl\u00f6dver\u2019s kinsman burnt the country.\n\nEarl Thorfinn drove the fugitives before him through Scotland, and\nsubdued the country wherever he went, and all the way south to Fife.\nThen he sent Thorkel F\u00f3stri away with some of his men. When the Scots\nheard that the Earl had sent away some of his men, those that had\nsubmitted to him meant to attack him. As soon, however, as he was aware\nof their treachery, he called his men together and went to meet them;\nbut when they knew he was prepared, they hesitated to make the attack.\nEarl Thorfinn resolved to give battle to the Scots as soon as he met\nthem; but they had not the manliness to defend themselves, and ran away\ninto woods and deserted places; and when he had pursued the fugitives,\nhe called his men together, and said he would burn the whole district,\nand thus pay the Scots for their treachery. Then the Earl\u2019s men went\nover hamlets and farms, and burnt everything, so that scarcely a hut was\nleft standing. Those of the men whom they found they killed, but the\nwomen and old people dragged themselves into woods and deserted places,\nwith wailings and lamentations. Some of them they drove before them, and\nmany were taken captives. Thus says Arn\u00f3r Jarlask\u00e1ld:\n\n                Fast the flames devoured the homesteads;\n                Lives that day were in great peril;\n                Fire the Scottish kingdom ravaged\u2014\n                All reduced to smoking ashes;\n                Great the mischief done that summer\n                By the mighty Slaughter-Teacher;\n                Three times were the luckless Scotsmen\n                By the Prince completely vanquished.\n\nAfter this Thorfinn went through Scotland to the north, till he reached\nhis ships, and subdued the country wherever he went, and did not stop\ntill he came to Caithness, where he spent the winter; but every season\nafter this he went out on expeditions, and plundered in the summer time\nwith all his men.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER VII\n\n                 OF THE FAMOUS DEEDS OF EARL THORFINN.\n\n\nEARL THORFINN made himself famous in the Orkneys by entertaining his own\nmen and many other men of note throughout the winter, so that no one had\nto go to inns\u2014providing food and drink at his own charges, in the same\nmanner as chiefs in other countries, Kings, and Earls entertain their\nhenchmen and guests at Christmas time. About this time Earl Br\u00fasi died,\nand Earl Thorfinn took possession of all the islands. But of R\u00f6gnvald,\nBr\u00fasi\u2019s son, it is said that he was in the battle of Stiklestad[257]\nwhen King Olaf was killed. R\u00f6gnvald escaped, with other fugitives, and\ncarried away King Olaf\u2019s brother, Harald Sigurdson, who was dangerously\nwounded, and brought him to a small Bondi to be cured; but he himself\ncrossed the Kj\u00f6l,[258] and went to Jamtaland, and thence to Sweden to\nsee King Onund. Harald stayed with the Bondi until he had recovered from\nhis wounds. The Bondi then gave him his son as an attendant, and he went\nthrough Jamtaland to Sweden secretly. At their parting, which took place\nin a certain copse, Harald sang:\n\n                Though now thus here and there I\u2019m hunted\n                Through the covert\u2014small\u2019s the honour,\n                Who knows but that far and wide yet\n                Some day shall my name be famous?\n\nHarald met R\u00f6gnvald in Sweden, and they went both of them east to\nGardariki (Russia), along with many others who had been with King Olaf.\nThey did not stop till they came east to King Jarizleif, in\nH\u00f3lmgard;[259] and he received them most heartily for the sake of King\nOlaf the Holy. He took them both, as well as Erling, R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s son,\ninto his service as defenders of his country.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER VIII\n\n              MAGNUS, OLAF\u2019S SON, ACCEPTED KING OF NORWAY.\n\n\nR\u00d6GNVALD, Br\u00fasi\u2019s son, remained in Gardariki (Russia) when Harald,\nSigurd\u2019s son, went to Mikligard (Constantinople); he had the defence of\nthe frontier in summer, and spent the winters in H\u00f3lmgard. The King as\nwell as the people esteemed him highly. R\u00f6gnvald was a man of large\nstature and great strength, and one of the handsomest men in appearance,\nand his accomplishments were such that his equal was hardly to be found.\nArn\u00f3r Jarlask\u00e1ld says that he fought ten battles in Gardar:\n\n                  So it happened that ten battles\n                  Fought the soldier fierce in Gardar.\n\nEinar Thambarskelfir and K\u00e1lf Arnason brought Magnus, Olaf\u2019s son, from\nGardariki (Russia). R\u00f6gnvald met them in Aldeigiuborg.[260] He had\nnearly made an attack on K\u00e1lf before he had informed him of their\nbusiness. Einar said that K\u00e1lf repented of (his share in) the great\ncrime of having deprived King Olaf the Holy of his life and kingdom, and\nthat he now wished to make amends to his son Magnus. He further told\nR\u00f6gnvald that K\u00e1lf wished to place Magnus on the throne, and support him\nagainst the Vikings in the pay of the Canutes. By this R\u00f6gnvald was\nsoftened, and now Einar Thambarskelfir asked him to go with them up to\nH\u00f3lmgard, and introduce them and their business to King Jarizleif. He\nshould tell him that the Norwegians were so disgusted with the rule of\nthe Canutes, but most of all with Alfifa,[261] that they would prefer\nany hardships to serving them longer; and then he should ask King\nJarizleif to permit Magnus, Olaf\u2019s son, to become their chief. When they\ncame there, R\u00f6gnvald, Queen Ingigerd,[262] and many of the noblemen,\npleaded their cause. King Jarizleif was unwilling to trust Magnus into\nthe hands of the Norwegians, because of their treatment of his father.\nAt last, however, they succeeded so far that twelve of the noblest men\nmade oaths to the effect that their offers were sincere; but King\nJarizleif trusted R\u00f6gnvald so much that he did not require him to swear.\nK\u00e1lf promised King Magnus with an oath that he would accompany him both\nwithin his kingdom and out of it, and do everything to support his power\nand to secure his safety. Thereupon the Norwegians accepted Magnus as\ntheir King, and swore fealty to him.\n\nEinar and K\u00e1lf stayed in H\u00f3lmgard till after Christmas. Then they went\ndown to Aldeigiuborg (Ladoga), and procured ships. As soon as the sea\nwas open in the spring, R\u00f6gnvald, Br\u00fasi\u2019s son, made himself ready to go\nwith King Magnus. They went first to Sweden, then to Jamtaland, crossed\nthe Kj\u00f6l, and came to Veradal. When King Magnus came to Thr\u00e1ndheim, all\nthe population submitted to him. Then he went down to N\u00eddar\u00f3s,[263] and\nwas accepted King of the whole country at the Eyrar-Thing. After this\ncame the dealings of King Magnus and King Sveinn.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER IX\n\n          R\u00d6GNVALD ASKS MAGNUS FOR LEAVE TO GO TO THE ISLANDS.\n\n\nWHEN R\u00f6gnvald, Br\u00fasi\u2019s son, came to Norway, he heard of the death of his\nfather Br\u00fasi, and at the same time, that Earl Thorfinn had taken\npossession of the whole of the Islands. Then he wished to visit his odal\npossessions, and asked King Magnus to permit him to go. The King saw\nthat it was necessary for him to go, and willingly gave him permission.\nAt the same time, he gave him the title of Earl, and three war-ships\nwell equipped. He also gave him a grant of that third part of the\nOrkneys which King Olaf had possessed,[264] and had given to his father\nBr\u00fasi. At last King Magnus promised his foster-brother his full\nfriendship, adding that his assistance should be at his service whenever\nhe required it. Thus they parted the best of friends.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER X\n\n                         OF ROGNVALD\u2019S VOYAGE.\n\n\nEARL R\u00d6GNVALD sailed for the Orkneys, and went first to the estates\nwhich his father had possessed. Thence he sent messengers to his\nkinsman, Earl Thorfinn, and asked for that third part (of the Islands)\nwhich had belonged to his father. He also requested them to tell him\nthat he had obtained from King Magnus a grant of that third which had\nbelonged to King Olaf. He therefore demanded two-thirds, if it was the\npleasure of his kinsman Thorfinn. At this time Thorfinn had great\nquarrels with the Irish and the inhabitants of the Sudreyar (Hebrides),\nand felt himself greatly in want of assistance. He therefore gave\nR\u00f6gnvald\u2019s messengers the following reply:\u2014That R\u00f6gnvald should take\npossession of that third which rightly belonged to him. \u201cAs for the\nthird which Magnus calls his own,\u201d he said, \u201cwe gave that up to King\nOlaf the Holy because we were then in his power, but not because we\nthought it just. I and my kinsman R\u00f6gnvald will agree all the better the\nless we talk of that third, which has been long enough a cause of\ndispute. But if R\u00f6gnvald wishes to be my faithful friend, I consider\nthose possessions in good hands which he has for his pleasure and for\nthe good of us both. His assistance will soon be of greater value to me\nthan the revenues which I derive from them.\u201d\n\nUpon this the messengers returned, and said he had yielded up to\nR\u00f6gnvald two-thirds on condition that they should be allies, as it was\nright they should be, on account of their relationship. R\u00f6gnvald said,\nhowever, that he did not demand more than what he considered his own;\nbut as Thorfinn had so willingly given up the lands, he would indeed\nassist him, and be his firm friend, which was but natural, as they were\nso nearly related. Accordingly R\u00f6gnvald took possession of two-thirds of\nthe islands.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER XI\n\n            THE BATTLE OF THE KINSMEN THORFINN AND ROGNVALD.\n\n\nEARLY in the spring Thorfinn sent word to his kinsman R\u00f6gnvald, and\nasked him to go out with him on an expedition, bringing as many men as\nhe could. As soon as R\u00f6gnvald received this message, he collected\ntogether as many men and vessels as he could, and when he was ready he\nwent to meet Earl Thorfinn, who was also ready with his band. He\nreceived his kinsman R\u00f6gnvald very well; and they joined their forces.\nDuring the summer they plundered in the Sudreyar (Hebrides), and in\nIreland, and in Scotland\u2019s Fiord;[265] and Thorfinn conquered the land\nwherever he went. They had a great battle at a place called\nVatnsfiord.[266] It began early in the morning, and the kinsmen gained\nthe victory. This is mentioned by Arn\u00f3r Jarlask\u00e1ld:\n\n                 Know ye that place, Vatnsfiord?\n                 There was I in greatest danger;\n                 Marks are there of my Lord\u2019s doings,\n                 He who tries the strength of warriors.\n                 Forth the people quickly carried\n                 From the ships the shields of many;\n                 Then was heard the dismal howling\n                 Of the gray wolf o\u2019er the corpses.\n\nAfter this battle they returned to the Orkneys, and stayed at home\nduring the winter. Thus eight winters passed that Earl R\u00f6gnvald had\ntwo-thirds of the islands without any objection on the part of Earl\nThorfinn. Every summer they went out on war expeditions, sometimes both\ntogether, sometimes separately, as Arn\u00f3r says:\n\n                   The chief beloved did many deeds.\n                   Everywhere there fell before him\n                   Irishmen, or British people;\n                   Fire devoured the Scottish kingdom.\n\nThe kinsmen agreed very well whenever they met; but when bad men went\nbetween them dissensions often arose. Earl Thorfinn dwelt for the most\npart in Caithness, at the place called Gaddgedlar,[267] where Scotland\nand England (?) meet.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XII\n\n                      OF EARL THORFINN\u2019S WARFARE.\n\n\nONE summer Earl Thorfinn made war in the Sudreyar (Hebrides) and in\nScotland. He had sent men into England to foray, and they carried away\nall the spoil they could find. But when the English became aware of the\npresence of the Vikings, they gathered together and attacked them. They\ntook from them all the cattle, and killed all the men that were of any\nnote, but sent back some of the reivers, and requested them to tell Earl\nThorfinn how they had made the Vikings tired of plunder and rapine, to\nwhich they added many insulting words. Thereupon the reivers went to\nEarl Thorfinn and told him of their mishaps. He was greatly annoyed at\nthe loss of his men, yet he said he could not then do anything, and that\nthey would have to refrain at this time; but he said he was quite able\nto repay the Englishmen for their mockery, and would do so if he were\nwell next summer.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XIII\n\n               OF EARL THORFINN\u2019S EXPEDITION TO ENGLAND.\n\n\nAT that time Hardicanute was King of England and Denmark. Earl Thorfinn\nwent to the Orkneys and spent the winter there. Early in the spring he\ncalled out a levy from all his domains, and sent word to his kinsman\nR\u00f6gnvald. R\u00f6gnvald assented, and called out men from all his\npossessions. Earl Thorfinn collected troops in Caithness and the\nOrkneys. He also had many from Scotland and Ireland, and from the\nSudreyar (Hebrides), and with all these forces he sailed to England as\nhe had promised. Hardicanute was in Denmark at the time. As soon as the\nEarls came into England they began to harry and plunder; but the chiefs\nwhose duty it was to defend the land went to meet them with an army.\nThere was a great and fierce battle, in which the Earls gained the\nvictory. After this they plundered far and wide in England, slaying men,\nand burning the dwellings of the people. This is mentioned by Arn\u00f3r:\n\n                 Not forgotten was this battle\n                 By the English, or men ever.\n                 Hither came the rich ring-giver,\n                 With his warriors, nearly doubled;\n                 Swords cut keenly; under shield-boss\n                 Rushed all R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s men together;\n                 Strong were all the old one\u2019s people.\n                 South of Man did these things happen.\n\n                 On the native land of Britons\n                 Brought the Earl his banner forward;\n                 Reddened then his beak the eagle;\n                 Forward pressing hard his warriors,\n                 Battle waxed, and men diminished;\n                 Fugitives were chased by victors;\n                 Blazed the fire, with red rays gleaming\n                 Of the wood\u2019s foe, leaping heavenward.\n\nEarl Thorfinn had two pitched battles in England. Besides, he had many\ncasual encounters, and slew many people. He stayed there throughout the\nsummer, and went back in autumn to the Orkneys for the winter.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XIV\n\n                       KALF FLEES TO THE ORKNEYS.\n\n\nABOUT this time K\u00e1lf Arnason was banished by King Magnus. He crossed the\nseas, and went to Earl Thorfinn, his brother-in-law. Thorfinn\u2019s wife was\nthen Ingibiorg, the mother of the Earls (Paul and Erlend), and daughter\nof Earl Finn Arnason. There was great friendship between K\u00e1lf and Earl\nThorfinn. The Earl had a great many of his men about him, which became\nvery expensive to him. Then there were many who advised him not to leave\ntwo-thirds of the Islands to R\u00f6gnvald, since his own expenses were so\nlarge. Thereupon Earl Thorfinn sent men into the Islands to demand from\nR\u00f6gnvald that third portion which had belonged to Earl Einar Rangmuth\n(wry-mouth).\n\nUpon receiving this message, the Earl (R\u00f6gnvald) consulted with his\nfriends. Then he called Earl Thorfinn\u2019s messengers, and told them that\nhe had received that portion of the Islands which they claimed as a fief\nfrom King Magnus, and that the King called it his patrimony. \u201cIt was\ntherefore,\u201d he said, \u201cin the power of King Magnus to decide which of\nthem should have it; and he would not give it up if the King wished him\nto retain it.\u201d\n\nThe messengers went away, and told these words to Earl Thorfinn, adding\nthat the third portion [which he had demanded] would certainly not be\ngot without trouble. On hearing this, Earl Thorfinn became very angry,\nand said that it was unfair if King Magnus should have the inheritance\nof his brother, adding that he had yielded to the demand more because he\nwas then in King Olaf\u2019s power than because it was a just claim. \u201cNow,\u201d\nhe said, \u201cI think R\u00f6gnvald does not return me well my good will in\nhaving left him in quiet possession for a time, if I am not to have the\ninheritance of my brother now except by fighting for it.\u201d Now Earl\nThorfinn became so enraged that he straightway sent men to the Hebrides\nand to Scotland, and collected together an army, making it known that he\nwould march against R\u00f6gnvald, and demand that without abatement which he\nhad not got when he asked peacefully for it.\n\nWhen this was told to Earl R\u00f6gnvald, he called his friends together, and\ncomplained to them of his kinsman Thorfinn intending to come and make\nwar on him. He then asked what help they would offer him, saying that he\nwould not give up his own without a trial of strength. But when he asked\nthem to declare themselves, their opinions were very different. Some\nspoke in favour of Earl R\u00f6gnvald, and said that one could not be hard\nupon him for not being willing to part with his possessions; others\nagain said it was excusable on the part of Earl Thorfinn to desire to\nhave those possessions for a while which R\u00f6gnvald had had before, and\nwhich had belonged to Earl Einar. Further, they said it was the greatest\nfoolishness for R\u00f6gnvald to fight with such troops as he could get from\ntwo-thirds of the Islands against Thorfinn, who had one-third, with\nCaithness, a great deal of Scotland, and all the Hebrides besides. There\nwere also those who advised reconciliation. They asked Earl R\u00f6gnvald to\noffer Earl Thorfinn one-half of the Islands, so that they might still be\nfriends, as it was meet they should be, owing to their relationship. But\nwhen R\u00f6gnvald found that their opinions were divided, and that they all\ndissuaded him from resistance, he made known his determination that he\nwould not part with his possessions by any arrangement, but that he\nwould rather leave them for a time, and go to King Magnus, his\nfoster-brother, and see what assistance he would give him to retain\nthem. Then he made ready, and went to Norway, and did not rest until he\ncame to King Magnus, and told him how matters stood.\n\nThe King received Earl R\u00f6gnvald very well, and invited him to stay as\nlong as he liked, and to receive such lands from him as were sufficient\nto keep him and his men; but Earl R\u00f6gnvald said he wished assistance to\nrecover his possessions. King Magnus said he would certainly give him\nsuch aid as he stood in need of. R\u00f6gnvald stayed a short time in Norway,\nuntil he had made ready his expedition for the Orkneys. He had a\nnumerous and well-equipped army, which King Magnus had given him. The\nKing also sent word to K\u00e1lf Arnason that he should have his estates\nrestored to him, and be permitted to stay in Norway, if he took Earl\nR\u00f6gnvald\u2019s part in his dispute with Earl Thorfinn.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER XV\n\n                         BATTLE OF RAUDABIORG.\n\n\nEARL R\u00d6GNVALD sailed from Norway for the Orkneys, and landed in\nHjaltland (Shetland), where he collected men, and went thence to the\nOrkneys. There he summoned his friends to meet him, and obtained\nreinforcements. Earl Thorfinn was in Caithness, and news soon reached\nhim of Earl R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s proceedings. He collected forces from Scotland\nand the Sudreyar (Hebrides). R\u00f6gnvald immediately sent King Magnus\u2019s\nmessage to K\u00e1lf Arnason, who apparently received very well all that the\nKing had said. Earl R\u00f6gnvald collected his army together in the Orkneys,\nintending to cross over to Caithness, and when he sailed into the\nPentland Firth he had thirty large ships. There he was met by Earl\nThorfinn, who had sixty ships, but most of them small. They met off\nRaudabiorg[268] (red cliff), and at once prepared for battle.\n\nK\u00e1lf Arnason was there also; he had six ships, all of them large, but\ndid not take part in the fight.\n\nNow the battle began with the utmost fury, both Earls encouraging their\nmen. When the fighting had thus continued for a while, the loss of men\nbegan to be heaviest on Earl Thorfinn\u2019s side, the chief cause being the\ngreat difference in the height of the ships. Thorfinn himself had a\nlarge ship, well equipped, in which he pressed forward with great\ndaring; but when the smaller vessels were cleared, the Earl\u2019s ship was\nattacked from both sides, and they were placed in great danger. Many of\nthe Earl\u2019s men were killed, and others dangerously wounded. Then Earl\nR\u00f6gnvald commanded his men to leap on board; but when Thorfinn perceived\nthe imminent danger, he caused the ropes to be cut with which his ship\nwas fastened to the other, and rowed towards the shore. He had seventy\ndead bodies removed from his ship, and all those who were disabled by\nwounds went also on shore. Then Thorfinn ordered Arn\u00f3r Jarlask\u00e1ld, who\nwas among the Earl\u2019s men and high in his favour, to go on shore; and on\nlanding he sang these verses:\u2014\n\n                This will I not hide from comrades,\n                Though \u2019tis right one\u2019s chief to follow,\n                Yet am I myself unwilling\n                Thus to meet the son of Br\u00fasi.\n                When these Earls so fierce in battle\n                Close in fight, then will our case be\n                Hard beyond the case of most men\n                In this trial of our friendship.\n\nEarl Thorfinn selected the ablest of his men to man his ship, and then\nhe went to see K\u00e1lf Arnason, and asked his assistance. He said that K\u00e1lf\nwould not be able to buy king Magnus\u2019s friendship, since he had already\nbeen banished, and was therefore unable to keep the king\u2019s favour, even\nwhen they were once reconciled. \u201cYou may be sure,\u201d he added, \u201cthat if\nR\u00f6gnvald overcomes me, and he and King Magnus become masters here in the\nwest, you will not be welcome in this quarter, but if I come off\nvictorious you shall lack nothing that it is in my power to give you. If\nwe two keep together we shall be a match for any one here in the west,\nand I hardly think you will allow yourself to lie crouching aside like a\ncat among stones while I am fighting for behoof of us both. Moreover our\nties are so close that it is more seemly for us to aid each other, since\nyou have no ties of blood or affinity with our enemies.\u201d\n\nWhen K\u00e1lf heard Thorfinn\u2019s persuasions he called his men and gave orders\nto fall to and fight on the side of Earl Thorfinn. Now Thorfinn and K\u00e1lf\nboth rowed back to the fight, and when they arrived Thorfinn\u2019s men were\nready to fly, and many of them had been slain. The Earl pushed his ship\nforward against that of Earl R\u00f6gnvald, and a fierce fight ensued. As is\nsaid by Arn\u00f3r Jarlask\u00e1ld\u2014\n\n                Then I saw the two wealth-givers\n                Hewing down each other\u2019s warriors.\n                Fierce the fight was in the Pentland,\n                As the sea swelled and the red rain\n                Crimsoned all the yielding timbers,\n                While from shield-rims sweat of hot blood\n                Dripping, stained the warriors\u2019 garments.\n\nK\u00e1lf attacked R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s smaller ships, and speedily cleared them, as\nthere was a great difference in the height of the ships. When the hired\ntroops from Norway saw the vessels beside them cleared they cut away\ntheir ship and fled. Then only a few ships remained with Earl R\u00f6gnvald,\nand the victory began to lean the other way. So says Arn\u00f3r Jarlask\u00e1ld:\u2014\n\n                 Then the prince so fierce in battle,\n                 Valiant kinsman of the Vikings,\n                 All the old land might have conquered\n                 With assistance of the Islesmen.\n                 Fewer were his slaughtered heroes;\n                 But the chief\u2019s strong men in helmets,\n                 All the way to northern Hjaltland,\n                 Chased the weak and flying remnant.\n\nAnd when the main portion of the troops had fled, K\u00e1lf and Earl Thorfinn\nattacked Earl R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s ship together, and then a great number of his\nmen were slain. When he saw the imminent danger, and that he would not\nbe able to overcome Thorfinn and K\u00e1lf, he had the cables cut, and fled.\n\nIt was now late in the day, and darkness was coming on. Earl R\u00f6gnvald\nstood out to sea the same night, and sailed for Norway, and did not stop\ntill he found King Magnus, who received him well, as he had done before,\nand invited him to remain with him, and there he stayed some time.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XVI\n\n                   EARL THORFINN SUBDUES THE ISLANDS.\n\n\nNOW it is to be told of Earl Thorfinn that on the morning after the\nbattle he sent boats to all the islands to search for the fugitives.\nMany were killed, and some were pardoned. Earl Thorfinn subdued all the\nIslands, and made all the inhabitants his subjects, even those who had\nsworn allegiance to Earl R\u00f6gnvald. Thorfinn then fixed his residence in\nthe Orkneys, keeping a great number of men about him; he imported\nprovisions from Caithness, and sent K\u00e1lf Arnason to the Sudreyar\n(Hebrides), and ordered him to remain and maintain his authority there.\n\nWhen Earl R\u00f6gnvald had stayed with King Magnus for some time, he said to\nthe King that he wished to go back to the Islands. When the King heard\nthis he said it was not wise, and advised him to remain until the winter\nhad passed away and the sea was free from ice. Yet he said that he would\ngive him as many men as he wanted, and a sufficient number of ships.\nR\u00f6gnvald in reply said that this time he would go without the King\u2019s\nmen, adding that he could not lead an army against Earl Thorfinn without\na great loss of men, as he had such extensive dominions in the west.\n\u201cThis time,\u201d he continued, \u201cI intend to go to the west in a single ship,\nas well manned as possible; thus I expect there will be no news of us\nbeforehand; and if I get to the Islands I shall take them by surprise,\nand then we may speedily gain such a victory as could hardly, if at all,\nbe gained by a number of troops; but if they become aware of our\nmovements we can still let the sea take care of us.\u201d\n\nKing Magnus said he might go as he pleased, and return to him when he\nwished.\n\nAfter this R\u00f6gnvald made his ship ready, and selected the crew\ncarefully. Several of King Magnus\u2019s henchmen went with him, and\naltogether he had a picked crew in his vessel. When they were ready they\nsailed out to sea and had a fair wind. This was early in the winter.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XVII\n\n                     R\u00d6GNVALD COMES TO THE ISLANDS.\n\n\nR\u00d6GNVALD first came off the coast of Hjaltland (Shetland), and heard\nthat Earl Thorfinn was in the Orkneys with few men, because he did not\nexpect any enemies in the depth of winter. R\u00f6gnvald went straightway to\nthe Orkneys. Earl Thorfinn was in Hrossey,[269] suspecting nothing. When\nR\u00f6gnvald arrived in the Orkneys, he went where he had heard that Earl\nThorfinn was, and came upon him unawares, so that his presence was not\nknown until he had secured all the doors of the house in which the Earl\nand his men were. It was in the night time, and most of the men were\nasleep, but the Earl was still sitting over his drink. R\u00f6gnvald and his\nmen set fire to the house. When Earl Thorfinn became aware of the\npresence of enemies he sent men to the door to know who they were. They\nwere told that it was Earl R\u00f6gnvald. Then they all leaped to their\nweapons, but they were unable to do anything in the way of defence, as\nthey were all prevented from getting out. The house was soon in flames,\nand Earl Thorfinn said that permission should be asked for those to go\nout who were to receive quarter. When this was asked of Earl R\u00f6gnvald he\npermitted all the women and thralls to go out, but he said that most of\nThorfinn\u2019s henchmen would be no better to him alive than dead. Those who\nwere spared were dragged out, and the house began to burn down. Earl\nThorfinn bethought him of a plan, and broke down part of the woodwork of\nthe house and leaped out there, carrying Ingibiorg, his wife, in his\narms. As the night was pitch dark he got away in the smoke unperceived\nby Earl R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s men, and during the night he rowed alone in a boat\nover to Ness (Caithness). Earl R\u00f6gnvald burnt the house, with all who\nwere in it, and no one thought otherwise than that Earl Thorfinn had\nperished there.\n\nAfter this R\u00f6gnvald went over the Islands and took possession of them\nall. He also sent messages over to Ness (Caithness), and to the Sudreyar\n(Hebrides), to the effect that he intended to have all the dominions of\nThorfinn, and nobody spoke against him. Earl Thorfinn was then in\nCaithness in hiding with his friends, and no news went abroad of his\nescape from the burning.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XVIII\n\n                          EARL R\u00d6GNVALD SLAIN.\n\n\nEARL R\u00d6GNVALD resided in Kirkiuvag (Kirkwall), and brought there all\nnecessaries for the winter; he had a great number of men, and\nentertained them liberally. A little before Christmas the Earl went with\na numerous following into little Papey[270] to fetch malt for the\nChristmas brewing. The evening which they stayed in the islands they sat\na long time round the fires to warm themselves, and he who had to keep\nup the fires said they were running short of fuel. Then the Earl made a\nslip of the tongue in speaking, and said: \u201cWe shall be old enough when\nthese fires are burnt out,\u201d but he intended to have said that they would\nbe warm enough; and when he noticed his blunder he said: \u201cI made a slip\nof the tongue in speaking just now; I do not remember that I ever did so\nbefore, and now I recollect what my foster-father King Olaf said at\nStiklestad when I noticed a slip of the tongue which he made\u2014namely,\nthat if it ever so happened that I should make a slip in my speech I\nshould not expect to live long after it. It may be that my kinsman\nThorfinn is still alive.\u201d\n\nAt that moment they heard that the house was surrounded by men. It was\nEarl Thorfinn and his men. They set the house on fire immediately, and\nheaped up a large pile before the door. Thorfinn permitted all others to\ncome out except Earl R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s men, and when most of them had gone out\na man came to the door dressed in linen clothes only, and asked Earl\nThorfinn to lend a hand to the deacon; this man placed his hands on the\nwall and sprang over it and over the ring of men, and came down a great\nway off, and disappeared immediately in the darkness of the night. Earl\nThorfinn told his men to go after him, saying: \u201cThere went the Earl, for\nthat is his feat and no other man\u2019s.\u201d They went away, and divided into\nparties to search for him. Thorkel F\u00f3stri with some others went along\nthe beach, and they heard the barking of a dog among the rocks by the\nsea. Earl R\u00f6gnvald had had his favourite dog with him. Thorkel had the\nEarl seized, and asked his men to kill him, offering them a reward in\nmoney. But no one would do it. So Thorkel F\u00f3stri slew Earl R\u00f6gnvald\nhimself, as he knew that one of the two (Earls) must die. Then Earl\nThorfinn came up, and did not find fault with the deed. They spent the\nnight in the island, and all were killed who had accompanied Earl\nR\u00f6gnvald thither.\n\nNext morning they took a barge and filled it with malt; then they went\non board and ranged the shields which had belonged to Earl R\u00f6gnvald and\nhis men along the bulwarks, neither had they more men in the barge than\nR\u00f6gnvald had had. So they rowed to Kirkiuvag (Kirkwall); and when those\nof R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s men who were there saw the vessel they thought it was Earl\nR\u00f6gnvald and his men returning, and they went unarmed to meet them.\nThorfinn seized thirty of them and slew them; most of them were henchmen\nand friends of King Magnus. To one of the King\u2019s henchmen the Earl gave\nquarter, and told him to go east to Norway and tell King Magnus the\ntidings.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XIX\n\n                        EARL R\u00d6GNVALD\u2019S BURIAL.\n\n\nTHE body of Earl R\u00f6gnvald was brought to the larger Papey[271] and\nburied there. Men said that he was one of the most accomplished and\nbest-beloved of all the Earls of the Orkneys; and his death was greatly\nlamented by all the people.\n\nAfter this Earl Thorfinn took possession of the whole of the Islands,\nand no one spoke against him.\n\nEarly in the spring these tidings came east to Norway to King Magnus. He\nregarded the death of R\u00f6gnvald, his foster-brother, as a great loss, and\nsaid he would avenge him by and by, but just then he was at war with\nKing Swein, Ulf\u2019s son.[272]\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER XX\n\n                  EARL THORFINN COMES TO KING HARALD.\n\n\nABOUT this time King Harald, Sigurd\u2019s son,[273] King Magnus\u2019s uncle,\narrived in Norway, and King Magnus gave him the half of the kingdom. One\nwinter they called out men from the whole of Norway, intending to go\nsouth to Denmark, but while they lay in Seley[274] two war ships rowed\ninto the harbour and up to King Magnus\u2019s ship. A man in a white cloak\nwent from the [strange] ship, and along the [King\u2019s] ship, and up to the\nquarterdeck. The King sat at meat; the man saluted him, and taking up a\nloaf he broke it and ate of it. The King received his salutation, and\nhanded the cup to him when he saw that he ate the bread. The King looked\nat him and said: \u201cWho is this man?\u201d\n\n\u201cMy name is Thorfinn,\u201d he said.\n\n\u201cArt thou Earl Thorfinn?\u201d said the King.\n\n\u201cSo am I called in the west,\u201d he said, \u201cand I am here with two ships of\ntwenty benches, well manned considering our means, and I wish now to\njoin in this expedition with you, if you will accept my assistance; all\nmy men and I myself are in God\u2019s power and yours, my lord, on account of\nmy great misdeeds by which I have offended you.\u201d\n\nIn the meantime some men gathered together and listened to their\nconversation.\n\n\u201cIt is true, Earl Thorfinn\u201d (said the King), \u201cthat I intended, in case\nwe should meet, that you should not have to tell of our parting, but now\nmatters stand so that it does not become my dignity to have you slain,\nand you shall go with me now, but the terms of our reconciliation I will\ndeclare when I am more at leisure.\u201d\n\nEarl Thorfinn thanked the King and returned to his ship. The King stayed\na long time in Seley, and men gathered to him from V\u00edk;[275] for he\nintended to sail to Jutland when he obtained a fair wind. Thorfinn was\noften in conversation with the King, who treated him in a friendly\nmanner, and had him frequently present at his councils.\n\nOne day the Earl went on board the King\u2019s ship, and went up to the poop.\nThe King asked him to sit down. The Earl sat down, and they both drank\ntogether and were merry. A tall brave-looking man, dressed in a red\ntunic, came to the poop and saluted the King, who received his greeting\ngraciously. He was one of the King\u2019s henchmen. He said: \u201cI have come to\nsee you, Earl Thorfinn.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhat is your business with me?\u201d said the Earl.\n\n\u201cI wish to know what compensation you intend to give me for my brother\nwho was killed by your orders out west in Kirkiuvag (Kirkwall), along\nwith others of King Magnus\u2019s henchmen.\u201d\n\n\u201cHave you never heard,\u201d said the Earl, \u201cthat it is not my wont to pay\nmoney for the men whom I cause to be killed?\u201d\n\n\u201cI have nothing to do with how you have treated other people, if you pay\nthe manbote for him for whom it devolves on me to seek compensation. I\nalso lost some money there myself, and was shamefully treated. It is\nmore binding on me than any one else to seek redress for my brother and\nmyself, and therefore I now demand it. The King may remit offences\ncommitted against himself, even if he thinks it of no importance that\nhis henchmen are led out and slaughtered like sheep.\u201d\n\nThe Earl answered: \u201cI understand it to be to my advantage here that I am\nnot in your power. Are not you the man to whom I gave quarter there?\u201d\n\n\u201cTrue enough,\u201d said he, \u201cit was in your power to have killed me like the\nothers.\u201d\n\nThen the Earl said: \u201cNow the saying proves true\u2014\u2018That often happens to\nmany which they least expect.\u2019 I never thought I should be so placed\nthat it would be injurious to me to have been too generous to my\nenemies; but now I have to pay for having given you quarter; you would\nnot have denounced me to-day in the presence of chiefs if I had caused\nyou to be killed like your comrades.\u201d\n\nThe King looked at the Earl and said: \u201cThere it comes out still, Earl\nThorfinn, that you think you have killed too few of my henchmen without\ncompensation.\u201d While saying this the king turned blood-red [with anger].\nThe Earl started up and left the poop, and returned to his own ship, and\nall was quiet during the evening. In the morning, when the men awoke, a\nfair wind had sprung up, and they rowed away from the harbour. The King\nsailed south to Jutland with the whole fleet. In the earlier part of the\nday the Earl\u2019s ship stood out farther to sea, and in the afternoon he\ntook a westerly course, and there is nothing to be told of him till he\narrived in the Orkneys, and resumed the government of his dominions.\n\nKing Magnus and Harald sailed to Denmark, and spent the summer there.\nKing Swein was unwilling to meet them, and stayed in Sk\u00e0ney[276] with\nhis army. That summer King Magnus was seized with an illness of which he\ndied; but he had previously declared that he gave the whole kingdom of\nNorway to his uncle Harald.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XXI\n\n           EARL THORFINN\u2019S MESSAGE TO KING HARALD (HARDRADI).\n\n\nEARL THORFINN now ruled the Orkneys and all his dominions. K\u00e1lf Arnason\nwas frequently with him. Sometimes he made viking expeditions to the\nwest, and plundered in Scotland and Ireland. He was also in England, and\nat one time he was the chief of the Thingmen.\n\nWhen Earl Thorfinn heard of the death of King Magnus, he sent men to\nNorway to King Harald with a friendly message, saying that he wished to\nbecome his friend. When the messengers reached the King he received them\nwell, and promised the Earl his friendship. When the Earl received this\nmessage from the King he made himself ready, taking from the west two\nships of twenty benches, with more than a hundred men, all fine troops,\nand went east to Norway. He found the King in H\u00f6rdaland, and he received\nhim exceedingly well, and at their parting the King gave him handsome\npresents. From thence the Earl went southwards along the coast to\nDenmark. He went through the country, and found King Svein in\nAlaborg;[277] he invited him to stay, and made a splendid feast for him.\nThen the Earl made it known that he was going to Rome;[278] but when he\ncame to Saxland he called on the Emperor Heinrek, who received him\nexceedingly well, and gave him many valuable presents. He also gave him\nmany horses, and the Earl rode south to Rome, and saw the Pope, from\nwhom he obtained absolution for all his sins.\n\nThen the Earl returned, and arrived safely home in his dominions. He\nleft off making war expeditions, and turned his mind to the government\nof his land and his people, and to the making of laws. He resided\nfrequently in Birgish\u00e9rad (Birsay), and built there Christ\u2019s Kirk, a\nsplendid church; and there was the first Bishop\u2019s see in the Orkneys.\n\nThorfinn\u2019s wife was Ingibiorg, [called] the mother of the Earls. They\nhad two sons who arrived at manhood; one was called Paul, the other\nErlend. They were men of large stature, fine-looking, wise, and gentle,\nmore resembling their mother\u2019s relations. They were much loved by the\nEarl and all the people.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XXII\n\n                       OF EARL THORFINN\u2019s DEATH.\n\n\nEARL THORFINN retained all his dominions to his dying day, and it is\ntruly said that he was the most powerful of all the Earls of the\nOrkneys. He obtained possession of eleven Earldoms in Scotland, all the\nSudreyar (Hebrides), and a large territory in Ireland. So says Arn\u00f3r\nJarlask\u00e1ld\u2014\n\n                Unto Thorfinn, ravens\u2019 feeder,\n                Armies had to yield obedience\n                From Thussasker[279] right on to Dublin.\n                Truth I tell, as is recorded.\n\nEarl Thorfinn was five winters old when Malcolm[280] the King of Scots,\nhis mother\u2019s father, gave him the title of Earl, and after that he was\nEarl for seventy winters. He died towards the end of Harald Sigurdson\u2019s\nreign.[281] He is buried at Christ\u2019s Kirk in Birgish\u00e9rad (Birsay), which\nhe had built. He was much lamented in his hereditary dominions; but in\nthose parts which he had conquered by force of arms many considered it\nvery hard to be under his rule, and [after his death] many provinces\nwhich he had subdued turned away and sought help from the chiefs who\nwere odal-born to the government of them.[282] Then it soon became\napparent how great a loss Thorfinn\u2019s death was to his dominions.\n\nThe following stanzas were made about the battle between Earl R\u00f6gnvald,\nBr\u00f9si\u2019s son, and Earl Thorfinn:\u2014\n\n                 Since the Earls have broken friendship\n                 Peace I can enjoy no longer.\n                 Feasts of corpses to the ravens\n                 Each has in his turn provided.\n                 Off the Islands were the blue tents\n                 By the mighty rent asunder,\n                 Dabbled were the foul birds\u2019 feathers\n                 In red blood \u2019neath lofty branches.\n\n                 Have ye heard how Kalfr followed\n                 Finnr\u2019s son-in-law in battle?\n                 Quickly didst thou push thy vessels\n                 \u2019Gainst the Earl\u2019s ships on the water.\n                 To destroy the son of Br\u00fasi,\n                 Thou, courageous ship\u2019s commander\n                 Wast unwilling, but of hatred\n                 Mindful, didst thou help Thorfinn.\n\n                 When the Earls had joined in battle\n                 Misery there was unbounded.\n                 Thick and fast the men were falling\n                 In the struggle; sad the hour when\n                 Nearer went the daring Eastmen\n                 To the unexampled fire-rain.\n                 In that battle off the Red Biorg\n                 Many a noble man was wounded.\n\n                 Swarthy shall become the bright sun,\n                 In the black sea shall the earth sink,\n                 Finished shall be Austri\u2019s labour,\n                 And the wild sea hide the mountains,\n                 Ere there be in those fair Islands\n                 Born a chief to rule the people\u2014\n                 May our God both help and keep them\u2014\n                 Greater than the lost Earl Thorfinn.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XXIII\n\n             OF THE EARLS PAUL AND ERLEND, AND GENEALOGIES.\n\n\nNOW the sons of Earl Thorfinn succeeded him. Paul was the elder of the\ntwo, and he ruled for both of them. They did not divide their\npossessions, yet they almost always agreed in their dealings.\n\nIngibiorg, the mother of the Earls, was married to Malcolm, King of\nScots,[283] who was called Langh\u00e1ls (Longneck), and their son was\nDuncan, King of Scots, the father of William the excellent man; his son\nwas called William Odling (the Noble), whom all the Scots wished to have\nfor their King.[284]\n\nEarl Paul, Thorfinn\u2019s son, married the daughter of Earl H\u00e1kon, Ivar\u2019s\nson, by whom he had many children. They had a son called H\u00e1kon, and a\ndaughter called Th\u00f3ra, who was married in Norway to Hald\u00f3r, son of\nBrynj\u00falf Ulfaldi (camel). Another son of theirs, named Brynj\u00falf, married\nGyrid, Dag\u2019s daughter. A second daughter of Paul, called Ingirid, was\nmarried to Einar Vorsakr\u00e1k. Herbi\u00f6rg was the third daughter of Paul. She\nwas the mother of Ingibiorg Ragna, who was married to Sigurd of\nWestness; their sons were H\u00e1kon P\u00edk, and Brynj\u00falf. Sigrid was a second\ndaughter of Herbi\u00f6rg. She was the mother of Hakon Barn and of Herborg,\nwho was married to Kolbein Hruga. The fourth daughter of Earl Paul was\nRagnhild, who was the mother of Benidikt, the father of Ingibiorg, the\nmother of Erling Erkidi\u00e1kn (archdeacon). Ragnhild had a daughter, by\nname Bergli\u00f3t, who was married to H\u00e1vard, Gunnar\u2019s son. Their sons were\nMagnus, H\u00e1kon Kl\u00f3 (claw), D\u00fafni\u00e1l, and Thorstein. All those were the\nfamilies of Earls and chiefs in the Orkneys, and all of them will be\nmentioned in this Saga afterwards. The wife of Earl Erlend, Thorfinn\u2019s\nson, was Th\u00f3ra, the daughter of Sumarlidi, Ospak\u2019s son; the mother of\nOspak was Th\u00f3rd\u00eds, the daughter of Hall of S\u00edda (in Iceland). Their sons\nwere Erling and Magnus, and their daughters Gunnhild, and Cecilia, who\nwas married to Isak, and their sons were Indridi and Kol. Erling had a\nnatural daughter called J\u00e1tv\u00f6r; her son was Berg.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XXIV\n\n       HERE IS TOLD OF THE DEATH OF KING HARALD AND HIS DAUGHTER.\n\n\nWhen the brothers Paul and Erlend had succeeded to the government of the\nOrkneys, King Harald Sigurdson (Hardradi) came from Norway with a large\narmy. He first touched Hjaltland; from thence he went to the Orkneys,\nand left there his Queen Ellisif, and their daughters Maria and\nIngigerd. From the Orkneys he had many troops; both the Earls went with\nhim on the expedition. He went from Orkney to England, and landed at a\nplace called Klifland (Cleaveland), and took Skardaborg (Scarborough).\nThen he touched at Hallarnes (Holderness), and had a battle there, in\nwhich he was victorious. The Wednesday next before Matthiasmas (20th\nSeptember) he had a battle at J\u00f3rv\u00edk (York) with the Earls Valthi\u00f3f and\nM\u00f3ruk\u00e1ri. M\u00f3ruk\u00e1ri was slain there.[285] Next Sunday the borg at\nStamfordbridge surrendered to him; and he went on shore to arrange the\ngovernment of the town; and there he left his son Olaf, the Earls Paul\nand Erlend, and his brother-in-law Eystein Orri. While he was on shore\nhe was met by Harald Gudinason (Godwinson) at the head of a numerous\narmy. In that battle King Harald Sigurdson fell. After the death of the\nKing, Eystein Orri and the Earls arrived from the ship, and made a stout\nresistance. There Eystein Orri fell, and almost the whole army of the\nNorthmen with him.\n\nAfter the battle King Harald (Godwinson) permitted Olaf, the son of King\nHarald Sigurdson, and the Earls to leave England, with all the troops\nthat had not fled. Olaf sailed in the autumn from Hrafnseyri[286] to the\nOrkneys. The same day and at the same hour as King Harald fell, his\ndaughter Maria died, and it is said that they had but one life.\n\nOlaf spent the winter in the Orkneys, and was very friendly to the\nEarls, his kinsmen. Th\u00f3ra, the mother of King Olaf, and Ingibiorg, the\nmother of the Earls, were daughters of two brothers. In the spring Olaf\nwent to Norway, and was made King along with his brother Magnus.\n\nWhile the brothers (Paul and Erlend) ruled the Orkneys they agreed\nextremely well a long time; but when their sons came to manhood Erling\nand H\u00e1kon became very violent. Magnus was the quietest of them all. They\nwere all men of large stature, and strong, and accomplished in\neverything. H\u00e1kon, Paul\u2019s son, wished to take the lead among his\nbrothers; he considered himself of higher birth than the sons of Erlend,\nas he was the daughter\u2019s son of Earl H\u00e1kon Ivar\u2019s son, and Ragnhild, the\ndaughter of King Magnus the Good. H\u00e1kon wished his friends to have the\nlion\u2019s share of everything before those who leant to the sons of Erlend,\nbut Erlend did not like his sons to be inferior to any in the Islands.\nMatters went so far that the kinsmen could not be together without\ndanger. Then their fathers persuaded them to compose their differences.\nA meeting was appointed, but it soon became apparent that each [of the\nfathers] was inclined to take the part of his sons, and therefore they\ndid not agree. Thus dissensions arose between the brothers, and they\nparted without coming to an agreement, which was by many considered a\ngreat misfortune.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XXV\n\n                          A MEETING OF PEACE.\n\n\nAFTER this well-disposed men interfered and tried to reconcile them. A\nmeeting for reconciliation was appointed in Hrossey,[287] and at that\nmeeting they made peace on the understanding that the Islands should be\ndivided in two shares, as they had been between Thorfinn and Br\u00fasi, and\nthus matters stood for a while.\n\nWhen H\u00e1kon had arrived at the age of manhood he was continually on war\nexpeditions. He became a very violent man, and greatly molested those\nwho adhered to Erlend and his sons; and this went so far that they came\nto open enmity a second time, and attacked each other with numerous\ntroops. H\u00e1vard, Gunnar\u2019s son, and all the principal friends of the\nEarls, consulted once more and tried to make peace between them. This\ntime Erlend and his sons refused to make peace if H\u00e1kon remained in the\nIslands; and because their friends considered their quarrels so\ndangerous to themselves, they besought H\u00e1kon not to let the condition\nthat he should leave the Islands for a time stand in the way of peace.\nThen, by the advice of good men, they became reconciled.\n\nAfter this H\u00e1kon left the Islands, and first went east to Norway, and\nsaw there King Olaf Kyrri (the quiet), and stayed with him for a while.\nThis was towards the end of his reign. After that he went east to Sweden\nto King Ingi, Steinkel\u2019s son, who received him well. He found friends\nand kinsmen there, and was highly honoured on account of the esteem in\nwhich H\u00e1kon, his mother\u2019s father, was held. He had possessions from\nSteinkel, the King of the Swedes, ever since he was banished by King\nHarald, Sigurd\u2019s son, and became greatly beloved both by the King and\nthe people. A second daughter\u2019s son of Earl H\u00e1kon, Ivar\u2019s son, was H\u00e1kon\nwho was called the Norwegian; he was the father of King Eir\u00edk Spaki (the\nwise), who was King of Denmark after Eir\u00edk Eymuni (the ever-remembered).\n\nH\u00e1kon remained in Sweden for a while, and was well treated by King Ingi.\nBut when some time had passed in this way he felt so home-sick that he\nwanted to go west again to the Islands. Christianity then was young, and\nnewly planted in Sweden. Many men still dabbled in ancient lore, and\nwere persuaded that by such means they were able to ascertain future\nevents. King Ingi was a good Christian man, and loathed all those that\nmeddled in ancient [superstitious] lore, and made strenuous efforts to\nabolish the evil customs which for a long time had accompanied\nheathenism; but the chiefs and leading B\u0153ndr murmured loudly if they\nwere reproved for their evil habits, and at last matters went so far\nthat the B\u0153ndr elected another King, Swein, the brother of the Queen,\nwho permitted them to make sacrifices, and was therefore called\n\u201cSacrificing Swein.\u201d King Ingi had to flee from him to Western Gautland\n(Gothland); but their dealings ended thus, that King Ingi caught Swein\nby surprise in a house, and burnt the house and him in it. After this he\nsubdued the whole country, and uprooted many wicked customs.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XXVI\n\n                     OF THE WORDS OF THE SPAE-MAN.\n\n\nWHEN H\u00e1kon, Paul\u2019s son, was in Sweden he had heard of a man in that\ncountry who practised sorcery and spae-craft, whether he used for those\npurposes witchcraft or other magical arts. H\u00e1kon became very curious to\nsee this man, and anxious to know what he could ascertain about his\nfuture. So he went in search of the man, and at last he found him in a\nseaside district, where he went from one feast to another, and foretold\nthe seasons and other things to the country people. When H\u00e1kon had found\nthis man, he inquired of him whether he would succeed in regaining his\ndominions, or what other fortune awaited him. The spae-man asked him who\nhe was, and he told him his name and family\u2014that he was the daughter\u2019s\nson of H\u00e1kon, Ivar\u2019s son.\n\nThe spae-man then said: \u201cWhy should you ask foresight or knowledge of\nthe future from me? You know well that your kinsmen have had little\nliking for such men as I am; and yet it might be necessary for you to\ntry to ascertain your fate from your friend, Olaf the Stout, in whom all\nyour faith is placed; but I suspect that he would not condescend to tell\nyou what you are anxious to know, or else he may not be so mighty as you\ncall him.\u201d\n\nH\u00e1kon answered: \u201cI will not reproach him, and I should rather think I\nwas not worthy to learn wisdom from him, than that he was incapable; so\nthat I might learn from him for that matter. But I have come to you,\nbecause I thought that we had no reason to envy each other on account of\nvirtue or religion.\u201d\n\nThe spae-man replied: \u201cI am glad to find that you place your entire\ntrust in me, and not in that faith which you and your kinsmen profess.\nTruly they who apply themselves to such things are strange men. They\nkeep fasts and vigils, and believe that by such means they will be able\nto ascertain that which they desire to know; but the more they apply\nthemselves to these things, the less they ascertain of what they wish to\nknow when it is most important to them to know it. But we undergo no\nbodily pains, yet we always obtain knowledge of those things which it is\nof importance to our friends not to be ignorant of. Now matters will go\nbetween us in this way, that I shall help you because I understand that\nyou think you will rather obtain the truth from me than from the\npreachers of King Ingi, in whom he puts his entire trust. After three\nnights\u2019 time you shall come to me, and then we shall try whether I may\nbe able to tell you any of the things you wish to know.\u201d\n\nUpon this they parted, and H\u00e1kon stayed in the district. When three\nnights had passed, he went again to see the spae-man. He was in a\ncertain house alone, and groaned heavily as H\u00e1kon entered. He passed his\nhand across his forehead, and said that it had cost him much pain to\nobtain the knowledge which H\u00e1kon desired. H\u00e1kon then said he wished to\nhear his future.\n\nThe spae-man said: \u201cIf you wish your whole fate unfolded, it is long to\ntell, for there is a great future in store for you, and grand events\nwill happen at certain periods of your life. I foresee that you will at\nlast become the sole ruler of the Orkneys; but you will perhaps think\nyou have long to wait. I also see that your sons will rule there. Your\nnext journey to the Orkneys will be a very eventful one, when its\nconsequences appear. In your days you will also commit a crime,[288] for\nwhich you may or may not obtain pardon from the God in whom you believe.\nYour steps go farther out into the world than I am able to trace, yet I\nthink you will rest your bones in the northern parts. Now I have told\nyou what has been given me to tell you at this time, but what\nsatisfaction you may have derived from your visit rests with yourself.\u201d\n\nH\u00e1kon replied: \u201cGreat things you have foretold, if they turn out to be\ntrue; but I think my fate will prove itself better than you have said;\nand perhaps you have not seen the truth.\u201d\n\nThe spae-man said he was free to believe what he liked of it, but that\nsuch events would not the less surely come to pass.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XXVII\n\n                  OF THE SCHEMES OF HAKON, PAUL\u2019S SON.\n\n\nAFTER this H\u00e1kon went to see King Ingi, and stayed with him a short\nwhile. Then he obtained leave from the King to depart. He went first to\nNorway to see his kinsman, King Magnus, who received him very well.\nThere he heard that the government of the Orkneys was almost exclusively\nin the hands of Earl Erlend and his sons, and that they were greatly\nloved, but that his father Paul took little part in the government. He\nalso thought he could perceive from conversations with men from the\nOrkneys, who gave him a true account of the state of matters, that the\nOrkneymen had no desire for his return home. They were living in peace\nand quiet, and were afraid that H\u00e1kon\u2019s return would give rise to\ndisturbance and strife. When H\u00e1kon was turning this over in his mind, he\nthought it likely that his kinsmen would try to keep him out of his\npossessions, and that it would be dangerous for him if he did not go\nwest with a numerous retinue. Then he devised a scheme to induce King\nMagnus to put him into his possessions in the Orkneys.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XXVIII\n\n                  HAKON\u2019S INTERVIEW WITH KING MAGNUS.\n\n\nTHIS was after King Magnus had put Steigar Th\u00f3rir and Egil to death, and\nput down all opposition to his rule. H\u00e1kon was a sagacious man, and he\nthought he could understand from King Magnus\u2019s conversation that he was\nambitious of grand undertakings, and covetous of the possessions of\nother rulers. H\u00e1kon began to tell the King that it would be a princely\nfeat to make an expedition to the west, and subdue the Islands, as\nHarald the Fairhaired had done. He also said that if he established his\npower in the Sudreyar (Hebrides), he might easily make forays into\nIreland and Scotland from them. Then, having subdued the western\ncountries, he might attack the English, with the help of the Northmen,\nand thus take revenge for his grandfather Harald, Sigurd\u2019s son.\n\nWhen they were speaking about these things, it became evident that the\nKing was pleased with this proposal, and said it was spoken like a\nnobleman, and quite according to his own mind. \u201cBut I wish you not to be\nsurprised, H\u00e1kon,\u201d said the King, \u201cin case I shall be persuaded by your\nwords to carry an army into the west, if I put forward a strong claim to\nthe possessions there, without regard to the claims of any man.\u201d\n\nWhen H\u00e1kon heard this suggestion, he was not so well pleased, because he\nsuspected the real meaning of the King\u2019s words; and after this he no\nlonger persuaded the King to go; neither was it required, for after\ntheir conversation, the King sent messages throughout his dominions to\nmake known that he was soon to lead out an expedition, and then he made\nit known to the people that he was going to the west, whatever might be\nthe result. Preparations were made for the expedition throughout the\nwhole kingdom. King Magnus took with him his son Sigurd, who was eight\nwinters old, and a hopeful boy.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XXIX\n\n               THE WESTERN EXPEDITION OF MAGNUS BARELEGS.\n\n\nWHEN the brothers Paul and Erlend ruled the Orkneys, King Magnus came\nfrom Norway. He had a large army. Many of his vassals followed him,\namong whom were Vidkunn Jonsson, Sigurd Hrani\u2019s son, Serk from Sogn, Dag\nEilif\u2019s son, Skapti from Gizki, Ogmund, Finn and Th\u00f3rd, Eyvind Olnbogi\n(the King\u2019s High Steward), Kali, Sn\u00e6bi\u00f6rn\u2019s son from Agdir, the son of\nThorleif Spaki (the wise) who was maimed by Hallfred, and Kol his son.\nKali was a very wise man, much esteemed by the king, and made verses\nwell.\n\nWhen King Magnus came to the Orkneys, he seized the Earls Paul and\nErlend, and sent them east to Norway, but placed his son Sigurd over the\nIsles, and gave him counsellors. King Magnus went to the Sudreyar\n(Hebrides), accompanied by Magnus and Erling, the sons of Earl Erlend,\nand H\u00e1kon, Paul\u2019s son. But when King Magnus came to the Islands, he\nbegan hostilities first at Li\u00f3dh\u00fas (Lewis), and gained a victory there.\nIn this expedition he subdued the whole of the Sudreyar, and seized\nL\u00f6gman, the son of Gudr\u00f6d, King of the Western Islands. Thence he went\nto Bretland (Wales), and fought a great battle in Anglesea Sound with\ntwo British chiefs[289]\u2014Hugh the Stout and Hugh the Bold. When the men\ntook up their arms and buckled for the fight, Magnus, Erlend\u2019s son, sat\ndown on the foredeck, and did not take his arms. The King asked why he\ndid not do so. He said he had nothing against any one there, and would\nnot therefore fight.\n\nThe King said: \u201cGo down below, and do not lie among other people\u2019s feet\nif you dare not fight, for I do not believe that you do this from\nreligious motives.\u201d\n\nMagnus took a psalter and sang during the battle, and did not shelter\nhimself. The battle was long and fiercely contested, and both swords and\nmissiles were used. For a long time the result of the battle was\ndoubtful. King Magnus shot from a bow, and a man from H\u00e1logaland[290]\nwas with him. Hugh the Bold fought valiantly. He had a suit of armour\nwhich covered him entirely, except his eyes. King Magnus ordered the man\nfrom H\u00e1logaland to shoot at the same time as he did, and they shot both\nat once. One of the arrows struck the nose-piece of the helmet, and the\nother pierced the eye, and that was said to be the king\u2019s arrow.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XXX\n\n                             KALI\u2019S DEATH.\n\n\nAFTER Hugh\u2019s death the British (Normans) fled, and King Magnus obtained\na great victory. He lost there many brave men, and many others were\nwounded. Kali had received many wounds, but none mortal. After the\nbattle King Magnus sailed from the south along the coasts of Bretland\nand Scotland, having conquered all the Sudreyar and Anglesea, which is\none-third of Bretland.\n\nKing Magnus had appointed Magnus, Erlend\u2019s son, as one of the waiters at\nhis table, and he performed continually the duties of that office; but\nafter the battle in Anglesea Sound the king showed that Magnus had\nincurred his serious displeasure. He had not been wounded, although he\nhad not sheltered himself. During the night he stole away from the King,\nand hid himself for some time in the woods, while the King\u2019s men made a\nsearch for him. Magnus made his way to the court of Malcolm,[291] the\nKing of Scots, and remained there a while. For some time he was with a\ncertain bishop in Bretland. He was also in England; but he did not come\nto the Orkneys while King Magnus was alive.\n\nKing Magnus held northward, along the coasts of Scotland, and messengers\ncame to him from Malcolm, the King of Scots, to ask for peace. They said\nthat the King of Scots was willing to give him all the islands lying\nwest of Scotland, between which and the mainland he could pass in a\nvessel with the rudder shipped. Thereupon King Magnus landed in Satiri\n(Kintyre), and had a boat drawn across the neck (isthmus) of\nSatiri,[292] he himself holding the helm, and thus he gained possession\nof the whole of Satiri, which is better than the best island of the\nSudreyar, Man excepted. It is in the west of Scotland, and on the land\nside there is a narrow isthmus, across which vessels are frequently\ndrawn. Thence King Magnus went to the Sudreyar, and sent his men into\nScotland\u2019s Fiord.[293] They rowed in along one coast and out along\nanother, and thus took possession of all the islands west of Scotland.\n\nThen the King made it known that he was going to spend the winter in the\nSudreyar, but gave permission to those who had most urgent business to\ngo home. When the troops knew this, they all wished to go home, and\nmurmured greatly at being longer detained. The King then held a council\nwith his advisers, and looked at the wounds of his men. He saw Kali, and\nasked about his wounds. Kali said they did not heal well, and that he\ndid not know what the end would be. The King asked for his advice. Kali\nsaid: \u201cIs it not so that your friends are now failing you?\u201d The King\nsaid he did not think so. Kali asked him to hold a wapinschaw, and thus\nto ascertain the number of his troops. This the King did; then he missed\nmany men. This he told to Kali. Then Kali sang:\n\n                  How do thy great chiefs repay thee\n                  For the bounties lavished on them?\n                  Now, O King, of this make trial\u2014\n                  On western currents ships are shaken.\n\nThe King replied:\n\n                  Surely it was in my folly\n                  That my wealth I gave to these men;\n                  Yet my long ships, swiftly speeding,\n                  Still shall climb the chilly billows.\n\nAfter this the King kept a watch to prevent men from deserting.\n\nWhen King Magnus was in the Sudreyar, he obtained the hand of Biadmonia,\nthe daughter of M\u00fdrkiartan,[294] the son of Thi\u00e1lbi, the King of the\nIrish in Kunn\u00e1ttir (Connaught), for his son Sigurd, who was then nine\nwinters old, and she five. This winter Kali died from his wounds. Sigurd\nSneis (slice), Kali\u2019s kinsman, a Lenderman from Agdir, had fallen in\nAnglesea Sound.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XXXI\n\n                       BIRTH OF KALI, SON OF KOL.\n\n\nEARLY in the spring King Magnus left the Sudreyar, and went first to the\nOrkneys, where he heard of the death of the Earls. Erlend died in\nNidaros,[295] and was buried there; and Paul died in Bi\u00f6rgvin (Bergen).\nThen King Magnus married Gunnhild, the daughter of Earl Erlend, to Kol,\nKali\u2019s son, in order to compensate him for (the loss of) his father. Her\ndowry consisted of possessions in the Orkneys, including a farm at\nPapul.[296] Some say that Erling, Erlend\u2019s son, fell in Anglesea Sound,\nbut Snorri Sturluson says he fell in Uladstir[297] with King Magnus. At\nhis wedding Kol became King Magnus\u2019s vassal. Afterwards he went to\nNorway with the King, and home to Agdir with his wife, and went to\nreside at his estates there. Kol and Gunnhild had two children; their\nson was called Kali, and their daughter Ingirid. They were both very\npromising children, and brought up with affectionate care.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XXXII.\n\n                           SIGURD MADE KING.\n\n\nWhen Magnus had been king nine winters, he went to the west, and made\nwar in Ireland, and spent the winter in Kunn\u00e1ttir (Connaught). The next\nsummer, on St. Bartholomew\u2019s Day, he fell in Uladstir (Ulster). When\nSigurd heard in the Orkneys of the death of his father, he went\nimmediately to Norway, and was made king, along with his brothers\nEystein and Olaf. He had left the daughter of the Irish king in the\nwest.\n\nOne winter or two after the death of King Magnus, H\u00e1kon, Paul\u2019s son,\ncame from the west, and the kings gave him an earl\u2019s title and\npossessions beseeming his birth. Then he returned to the west and took\npossession of the Orkneys. He had always accompanied King Magnus while\nhe was alive. He was with him in his expedition to Gautland, which is\nmentioned in the song made about H\u00e1kon, Paul\u2019s son.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XXXIII\n\n            MAGNUS (ERLEND\u2019S SON) OBTAINS THE TITLE OF EARL.\n\n\nWHEN Earl H\u00e1kon had ruled the Orkneys for some time, Magnus, the son of\nEarl Erlend, came from Scotland, and wished to take possession of his\npatrimony. The B\u0153ndr were highly pleased with this, for he was beloved\namong them, and had many kinsmen and connections who wished to help him\nto his dominions. His mother was married to a man called Sigurd. Their\nson was named H\u00e1kon Karl (man). They had estates in Papul. When Earl\nH\u00e1kon heard that Earl Magnus had come to the Orkneys, he collected men\ntogether, and refused to give up any part of the Islands. But their\nfriends tried to make peace between them, and at last they succeeded so\nfar that H\u00e1kon consented to give up half of his dominions if the Kings\nof Norway approved of it. Magnus went immediately to Norway to see King\nEystein, for King Sigurd had then gone to Jerusalem.[298] King Eystein\nreceived him exceedingly well, and gave up to him his patrimony,\none-half of the Orkneys, with the title of Earl. Thereupon Magnus went\nwest to his dominions, and his kinsmen and friends and all the people\nwere glad to see him back. Through the kind offices of mutual friends,\nMagnus and H\u00e1kon agreed very well. So long as their friendship continued\nthere were good times and peace in the Orkneys.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XXXIV\n\n                     OF EARL MAGNUS (ERLEND\u2019S SON).\n\n\nTHE holy Magnus, Earl of the Islands, was a most excellent man. He was\nof large stature, a man of a noble presence and intellectual\ncountenance. He was of blameless life, victorious in battles, wise,\neloquent, strong-minded, liberal and magnanimous, sagacious in counsels,\nand more beloved than any other man. To wise men and good he was gentle\nand affable in his conversation; but severe and unsparing with robbers\nand vikings. Many of those who plundered the landowners and the\ninhabitants of the land he caused to be put to death. He also seized\nmurderers and thieves, and punished rich and poor impartially for\nrobberies and thefts and all crimes. He was just in his judgments, and\nhad more respect to divine justice than difference in the estates of\nmen. He gave large presents to chiefs and rich men, yet the greatest\nshare of his liberality was given to the poor. In all things he strictly\nobeyed the divine commands; and he chastened his body in many things,\nwhich in his glorious life were known to God, but hidden from men. Thus,\nhe made known his intention to espouse a maiden of a most excellent\nfamily in Scotland, and having celebrated his marriage, he lived with\nher for ten winters free from the defilement of carnal lusts, for he was\npure and spotless with regard to all such sins, and if he were tempted,\nhe bathed in cold water, and prayed for divine assistance. Many other\nglorious virtues he exhibited to God himself, but concealed from men.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XXXV\n\n                          OF MAGNUS AND HAKON.\n\n\nMAGNUS and H\u00e1kon ruled their lands and defended them for some time, the\ntwo agreeing very well. In a song made about them, it is said that they\nfought with a chief called D\u00fafni\u00e1l, their third cousin, who fell before\nthem. They also slew a famous man named Thorbi\u00f6rn, in Borgarfiord,[299]\nin Hjaltland. Other deeds of theirs are set forth in song, though not\nspecially narrated here. When they had ruled the land for some time, it\nhappened, as often is the case, that men of evil dispositions were found\nwho destroyed their good understanding. H\u00e1kon was more disposed to\nlisten to these miserable men, because he was very jealous of the\npopularity and greatness of his kinsman Magnus.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XXXVI\n\n                            OF EARL MAGNUS.\n\n\nTWO men with Earl H\u00e1kon are chiefly mentioned as being the worst in\ncreating enmity between the two kinsmen. These were Sigurd and Sighvat\nSokki (sock). Through the slander of wicked men this enmity went so far\nthat the Earls gathered troops together and went to meet each other.\nBoth went to Hrossey, where the Orkney Thingstead[300] was, and when\nthey arrived there, both drew up their troops in battle array, and\nprepared to fight. There were both the Earls and all the chief men, many\n(of whom) were friends of both, and did all they could to make peace\nbetween them, showing much goodwill and virtuous disposition. This\nmeeting was during Lent. But, as many well-disposed men joined\nthemselves together to avert hostilities between them, and to assist\nneither of them against the other, they confirmed their reconciliation\nwith oaths and shaking of hands.\n\nSome time after this, Earl H\u00e1kon, with hypocrisy and fair words,\nappointed a day of meeting with the blessed Earl Magnus, so that their\nfriendship and the newly-made peace should neither be disturbed nor\ndestroyed. This meeting, which was to confirm their peace and\nreconciliation, should take place in the spring, in the Pasch week, in\nEgilsey.[301] Earl Magnus was well pleased with this arrangement, as he\nthought it was meant to confirm a sincere peace, without any suspicions,\ntreachery, or covetousness. Each of them should have two ships and an\nequal number of men (at the conference). Both swore to keep the peace,\non conditions dictated by the wisest men.\n\nImmediately after Easter, preparations were made for the meeting. Earl\nMagnus summoned all those whom he knew to be best disposed to him, and\nmost likely to make matters smooth between them. He had two ships, and\nas many men as had been agreed upon, and when he was ready he went to\nEgilsey. As they were rowing in calm and smooth water a great wave rose\nunder the ship, which was steered by the Earl, and broke over it where\nhe sat. His men wondered very much at such an occurrence,\u2014that a breaker\nshould rise in smooth water where no man could remember a breaker to\nhave arisen, and where the water was so deep. Then the Earl said: \u201cNo\nwonder that you are surprised at this. Indeed, I take this as a\nforeboding of my death. Perhaps it will come to pass as was prophesied\nabout Earl H\u00e1kon, and this may be to prepare us for H\u00e1kon, my kinsman,\nnot dealing honestly with me at this meeting.\u201d The Earl\u2019s men became\nvery sorrowful when he spoke of his death being near at hand, and begged\nhim to take care of his life, and not to trust himself to the good faith\nof Earl H\u00e1kon. Earl Magnus answered: \u201cLet us go this time, and let all\nthat depends on our journey be in God\u2019s will.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XXXVII\n\n                      EARL HAKON AND EARL MAGNUS.\n\n\nNOW it is to be told of Earl H\u00e1kon that he gathered together a numerous\narmy, and had many ships equipped as if for battle. And when the troops\nwere assembled, he made known to his men that he intended that this\nmeeting should decide between him and Earl Magnus, so that both of them\nshould not rule over the Orkneys. Many of his men approved of this plan,\nadding many wicked suggestions to it, yet Sigurd and Sighvat Sokki\ncounselled the worst things.\n\nThen they began to row fast, and went along quickly. H\u00e1vard, Gunnar\u2019s\nson, who was the friend and counsellor of the Earls, and equally\nfaithful to both, was on board the Earl\u2019s ship. H\u00e1kon had concealed this\nwicked plan from him, in which he would by no means have had any part.\nAnd when he knew that the Earl was so resolute in this wicked purpose,\nhe jumped overboard, and swam to a certain uninhabited island.\n\nEarl Magnus arrived first with his men at Egilsey, and when they saw\nEarl H\u00e1kon coming they perceived that he had eight war-ships. Then Earl\nMagnus suspected that he intended to act treacherously towards him. So\nhe walked along the island with his men, and went into the church to\npray. His men offered to defend him. The Earl replied: \u201cI will not put\nyour lives in danger for mine, and if peace cannot be established\nbetween us, let it be as God wills.\u201d His men now recognised the truth of\nhis words, and as he foreknew the hours of his life\u2014whether from his\nwisdom or from a divine revelation\u2014he would neither fly nor avoid his\nenemies. He prayed devoutly, and had a mass sung for him.\n\n\n\n\n                            CHAPTER XXXVIII.\n\n                       THE OFFERS OF EARL MAGNUS.\n\n\nHAKON and his men came up in the morning, and ran first to the church\nand ransacked it, but did not find the Earl. He had gone to another part\nof the island, to a certain hiding-place, accompanied by two men. But\nwhen the holy Earl Magnus saw that they searched for him, he called to\nthem, and thus made known to them where he was, and said they need\nsearch no farther. And when H\u00e1kon saw him, he and his men ran thither\nwith loud yelling and clangour of their weapons.\n\nEarl Magnus was praying when they came up to him, and when he had\nfinished his prayer he made the sign of the cross, and said firmly to\nEarl H\u00e1kon: \u201cYou did not act well, kinsman, when you broke your oaths,\nand it is highly probable that you were instigated to this more by the\nwickedness of others than your own. Now, I will make you three offers,\nthat you may rather accept one of them than break your oaths, and slay\nme who am innocent.\u201d\n\nH\u00e1kon\u2019s men asked what these offers were.\n\n\u201cThe first is, that I shall go to Rome, or away to Jerusalem, and visit\nthe holy places, taking with me two ships from the Orkneys, with the\nnecessary equipment for the journey, and obtain benefits for the souls\nof us both. I shall swear never to return to the Orkneys.\u201d\n\nThis offer was promptly rejected.\n\nThen said Earl Magnus: \u201cNow, because my life is in your power, and I\nhave offended against Almighty God in many things, you shall send me to\nScotland, to our mutual friends, and keep me in custody there, with two\nmen for companionship. Make such provision that I shall not be able to\nescape from this custody.\u201d\n\nThis too was promptly refused.\n\nMagnus then said: \u201cThere is yet one more offer which I will make, and\nGod knows that I think more of your soul than of my own life, for it\nwere better that you should do as I shall offer you than that you should\ntake my life. Let me be maimed as you like, or deprived of my eyes, and\nthrow me into a dark dungeon.\u201d\n\nThen said Earl H\u00e1kon: \u201cThis offer I accept, and I ask for no more.\u201d\n\nBut the chiefs started up and said to Earl H\u00e1kon: \u201cOne of you will we\nkill now, and from this day you shall not both rule the lands of the\nOrkneys.\u201d\n\nEarl H\u00e1kon replied: \u201cSlay him then, for I will rather have earldom and\nlands than instant death.\u201d\n\nThus their conversation was related by H\u00f6ldbodi, a truthful Bondi in the\nSudreyar, who was one of the two of Earl Magnus\u2019s men who were with him\nwhen he was taken.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XXXIX\n\n                     THE BEHEADING OF EARL MAGNUS.\n\n\nTHE worthy Earl Magnus was as cheerful as if he were invited to a\nbanquet, and spoke neither words of offence nor anger. After these words\nhad passed, he fell on his knees to pray, hiding his face in his hands,\nand shedding many tears before God. Then, when the holy Earl Magnus was\nthus doomed to death, H\u00e1kon ordered his banner-bearer, Ofeig, to slay\nthe Earl, but he refused, with the utmost wrath. Then forced he L\u00edf\u00f3lf,\nhis cook, to be the slayer of Magnus, but he began to weep aloud. \u201cWeep\nnot thus,\u201d said Earl Magnus, \u201cfor this is an honourable task. Be firm,\nand you shall have my clothing, according to the custom and laws of the\nmen of old. Be not afraid, for you do this against your will, and he who\nforces you sins more than you.\u201d\n\nWhen he had said this, he took off his tunic and gave it to L\u00edf\u00f3lf. Then\nhe asked for permission to pray, which was granted to him. He fell upon\nthe earth, and gave himself to God, offering himself as a sacrifice. He\nprayed not only for his friends, but also for his enemies and murderers,\nand forgave them, with all his heart, their offences against himself. He\nconfessed his sins to God, and prayed that they might be washed from him\nin the shedding of his blood. He commended his spirit to God\u2019s keeping,\nand prayed that His angels might come to meet his soul and carry it into\nthe rest of paradise. Some say that he took the sacrament when the mass\nwas sung. Then, when God\u2019s friend was led to execution, he said to\nL\u00edf\u00f3lf: \u201cStand before me, and hew me a mighty stroke on the head, for it\nis not fitting that high-born lords should be put to death like thieves.\nBe firm, poor man, for I have prayed to God for you, that he may have\nmercy upon you.\u201d After that he signed the sign of the cross, and stooped\nunder the blow, and his spirit passed into heaven.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER XL\n\n              THE SAINTSHIP OF EARL MAGNUS MADE MANIFEST.\n\n\nTHE place where Earl Magnus was slain was previously covered with moss\nand stones, but shortly afterwards his merits before God became manifest\nin this wise, that it became green sward where he was beheaded. Thus God\nshowed that he had suffered for righteousness\u2019 sake, and had obtained\nthe beauty and verdure of paradise, which is called the land of the\nliving.\n\nEarl H\u00e1kon did not permit his body to be brought to the church (for\nburial).\n\nThe day of Earl Magnus\u2019s death was two days after Tiburtiusmas (14th\nApril). Then he had been seven winters Earl in the Orkneys along with\nEarl H\u00e1kon. Seventy-four winters had passed since the death of King\nOlaf. The Kings of Norway were at this time Sigurd, Eystein, and Olaf.\nIt was one thousand and ninety-one winters after the birth of\nChrist.[302]\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XLI\n\n                   THE EARL\u2019S BODY BROUGHT TO CHURCH.\n\n\nTHORA, the mother of Earl Magnus, had invited both the Earls to a\nbanquet after their meeting, and Earl H\u00e1kon went there after the murder\nof the holy Earl Magnus. Th\u00f3ra herself served at the banquet, and\nbrought the drink to the Earl and his men who had been present at the\nmurder of her son. And when the drink began to have effect on the Earl,\nthen went Th\u00f3ra before him and said: \u201cYou came alone here, my lord, but\nI expected you both. Now, I hope you will gladden me in the sight of God\nand men. Be to me in stead of a son, and I shall be to you in stead of a\nmother. I stand greatly in need of your mercy now, and (I pray you to)\npermit me to bring my son to church. Hear this my supplication now, as\nyou wish God to look upon you at the day of doom.\u201d\n\nThe Earl became silent, and considered her case, as she prayed so\nmeekly, and with tears, that her son might be brought to church. He\nlooked upon her, and the tears fell, and he said, \u201cBury your son where\nit pleases you.\u201d\n\nThen the Earl\u2019s body was brought to Hrossey, and buried at Christ\u2019s Kirk\n(in Birsay), which had been built by Earl Thorfinn.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER LXII\n\n               THE MIRACLE-WORKING OF MAGNUS THE MARTYR.\n\n\nSOON after this a heavenly light was seen above his burial-place. Then\nmen who were placed in danger began to pray to him, and their prayers\nwere heard. A heavenly odour was frequently perceived above his\nburial-place, from which people suffering from illness received health.\nThen sufferers made pilgrimages thither both from the Orkneys and\nHjaltland, and kept vigils at his grave, and were cured of all their\nsufferings.[303] But people dared not make this known while Earl H\u00e1kon\nwas alive.\n\nIt is said of the men who were most guilty in the murder of the holy\nEarl Magnus that most of them met with a miserable death.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XLIII\n\n       THE MIRACLES WROUGHT BY THE BLESSED FRIEND OF GOD, MAGNUS.\n\n\nWilliam was Bishop of the Orkneys at this time. He was the first bishop\nthere. The bishop\u2019s seat was at Christ\u2019s Kirk in Birgish\u00e9rad (Birsay).\nWilliam was bishop for six winters of the seventh decade.[304] For a\nlong time he disbelieved in the sanctity of Earl Magnus, until his\nmerits became manifest to such a degree that God made his holiness grow\nthe more conspicuous the more it was tried, as is told in the book of\nhis miracles.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XLIV\n\n                THE JOURNEY OF EARL HAKON TO THE SOUTH.\n\n\nAFTER the murder of Earl Magnus, H\u00e1kon, Paul\u2019s son, took possession of\nall the Orkneys, and exacted an oath of fealty from all men, and took\nsubmission from those who had served Earl Magnus. He became a great\nchief, and made heavy exactions from those of Earl Magnus\u2019s friends who\nin his opinion had taken part against him.\n\nSome winters after this he prepared to leave the country, and went to\nRome. Then he also went to Jerusalem, according to the custom of the\npalmers, and brought away sacred relics, and bathed in the river Jordan.\nAfter that he returned to his dominions, and resumed the government of\nthe Orkneys. He became a good ruler, and established peace throughout\nhis dominions; he also made new laws for the Orkneys, which the\nlandowners liked better than the former ones. Then he became so popular\nthat the Orkneymen desired no other rulers than H\u00e1kon and his issue.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XLV\n\n                             GENEALOGICAL.\n\n\nWHEN Earl H\u00e1kon ruled over the Orkneys there lived a noble and wealthy\nman, by name Moddan, at Dal (Dale), in Caithness. His daughters were\nHelga and Fr\u00e1kork Th\u00f3rleif. Helga, Moddan\u2019s daughter, was the concubine\nof Earl H\u00e1kon, and their son was Harald, who was called Sl\u00e9ttm\u00e1li\n(smooth-talker), and their daughter was Ingibiorg, who was married to\nOlaf Bitling (little bit), the King of the Sudreyar. Their second\ndaughter was Margar\u00e9t. Moddan\u2019s daughter, Fr\u00e1kork, was married to a man\nwho was named Li\u00f3t N\u00edding (miscreant), in Sutherland, and their daughter\nwas Steinv\u00f6r the Stout, who was married to Thorli\u00f3t, at Rekav\u00edk.[305]\nTheir sons were Olvir Rosta (strife), Magnus Orm, and Moddan Eindridi,\nand their daughter Audhild. A second daughter of Fr\u00e1kork was Gudr\u00fan,\nmarried to Thorstein H\u00f6ld, Fiaransmunn (open-mouth). Their son was\nThorbi\u00f6rn Klerk (clerk).\n\nH\u00e1kon, Paul\u2019s son, had a son named Paul, who was called Um\u00e1lgi\n(speechless); he was a reserved man, but popular. When the brothers grew\nup they never agreed. H\u00e1kon, Paul\u2019s son, died on a sick-bed in the\nIslands, and his death was considered a great loss, for in the later\ndays of his reign there was unbroken peace, and the Islanders suspected\nthat the brothers would not agree well.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XLVI\n\n                     THE SLAYING OF THORKEL F\u00d3STRI.\n\n\nAFTER the death of Earl H\u00e1kon, his sons succeeded him; but they soon\ndisagreed, and divided the dominions between them. Then also dissensions\narose between the great men, and the vassals of each were divided into\nfactions. Earl Harald held Caithness from the King of the Scots, and he\nresided frequently there, but sometimes also in Scotland (Sutherland?),\nfor he had many friends and kinsmen there.\n\nWhen Earl Harald was staying in Sutherland there came to him a man\ncalled Sigurd Slembir,[306] who was said to be the son of the priest\nAdalbrekt. He came from Scotland, having been staying with King David,\nwho had held him in high esteem. Earl Harald received him extremely\nwell. Sigurd went into the Islands with Earl Harald and Fr\u00e1kork,\nModdan\u2019s daughter, for her husband, Li\u00f3t N\u00edding, was dead. She and her\nsister took a large share in the government with Earl Harald. Sigurd\nSlembir was a great favourite with all of them. At that time Audhild,\nthe daughter of Th\u00f3rleif, Moddan\u2019s daughter, was his concubine.\nAfterwards she was married to H\u00e1kon Kl\u00f3 (claw). Before that time she had\nbeen married to Eir\u00edk Str\u00e6ta; their son was Eir\u00edk Slagbrellir.\n\nWhen Sigurd and Fr\u00e1kork came to the Islands great dissensions arose, and\nboth of the Earls called together as many of their friends as they could\nget. The most attached to Earl Paul was Sigurd, at Westness,[307] who\nhad married Ingibiorg the Noble, a kinswoman of the Earls\u2019, and Thorkel,\nSumarlidi\u2019s son, who was always with Earl Paul, and was called his\nfoster-father. He was a kinsman of the holy Earl Magnus, and a most\npopular man. The friends of the Earl thought that no man would less\ndeplore their dissensions than Thorkel, because of the injury done him\nby their father H\u00e1kon. At last Earl Harald and Sigurd Slembir went to\nThorkel F\u00f3stri,[308] and slew him. When Earl Paul heard this, he was\nvery much displeased, and gathered men together; but when their mutual\nfriends became aware of this, they went between them and tried to\nreconcile them; and all took part in making peace. Earl Paul was so\nwroth that he would not make peace, unless all those who were concerned\nin the manslaying were banished. But as the islanders thought their\ndissensions a great calamity, they all tried to pacify them; and the\nresult was that Sigurd and all those who, in Earl Paul\u2019s opinion, were\nmost concerned in this crime, were banished from the Orkneys. Earl\nHarald paid the manbote (compensation) for the slaughter of Thorkel. The\nterms of this peace were that their friendship should be confirmed, and\nthat they should spend Christmas and all the chief festivals together.\n\nSigurd Slembir left the Orkneys, and went to Scotland, and stayed for a\nwhile with Malcolm, King of Scots, and was well entertained. He was\nthought a great man in all manly exercises. He remained for a time in\nScotland, until he went to Jerusalem.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XLVII\n\n                     EARL HARALD SLAIN BY SORCERY.\n\n\nONCE the brothers were to be entertained at Orfjara (Orphir), one of\nEarl Harald\u2019s estates, and he was to bear the expense of the\nentertainment for both of them that Christmas. He was very busy, and\nmade great preparations. The sisters Fr\u00e1kork and Helga were there with\nthe Earl, and sat sewing in a little room.[309] Earl Harald went into\nthe room where the sisters were sitting on a cross-bench, and saw a\nlinen garment, newly made, and white as snow, lying between them. The\nEarl took it up, and saw that it was embroidered with gold. He asked,\n\u201cTo whom does this splendid thing belong?\u201d\n\nFr\u00e1kork replied, \u201cIt is intended for your brother Paul.\u201d\n\n\u201cWhy do you make such a fine garment for him? You do not take such pains\nin making my clothing.\u201d\n\nHe had just come out of bed, and was dressed in a shirt and linen\ndrawers, and had thrown a mantle over his shoulders. He threw off the\nmantle, and spread out the dress. His mother took hold of it, and asked\nhim not to envy his brother of his fine clothing. The Earl pulled it\nfrom her, and prepared to put it on. Then Fr\u00e1kork snatched off her\nhead-gear, and tore her hair, and said that his life was at stake if he\nput it on, and both of the women wept grievously. The Earl put on the\ngarment nevertheless; but as soon as it touched his sides a shiver went\nthrough his body, which was soon followed by great pain, so that he had\nto take to his bed; and he was not long in bed until he died. His\nfriends considered his death a great loss.\n\nImmediately after his death his brother Paul took possession of his\ndominions, with the consent of the B\u0153ndr. Earl Paul considered that the\nsplendid underclothing which Earl Harald had put on had been intended\nfor him, and therefore he did not like the sisters to stay in the\nOrkneys. So they left the Islands with all their attendants, and went\nfirst to Caithness, and then to Scotland to the estate which Fr\u00e1kork had\nthere. Her son Erlend was brought up there while he was young. Olvir\nRosta, the son of Thorli\u00f3t, from Rekav\u00edk (Rackwick), and Steinn\u00fd\n(Steinvor?), Fr\u00e1kork\u2019s daughter, were also brought up there. Olvir was a\nman of great strength, a violent man and a great fighter. Thorbi\u00f6rn\nKlerk, the son of Thorstein H\u00f6ld, was brought up there, and also\nMargar\u00e9t, the daughter of Earl H\u00e1kon and Helga, Moddan\u2019s daughter, and\nEir\u00edk Slagbrellir. All these were men of great families, and\naccomplished, and thought they had claims to the Orkneys. The brothers\nof Fr\u00e1kork were Magnus Orfi (the liberal) and Earl Ottar, in Th\u00f3rsey\n(Thurso), who was a noble man.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XLVIII\n\n                             OF EARL PAUL.\n\n\nEARL PAUL then ruled the Orkneys, and was very popular. He was somewhat\ntaciturn, spoke little at the Things, and gave others a large share in\nthe government with himself. He was a modest man, and gentle to the\npeople, liberal with his money, and spared nothing with his friends. He\nwas not warlike, and kept himself very quiet. At that time there were\nmany noble men descended from Earls in the Orkneys. Then there lived at\nWestness, in Hr\u00f3lfsey (Rousay), a noble man, by name Sigurd, who had\nmarried Ingibiorg the Noble. Her mother Herborg was the daughter of Earl\nPaul, Thorfinn\u2019s son. Their sons were Brynj\u00falf and H\u00e1kon P\u00edk (peak). All\nthese were Earl Paul\u2019s vassals; so were also the sons of H\u00e1vard, Gunni\u2019s\nson\u2014H\u00e1kon Kl\u00f3, Thorstein, and D\u00fbfni\u00e1ll. Their mother was Bergli\u00f3t, and\nher mother was Ragnhild, the daughter of Earl Paul. There was a man\nnamed Erling, who lived in Caithness. He had four sons, all of them\naccomplished men. A man named Olaf lived in G\u00e1reksey (Gairsay), and had\nanother estate at Dungalsb\u00e6, in Caithness. Olaf was a great man, and\nhighly honoured by Earl Paul. His wife was named Asleif, a wise woman,\naccomplished, and of a great family. Their sons\u2014Valthi\u00f3f, Swein, and\nGunni\u2014were all accomplished men. Their sister was named Ingigerd.\nSigurd, the Earl\u2019s brother-in-law, had married Th\u00f3ra, the mother of Earl\nMagnus, and their son was H\u00e1kon Karl (man). Both Sigurd and his son were\ngreat chiefs. In R\u00ednarsey (North Ronaldsay) there lived a woman, by name\nRagna, and her son was named Thorstein, a man of great strength. A\nfarmer named Kugi, a wise and wealthy man, lived at Gefsisness,[310] in\nWestrey. A farmer named Helgi lived at a hamlet in Westrey. Thorkel\nFl\u00e9tta (a braid), a violent and powerful man, lived in Westrey.\nThorstein and Haflidi were unpopular men. At Swiney (Swona), in the\nPentland Firth, lived a poor man, and his sons were Asbi\u00f6rn and Margad,\nsturdy fellows. In Fridarey (Fair Isle) lived a man by name Dagfinn. A\nman named Thorstein lived at Fluguness,[311] in Hrossey (the Mainland of\nOrkney), and his sons were Thorstein Kr\u00f4kauga (crooked eye) and Bl\u00e1n,\nboth of them wild fellows. J\u00e1tv\u00f6r, the daughter of Earl Erlend, and her\nson Borgar, lived at Knarrarstadir;[312] they were rather unpopular. J\u00f3n\nV\u0153ng (wing) lived at Uppland, in H\u00e1ey (Hoy). Rikgard lived at\nBrekkur,[313] in Straumsey. They were poor men, and relatives of Olaf\nHr\u00f3lfsson. A man named Gr\u00edmkell lived at Glettuness.[314] All these men\nwill be mentioned in the saga afterwards.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XLIX\n\n                OF KALI, WHO AFTERWARDS BECAME AN EARL.\n\n\nKOL, who was a very wise man, resided on his estates at Agdir (in\nNorway), and did not go to the Orkneys. His son Kali grew up there, and\nwas a most promising man. He was of middle size, well proportioned, and\nvery handsomely shaped; his hair was of a light auburn colour. He was\nvery affable and popular, and highly accomplished. He made the following\nverses:\u2014\n\n                   At the game-board I am skilful;\n                   Knowing in no less than nine arts;\n                   Runic lore I well remember;\n                   Books I like; with tools I\u2019m handy;\n                   Expert am I on the snow-shoes,\n                   With the bow, and pull an oar well;\n                   And, besides, I am an adept\n                   At the harp, and making verses.\n\nKali was frequently with his kinsman S\u00f6lmund, the son of Sigurd Sneis.\nHe was treasurer at T\u00fansberg, and had estates at Austragdir. He was a\ngreat chief, and had a numerous retinue.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER L\n\n                        OF KALI AND GILLICHRIST.\n\n\nWHEN Kali was fifteen winters old, he went with some merchants to\nEngland, taking with him a good (cargo of) merchandise. They went to a\ntrading place called Gr\u00edmsb\u0153 (Grimsby). There was a great number of\npeople from Norway, as well as from the Orkneys, Scotland, and the\nSudreyar. Kali met there a man who was called Gillichrist. The latter\nasked Kali about many things in Norway, and spoke chiefly with him, so\nthat they became companions. Then he told Kali in confidence that his\nname was Harald,[315] that Magnus Barelegs was his father, and his\nmother was in the Sudreyar. He further asked him how he would be\nreceived in Norway if he came there. Kali said that he thought King\nSigurd would be likely to receive him well, if others did not set him\nagainst him. Gillichrist and Kali exchanged presents, and at parting\nthey promised each other mutual friendship wherever they might meet.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER LI\n\n                            OF KALI AND JON.\n\n\nAFTER that Kali went from the west in the same ship. They touched at\nAgdir, and from there they went to Bi\u00f6rgvin (Bergen). Then he made a\nstanza:\u2014\n\n                   Unpleasantly we have been wading\n                   In the mud a weary five weeks.\n                   Dirt we had indeed in plenty,\n                   While we lay in Grimsby harbour;\n                   But now on the moor of sea-gulls\n                   Ride we o\u2019er the crests of billows,\n                   Gaily as the elk of bowsprits\n                   Eastward ploughs its way to Bergen.\n\nWhen they came to the town, there was a great number of people from the\nnorth and the south (of Norway), and from foreign lands, who had brought\nmuch merchandise. The crew of the ship went to some public places to\namuse themselves. Kali was a great dandy, and made a great display, as\nhe was newly arrived from England. He thought a great deal of himself,\nand many others thought a great deal of him too, because he was of a\ngood family, and highly accomplished. In the inn where he sat drinking\nthere was a man named J\u00f3n P\u00e9trsson, the son of Serk, from Sogn. He was\nthe king\u2019s vassal at the time. His mother was Helga, the daughter of\nH\u00e1rek, from Setr. J\u00f3n was a great dandy too. The dame who kept the inn\nwhere they were drinking was Unn by name, a woman of good repute. J\u00f3n\nand Kali soon became companions, and parted great friends. Whereupon J\u00f3n\nwent home to his estates, and Kali went to his father, Kol, at Agdir.\nKali stayed frequently with his kinsman S\u00f6lmund. Thus some years passed,\nin which Kali made trading trips during the summer, and spent the\nwinters at home or with S\u00f6lmund.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER LII\n\n                       KALI GOES INTO DOLLS CAVE.\n\n\nONE summer Kali went to Thr\u00e1ndheim; he was detained by weather in an\nisland called Dolls, and there was a cave called Dollshellir. It was\nsaid that money was hidden there. The merchants went into the cave, and\nfound it very difficult to penetrate into it. They came to a sheet of\nwater stretching across the cave, and no one dared to cross it except\nKali, and one of S\u00f6lmund\u2019s domestics called H\u00e1vard. They swam across the\nlake, having a rope between them. Kali also carried firewood and\nfire-making gear between his shoulders. They came to the opposite shore,\nwhich was rugged and stony; the smell also was there very bad, so that\nthey could hardly make a light. Kali said they should not go any\nfarther, and piled up stones as a monument. Then Kali sang a song:\n\n                 Here I raise a mighty stone-pile,\n                 In remembrance of our daring,\n                 In this Dolls cave, dark and gloomy,\n                 Where we sought the goblins\u2019 treasure.\n                 Yet I know not how the captain\n                 Of the ocean\u2019s gliding snow-skates\n                 May re-cross the dismal water:\n                 Long and dreary is the journey.\n\nThen they returned, and came safe to their men, and it is not mentioned\nthat anything else happened during their journey. When they came to\nBi\u00f6rgvin, Kali went to the same inn, to Dame Unn. J\u00f3n P\u00e9trsson was\nthere, and one of his domestics, by name Brynj\u00falf. Many other men were\nalso there, although their names are not mentioned here.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER LIII\n\n                        OF HAVARD AND BRYNJULF.\n\n\nONE evening, when J\u00f3n and Kali had gone to bed, many remained drinking,\nand talked a great deal. The guests were getting drunk, and at last they\nbegan comparing men,[316] and disputing about who were the greatest of\nthe landed men of Norway. Brynj\u00falf said that J\u00f3n P\u00e9trsson was the best\nman, and of the noblest family of all the young men south of St\u00e1d.\nH\u00e1vard, the companion of Kali, spoke of S\u00f6lmund, and said that he was in\nnothing inferior to J\u00f3n, adding that the men of V\u00edk would esteem him\nmore than J\u00f3n. Out of this a great quarrel arose, and as the ale spoke\nin them, they kept so little within bounds that H\u00e1vard jumped up, took a\npiece of wood, and struck Brynj\u00falf a blow on the head, so that he\nfainted. Those present took hold of Brynj\u00falf, and sent H\u00e1vard away to\nKali, who again sent him to a priest called Rikgard, in Alvidra. \u201cAnd\ntell him from me,\u201d said Kali, \u201cto keep you till I come to the east.\u201d\nKali sent a man with him, and they rowed to the south till they came to\nGr\u0153ningiasund. Then H\u00e1vard said to his fellow-traveller: \u201cNow, as we are\nout of their reach, let us rest ourselves, and lie down to sleep.\u201d\n\nWhen Brynj\u00falf recovered, he was conducted to J\u00f3n, and he told him all\nthat had happened, and also that the man had been sent away. J\u00f3n guessed\nthe truth about H\u00e1vard\u2019s destination, and ordered ten men, led by\nBrynj\u00falf, to take a rowing boat, in which they rowed till they came to\nGr\u0153ningiasund, and by that time it was daylight. They saw a boat on the\nbeach. Brynj\u00falf said: \u201cPerhaps these men may be able to tell us\nsomething of H\u00e1vard.\u201d Then they went up and found them when they had\njust woke up. Brynj\u00falf and his men attacked them immediately with arms,\nand H\u00e1vard and his companion were both slain. After this they returned\nto the town and told the news to J\u00f3n, and then it was known to the whole\ntown.\n\nKali considered these slaughters a great offence against himself; and\nwhen mediators went between him and J\u00f3n, the latter said that he would\nleave to him to say what amends he wished for the offence, without\nprejudice to the right of the King and the parties to the suit. Kali\nagreed to this, yet they were no friends from this time. Kali went home\nafter this occurrence, and when he saw his father he told him the news\nand the result.\n\nThen Kol said: \u201cI think your judgment was rather strange, in that you\nshould have agreed to any terms of reconciliation before S\u00f6lmund knew. I\nthink your position is difficult, and that you can do little else than\ntry to be reconciled. But S\u00f6lmund would not have acted like you if your\nman had been killed.\u201d\n\nKali replied: \u201cI suppose it is true, father, that I have judged rather\nhastily in this matter, and you were too far away to advise me. It will\noften appear that I am not so deeply wise as you. But I thought that\nS\u00f6lmund had not a better chance of gaining honourable amends, though I\nrefused what was offered to me. And I consider it no dishonour for you\nand S\u00f6lmund if he offers to allow you to determine your compensation,\nthough I doubt whether such an offer will be made. But I consider myself\nunder no obligation to Brynj\u00falf, while I have made no award and no money\nhas been received.\u201d\n\nFather and son had a long talk about this, and did not agree; then they\nsent men to tell S\u00f6lmund the news.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER LIV\n\n                          OF JON AND SOLMUND.\n\n\nAFTER that, Kol and Kali had an interview with S\u00f6lmund. Kol wished to\nsend men to J\u00f3n to try to make peace between them; but S\u00f6lmund and\nHallvard, H\u00e1vard\u2019s brother, refused everything but blood-revenge, and\nsaid it was not becoming to ask for settlement. Yet Kol\u2019s advice was\ntaken, because he promised not to withdraw from the case until S\u00f6lmund\nhad received honourable amends; and Kol was to lay all the plans. When\nthe messengers returned, they said they had received a most unfavourable\nreply to their demands, and that J\u00f3n refused positively to make\ncompensation for a man who by his own act had forfeited his personal\nsecurity. S\u00f6lmund said that this had turned out just as he\nexpected\u2014namely, that little honour would be gained by asking J\u00f3n for\nsettlement; and then he begged Kol to propose a plan that might be of\nsome avail.\n\nKol replied: \u201cIs Hallvard willing to run any risk in order to avenge his\nbrother, even though it may come to little?\u201d\n\nHallvard said he would not spare himself in order to take revenge, even\nif there were danger connected with it.\n\n\u201cThen,\u201d said Kol, \u201cyou shall go secretly to Sogn, to a man called Uni,\nwho lives not far from J\u00f3n. He is a wise man, but rather poor, for he\nhas been a long time oppressed by J\u00f3n; he is a great friend of mine, and\nconsiderably advanced in years. You shall take to him from me six marks\n(of silver) weighed, in order that he may give you advice how to take\nrevenge on Brynj\u00falf, or some other of J\u00f3n\u2019s men, whom he considers not\nless a loss to him. And if this can be brought about, Uni shall send you\nto my kinsman Kyrpinga Orm, at Studla, and his sons Ogmund and Erling,\nand there I consider you will be as if you were at home. Tell Uni to\nsell his farm and come to me.\u201d\n\nHallvard prepared to go, and we are not told of his journey or night\nquarters, until he came to Uni one evening. He did not tell his true\nname. They inquired of each other for current news; and in the evening,\nwhen they were sitting round the fire, the guest asked a great deal\nabout noble men in Sogn and H\u00f6rdaland. Uni said that none of the landed\nmen were considered more powerful than J\u00f3n, on account of his family and\nhis violence; and he further asked whether they had no experience of it\nin the south. When he had said this, the guest became silent. Then the\npeople arose from the fire, and the two remained.\n\nThen Uni said: \u201cDid not you say just now that your name was Hallvard?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d said the guest; \u201cI called myself Saxi this evening.\u201d\n\nUni said: \u201cThen I am out of all difficulties; but if my name were\nBrynj\u00falf, I should think yours was Hallvard; and now let us go to\nsleep.\u201d\n\nThe guest took hold of him and said: \u201cLet us not go yet.\u201d Whereupon he\ndelivered the purse, and said: \u201cKol sends you his greeting and this\nsilver, in order that you may be willing to advise me how to avenge my\nbrother Havard on Brynj\u00falf.\u201d Then he told him Kol\u2019s plans.\n\nUni said: \u201cKol deserves well of me, but I cannot know what may be done\nabout the revenge on Brynj\u00falf; but he is expected here to-morrow to\nfetch his concubine\u2019s clothes.\u201d\n\nThereafter he went with Hallvard to a stable which stood opposite the\ndoor of the house, and concealed him in the manger. This was before the\npeople got up, but he had slept in the house during the night. When\nHallvard had been a little while in the stable, he saw a brisk man\ncoming to the house. He called into the house, and told the woman to\nmake herself ready. She took her clothes and brought them out. Then\nHallvard thought he knew who the man was, and walked out. Brynj\u00falf had\nput down his weapons while he was tying the clothes; and when Hallvard\nmet him he dealt him a deadly blow, and returned to the stable and hid\nhimself. While the slaughter was being committed the woman had gone into\nthe house to take leave of the inmates, but when she came out she saw\nwhat had occurred, and ran in crying and frightened to such a degree\nthat she was nearly fainting, and told the news. Farmer Uni ran out, and\nsaid that the man had probably been an assassin. He despatched a man to\ntell J\u00f3n the news, and urged his men with great eagerness to search for\nthe murderer; therefore no one suspected him. Hallvard remained in the\nstable until the search had slackened. Then he went, with Uni\u2019s advice,\nto Orm and his sons at Studla, and they sent men with him to the east.\nKol and S\u00f6lmund received him well, and were then well satisfied with\ntheir case. After a while the truth came out, and J\u00f3n was very much\ngrieved. Thus that year passed.\n\nNext winter, towards Yuletide, J\u00f3n left his home with thirty men, saying\nthat he was going to pay his uncle Olaf a visit. This he did, and was\nvery well received. J\u00f3n told his uncle that he was going to Agdir to see\nS\u00f6lmund. Olaf dissuaded him from it, and said that he had held his own\nthough they parted as matters stood then. But J\u00f3n said he was not\nsatisfied to let Brynj\u00falf remain unavenged. Olaf said he thought he\nwould gain very little by trying; yet he had from there thirty men, and\nthus he went with half a hundred men across the hills, intending to take\nS\u00f6lmund and Kol by surprise. When J\u00f3n had just gone from the north, Uni\nwent in haste to Orm and his sons at Studla, and they sent men with him\nto Kol. He arrived there at Yule, and told them that J\u00f3n was going to\nattack them. Kol despatched scouts immediately to all parts where J\u00f3n\nwas expected; and he himself went to see S\u00f6lmund, and they and their\nkinsmen waited with a great number of men about them. They had news of\nJ\u00f3n\u2019s movements, and started immediately to meet him. They met at a\ncertain wood, and the fight began immediately. Kol\u2019s men were much more\nnumerous, and came off victorious. J\u00f3n lost many men, and fled into the\nwood. He was wounded in the leg, and this wound healed so badly that he\nwas lame ever after, and was called J\u00f3n F\u00f3t (leg). He came to the north\nduring Lent, and his expedition was considered rather ignominious. The\nwinter thus passed, but the next summer J\u00f3n caused two of Kol\u2019s kinsmen\nto be killed, Gunnar and Asl\u00e1k.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER LV\n\n                  THE RECONCILIATION OF THE ORKNEYMEN.\n\n\nSHORTLY afterwards King Sigurd came to the town, and these difficulties\nwere laid before him. Then the King summoned both to appear before him,\nand they came accompanied by their kinsmen and friends. An attempt was\nmade to reconcile them, and the result was, that the King should judge\nall their differences, which both parties confirmed by shaking of hands.\nKing Sigurd, assisted by the advice of the wisest men, then made peace\nbetween them. One part of the agreement was, that J\u00f3n P\u00e9trsson should\nmarry Ingirid, Kol\u2019s daughter, and their friendship should be confirmed\nby the connection. The killed were set off against each other. The\nattack on Kol, and J\u00f3n\u2019s wound, were set off against the loss of men in\nthe east. Further wounds were matched, and the difference made up. Each\nshould assist the other, both at home and abroad. As a result of this\nreconciliation, King Sigurd gave Kali, Kol\u2019s son, the half of the\nOrkneys, jointly with Paul, H\u00e1kon\u2019s son, and made him an Earl at the\nsame time. He also gave him the name of Earl R\u00f6gnvald, Br\u00fasi\u2019s son,\nbecause his mother, Gunnhild, said that R\u00f6gnvald was the most\naccomplished of all the Orkney Earls, and thought the name would bring\ngood fortune. This part of the Orkneys had belonged to Earl Magnus,\nKali\u2019s mother\u2019s brother. After this reconciliation, they who were\nenemies before parted good friends.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER LVI\n\n                          KING SIGURD\u2019S DEATH.\n\n\nTHIS winter King Sigurd resided in Osl\u00f3.[317] During Lent he was taken\nill, and died one night after Lady-day. His son Magnus was in the town,\nand held a Thing, and was accepted king throughout the land, agreeably\nto the oaths which the inhabitants had sworn to King Sigurd. He also\ntook possession of all the royal treasures.\n\nHarald Gilli was at T\u00fansberg when he heard of the death of King Sigurd.\nHe had meetings with his friends, and sent for R\u00f6gnvald and his father,\nbecause they had always been friends since they met in England. R\u00f6gnvald\nand his father had also done most to help Harald to prove his paternity\nto Sigurd. In this they were assisted by many barons; among others\nIngimar, Swein\u2019s son, and Thi\u00f3st\u00f3lf, Ali\u2019s son. Harald and his party\nresolved to hold the Hauga-Thing[318] at T\u00fansberg, and there Harald was\naccepted king of one-half of the land. The oaths with which he had given\nup his patrimony in order to be permitted to prove his paternity by an\nordeal[319] were said to have been given under compulsion. Then people\nflocked to him, and gave in their allegiance, and soon he had many men\nabout him.\n\nMessages went between him and King Magnus, but it was not until four\nwinters had passed that they were reconciled, on the terms that each of\nthem should have one-half of the kingdom; but King Magnus had the long\nships, and the table-service, and all the treasures (of his father), yet\nhe was dissatisfied with his portion, and showed enmity to all the\nfriends of King Harald. King Magnus would not hold valid King Sigurd\u2019s\ngift of the Orkneys and the earldom to R\u00f6gnvald, because he was the\nfirmest partisan of King Harald, until all their dealings were\nconcluded. Magnus and Harald were three winters Kings of Norway, and\nnominally at peace, but the fourth summer they fought at Fyrileif,[320]\nwhere King Magnus had nearly 6000, but Harald only 1500 men. These\nchiefs were with King Harald: his brother Kristr\u00f6d, Earl R\u00f6gnvald,\nIngimar from Ask, Thi\u00f3st\u00f3lf Ali\u2019s son, and S\u00f6lmund. King Magnus gained\nthe victory, and Harald fled. Kristr\u00f6d and Ingimar were killed. Ingimar\nmade the following stanza:\u2014\n\n                   Fiends me drove to Fyrileif;[321]\n                   Not with my will did I fight there.\n                   Bit by arrows from the elmbow,\n                   Ne\u2019er to Ask shall I return.\n\nKing Harald fled to his ships in V\u00edk,[322] and went to Denmark to King\nEirik Eymuni,[323] who gave him Halland for his maintenance, and eight\nlong ships without rigging. Thi\u00f3st\u00f3lf, Ali\u2019s son, sold his lands, bought\nships and arms, and went in autumn to King Harald, in Denmark. At\nYuletide King Harald came to Bi\u00f6rgvin, and lay in Fl\u00f3ruvag\u00e1r till after\nYule. Then they attacked the town, and met with little resistance. King\nMagnus was seized on board his own ship, and maimed. King Harald then\ntook possession of the whole kingdom, and the next spring he renewed the\ngift of the Islands and the title of Earl to R\u00f6gnvald.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER LVII\n\n                             KOL\u2019S SCHEMES.\n\n\nKOL resolved to send men to the Orkneys to ask Earl Paul to give up half\nthe Islands which King Harald had given to R\u00f6gnvald, and they should be\nfriends and good kinsmen. But if Earl Paul refused, the same men should\ngo to Fr\u00e1kork and Olvir Rosta, and offer them one-half of the land,\njointly with Earl R\u00f6gnvald, if they were willing to take it from Earl\nPaul by force of arms. When they came to Earl Paul in the Orkneys, and\ndelivered the message, he replied: \u201cI understand this claim; it has been\nplanned advisedly, and with long forethought; they sought the help of\nthe Kings of Norway to obtain my possessions. Now, I will not repay this\nperfidy by giving away my possessions to a man who is not nearer to me\nthan R\u00f6gnvald is, and refusing them to my brother\u2019s son or sister\u2019s son.\nThere is no need to talk any more of this, for with the assistance of my\nfriends and kinsmen I shall defend the Orkneys as long as God grants me\nlife.\u201d\n\nThen the messengers saw what would be the result of their message to\nEarl Paul, and went away across the Pentland Firth to Caithness, and\nsouth into the country to Fr\u00e1kork, and delivered their message, to the\neffect that Kol and R\u00f6gnvald offered her and Olvir half the Islands if\nthey were willing to conquer them from Earl Paul.\n\nFr\u00e1kork replied: \u201cIt is true that Kol is a very clever man, and it was\nwisely planned to seek assistance here, as we have a great many\nrelatives and connections. I have now married Margaret, H\u00e1kon\u2019s\ndaughter, to Moddan, Earl of Atj\u00f6klar (Athole), who is of the noblest\nfamily of all the Scottish chiefs. His father, Malcolm, is the brother\n(uncle?) of King Malcolm, the father of David, who is now King of Scots.\nWe have many and just claims on the Orkneys. We ourselves have also some\npower. We are said also to be rather far-seeing, and during hostilities\nall things do not come on us unawares; yet we will be glad to enter into\nalliance with Kol and his son for many reasons. Tell them from me that I\nand Olvir shall bring an army to the Orkneys against Earl Paul about the\nmiddle of the next summer. Let Earl R\u00f6gnvald meet us then, and come to a\ndecisive battle with Earl Paul; and I will collect forces together\nduring the winter from my kinsmen, friends, and connections in Scotland\nand the Sudreyar (Hebrides).\u201d\n\nThe messengers returned to Norway, and related how matters stood. Next\nwinter Earl R\u00f6gnvald prepared to go west, and the chiefs S\u00f6lmund and J\u00f3n\nwith him. They went the next summer, and had a fine body of troops,\nthough not numerous, and five or six ships. They arrived at Hjaltland\n(Shetland) about the middle of the summer, but heard nothing of Fr\u00e1kork.\nStrong and contrary winds sprung up, and they brought their ships to\nAlasund,[324] and went a-feasting over the country, for the B\u0153ndr\nreceived them well.\n\nBut of Fr\u00e1kork it is to be told that in the spring she went to the\nSudreyar, where she and Olvir gathered troops and ships together. They\ngot twelve ships, all of them small and somewhat badly manned; and about\nthe middle of the summer they directed their course to the Orkneys,\nintending to meet Earl R\u00f6gnvald, according to their agreement. The wind\nwas rather unfavourable. Olvir Rosta was the commander of these troops,\nand he was to obtain an earldom in the Orkneys if they gained the\nvictory. Fr\u00e1kork was there also with many of her retainers.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER LVIII\n\n              THE FIGHT BETWEEN EARL PAUL AND OLVIR ROSTA.\n\n\nEARL PAUL was then at a feast with Sigurd at Westness, in Hr\u00f3lfsey\n(Rousay), and when he heard that Earl R\u00f6gnvald had arrived in Hjaltland,\nand at the same time that an army which was going to attack him was\ngathering in the Sudreyar, he sent word to Kugi, in Westrey, and Thorkel\nFlettir, who were wise men, and many others of his chief men he called\ntogether. At this meeting Earl Paul sought advice from his friends, but\nthey differed in their opinions. Some wished him to share his\npossessions with one of the two parties, so as not to have both as\nenemies. Others advised him to go over to his friends in Ness\n(Caithness), and see what assistance he could get there.\n\nEarl Paul replied, \u201cI will not offer them my possessions now, since I\nrefused peremptorily when they asked civilly. Besides, I think it would\nbe unworthy of a chief to flee from my lands without a trial of\nstrength. My counsel is to send men to-night to collect troops\nthroughout all the Islands. Let us then go to meet Earl R\u00f6gnvald, and\nhave matters decided between us before the Sudreymen come.\u201d Earl Paul\u2019s\nplan was adopted.\n\nWith Earl Paul there was a man by name Swein, called Bri\u00f3streip\n(breast-rope), who was his henchman, and highly esteemed by him. In the\nsummer he was always on viking-raids, but in the winter [he stayed] with\nthe Earl. Swein was a man of large stature and great strength, swarthy\nand ill-favoured. He was greatly skilled in ancient lore, and had\nfrequently been engaged in outsittings.[325] His place was in the\nforecastle of the Earl\u2019s ship.\n\nDuring the night the following chiefs came to Earl Paul:\u2014Eyvind,\nMelbrigdi\u2019s son, in a ship fully manned; Olaf, R\u00f3lf\u2019s son, from G\u00e1reksey\n(Gairsay), had another; Thorkel Flettir the third; Sigurd the fourth;\nand the Earl himself the fifth. With these five vessels they went to\nHr\u00f3lfsey (Rousay), and arrived there in the evening about sunset. Troops\ngathered to him during the night, but more ships were not to be had. The\nnext day they were going to sail to Hjaltland to meet Earl R\u00f6gnvald; but\nin the morning, shortly after sunrise, some men came to Earl Paul, who\nsaid they had seen longships coming from the Pentland Firth; whether ten\nor twelve they did not know. The Earl and his men were convinced that\nthis was Fr\u00e1kork\u2019s party, and the Earl ordered his men to row against\nthem as fast as possible. Olaf and Sigurd advised them to go leisurely,\nsaying that their troops might arrive at any moment.\n\nWhen they were east of Tannsk\u00e1runess (Tankerness), the longships, twelve\ntogether, sailed to the west from M\u00fali.[326] The Earl and his men\nfastened their ships together; then the Bondi, Erling from\nTannsk\u00e1runess, and his sons, came to the Earl and offered him their\nassistance; and then their ships were so crowded that they thought they\ncould not use more men. The Earl asked Erling and his men to bring\nstones to them, until they were prevented by the fighting. When they had\nprepared themselves, Olvir came up and made the attack with a superior\nforce, but his ships were smaller. Olvir (himself) had a large ship,\nwhich he placed beside the Earl\u2019s ship, and there was the severest\nfighting. Olaf, R\u00f3lf\u2019s son, attacked the smallest ships of Olvir, and\ncleared three of them in a short time. Olvir attacked the Earl\u2019s ships\nso fiercely that all the forecastle men were driven abaft the mast. Then\nOlvir urged his men strongly to board, and jumped himself from the\nquarterdeck to the forepart of the ship, and was the first to board.\n\nSwein Bri\u00f3streip was the foremost of all the Earl\u2019s men, and fought\nbravely. When the Earl saw that Olvir had boarded his ship, he urged his\nmen forward, and jumped himself from the quarterdeck to the forepart of\nthe ship. When Olvir perceived this, he grasped a spear, and hurled it\nat the Earl, who received it with his shield, but fell down on the deck.\nThen there was a great shout; but in the same moment Swein Bri\u00f3streip\nseized a huge stone,[327] and threw it at Olvir. It hit him in the chest\nwith such force that he was thrown overboard, and sank; but his men were\nable to drag him up into one of their ships, and it was not known\nwhether he was dead or alive. Then some cut the cables, and wanted to\nflee. All Olvir\u2019s men were also driven down off the Earl\u2019s ship, and\nbegan to withdraw. At that moment Olvir recovered, and asked them not to\nflee; but all pretended not to hear what he said. The Earl pursued the\nfugitives along the east of Hrossey and R\u00f6gnvaldsey, and into the\nPentland Firth, where they parted. Then he returned, and five of Olvir\u2019s\nships remained where they had fought. The Earl took them, and manned\nthem with his troops. The battle took place on Friday, but in the night\nthe Earl had the ships made ready, and many troops and two longships\ncame to him, so that in the morning he had twelve ships all well manned.\n\nOn Saturday he sailed to Hjaltland, and took by surprise those that had\ncharge of Earl R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s ships. He killed the men, and seized the ships\nwith all their contents. In the morning Earl R\u00f6gnvald had news of this,\nand his men gathered together, and a great many of the B\u0153ndr. Then they\nwent down to the beach, and challenged Earl Paul and his men to come on\nshore and fight. Earl Paul did not put much faith in the Hjaltlanders,\nand would not go on shore; but he told them to take ships, and then they\nmight fight. Earl R\u00f6gnvald saw, however, that they could get no ships in\nHjaltland, such as would give them any chance, and they parted thus as\nmatters stood. Earl Paul and his men went back to the Orkneys, but Earl\nR\u00f6gnvald and his men remained in Hjaltland during the summer. In the\nautumn they went back to Norway with some merchants, and it was thought\ntheir expedition had come to a most ridiculous end.\n\nWhen Earl R\u00f6gnvald came to the east, he saw his father Kol, who asked\nhim whether he was dissatisfied with his expedition. He replied that the\nresult had brought little honour to himself.\n\nKol replied: \u201cI do not think so; I think a great deal has been done,\nsince the Hjaltlanders are your friends, and the journey was better than\nstaying at home.\u201d\n\nR\u00f6gnvald replied: \u201cIf you praise this journey, then you are either more\nindifferent about my case than I thought, or you see something in it\nwhich I do not perceive. I should wish very much to have your counsels,\nand that you would go with us yourself.\u201d\n\nKol replied: \u201cI shall not do both\u2014call everything easy for you, and come\nnowhere near myself; but I think I shall hold fast to my own plans, so\nthat there is no prejudice to your honour.\u201d\n\nR\u00f6gnvald replied: \u201cI will gladly follow your counsels.\u201d\n\nKol replied: \u201cFirst, I advise you to send word to King Harald and other\nfriends of yours, and ask them to give you men and ships to go to the\nwest in the spring; but during the winter we ourselves will collect all\nthe forces we can, and then try a second time whether we can gain\npossession of the Islands, or find our graves there.\u201d\n\n\u201cI have made up my mind,\u201d said Earl R\u00f6gnvald, \u201cnot to make another\njourney like that we made just now, and I think that most of us who went\nare of the same mind.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER LIX\n\n                         EARL R\u00d6GNVALD\u2019S PLANS.\n\n\nEARL PAUL went back to the Orkneys, after having taken the ships of Earl\nR\u00f6gnvald. He had gained a great victory, and feasted all his friends and\nvassals.\n\nIt was now resolved to make a beacon in Fridarey (Fair Isle), which\nshould be lighted if enemies were seen coming from Hjaltland. Another\nbeacon was made in R\u00ednarsey (North Ronaldsay), and others in some other\nislands also, so that they might be seen all over the Islands.\nThorstein, the son of H\u00e1vard, Gunni\u2019s son, was to have charge of that on\nR\u00ednarsey; his brother Magnus of the one in Sandey; Kugi of that in\nWestrey; and Sigurd, at Westness, of the one in R\u00f3lfsey. Olaf, R\u00f3lf\u2019s\nson, went to Dungalsb\u00e6, in Caithness, and was to have the emoluments of\nthat place. His son Valthi\u00f3f lived at that time in Straumsey (Stroma).\n\nEarl Paul gave presents to his men, and all promised him their unfailing\nfriendship. He had many men about him in the autumn, until he heard that\nR\u00f6gnvald and his men had left Hjaltland. Nothing happened in the Islands\nuntil Yule. Earl Paul had a grand Yule feast, which he prepared at his\nestate in J\u00f3rfiara (Orphir), and invited many guests. Valthi\u00f3f, Olaf\u2019s\nson, from Straumsey (Stroma), was invited. He went with his men in a\nten-oared boat, and they perished all of them in the West Firth on Yule\nEve. That was thought sad news, as Valthi\u00f3f was a most accomplished man.\nHis father, Olaf, had a large party in Caithness. There were his sons\nSwein and Gunni, and the sons of Gr\u00edm of Swiney,[328] Asbi\u00f6rn and\nMargad, brave-looking fellows, who always followed Swein. Three nights\nbefore Yule, Swein, Olaf\u2019s son, Asbi\u00f6rn, and Margad, had put out to\nsea-fishing, and Asleif and her son, and Gunni, Olaf\u2019s son, had gone a\nshort distance to visit their friends. The night after that Olvir Rosta\narrived at Dungalsb\u00e6 with the party that had been out with him on a\nviking-raid during the summer. He surprised Olaf in the house, and set\nit on fire immediately. There he was burnt with five others, but the\nrest were permitted to escape. Olvir and his men took all the movable\nproperty, and then went away.\n\nAfter this Swein was called Asleif\u2019s son. He came home on Yule Eve, and\nwent immediately out north, on the Pentland Firth. At midnight they came\nto Gr\u00edm, the father of Asbi\u00f6rn and Margad, in Swefney (Swona); he went\ninto the boat to them, and they brought Swein to Knarrarstadir\n(Knarstane), in Sk\u00e1lpeid (Scapa). A man, by name Arnkel, lived there.\nHis sons were H\u00e1nef and Sigurd. Gr\u00edm and his sons returned, and Swein\ngave him a finger-ring of gold. H\u00e1nef and Sigurd accompanied Swein to\nJ\u00f3rfiara (Orphir), where he was well received; and he was conducted to\nhis kinsman Eyvind Melbrigdi\u2019s son. Eyvind conducted him to Earl Paul,\nwho received him well, and asked his news. He told him of his father\u2019s\ndeath, at which the Earl was much grieved, and said it had in a great\nmeasure happened through him. He invited Swein to stay with him, and he\naccepted the invitation with thinks.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER LX\n\n                           SWEIN SLAYS SWEIN.\n\n\nTHEN they went to evensong. There was a large homestead there (at\nOrphir); it stood on the hill-side, and there was a height behind the\nhouses. From the top of the hill Aurridafi\u00f6rd[329] may be seen on the\nother side; in it lies Damisey. In this island there was a castle; the\nkeeper of it was a man by name Bl\u00e1n, the son of Thorstein, at\nFlydruness.[330] In J\u00f3rfiara there was a large drinking-hall;[331] the\ndoor was near the east gable on the southern wall, and a magnificent\nchurch was in front of the door; and one had to go down to the church\nfrom the hall. On entering the hall one saw a large flat stone[332] on\nthe left hand; farther in there were many large ale vessels; but\nopposite the outer door was the stofa.\n\nWhen the guests came from evensong, they were placed in their seats. The\nEarl had Swein, Asleif\u2019s son, next to him. On the other side, next to\nthe Earl, was Swein Bri\u00f3streip, and then J\u00f3n his kinsman. When the\ntables were removed, there came in men with the tidings of Valthi\u00f3f\u2019s\ndrowning. This the Earl considered sad news. He said that no one should\ntell it to Swein while the Yule feast lasted, adding that he had cares\nenow already. In the evening, when they had finished drinking, the Earl\nwent to bed, and so did most of his guests. Swein Bri\u00f3streip went out\nand sat out all night, as was his wont. In the night (at midnight?) the\nguests arose and heard mass, and after high mass they sat down to the\ntable. Eyvind Melbrigdi\u2019s son, shared the management of the feast with\nthe Earl, and did not sit down to the table. Table-boys and candle-boys\nwere standing before the Earl\u2019s table,[333] but Eyvind handed\ndrinking-cups to each of the Sweins. Swein Bri\u00f3streip thought Eyvind\npoured more into his cup than Swein, Asleif\u2019s son\u2019s, and that he took\nthe cup away from the latter before he had emptied it, so he called\nSwein, Asleif\u2019s son, a sluggard at his drink. There had long been a\ncoldness between Swein Bri\u00f3streip and Olaf, Hr\u00f3lf\u2019s son, and also\nbetween him and Swein, Asleif\u2019s son, since he grew up. When they had\nbeen drinking for a while, the guests went to nones\u2019 service. When they\ncame in again, memorial toasts[334] were proposed, and they drank out of\nhorns. Then Swein Bri\u00f3streip wished to exchange horns with his namesake,\nsaying his was a small one. Eyvind, however, put a big horn into Swein\nAsleif\u2019s son\u2019s hand, and this he offered to his namesake. Then Swein\nBri\u00f3streip became angry, and was overheard by the Earl and some of the\nmen muttering to himself, \u201cSwein will be the death of Swein, and Swein\nshall be the death of Swein.\u201d But nothing was said about it. The\ndrinking went on until evensong; and when the Earl went out, Swein,\nAsleif\u2019s son, walked before him; but Swein Bri\u00f3streip remained behind\ndrinking. When they came out to the ale-room, Eyvind followed them, and\ncraved a word alone with Swein, Asleif\u2019s son.\n\nHe said, \u201cDid you not hear what your namesake said when you offered him\nthe horn?\u201d\n\n\u201cNo,\u201d he replied.\n\nThen Eyvind repeated his words, and said that it was surely the devil\nthat had spoken through his mouth in the night. \u201cHe intends to kill\nyou,\u201d he added, \u201cbut you should forestall him, and slay him.\u201d\n\nEyvind put an axe into his hand, and told him to stand in the shadow\nbeside the flat stone; he should strike him in front if J\u00f3n preceded\nhim; but from behind if J\u00f3n followed him.\n\nThe Earl went to the church, and no one took heed of Eyvind and Swein;\nbut when Swein Bri\u00f3streip and J\u00f3n walked out shortly after, the latter\nhad a sword in his hand, as was his habit, though the others were\nunarmed. J\u00f3n walked in front. Some light came through the outer door,\nbut outside the sky was cloudy. When Swein Bri\u00f3streip came into the\ndoorway, Swein, Asleif\u2019s son, struck him on the forehead, so that he\nstumbled, but did not fall; and when he regained his footing, he saw a\nman in the door, and thought it was he who had wounded him. Then he drew\nhis sword, and struck at his head, splitting it down to the shoulders.\nThis, however, was J\u00f3n, his kinsman, and they fell there both. Eyvind\ncame up at the same moment, and led Swein, Asleif\u2019s son, into the stofa,\nopposite the door, and he was dragged out through a window. There\nMagnus, Eyvind\u2019s son, had a horse ready for him, and accompanied him\naway behind the house, and into Aurrida Firth. There he took a boat, and\nbrought Swein to the castle in Damisey; and the next morning Bl\u00e1n\naccompanied him to Bishop William, in Egilsey. When they arrived there\nthe Bishop was at mass, and after the mass Swein was conducted to him\nsecretly. Swein told the Bishop the news\u2014the death of his father and\nbrother Valthi\u00f3f, and the slaughter of Swein and J\u00f3n; then he besought\nthe Bishop\u2019s assistance. The Bishop thanked him for the slaughter of\nSwein Bri\u00f3streip, and said it was a good riddance.[335] He kept Swein,\nAsleif\u2019s son, during the Yule-tide, and after that he sent him to a man\ncalled H\u00f6ldbodi, Hundi\u2019s son, in Tyrvist (Tiree), in the Sudreyar\n(Hebrides). H\u00f6ldbodi was a great chief, and received Swein very well,\nand there he spent the winter highly esteemed of all the people.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER LXI\n\n                             OF EARL PAUL.\n\n\nA SHORT time after the slaughters had been committed in J\u00f3rfiara, the\nmen ran from the church, and carried Swein into the house, for he was\nnot yet dead, but insensible, and he died during the night. The Earl\ncommanded every one to take his seat, as he wished to know for certain\nwho had committed the manslaughters. Then Swein, Asleif\u2019s son, was\nmissed, and it was thought clear that he had done the deed.\n\nThen Eyvind came and said that it was plainly seen that Swein Bri\u00f3streip\nmust have killed J\u00f3n.\n\nThe Earl said that no one should touch a hair of Swein Asleif\u2019s son\u2019s\nhead, as this had not been done without provocation. \u201cBut if he avoids\nmeeting with me,\u201d he said, \u201che will harm himself by so doing.\u201d\n\nIt was thought most probable that Swein had gone to H\u00e1kon Karl in\nPapuli,[336] the brother of Earl Magnus the holy. He was a great chief,\na quiet man and moderate. The Earl did not hear of Swein that winter,\nand then he outlawed him. In the spring the Earl visited many of the\nnorthern islands, to collect his land-dues. He made great friends of the\nchiefs, and bestowed presents with both hands. The Earl visited\nStraumsey (Stroma), and gave Thorkel Flettir the farm which Valthi\u00f3f\nhad, till such time as he should know where Swein was.\n\nThorkel said: \u201cHere the saying does not prove true, that \u2018the King has\nmany ears.\u2019 Although you are an Earl, I think it strange that you have\nnot heard of Swein, for I knew immediately that Bishop William had sent\nhim to H\u00f6ldbodi, Hundi\u2019s son, in the Sudreyar, and there he has been all\nwinter.\u201d\n\nThe Earl replied: \u201cWhat shall I do with a Bishop who has acted thus?\u201d\n\nThorkel replied: \u201cThe Bishop should not be blamed for this in critical\ntimes like these; and you will need all your friends if R\u00f6gnvald and his\nmen come from the east.\u201d\n\nThe Earl said that was true.\n\nFrom Straumsey he went to R\u00ednarsey, and received an entertainment from\nRagna and her son Thorstein. Ragna was a wise woman. They (she and her\nson) had another farm in Papey. The Earl spent three nights there, as he\nwas prevented by weather from going to Kugi, in Westrey. The Earl and\nRagna spoke of many things.\n\nShe said to him: \u201cThere was no great loss in Swein Bri\u00f3streip, although\nhe was a brave warrior, for he brought on you the hatred of many. I\nshould therefore advise you, in presence of the difficulties that face\nyou, to make as many friends as possible, and be slow to resent\noffences. I could wish that you would not attach blame to Bishop William\nand other kinsmen of Swein, Asleif\u2019s son, but rather take the Bishop\ninto favour, and send word to the Sudreyar after Swein to pardon him and\nrestore him his possessions, in order that he may be to you such as his\nfather was. It has long been the custom of the noblest men to do a great\ndeal for their friends, and thus to secure support and popularity.\u201d\n\nThe Earl replied: \u201cYou are a wise woman, Ragna, but you have not yet\nbeen made Earl of the Orkneys, and you shall not rule the land here. Is\nit come to this, that I must give Swein money in order to be reconciled\nto him, thinking that it would be to my advantage?\u201d Then he became\nwroth, and continued: \u201cLet God decide between me and my kinsman\nR\u00f6gnvald, and may He let it happen to each of us according to his deeds.\nIf I have offended against R\u00f6gnvald, I now make offer of reparation; but\nif he will invade my dominions, I will think him my greatest friend who\nassists me to defend them. I have never seen R\u00f6gnvald; and, so far from\nhaving ever offended him with my knowledge, it is known that I had no\npart in what my kinsmen did.\u201d\n\nMany replied that to try to deprive him of his possessions by force of\narms would be a most unprovoked assault; and no one spoke against this.\n\nWhen the spring advanced, Earl Paul had beacons kept up in Fridarey\n(Fair Isle) and R\u00ednarsey (North Ronaldsay), and almost all the Islands,\nso that each could be seen from the other. A man named Dagfinn,\nHl\u00f6dver\u2019s son, an active fellow who had a farm in Fridarey, was to keep\nthat beacon, and light it if an army were seen coming from Hjaltland.\n\nEarl R\u00f6gnvald spent the winter at home at Agdir (in Norway), where he\nand his father had farms, and sent messages to his kinsmen and friends.\nSome of them he visited himself, and asked them to assist him with\ntroops and ships to go to the west, and most of them were willing to\nhelp him in his need.\n\nDuring the month of G\u00f3i,[337] Kol sent away two transport vessels; one\nwest to England to buy provisions and arms. S\u00f6lmund took the other south\nto Denmark, to buy such things as Kol told him, because he had all the\nmanagement of their equipment. It was intended that these vessels should\nreturn about Easter, and they had arranged to start in the week after\nEaster. Kol and R\u00f6gnvald had one war-ship each, and S\u00f6lmund a third;\nthey had also a transport ship with provisions. When they came to\nBi\u00f6rgvin, King Harald was there, and he gave R\u00f6gnvald a war-ship fully\nmanned. J\u00f3n F\u00f3t (leg) had a war-ship also. Asl\u00e1k, the son of Erlend,\nfrom Hernur, and the daughter\u2019s son of Steigar Th\u00f3rir, had the sixth; he\nhad also a barge with provisions. Thus they had six large ships, five\nboats, and three transports. When they were waiting for fair wind at\nHernur, a ship came from the west, and they asked for news from the\nOrkneys, and also what preparations Earl Paul would have if Earl\nR\u00f6gnvald came to the west.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER LXII\n\n                            KOL\u2019S COUNSELS.\n\n\nWHILE they were lying at Hernur, Earl R\u00f6gnvald called together a meeting\nof his men, and spoke of Earl Paul\u2019s preparations, and also of the great\nenmity the Orkneymen showed against himself, since they were going to\nprevent him taking possession of his patrimonial inheritance, which had\nbeen justly given him by the Kings of Norway. He made a long and\neloquent speech, the conclusion of which was that he intended to go to\nthe Orkneys and gain them or die there. His speech was approved of by\nall, and every one promised him faithful support.\n\nThen Kol arose and said: \u201cWe have heard from the Orkneys that all the\nislanders will rise with Earl Paul against you to keep you out of your\ninheritance. They are slow to lay aside the enmity which they have\nconceived against you, kinsman. Now it is my counsel to seek for help\nwhere it is likely to be had effectually, and to pray that he may permit\nyou to enjoy these possessions, to whom they rightly belong\u2014namely, the\nHoly Saint Magnus, your mother\u2019s brother. It is my wish that you should\nmake a vow to him, that he may grant you your patrimony and his\ninheritance. You should promise one thing\u2014that if you obtain those\ndominions you will build a stone minster at Kirkiuvag (Kirkwall) in the\nOrkneys, more magnificent than any other in these lands, dedicating it\nto your kinsman, Earl Magnus the Holy, endowing it with money, so that\nit may be fitly established, and that his relics and the Bishop\u2019s see\nmay be brought there.\u201d\n\nEvery one thought this good advice, and the vow was made and confirmed.\nThen they stood out to sea, and had a fair wind. They landed in\nHjaltland, and the inhabitants there, as well as the Norwegians, were\nglad to see each other. The Hjaltlanders were able to tell them much\nfrom the Orkneys, and there they stayed for some time.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER LXIII\n\n                            OF KOL AND UNI.\n\n\nUNI, who has been mentioned before, and who was an accomplice in the\nslaughter of Brynj\u00falf, was now advanced in years.\n\nOnce Kol said to him: \u201cWhat plan would you propose, Uni, in order to get\nthe beacon in Fridarey discontinued, or how would you manage to prevent\nit from being lighted a second time? I put this question to you, because\nI know you are more ready-witted than most others here present, although\nhere are men of more distinction.\u201d\n\nUni replied: \u201cI am not a man of invention, and I do not wish the\nexpedition to be made according to my plans; I would rather choose to\ncome afterwards, for then I should follow my own devices.\u201d\n\nShortly after, Kol had many small boats made ready, and directed their\ncourse to the Orkneys. No chiefs took part in this expedition except\nKol. When they had gone so far that they thought they could be seen from\nFridarey, Kol had the sails spread on all the boats, but ordered his men\nto row backwards, in order that their speed might be as slow as\npossible, although the wind was right astern. The sails were at first\nhauled to the middle of the masts only, but afterwards higher, as if\nthey were coming nearer to the island.\n\nKol said: \u201cThese man\u0153uvres will be seen from Fridarey as if the boats\nwere approaching nearer. They will then perhaps light the beacon, but\nthey will go themselves to Earl Paul to tell him the news.\u201d\n\nSo when the beacon in Fridarey was seen, Thorstein, Ragna\u2019s son, lighted\nthe beacon in R\u00ednarsey; then the beacons were lighted one after another\nin all the Islands, and all the B\u0153ndr went to the Earl, and there was a\ngreat gathering of men.\n\nWhen Kol saw the beacon burning, he ordered his men to turn back, saying\nthat this would now cause dissensions among their enemies. This done,\nKol went back to Hjaltland, and said to Uni that he should now carry out\nhis scheme.\n\nUni took with him three Hjaltlanders, and they took a six-oared boat,\nsome provisions, and fishing tackle. They went to Fridarey. Uni said he\nwas a Norwegian, but had been married in Hjaltland, and had sons there.\nHe further said that he had been robbed by Earl R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s men, and\nspoke very ill of them. He took a house there, but his sons went out\nfishing, and he stayed at home himself and took care of the fish they\ncaught. He entered into conversation with the men of the island, and\nbecame familiar with them, and was well liked.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER LXIV\n\n                           OF THE ORKNEYMEN.\n\n\nWHEN Dagfinn had lighted the beacon, he went to Paul, as has been\nmentioned before. All the Earl\u2019s leading men came to him also. A watch\nwas kept for R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s movements, and it was thought strange that he\nnowhere appeared. Still the troops were kept together for three days.\nThen the Islanders began to murmur, saying that it was great foolishness\nto light beacons when fishermen were seen in their boats.\n\nThorstein, Ragna\u2019s son, was blamed for having lighted the beacon in\nR\u00ednarsey. He replied that he could do nothing but light his beacon when\nhe saw the blaze in Fridarey, and said that this had all happened\nthrough Dagfinn.\n\nDagfinn replied: \u201cPeople come more frequently to harm through you when\nyou cannot blame me for it.\u201d\n\nThorstein told him to be silent, and leapt up with an axe and dealt him\na heavy blow. Then each man seized his weapons, and there was a fray.\nThis was in Hrossey, not far from Kirkiuvag. Sigurd from Westness, and\nhis son H\u00e1kon Kl\u00f3, and Brynj\u00falf, took part with Hl\u00f6dver, Dagfinn\u2019s\nfather, but Thorstein was aided by his kinsmen. Then the Earl was\ninformed of what was going on, and it was a long time until he could\npart them.\n\nKugi of Westrey made a long speech, and said: \u201cDo not disgrace the Earl\nby fighting among yourselves. Ere long you will need all your men; let\nus take care then not to be disabled or at enmity among ourselves. This\nhas probably happened according to the designs of our enemies, and has\nbeen a device of theirs to destroy the beacons in this way. Now they may\nbe expected every day, and let us make our plans accordingly.\u201d\n\nDagfinn said: \u201cNo one has had any evil intention in this, but we have\nacted with more thoughtlessness than we ought to have done.\u201d\n\nKugi guessed the whole truth, and spoke many wise words about it. At\nlast they both agreed that the Earl should judge between them; and it\nwas resolved to disperse the gathering, and the people went home.\n\nA man by name Eirik was now appointed to take charge of the beacon in\nFridarey. When Uni had stopped there a short time, he came to Eirik, and\nsaid: \u201cWould you like me to take care of the beacon; I have nothing else\nto do, and can give it my undivided attention.\u201d Eirik accepted his\noffer, and when no one was near Uni poured water over it, and made it so\nwet that it could not be lighted.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER LXV\n\n                 THE BEACONS OF THE ORKNEYS DESTROYED.\n\n\nEARL R\u00d6GNVALD and his men said they would wait until the tidal currents\nwere met by an east wind, for then it is hardly possible to go from\nWestrey to Hrossey, but with east wind one can sail from Hjaltland to\nWestrey. For this R\u00f6gnvald and his men waited, and came one Friday\nevening to H\u00f6fn,[338] in Westrey, to Helgi, who dwelt there.\n\nNo beacons could be lighted, for when the sails were seen from Fridarey,\nEirik prepared to go to Earl Paul, and sent a man to Uni to light the\nbeacon, but when he came there Uni was away. When the man tried to light\nthe beacon himself, it was so wet that it would not burn. When Eirik\nheard this, he knew what was the matter, and went to Earl Paul and told\nhim.\n\nWhen Earl R\u00f6gnvald had arrived in Westrey, the islanders ran together.\nHelgi and Kugi put themselves at their head, and their first plan was to\ntry to make peace with the Earl; and their dealings ended in such a way\nthat the Westreymen submitted to Earl R\u00f6gnvald, and swore him oaths of\nfealty.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER LXVI\n\n                      ROGNVALD RULES THE ORKNEYS.\n\n\nON Sunday Earl R\u00f6gnvald had mass celebrated there in the village.[339]\nAs they were standing outside the church, they saw sixteen men\napproaching unarmed, and with their hair close cut. The Earl\u2019s men\nthought their dress singular, and spoke among themselves of who they\nmight be. Then the Earl made a ditty:\n\n                Sixteen have I seen together,\n                With a small tuft on their foreheads;\n                Surely these are women coming,\n                All without their golden trinkets.\n                Now may we of this bear witness.\n                In the west here all the maidens\n                Wear their hair short\u2014that isle Elon[340]\n                Lies out in the stormy ocean.\n\nAfter Sunday, Earl R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s men visited the neighbouring districts,\nand all the people gave in their submission to the Earl. One night in\nWestrey the Earl\u2019s men became aware that the islanders were holding a\nsecret meeting to devise some treachery against Earl R\u00f6gnvald. When the\nEarl heard of it, he rose and went to the place of meeting. When he came\nthere, his men had beaten many of the islanders, and had taken Farmer\nKugi and put him in fetters, saying that he was the author of all these\nproceedings. Kugi pled his cause eloquently, and many put in a word for\nhim, and protested his innocence with him. Then the Earl sang:\n\n                  I can see the crooked irons\n                  Fastened round the legs of Kugi;\n                  Stray thou canst not in thy fetters,\n                  Old man! fond of making night trips;\n                  Now you must not hold night meetings,\n                  And must keep the peace established;\n                  Kugi! all your tricks are hinder\u2019d,\n                  And your oaths you must keep sacred.\n\nThe Earl pardoned them all, and they renewed their compact.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER LXVII\n\n                       OF EARL ROGNVALD AND PAUL.\n\n\nAFTER Earl R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s arrival in the Orkneys, and when many had\nsubmitted to him, Earl Paul held a meeting in Hrossey with his men for\nconsultation. The Earl asked their opinion of what was to be done in\nthese difficulties. There were considerable differences of opinion. Some\nadvised Earl Paul to share his dominions with Earl R\u00f6gnvald. But most of\nthe more powerful men and B\u0153ndr wished to buy R\u00f6gnvald away with money,\nand offered their means for that purpose. Others were for fighting, as\nthey said that this had been the successful way before.\n\nEarl R\u00f6gnvald had spies at the meeting, and when they came to him, the\nEarl asked a certain skald, who had been there, for news. He sang:\u2014\n\n                Of our foes I gain\u2019d this knowledge\n                That o\u2019er secrets they are brooding.\n                From the meeting of the B\u0153ndr\n                Has the great chief heard the tidings\n                That among the powerful feeders\n                Of the wolves, the wish prevails that\n                All your ships should leave the islands\n                And that Paul should rule the land here.\n\nThen Earl R\u00f6gnvald sent men to see the Bishop, and asked for his\nintervention. He also sent for Thorstein, Ragna\u2019s son, and Thorstein,\nH\u00e1vard\u2019s son, in Sandey, and requested them to try to make peace between\nhim and his kinsman. The Bishop procured a fortnight\u2019s truce, in order\nthat they might endeavour to establish a more lasting peace. Then the\nislands were allocated that should maintain each of them in the\nmeantime.[341] Earl R\u00f6gnvald went to Hrossey (Mainland), and Earl Paul\nto Hr\u00f3lfsey (Rousay).\n\nAt this time it happened that the kinsmen Swein, Asleif\u2019s son, J\u00f3n V\u00e6ng\nof Uppland in H\u00e1ey, and Rikgard of Brekkur in Sti\u00f3rnsey (Stronsay),\nattacked Thorkel Flettir on the estate which had belonged to Valthi\u00f3f,\nand burnt him in the house, with nine others. After that they went to\nEarl R\u00f6gnvald, and told him that they would go to Earl Paul with the\nwhole body of their kinsmen, if he would not receive them; but he did\nnot turn them away.\n\nAs soon as Haflidi, Thorkel\u2019s son, heard of his father\u2019s burning, he\nwent to Earl Paul, who received him well.\n\nAfter this J\u00f3n and his men bound themselves to serve Earl R\u00f6gnvald, who\nhad now many followers in the Islands, and had become popular. Earl\nR\u00f6gnvald gave leave to J\u00f3n, S\u00f6lmund, and Asl\u00e1k, and many others of his\npartizans, to go home, but they said they preferred to wait until\nmatters should be definitely settled. Earl R\u00f6gnvald replied: \u201cIf it is\nthe will of God that I should gain possession of the Orkneys, I think He\nand the Holy Earl Magnus, my kinsman, will give me strength to hold\nthem, even if you go home to your estates.\u201d\n\nThen they went home to Norway.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER LXVIII\n\n                     SWEIN TAKES EARL PAUL CAPTIVE.\n\n\nEARLY in the spring, Swein, Asleif\u2019s son, left the Sudreyar (Hebrides),\nand went to Scotland to see his friends. He stayed a long time at\nAtj\u00f6klar (Athole) with Earl Maddad and Margaret, H\u00e1kon\u2019s daughter, and\nhad many secret consultations with them. Swein heard that there were\ndisturbances in the Orkneys, and became desirous of going there to see\nhis kinsmen. He went first to Th\u00f3rsey (Thurso), in Caithness,\naccompanied by a nobleman by name Li\u00f3t\u00f3lf. Swein had stayed with him a\nlong time in the spring. They came to Earl Ottar, at Th\u00f3rsey, the\nbrother of Fr\u00e1kork. Li\u00f3t\u00f3lf tried to make them compose the matters that\nhad been done by Fr\u00e1kork\u2019s orders, and Earl Ottar made compensation for\nhis part. He promised his friendship to Swein, and he promised to Ottar,\nin return, to help Erlend, the son of Harald Sl\u00e9ttm\u00e1li (smooth-talker),\nto obtain his patrimony in the Orkneys when he should wish to claim it.\n\nSwein changed ships there, and took a barge manned by thirty men. He\ncrossed the Pentland Firth with a north-westerly wind, and so along the\nwest side of Hrossey, on to Efjusund,[342] and along the sound to\nHr\u00f3lfsey (Rousay). At one end of the island there is a large headland\nand a vast heap of stones beneath it. Otters often resorted to this\nstone-heap. As they were rowing along the sound, Swein said, \u201cThere are\nmen on the headland, let us land and ask them for news; let us change\nour dress, untie our hammocks,[343] and twenty of us lie down there, and\nten keep on rowing: let us go leisurely.\u201d When they came near the\nheadland the men in the island called to them to row to Westness, and\nbring Earl Paul what was in their vessel, thinking they were speaking to\nmerchants. Earl Paul had spent the night at a feast with Sigurd, at\nWestness. He had been early up in the morning, and twenty men had gone\nsouth on the island to catch otters, which were in the stone-heap\nbeneath the headland. They were going home to get a morning draught. The\nmen in the barge rowed near the land; they asked the men on shore about\nall the news, and were asked what news they brought, and whence they\ncame. Swein\u2019s men also asked where the Earl was, and the others said he\nwas on the stone-heap there. This was heard by Swein and those that lay\nhid with him in the skin-bags. Swein told them to row to land, where\nthey could not be seen from the headland. Then he told his men to get\ntheir weapons, and slay the Earl\u2019s men wherever they found them, and so\nthey did. Swein\u2019s party killed nineteen men, and lost six. They seized\nEarl Paul with violence, and brought him on board their ship, and stood\nout to sea, returning by the same way, by the west side of Hr\u00f3lfsey, and\nthrough the channel between H\u00e1ey and Grimsey, and then by the east of\nSvelgr,[344] thence to Breidafiord (the Moray Firth), until they came to\nEkkialsbakki.[345] There he left his ship with twenty men, and continued\nhis journey until he came to Earl Maddad[346] and Margaret, Earl Paul\u2019s\nsister, at Atj\u00f6klar (Athole). There they were well received. Earl Maddad\nplaced Earl Paul in his high seat, and when they were seated, Margaret\nentered with a long train of ladies, and advanced to her brother. Then\nmen were procured to amuse them; but Earl Paul was moody, and it was no\nwonder, for he had many cares.\n\nIt is not recorded what passed between Earl Paul and Swein while they\nwere on the journey together. Earl Maddad, Margaret, and Swein, had a\nconsultation together; but in the evening, when the drinking was\nfinished, Swein\u2019s followers were conducted to a sleeping-room by\nthemselves, and the key turned upon them. This was done every evening\nwhile they were there.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER LXIX\n\n            OF SWEIN, ASLEIF\u2019S SON\u2019S, RETURN TO THE ORKNEYS.\n\n\nONE day Margaret announced that Swein, Asleif\u2019s son, should go to the\nOrkneys to see Earl R\u00f6gnvald, and ask him whom he preferred to share in\nthe dominion of the Orkneys with him\u2014Earl Paul, or Harald, the son of\n(her husband) Maddad, who was then three winters old.\n\nWhen Earl Paul heard this, he said: \u201cSo far as my mind is concerned, I\nwill say that I have left my dominions in such a way as has never been\nheard of before, I think; and I shall never return to the Orkneys any\nmore. I see that this must be God\u2019s vengeance for the theft which I and\nmy kinsmen committed. But if God thinks the dominion mine, then will I\ngive it to Harald, if he may enjoy it; but I wish some money given to\nme, so that I may establish myself in some monastery, and you can take\ncare that I do not escape. And you, Swein, shall go out to the Orkneys,\nand say that I have been blinded, or still more mutilated, because my\nfriends will fetch me if I am an unmaimed man. In that case I may not be\nable to refuse to return to my dominions with them, for I suspect that\nthey will consider our parting a greater loss than it is.\u201d\n\nWhat more the Earl said has not been placed on record.\n\nThen Swein, Asleif\u2019s son, went to the Orkneys, and Earl Paul remained\nbehind in Scotland.\n\nThis is how Swein related these matters. But some men tell the story in\na way by no means so creditable (to those concerned)\u2014namely, that\nMargaret induced Swein, Asleif\u2019s son, to blind her brother Earl Paul,\nthen threw him into a dungeon, and subsequently induced another man to\nput him to death. We do not know which of these two statements is the\nmore correct; but it is well known that Earl Paul came never again to\nthe Orkneys, and that he had no dominions in Scotland.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER LXX\n\n               OF EARL ROGNVALD AND SWEIN, ASLEIF\u2019S SON.\n\n\nIT happened at Westness, when the Earl did not come home, that Sigurd\nsent men to search for him. When they came to the stone-heap they saw\nthe slain, and then they thought the Earl had been killed. They went\nhome and told the news. Sigurd went immediately to examine the bodies,\nand they recognised nineteen as the Earl\u2019s men; but six they did not\nknow. Then Sigurd sent men to Egilsey, to the Bishop, to tell him the\nnews. He went immediately to Sigurd. When they were talking about what\nhad happened, Sigurd hinted that it had been done at the instigation of\nEarl R\u00f6gnvald; but the Bishop replied that it would be proved that Earl\nR\u00f6gnvald had not acted treacherously towards his kinsman Earl Paul. \u201cIt\nis my opinion,\u201d he said, \u201cthat some others have committed this crime.\u201d\n\nBorgar, the son of J\u00e1tv\u00f6r, Erlend\u2019s daughter, who lived at\nGeitaberg,[347] had seen the barge coming from the south, and returning.\nWhen this was heard, it was believed to have been done at the\ninstigation of Fr\u00e1kork and Olvir.\n\nWhen the news spread in the Islands that Earl Paul had disappeared, and\nno one knew what had become of him, the Islanders had a consultation,\nand most of them went to Earl R\u00f6gnvald, and swore fealty to him; but\nSigurd, of Westness, and his sons, Brynj\u00falf and H\u00e1kon Kl\u00f3, said they\nwould not swear oaths of fealty to any man while they did not know\nanything of Earl Paul, or whether he might he expected to return or not.\nThere were others also who refused to swear oaths to Earl R\u00f6gnvald.\nOthers again fixed an hour or a day when they would become Earl\nR\u00f6gnvald\u2019s men, if Earl Paul had not then been heard of. But when Earl\nR\u00f6gnvald saw that he had to do with many powerful men, he did not refuse\nperemptorily anything which the people asked; and, as the time passed,\nhe had frequent meetings with the inhabitants, and at each of them some\nsubmitted to him.\n\nOne day it happened in Kirkiuvag (Kirkwall) when Earl R\u00f6gnvald was\nholding a Thing meeting with the B\u0153ndr, that nine armed men were seen\nwalking from Sk\u00e1lpeid (Scapa) to the meeting. When they came near,\nSwein, Asleif\u2019s son, was recognised, and all were curious to know what\nnews he had to tell. He had come in a ship to Sk\u00e1lpeid, and left it\nthere, while he and his men walked to Kirkiuvag. When Swein came to the\nmeeting, his kinsmen and friends turned to him, and asked him for news,\nbut he did not say much. Swein sent for the Bishop, who welcomed him\nheartily, because they had long been friends. They went aside to talk,\nand Swein told the Bishop the whole truth about what he had done, and\nasked for his advice in these difficult circumstances.\n\nThe Bishop said: \u201cThose are weighty tidings you have brought, Swein, and\nwe shall probably not be by ourselves sufficient in this matter. I wish\nyou to wait here for me; but I shall plead your cause before the people\nand Earl R\u00f6gnvald.\u201d\n\nThen the Bishop went to the meeting, and asked for silence. When silence\nwas obtained, the Bishop pleaded Swein\u2019s cause, explaining for what\nreason he had left the Orkneys, and what penalties Earl Paul had\ninflicted on him for the slaying of Swein Bri\u00f3streip, a most wicked man.\nThe Bishop concluded by asking Earl R\u00f6gnvald and all the people to grant\nsecurity to Swein.\n\nEarl R\u00f6gnvald replied: \u201cFor my part, I promise Swein three nights\u2019\nsecurity; but I think I can see from your countenance, Sir Bishop, that\nyou and Swein know some great news which you have not yet made known. I\nwish you to take Swein into your keeping, and to be responsible for him,\nand I will speak to him to-morrow.\u201d\n\n\u201cI will,\u201d said the Bishop; \u201cand he will be very glad to speak to you as\nsoon as possible; for he wishes to become your man, if you are willing\nto receive him.\u201d\n\nThe Earl replied: \u201cI do not think my friends are too many in these\nlands, yet I shall have some farther talk before I consent to this.\u201d\n\nThen these four\u2014Earl R\u00f6gnvald, his father Kol, the Bishop, and Swein,\nAsleif\u2019s son\u2014had a private interview. Swein repeated everything, good\nand bad, that had happened between him and Earl Paul, and they came to\nthe conclusion to send away the bulk of the people at the meeting. The\nEarl arose next morning and gave the people permission to go home; but\nwhen the multitude had gone away, he called together all those that\nremained, and made them all renew their promise of security to Swein,\nwhile he told the news.\n\nIn the morning, Magnus[348] Karl, the brother of the Holy Earl Magnus,\nwas persuaded to tell Sigurd of Westness and his sons of Earl Paul\u2019s\nabduction, that he was not to be expected back to his dominions, and\nthat he had been maimed.\n\nSigurd said: \u201cGreat news do I think this, about the carrying away of the\nEarl; yet to me the saddest of all is that he should have been maimed,\nfor he would not be anywhere where I would not go to him.\u201d Afterwards he\ntold his friends that H\u00e1kon would not have left him unharmed, if he had\nhad a sufficient force with him when he told him these tidings, so\ngreatly was he moved by them.\n\nWhen the news became generally known, all the Orkneymen submitted to\nEarl R\u00f6gnvald, and he became the sole ruler of Earl Paul\u2019s dominions.\n\nNot long after this the foundations of St. Magnus\u2019 Church[349] were\nmarked out, and craftsmen procured, so that more was done during that\nyear than in the ensuing four or five. Kol took great interest in the\nerection of the building, and had the principal oversight of the whole;\nbut as it proceeded, it became very expensive to the Earl, and his means\nwere nearly exhausted. Then he consulted his father, and he advised him\nto pass a law declaring that the Earls should be considered to have\ninherited all the odal possessions from the owners, but that they were\nto be redeemable by the heirs.[350] This was considered a great\nhardship. Then Earl R\u00f6gnvald called a Thing meeting, and proposed to the\nB\u0153ndr that they should purchase the odal possessions, so that it would\nnot be necessary to redeem them afterwards, and an agreement was made\nwith which all parties were satisfied. It was to this effect, that they\nshould pay the Earl one mark (eight oz. of silver) for each plough\u2019s\nland all over the Islands. From that time there was no want of money to\nbuild the church; and it was made a magnificent structure.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER LXXI\n\n                   BISHOP J\u00d3N ARRIVES FROM SCOTLAND.\n\n\nWHEN Earl R\u00f6gnvald had ruled the Orkneys two winters he had a Yule-feast\nat his estate called Knarrarstadir.[351] The sixth day of Yule a ship\nwas seen crossing the Pentland Firth from the south. It was a fine day,\nand the Earl was outside the house, with many men, looking at the ship.\nThere was also a man named Hr\u00f3lf, the Earl\u2019s court priest. When the\nstrangers landed, they left the ship, and the Earl\u2019s men calculated\ntheir number to be fifteen or sixteen.[352] In front of them walked a\nman in a blue cloak, with his hair tucked up under the cap; the lower\npart of the chin was shaved,[353] but the lips unshaved, and the long\nbeard was hanging down (from them). They thought this man somewhat\nstrange, but Hr\u00f3lf said it was Bishop J\u00f3n from Atj\u00f6klar (Athole), in\nScotland. Then the Earl went to meet them, and gave the Bishop a\ngracious welcome. He placed him in his high seat, but served at the\ntable himself like a waiter.\n\nEarly next morning the Bishop held a service, and went to Egilsey to see\nBishop William. This was the tenth day of Yule. Then both the Bishops\nwent with a noble suite to visit Earl R\u00f6gnvald, and told him their\nbusiness, explaining the agreement between Swein, Asleif\u2019s son, and Earl\nMaddad\u2014namely, that their son Harald should bear the title of Earl, and\nhave half the Orkneys jointly with Earl R\u00f6gnvald, but Earl R\u00f6gnvald\nshould have the government in his hands, even when Harald grew up; and\nif a difference arose between them, Earl R\u00f6gnvald should have his own\nway.\n\nSwein was present, and confirmed the Bishop\u2019s statement. It was resolved\nto hold a meeting during Lent in Caithness, and there they agreed upon\nthe terms above mentioned, and their agreement was confirmed by the\noaths of the best men of the Orkneys and Scotland. Then Harald, Maddad\u2019s\nson, went to the Orkneys with Earl R\u00f6gnvald, and was invested with the\ntitle of Earl.\n\nHarald was accompanied to the islands by Thorbi\u00f6rn Klerk, the son of\nThorstein H\u00f6ld, and Gudr\u00fan, the daughter of Fr\u00e1kork. He was a wise and a\ngreat man. He was foster-father to Harald at that time, and had great\ninfluence with him. Thorbi\u00f6rn married in the Orkneys Ingirid, Olaf\u2019s\ndaughter, sister to Swein, Asleif\u2019s son. He was sometimes in the\nOrkneys, and sometimes in Scotland. He was a most valiant man, but\noverbearing in most things.\n\nSwein, Asleif\u2019s son, took possession of all the estates that belonged to\nhis father Olaf and his brother Valthi\u00f3f; he became a great chief, and\nhad always many men with him. He was a wise man, and far-seeing in many\nthings; but overbearing and rash. No two men in the west were considered\nat that time greater than the brothers-in-law Swein and Thorbi\u00f6rn, and\nthere was a warm friendship between them.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER LXXII\n\n                        THE BURNING OF FRAKORK.\n\n\nON one occasion Swein, Asleif\u2019s son, asked Earl R\u00f6gnvald to give him\ntroops and ships to take vengeance on Olvir and Fr\u00e1kork for the burning\nof his father Olaf.\n\nThe Earl said: \u201cDo you not think, Swein, that Olvir and that old hag\nFr\u00e1kork, who is good for nothing, will scarcely be able to do us any\nharm now?\u201d\n\nSwein replied: \u201cThey will always be mischievous while they live; and I\nexpected something else when I did great things for you, than that you\nwould refuse me this.\u201d\n\nThe Earl replied: \u201cWhat will you be satisfied with?\u201d\n\nSwein said: \u201cTwo ships well equipped.\u201d\n\nThe Earl said he should have what he wished.\n\nThen he made preparations for going. When he was ready he sailed south\nto Borgarfiord,[354] and had a northwest wind to D\u00fafeyrar,[355] which is\na trading-place in Scotland. From there he passed Moray to\nEkkialsbakki,[356] and from there he went to Earl Maddad at Atj\u00f6klar\n(Athole). He gave Swein guides who knew the way across mountains and\nforests wherever Swein wished to go; and he went through the interior of\nthe country, over mountains and through woods, away from all\nhabitations, and came down in Hj\u00e1lmundal,[357] near the middle of\nSutherland. Olvir and Fr\u00e1kork had had spies wherever they thought they\nmight expect enemies from the Orkneys, but this way they did not expect\nany. They did not, therefore, perceive the enemy till Swein and his men\nwere in a certain slope behind the house. Olvir Rosta met them there\nwith sixty men, and the fight began immediately. There was little\nresistance on the part of Olvir\u2019s men, and they retreated towards the\nhouses, because they could not reach the wood. A great many were killed,\nand Olvir ran to Hj\u00e1lmundal\u2019s river, and then up on the mountains. After\nthat he went to Scotland\u2019s Firth (on the west coast), and from there to\nthe Sudreyar (Hebrides), and he is not mentioned further in this Saga.\n\nWhen Olvir escaped, Swein and his men approached the houses, and\nplundered everything. Then they burnt the houses, with all the inmates,\nand there Fr\u00e1kork perished. Swein and his men committed many ravages in\nSutherland before they went to their ships. After that they were out on\nraids during the summer, and ravaged in Scotland.\n\nIn the autumn Swein came to Earl R\u00f6gnvald in the Orkneys, and was well\nreceived. Then he crossed over to Ness (Caithness), and spent the winter\nin Dungalsb\u00e6. At this time Swein received a message from H\u00f6ldbodi, in\nthe Sudreyar, that he should come and help him, because H\u00f6ld from\nBretland had been there, driven him from his estates, and taken much\nbooty. The messenger was named Hr\u00f3dbjart (Robert), of English descent.\nWhen Swein received the message, he quickly left for the Orkneys, and\ncalled on Earl R\u00f6gnvald, and requested him to give him troops and ships.\nThe Earl asked Swein what he was going to do then. He said that he had\nreceived a message from a man whom he ought least of all to refuse, and\nwho had proved his best friend in his greatest need, and when most\nothers were his enemies.\n\nThe Earl said: \u201cIt is well if you part good friends, but most of those\nSudreyarmen are treacherous. You must, however, act a manly part, and I\nwill give you two ships fully manned.\u201d\n\nSwein was well pleased with this, and went to the Sudreyar, but did not\nfind H\u00f6ldbodi till he came to the Isle of Man, because the latter had\nfled thither. When Swein came to the Isle of Man, H\u00f6ldbodi was very glad\nto see him. The British H\u00f6ld had plundered and killed men, to a large\nextent in the Isle of Man as well as in the Sudreyar. He had killed a\nnobleman named Andrew, who left a widow by name Ingirid, and a son by\nname Sigurd. Ingirid was wealthy, and had large estates. H\u00f6ldbodi\nadvised Swein to woo her; and when he proposed marriage, she made it a\ncondition of her acceptance that he should avenge her late husband\nAndrew.\n\nSwein replied: \u201cI may inflict some loss on the British, but we cannot\nknow how we may succeed in manslaying.\u201d\n\nThen Swein and H\u00f6ldbodi went out on an expedition with five ships. They\nplundered in Bretland, landing at a place called Jarlsness,[358] and\ncommitting great ravages. One morning they went into a certain village,\nand met with a little resistance. The inhabitants fled from the village,\nand Swein and his men plundered everything, and burnt six homesteads\nbefore dinner. An Icelander, named Eir\u00edk was with Swein, and sang the\nfollowing:\n\n                 Half-a-dozen homesteads burning,\n                 Half-a-dozen households plundered:\n                 This was Swein\u2019s work of a morning\u2014\n                 This his vengeance; coals he lent them.\n\nAfter this they went to their ships. They were out reiving all the\nsummer, and obtained much booty, but H\u00f6ld fled into an island called\nLund,[359] where there was a strong place. Swein besieged it for some\ntime, to no purpose. In the autumn they went back to the Isle of Man.\n\n\n\n\n                            CHAPTER LXXIII.\n\n                     OF SWEIN AND HOLDB\u00d6DI\u2019S RAIDS.\n\n\nTHIS winter Swein married Ingirid, and remained there, greatly honoured.\nIn the spring he gathered men together, and went to see H\u00f6ldbodi, and\nasked for his assistance, but he excused himself, saying that many of\nhis men were occupied, and some on trading trips; so Swein got none\nthere. But the truth was, that he had secretly made peace with H\u00f6ld, and\nconfirmed their alliance by exchanging presents. Swein went out,\nnevertheless, with three ships, but made little booty in the earlier\npart of the summer. Later they went south, under Ireland, and seized a\nbarge belonging to some monks in Syllingar,[360] and plundered it. He\nmade inroads in Ireland in many places, obtained a large booty, and\nreturned to the Isle of Man in autumn.\n\nWhen Swein had been a short time at home, he heard a report to the\neffect that H\u00f6ldbodi was not faithful to him, but Swein shrank from\nbelieving it. One night in the spring Swein\u2019s watchmen came to him and\nsaid that enemies were approaching them. Swein and his men seized their\narms, and ran out, and saw a great number of men carrying fire to the\nhomestead. Then Swein and his men ran to a hill, and defended themselves\nfrom it. They had a horn[361] which they sounded. The neighbourhood was\nthickly inhabited, and men came flocking to help Swein, so that the\nassailants at last gave way. Swein and his men pursued them, and killed\nmany in the flight, but many of both sides were wounded before they\nparted. The chief of the attacking band was H\u00f6ldbodi. He escaped in the\nflight, and did not stop till he came to Lundey (Lundy Isle). H\u00f6ld\nreceived him well, and they remained together. Swein went home, and kept\na large number of his men about him, maintaining a strict watch, because\nhe distrusted the Sudreyarmen. Late in the winter he sold his lands, and\nwent early in the spring to Li\u00f3dh\u00fas (Lewis). During this expedition he\nhad committed many ravages.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER LXXIV\n\n                      OF EARL ROGNVALD AND SWEIN.\n\n\nWHILE Swein was in the Sudreyar, Earl R\u00f6gnvald went over to Caithness,\nand was entertained at V\u00edk (Wick) by a man named Harald. His son was\nnamed Swein, an active fellow. While the Earl was there, Thorbi\u00f6rn Klerk\ncame up from Scotland, and said that his father, Thorstein H\u00f6ld, had\nbeen killed by a certain Earl. People talked of how frequently Earl\nR\u00f6gnvald and Thorbi\u00f6rn spoke together, because the Earl scarcely took\nleisure to discharge his duties for that reason. Thorbi\u00f6rn went with the\nEarl out to the Islands (Orkneys), and Swein, Harald\u2019s son, became the\nEarl\u2019s tableboy Thorbi\u00f6rn had been in Scotland for some time. He had\nslain two men who had been with Swein, Asleif\u2019s son, at the burning of\nFr\u00e1kork.\n\nWhen Swein came from the Sudreyar, he went home to his farm in G\u00e1reksey\n(Gairsay), and not to Earl R\u00f6gnvald, as he used to do when he came from\nhis expeditions. So when the Earl heard that Swein had come home from\nthe Sudreyar in the summer, he asked Thorbi\u00f6rn for what reason he\nthought Swein did not come to him.\n\nThorbi\u00f6rn replied: \u201cI suppose Swein is offended with me because I had\nthose men slain who were with him at the burning of Fr\u00e1kork.\u201d\n\nThe Earl said: \u201cI do not like you to be enemies.\u201d\n\nThen Earl R\u00f6gnvald went to G\u00e1reksey, and tried to reconcile them, which\nwas easy, because they both wished the Earl to judge between them. Then\nhe made peace between them, and it lasted for a long time after.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER LXXV\n\n                     EARL ROGNVALD\u2019S PLEASANTRIES.\n\n\nAT this time there came a certain Icelandic ship to the Orkneys, in\nwhich was a man by name Hall, the son of Th\u00f3rarinn Breidmagi (broad\nwaist). He went to R\u00ednarsey (North Ronaldsay), to stay with Thorstein\nand Ragna. He became tired of staying there, and asked Thorstein to\nbring him to Earl R\u00f6gnvald. They went to see him, but the Earl would not\nreceive Hall. When they came home, Ragna asked how they had succeeded,\nand Hall replied by a ditty:\n\n                  It was to thy own son, Ragna,\n                  (Let truth be known among the people)\n                  I gave the noble task of asking\n                  My reception \u2019mong the courtiers;\n                  But the generous ring-giver,\n                  Who enjoys the highest honour,\n                  Has declined my clownish service,\n                  Having plenty of the bravest.\n\nShortly afterwards Ragna went to see Earl R\u00f6gnvald on this errand\nherself. She was so dressed that she had a red head-gear of horse\u2019s\nhair; and when the Earl saw her he sang:\n\n                 Never did I know before this\n                 How the ladies of the cross-bench\n                 Deck their heads with finest kerchiefs.\n                 If I use the proper language,\n                 Seems to me that this gold-wearer\n                 Hides the tresses of her hind-head\n                 With a chestnut filly\u2019s tail-locks,\n                 And her head-dress shows her temper.\n\nRagna said: \u201cNow the saying comes true, \u2018that few are so wise that they\nsee everything as it is,\u2019 for this [hair] is of a horse, and not of a\nmare.\u201d\n\nThen she took a silken kerchief and wrapped it round her head,\ncontinuing, nevertheless, her business with the Earl. He gave her a\nrather cold answer at first, but became more pleasant as they spoke\nlonger, and she obtained what she wanted\u2014namely, to procure for Hall a\nplace at the (Earl\u2019s) court. He remained a long time with Earl R\u00f6gnvald.\nThey made jointly the \u201cOld Metrekey,\u201d[362] with five verses for each\ndifferent metre. Afterwards that was thought too much, and now two\nverses only are made for each different metre.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER LXXVI\n\n               OF EARL ROGNVALD AND SWEIN, ASLEIF\u2019S SON.\n\n\nSWEIN, Asleif\u2019s son, is said to have heard that H\u00f6ldbodi had arrived in\nthe Sudreyar. Then he asked Earl R\u00f6gnvald to give him troops to avenge\nhimself. The Earl gave him five ships, and Thorbi\u00f6rn Klerk was the\ncommander of one of them; Haflidi, the son of Thorkel Flettir, of\nanother; D\u00fafni\u00e1l, the son of H\u00e1vard, Gunni\u2019s son, the third; Rikgard\n(Richard), Thorleif\u2019s son, the fourth; and Swein, Asleif\u2019s son, the\nfifth. When H\u00f6ldbodi heard of Swein, he fled from the Sudreyar. Swein\nand his men killed many people in the Sudreyar, and ravaged and burnt\nfar and wide. They obtained great booty, but could not catch H\u00f6ldbodi,\nand he never came to the Sudreyar after that. Swein wished to remain in\nthe Sudreyar during the winter, but Thorbi\u00f6rn and the others wished to\ngo home, and went in the autumn to Caithness, and arrived at Dungalsb\u00e6.\nWhen they were going to divide their booty, Swein said they should all\nshare equally, but that he himself should have a chief\u2019s share besides,\nsaying that he had been the chief, and that the Earl had sent the others\nto his assistance. Besides, he added further that he alone had the\nquarrel with the Sudreyarmen, while the others had none. Thorbi\u00f6rn,\nhowever, said he did not deserve less than Swein, and had not been less\na leader than he. They also wished that all the ships\u2019 commanders should\nhave equal shares; but they had to submit to Swein, because his men were\nby far the most numerous there on the Ness (in Caithness).\n\nThorbi\u00f6rn went out to the Orkneys and told Earl R\u00f6gnvald how matters had\ngone between him and Swein, and that they were very much displeased to\nhave been deprived by him of their just proportion of the spoil.\n\nThe Earl said it would not be only once that Swein had turned out not to\nbe an equitable man, yet he would in the end receive retribution for his\ninjustice; but, he added: \u201cYou shall not quarrel about this. I shall\ngive you as much money of my own as you have lost through him, and it is\nmy will that you do not claim it of him. It will be a good thing if this\ndoes not lead to greater difficulties with him.\u201d\n\nThorbi\u00f6rn replied: \u201cMay God reward you, my lord, for the honour you do\nus, and we shall not quarrel with Swein about this; but I shall never be\nhis friend any more, and I shall do him some despite in return.\u201d And\nafter that Thorbi\u00f6rn divorced himself from Ingirid, Swein\u2019s sister, and\nsent her to him over to Ness (Caithness). Swein received her well, but\nconsidered Thorbi\u00f6rn\u2019s conduct a great insult to himself. There was then\nfierce enmity between them. Then the saying proved true that monsters\nare best matched together.\n\nWhen Swein was in the Sudreyar, he had placed Margad, Gr\u00edm\u2019s son, over\nhis affairs at Dungalsb\u00e6, and transferred to him the office (of deputy\nor factor) which he held from Earl R\u00f6gnvald, but Margad was resentful\nand overbearing, and became unpopular on account of his violence. Those\nwho were the first objects of his oppression ran to Hr\u00f3ald (at Wick),\nand remained there. From this enmity arose between the two. Shortly\nafter Margad went south to V\u00edk (Wick) on business with nineteen men, and\nbefore he left he attacked Hr\u00f3ald, and killed him and several others.\nThen he went to Dungalsb\u00e6 to see Swein. The latter gathered men\ntogether, and went to Lambaborg,[363] where he fortified himself. It was\na strong place, and there he remained, with sixty men, and brought\nthither provisions and other necessaries. The borg (castle) was situated\non a sea-girt rock, and on the landward side there was a well-built\nstone wall. The crags ran a long way along the sea on either side. Swein\nand his men committed many violent robberies in Caithness, and brought\neverything into the stronghold, and became greatly hated.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER LXXVII\n\n                  OF SWEIN, ASLEIF\u2019S SON\u2019S MOVEMENTS.\n\n\nTHIS news came to the ears of Earl R\u00f6gnvald, and Swein, Hr\u00f3ald\u2019s son,\nand he asked the Earl to help him to obtain redress in this cause; and\nmany supported Swein\u2019s request. At last Earl R\u00f6gnvald crossed over to\nNess (Caithness), and the following chiefs with him:\u2014Thorbi\u00f6rn; Haflidi,\nThorkel\u2019s son; and D\u00fafni\u00e1l, H\u00e1vard\u2019s son. These counselled the most\nsevere measures against Swein. They went to Dungalsb\u00e6, but Swein was not\nthere. They heard that he was in Lambaborg, and then the Earl went\nthither. When they came to the borg, Swein asked who their leader was,\nand he was told that it was Earl R\u00f6gnvald. Swein asked him what he\nwanted. The Earl said he wished him to deliver Margad up to them. Swein\nasked whether he was to receive quarter. The Earl said he would not\npromise. Then Swein said: \u201cI have not the heart to deliver Margad into\nthe power of Swein, Hr\u00f3ald\u2019s son, or of my other enemies who are with\nyou, but I should wish very much to be at peace with you, my lord.\u201d\n\nThen Thorbi\u00f6rn Klerk said: \u201cHear what the traitor says, that he would\nwillingly be at peace with his lord after he has plundered his land, and\nbetaken himself to the highways like a thief. You make a bad return to\nthe Earl for all the honour he has done you, and so you will do to all\nyou can.\u201d\n\nSwein replied: \u201cYou need not say much in this case, Thorbi\u00f6rn, for no\nrespect will be paid to your words. But it is my foreboding that you\nwill repay him worse for all the honour he has done to you, before you\npart, for nobody will gain good fortune from any dealings with you.\u201d\n\nThen Earl R\u00f6gnvald said that men should not rail at each other.\n\nThen they besieged the borg, and cut off all communication, and a long\ntime passed, as they could not make an assault. And when the provisions\nwere exhausted, Swein called his men together, and consulted with them.\nBut they all said, as with one mouth, that they wished to follow his\nguidance as long as they were able.\n\nThen Swein said: \u201cI think it most disgraceful to starve here, and\nafterwards to surrender to our enemies. It has turned out, as was\nlikely, that our skill and good fortune should fail against Earl\nR\u00f6gnvald. We have tried to obtain peace and security for life, but\nneither was to be had for my companion Margad. Though I know that the\nothers will be able to obtain quarter, yet I have not the heart to\ndeliver him under the axe. Still, it is not right that so many here\nshould suffer for his difficulties, although I am unwilling to part from\nhim for a time.\u201d\n\nThen he tied together ropes which they had, and during the night they\nlet Swein and Margad down from the borg into the sea. They swam along\nthe cliffs till they came to the end of them, then they got on shore and\nwent to Sutherland, thence to Moray, and then to D\u00fafeyrar.[364] There\nthey met with some Orkneymen in a trading vessel. Hallvard and Thorkel\nwere the commanders, and they were ten altogether. Swein and Margad went\non board with them, when they were twelve together, and then they sailed\nsouth off Scotland, until they came to M\u00e1eyar (the Isle of May). There\nwas a monastery, the head of which was an abbot, by name Baldwin.[365]\nSwein and his men were detained there seven nights by stress of weather.\nThey said they had been sent by Earl R\u00f6gnvald to the King of Scots. The\nmonks suspected their tale, and thinking they were pirates, sent to the\nmainland for men. When Swein and his comrades became aware of this, they\nwent hastily on board their ship, after having plundered much treasure\nfrom the monastery. They went in along Myrkvifi\u00f6rd (the Firth of Forth),\nand found David, the King of Scots, in Edinburgh. He received Swein\nwell, and requested him to stay with him. He told the King explicitly\nthe reason of his visit, how matters had gone between him and Earl\nR\u00f6gnvald before they parted, and also that they had plundered in M\u00e1eyar.\nSwein and Margad stayed for a while with the King of Scots, and were\nwell treated. King David sent men to those who had been robbed by Swein,\nand told them to estimate their loss themselves, and then of his own\nmoney he made good to every one his loss.\n\nKing David proposed to Swein to bring his wife from the Orkneys, and to\nbestow upon him such honours in Scotland as he might be well satisfied\nwith. Swein declared all his wishes to the King. He said it was his wish\nthat Margad should remain with him, and that the King should send word\nto Earl R\u00f6gnvald to be reconciled to him; but he said he would himself\nleave his case entirely to the decision of R\u00f6gnvald, adding that he was\nalways well pleased when there was friendship between them, but ill at\nease when they were at enmity.\n\nKing David replied: \u201cI suppose this Earl is a good man, and you value\nnothing except what comes from him, since you prefer the risk of\nsurrendering yourself to his good faith, and refuse my offers.\u201d\n\nSwein said he would never give up his friendship, yet he asked the King\nto grant him this, and the King said it should be as he wished.\n\nKing David sent men to the Orkneys with presents, and a message\nrequesting that the Earl would make peace with Swein. Then Swein went\nnorth to the Islands, and Margad remained behind with the King. King\nDavid\u2019s messengers went to Earl R\u00f6gnvald, who received them well, and\nalso the presents, promising peace to Swein. Then he was fully\nreconciled to Swein, who now returned to his estates.\n\n\n\n\n                            CHAPTER LXXVIII.\n\n                         EARL VALTHI\u00d3F\u2019S DEATH.\n\n\nWHEN Swein and Margad had left Lambaborg,[366] those that were in the\nfort resolved to surrender it to Earl R\u00f6gnvald. He asked them what they\nknew last of Swein and Margad, and they told the truth.\n\nWhen the Earl heard it, he said: \u201cTo tell the truth, Swein has no equal\namong those that are now with us, and such feats are both brave and\nhardy; but I will not abuse my power over you, although you were\ninvolved in these troubles with Swein. Every one of you shall go home in\npeace as far as I am concerned.\u201d\n\nThe Earl went home to the Orkneys, and sent Thorbi\u00f6rn Klerk in a ship\nwith forty men south to Breidafiord (the Moray Firth), to search for\nSwein; but he heard nothing of him.\n\nThorbi\u00f6rn then said to his men: \u201cOur journey is a strange one; we are\nall this time wandering after Swein, but I have heard that Earl\nValthi\u00f3f, who slew my father,[367] is not far off, with but a few men;\nand if you will attack him with me, I will promise you that I shall not\nact as Swein did\u2014namely, to deprive you of your share if we get any\nbooty, for you shall have all we get, except what you wish to give me,\nbecause I think glory is better than booty.\u201d\n\nThen they went to the place where Earl Valthi\u00f3f was at a banquet, and\nsurprised them in the house, and set it on fire immediately. Valthi\u00f3f\nand his men ran to the door, and asked who was the raiser of the fire.\nThorbi\u00f6rn told his name. Valthi\u00f3f offered compensation for Thorstein\u2019s\nslaying, but Thorbi\u00f6rn said it was useless to ask for peace. They\ndefended themselves bravely for a time; but when the fire pressed them\nthey ran out; after that their defence was short, because the fire had\novercome them. Earl Valthi\u00f3f fell, and thirty men with him. Thorbi\u00f6rn\nand his men got a great deal of booty, and he kept all his promises to\nthem faithfully. Then they went to the Orkneys to Earl R\u00f6gnvald, who was\nwell satisfied with what they had done. Then there was peace and quiet\nin the Islands.\n\nAt that time a young man lived in the Islands,[368] by name Kolbein\nHruga (heap), a very overbearing man; he built a fine stone castle,[369]\nwhich was a strong defence. Kolbein\u2019s wife was Herbi\u00f6rg, the sister of\nH\u00e1kon Barn (child), but their mother was the daughter of Herborg, Paul\u2019s\ndaughter. Their children were Kolbein Karl, Bjarni Sk\u00e1ld, Sumarlidi,\nAsl\u00e1k, and Fr\u00edda; they were all well mannered.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER LXXIX\n\n                     OF EINDRIDI UNGI (THE YOUNG).\n\n\nAT that time the sons of Harald Gilli[370] ruled over Norway. Eystein\nwas the oldest of them, but Ingi was a legitimate son, and he was most\nhonoured by the Lendermen, because he let them have their way in all\nthings as they liked. At this time the following Lendermen (Barons)\nassisted him in the government:\u2014Ogmund and Erling, the son of Kyrpinga\nOrm. They advised King Ingi to send word to Earl R\u00f6gnvald, and give him\nan honourable invitation, saying truly that he had been a great friend\nof his father, and desired him to become as intimate with the Earl as he\ncould, so that he might be a dearer friend of his than of his brother,\nwhatever might happen between them. The Earl was related to the\nbrothers, and a great friend of theirs; and when he received this\nmessage, he quickly prepared to go, because he felt a desire to go to\nNorway to see his friends and kinsmen. Earl Harald asked to be permitted\nto go with him, out of curiosity and to amuse himself; he was then\nnineteen winters old.\n\nWhen the Earls were ready, they started from the west with some\nmerchants, having a noble retinue, and arrived in Norway early in the\nspring. They found King Ingi in Bi\u00f6rgvin (Bergen), and he received them\nvery well. Earl R\u00f6gnvald saw many of his friends and kinsmen, and spent\na great deal of the summer there. Eindridi Ungi (the young) arrived from\nMikligard (Constantinople) that summer; he had been long in service[371]\nthere, and was able to tell many things from there; and it was thought\ngood entertainment to inquire from him about things in that part of the\nworld. The Earl conversed frequently with him.\n\nOnce when they were talking, Eindridi said: \u201cIt seems strange to me that\nyou do not think of going out to J\u00f3rsalaheim (Jerusalem), and that you\nshould be satisfied with being told of the things that are there; it\nwould best suit such men as you are to be there on account of your great\naccomplishments, and you will be honoured above all others wherever you\ncome among noble men.\u201d\n\nWhen Eindridi had said this, many spoke in favour of it, and exhorted\nthe Earl to become the leader of such an expedition. Erling made a long\nspeech in support of the proposal, and said he would join the party\nhimself, if the Earl would consent to be their chief. And as many men of\nnote seemed eager for the journey, he promised to go. And when he and\nErling were settling matters between them, many noble men joined the\nparty. These Lendermen (Barons) were among them: Eindridi Ungi, who was\nto be their guide, J\u00f3n P\u00e9trsson, Asl\u00e1k Erlendsson, Guttorm M\u00f6l, and Kol\nfrom Halland. It was resolved that none of them should have a larger\nship than with thirty benches, except the Earl, and no one should have\nan ornamented vessel but he. This was done in order that no one should\nenvy another because he had finer men or a better ship than he. J\u00f3n F\u00f3t\n(leg) was to build a ship for the Earl, and to have it as finely fitted\nout as possible. Earl R\u00f6gnvald went home in the autumn, and intended to\nstay at home two winters. King Ingi gave the Earl two long ships\u2014small,\nbut very beautiful, and specially built for rowing; they were,\ntherefore, of all the ships the swiftest. Earl R\u00f6gnvald gave Harald one\nof them, called F\u00edfa; the other was called Hj\u00e1lp. In these ships the\nEarls went to sea, holding westward. Earl R\u00f6gnvald had received large\npresents from his friends. It was Tuesday evening when the Earls put out\nto sea, and they had a fair wind during the night. On Wednesday there\nwas a great storm, and in the evening they saw land. It was very dark,\nand they saw signs of breakers surrounding them on all sides. Up to this\ntime they had kept together. There was nothing to be done except to run\nthe vessels on shore, and this they did.[372] The beach before them was\nstony and narrow, enclosed behind by crags. All the men were saved, but\nthey lost a large quantity of their stores. Some of the things were\nthrown up by the sea during the night. As usual, Earl R\u00f6gnvald bore\nhimself as the bravest of all the men there. He was so merry that he\nplayed with his fingers, and spoke nearly all his sayings in rhyme. He\ntook a golden ring from his hand, and sang this ditty:\n\n                   Thus I hang the hammer-beaten\n                   Hand-ring from my rounded fingers;\n                   Thus I put my fingers through it:\n                   So the nymph of crashing waters\n                   Threw me, joyful, in a rock-rift\n                   There to play me with my fingers.\n\nWhen they had carried their things up from the sea, they went farther\ninland to search for habitations, because they thought they knew they\nhad landed in Hjaltland. They soon found farms, and distributed\nthemselves among them. The people were glad to see the Earl, and when he\nwas asked about his voyage, he sang:\n\n                  Both my ships on beach went crashing;\n                  When the surges swept my men off,\n                  Sore afflicted by the billows\n                  Were the friends of Hjalp and F\u00edfa.\n                  Certainly this misadventure\n                  Of the danger-seeking rovers\n                  Will not soon be quite forgotten\n                  By those who got such a wetting.\n\nThe mistress of the house brought a fur cloak to the Earl, who,\nstretching his hands forward to receive it, and laughing, sang this\nditty:\n\n                 Here I shake a shrunken fur coat;\n                 Surely \u2019tis not ornamental.\n                 All our clothes are in the ship-field,\n                 And it is too wide to seek them.\n                 Lately, all the young sea-horses\n                 Left we dressed in splendid garments,\n                 As we drove the steeds of mast-heads\n                 To the crags, across the surges.\n\nLarge fires were made, and there they warmed themselves. A female\nservant entered shivering all over, and her words were unintelligible on\naccount of her shiver. The Earl said he understood her:\n\n                     Asa! you seem quite exhausted.\n                     Atatata! \u2019tis the water.\n                     Hutututu! where shall I sit?\n                     By the fire\u2014\u2019tis rather chilly.\n\nThe Earl sent twelve of his men to Einar in Gullberuv\u00edk, but he said he\nwould not receive them unless the Earl came himself. When Earl R\u00f6gnvald\nheard this, he sang:\n\n                    Einar said he would give food to\n                    None of all the lads of R\u00f6gnvald,\n                    He himself alone excepted\u2014\n                    (Empty words I now am talking),\n                    For I know that he, the friendly,\n                    Never failed to keep his promise.\n                    Go we in then where the fires are\n                    Burning brightly all the evening.\n\nThe Earl stayed a long time in Hjaltland, and in the autumn he went\nsouth to the Orkneys, and resided in his dominions. That autumn two\nHjaltlanders[373] came to him. One was named Arm\u00f3d, a poet; the other\nwas Oddi the little, the son of Gl\u00fam: he made verses well. The Earl\nreceived them both as his men. The Earl had a grand Yule feast, to which\nhe invited guests, and gave his men presents. He handed a spear, inlaid\nwith gold, to the poet Arm\u00f3d, shook it at him, and told him to make a\nsong on the spur of the moment:\n\n                   Princely gifts the battle-fanner\n                   With no niggard hand distributes:\n                   Scaldic honours are not measured\n                   By the gifts bestowed on others.\n                   The defender of his country,\n                   And the best of all commanders,\n                   With his own hand brings to Arm\u00f3d\n                   This blood-candle, golden pointed.\n\nOne day during Yule the guests were looking at the tapestry. The Earl\nsaid to Oddi the little: \u201cMake a song about the workman\u2019s handicraft on\nthe tapestry, and have it made by the time that I have finished my\nstanza, and use none of the same words that are in mine.\u201d The Earl sang:\n\n                  The old one on the hangings standing,\n                  Has a sheath-rod on his shoulder,\n                  But, in spite of all his anger,\n                  He will not get one step farther.\n\nOddi sang:\n\n                   For a stroke himself prepares the\n                   Warrior in stooping posture,\n                   Where the tapestry is parted;\n                   Yet his danger will be greatest.\n                   Time it is for ships\u2019 commanders\n                   Peace to make ere harm does happen.\n\nDuring Yule-tide, the Earl entertained Bishop William and many of his\nchiefs. Then he made known his intention to go to J\u00f3rsalaheim\n(Jerusalem), and requested the Bishop to go with him, because he was a\ngood Parisian scholar,[374] and the Earl wished him to be their\ninterpreter. The Bishop agreed to the Earl\u2019s request, and promised to\ngo. The following chiefs went with Earl R\u00f6gnvald:\u2014Magnus, the son of\nH\u00e1vard, Gunni\u2019s son; Swein, Hr\u00f3ald\u2019s son; and the following men of\nlesser note:\u2014Thorgeir Skotakoll, Oddi the little, Thorberg Svarti, Arm\u00f3d\nthe scald, Thorkel Kr\u00f3kauga, Gr\u00edmkell of Flettuness, and Bjarni his son.\nWhen the two winters appointed for their preparations were passed, Earl\nR\u00f6gnvald went early in the spring from the Orkneys east to Norway, to\nsee how far the Lendermen (Barons) had progressed with their\npreparations; and when he came to Bi\u00f6rgvin, he found there Erling, J\u00f3n,\nhis brother-in-law, and Asl\u00e1k, but Guttorm arrived shortly after. To\nBi\u00f6rgvin came also the ship which J\u00f3n F\u00f3t had caused to be built for the\nEarl. It was a most exquisite piece of workmanship, and all ornamented.\nThe whole of the carved work on the prow, the vanes, and many other\nparts of the ship, were gilt. Altogether, it was a most splendid ship.\nEindridi came frequently to town during the summer, and said he should\nbe ready in a week. The Earl\u2019s men murmured greatly at having to wait so\nlong, and some proposed not to wait for him, saying that such voyages as\nthis had been made without Eindridi. A short time after Eindridi came to\ntown and said he was ready. Then the Earl commanded his men to set sail\nwhen they thought there was favourable wind; and when the day came when\nthey thought they might expect a favourable wind, they left the town,\nand set sail. The breeze was faint, and the Earl\u2019s ship moved slowly,\nbecause it required strong wind. The other chiefs lowered their sails,\nand would not leave the Earl. When they were outside the Islands, the\nbreeze increased to such a degree that in the smaller vessels they had\nto take in sail, but the Earl\u2019s ship now went at a great speed. They saw\ntwo large ships coming after them, and soon they passed them. One of\nthese two ships was highly finished. It was a dragon; both its head and\nstem were richly gilded; it was white on the bows, and painted\neverywhere above the sea where it was thought it would look well. The\nEarl\u2019s men said that was very likely Eindridi\u2019s, adding: \u201cHe has not\nkept well the agreement that no one should have an ornamented ship\nexcept you, sire.\u201d\n\nThe Earl replied: \u201cEindridi\u2019s pride is great, and he may be excused for\nnot liking to be on the same level with us, as we are so much his\ninferiors; but it is difficult to see whether his good fortune runs\nbefore him or goes along with him. But let us not direct our movements\naccording to his hotheadedness.\u201d\n\nEindridi soon passed them in the larger vessel, but the Earl kept all\nhis ships together, and had a successful voyage. They arrived all safe\nin the Orkneys in the autumn.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER LXXX\n\n                  OF EARL ROGNVALD AND THE ORKNEYMEN.\n\n\nIT was resolved that they should spend the winter there. Some lived at\ntheir own expense, others were quartered with the B\u0153ndr, and many were\nwith the Earl. There was a great turmoil in the Islands; the Orkneymen\nand the Eastmen quarrelled frequently about bargains, and women, and\nother things. The Earl had a very difficult task to keep peace among\nthem, for both parties considered that he deserved well of them and they\nof him.\n\n\n[Illustration: DRAGON SHIP OF THE VIKING PERIOD\n(from Holmberg\u2019s Nordbon i Hednatiden.)]\n\n\nOf Eindridi it is to be told that when they came to Hjaltland (Shetland)\nhis fine ship was totally wrecked, and he lost a great quantity of\ngoods, but the smaller ship was saved. He spent the winter in Hjaltland,\nand sent men to Norway to have another ship built for the voyage to the\nEast.\n\nOne of Eindridi\u2019s crew was called Arni Sp\u00edtulegg (stick-leg). He went to\nthe Orkneys during the winter with nine men. Arni was a very violent\nman, daring and turbulent. He and his comrades lived at their own\nexpense during the winter. He bought malt and meat of a tenant of Swein,\nAsleif\u2019s son, and when he demanded payment Arni delayed to pay. When he\ndemanded it a second time, he was overwhelmed with abuse; and before\nthey parted Arni struck him with the back of his axe, saying, \u201cGo and\ntell your champion, Swein, whom you are always praising, to obtain\nredress for you; you will need no more.\u201d The man went and told Swein,\nrequesting him to obtain redress. He gave him a cold answer, and said he\nwould promise nothing. One day in the spring Swein went to collect his\nrents. They were four together in a ten-oared boat. They had to pass the\nisland in which Arni was staying, and Swein said he would land there. It\nwas ebbing tide. Swein went on shore alone, carrying an axe with a short\nhandle, and no other weapon. He told his men to keep the boat from\ngetting aground. Arni Sp\u00edtulegg and his comrades were lying in an\nouthouse not far from the sea. Swein walked up, and found them indoors.\nThey greeted him. He acknowledged their greeting, and spoke to Arni,\nsaying that he should settle the farmer\u2019s account. Arni replied that\nthere was plenty of time for that. Swein asked him to do it for his\nintercession, but still Arni refused. Then Swein said he would not ask\nany further, and at the same time he drove the axe into Arni\u2019s skull, so\nthat the iron was buried in it, and he lost hold of the handle. Swein\nran out, and Arni\u2019s companions after him, to the beach. As they ran fast\nalong the muddy shore, one of them, who was the swiftest, came to close\nquarters with him. There were large roots of seaweed lying in the mud.\nSwein seized one of them, and thrust it into the face of the man who had\ncome up with him, and he grasped at his eyes to clear the mud away, but\nSwein escaped to his boat, and went home to G\u00e1reksey. Shortly after he\nwent on his own business over to Caithness, and sent word to Earl\nR\u00f6gnvald to settle the matter about Arni Sp\u00edtulegg\u2019s slaying. And when\nthe Earl received the message, he summoned together those who were\nentitled to compensation for Arni, and settled the matter to their\nsatisfaction, he himself paying the compensation money. Many other acts\nof violence perpetrated by the Eastmen and the Orkneymen during the\nwinter the Earl made good out of his own [funds].\n\nEarly in the spring he called a Thing meeting in Hrossey (Mainland), to\nwhich came all the chiefs residing in his dominions. He then made it\nknown to them that he intended to leave the Orkneys and to go to\nJ\u00f3rsalaheim (Jerusalem), saying that he would leave the government in\nthe hands of his kinsman Harald, and praying all his friends to obey\nhim, and help him faithfully in whatever he required while he was\nobliged to be away himself. Earl Harald was then nearly twenty, tall and\nstrong, but ugly; yet he was a wise man, and the people thought he would\nbe a good chief.\n\nIn the summer Earl R\u00f6gnvald prepared to leave the Orkneys; but the\nsummer was far advanced before he was ready, because he had to wait a\nlong time for Eindridi until his ship came from Norway. When they were\nready, they left the Orkneys in fifteen large ships. The following were\ncommanders of ships:\u2014Earl R\u00f6gnvald; Erling Skakki; Bishop William;\nAsl\u00e1k, Erlend\u2019s son; Guttorm; Magnus, H\u00e1vard\u2019s son; Swein, Hr\u00f3ald\u2019s son;\nEindridi Ungi; and the others who were with him are not named. From the\nOrkneys they sailed to Scotland, and then to England, and when they\nsailed to Nordymbraland (Northumberland), off the mouth of Hvera (the\nWear), Arm\u00f3d sang:\n\n                 High the crests were of the billows\n                 As we passed the mouth of Hvera;\n                 Masts were bending, and the low land\n                 Met the waves in long sand reaches;\n                 Blind our eyes were with the salt spray\n                 While the youths at home remaining,\n                 From the Thing-field fare on horseback.\n\nThen they sailed till they were south off England, and so on to\nValland.[375] There is no account of their voyage until they came to a\nseaport called Verbon (Nerbon).[376] There they learned that the Earl\nwho had governed the city, and whose name was Geirbi\u00f6rn, had lately\ndied; but left a young and beautiful daughter, by name Ermingerd. She\nhad charge of her patrimony, under the guardianship of her noblest\nkinsmen. They advised the Queen to invite Earl R\u00f6gnvald to a splendid\nbanquet, saying that her fame would spread far if she gave a fitting\nreception to noblemen arrived from such a distance. The Queen left it to\nthem; and when this had been resolved upon, men were sent to the Earl to\ntell him that the Queen invited him to a banquet, with as many men as he\nhimself wished to accompany him. The Earl received her invitation\ngratefully, selecting the best of his men to go with him. And when they\ncame to the banquet there was good cheer, and nothing was spared by\nwhich the Earl might consider himself specially honoured. One day, while\nthe Earl sat at the feast, the Queen entered the hall, attended by many\nladies. She had in her hand a golden cup, and was arrayed in the finest\nrobes. She wore her hair loose, according to the custom of maidens, and\na golden diadem round her forehead. She poured out for the Earl, and the\nmaidens played for them. The Earl took her hand along with the cup, and\nplaced her beside him. They conversed during the day. The Earl sang:\n\n                  Lady fair! thy form surpasses\n                  All the loveliness of maidens,\n                  Though arrayed in costly garments,\n                  And adorned with precious jewels:\n                  Silken curls in radiant splendour\n                  Fall upon the beauteous shoulders\n                  Of the goddess of the gold-rings.\n                  The greedy eagle\u2019s claws I redden\u2019d.\n\nThe Earl stayed there a long time, and was well entertained. The\ninhabitants of the city solicited him to take up his residence there,\nsaying that they were in favour of giving the Queen to him in marriage.\nThe Earl said he wished to complete his intended journey, but that he\nwould come there on his return, and then they might do what they thought\nfit. Then the Earl left with his retinue, and sailed round Thrasness.\nThey had a fair wind, and sat and drank, and made themselves merry. The\nEarl sang this song:\n\n                  Long in the Prince\u2019s memory\n                  Ermingerda\u2019s soft words shall linger;\n                  It is her desire that we shall\n                  Ride the waters out to Jordan;\n                  But the riders of sea-horses,\n                  From the southern climes returning,\n                  Soon shall plough their way to Verbon\n                  O\u2019er the whale-pond in the autumn.\n\nThen Arm\u00f3d sang:\n\n                  Ne\u2019er shall I see Ermingerda\n                  More, from this time, if it be not\n                  That my fate shall be propitious;\n                  Many now are grieving for her.\n                  Happy were I if I could but\n                  Be beside her just for one day;\n                  That, indeed, would be good fortune,\n                  Once again to see her fair face.\n\nThen Oddi sang:\n\n                  Truth to tell, we two are scarcely\n                  Worthy of fair Ermingerda;\n                  For this wise and lovely Princess\n                  May be called the Queen of Maidens:\n                  This the title that beseemeth\n                  Best the splendour of her beauty.\n                  While she lives beneath the sun-ray,\n                  May her lot be ever happy.\n\nThey went on till they came west to Galicialand,[377] five nights before\nYule-tide, and intended to spend it there. They asked the inhabitants\nwhether they were willing to sell them provisions; but food is scarce in\nthat country, and they thought it a great hardship to have to feed such\na numerous host. It so happened that the country was under the rule of a\nforeigner, who resided in the castle, and oppressed the inhabitants\ngreatly. He made war on them if they did not do everything he wished,\nand menaced them with violence and oppression. When the Earl asked the\ninhabitants to sell him victuals, they consented to do so until Lent,\nbut made certain proposals on their part\u2014to wit, that Earl R\u00f6gnvald\nshould attack their enemies, and should have all the money which he\nmight obtain from them. The Earl communicated this to his men, and asked\nthem what they would be inclined to do. Most of them were willing to\nattack the castle, thinking that it was a very likely place to obtain\nbooty. Therefore Earl R\u00f6gnvald and his men agreed to the terms of the\ninhabitants.\n\nWhen the Yule-tide was close at hand the Earl called his men together,\nand said: \u201cWe have been resting for a while, and have not disturbed the\nmen of the castle, and the inhabitants are getting tired of supplying\nus. I suppose they will think our promise will come to nothing; and it\nis not manly in us not to try to do what we promised. Now, I wish to\nhear your advice as to how we are to take the castle, as I know you here\nare men of great discretion; therefore I ask every one here present to\nstate what plan he thinks most likely to succeed.\u201d\n\nErling replied to the Earl, and said: \u201cI will not be silent since you\ncommand us to speak, although I am not a man of sage counsels; and those\nought rather to be asked who have seen more and are more experienced in\nsuch undertakings, as Eindridi Ungi. But I suppose we must do here as\nthe saying is, \u2018Shoot at the bird before we catch it.\u2019 I may try to give\nsome advice, whatever may be its value. If you and the other\nship-commanders do not think it a bad plan, we shall to-day go all of us\nto the wood, and carry three bundles of faggots each to the castle,\nbecause it appears to me that the lime would not stand well if much heat\nwere applied to it. Let us do this for the next three days, and see what\nhappens.\u201d\n\nThey did as Erling advised, and when they had finished their work Yule\nwas close at hand. The Bishop would not permit the inhabitants of the\ncastle to be attacked during the Yule-tide.\n\nThe chief inhabiting the castle was named Gudifrey. He was a wise man,\nand somewhat advanced in years. He was a good scholar, had travelled\nmuch, and knew many languages. He was a covetous man, and overbearing.\n\nWhen he saw what the strangers were doing, he called his men together,\nand said: \u201cThe plan adopted by the Northmen seems to me a wise one, and\nlikely to do us great harm. We shall see, when fire is applied to the\nstone wall round the castle, that it is not strong. Moreover, the\nNorthmen are valiant, and men of great strength, and we may expect a\nfierce attack from them if they get an opportunity. Now, I wish to hear\nyour advice about the difficult position in which we are placed.\u201d\n\nBut all his men asked him to do what he thought best.\n\nThen he said: \u201cMy first plan is to tie ropes together, and you shall let\nme down over the castle wall. I will dress myself in rags, and go to the\ncamp of the Northmen, and see what I can ascertain.\u201d\n\nThey did as he told them, and he came to Earl R\u00f6gnvald pretending to be\na beggar, and speaking Valska, as they understood a little of it. He\nwalked throughout the camp and begged food. He perceived that there was\nmuch jealousy among the Northmen, and that they were divided into two\nfactions. Eindridi Ungi was the leader of one, and the Earl of the\nother.\n\nGudifrey went to Eindridi and spoke to him. He said that the chief of\nthe castle had sent him there, wishing to form an alliance with him. \u201cHe\nexpects that you will give him quarter if the castle is taken; and he is\nmore willing to let you have his treasure, if you will do this in\nreturn, than those who wish to have him a dead man.\u201d\n\nSuch things they spoke, and many others, but it was concealed from the\nEarl, as at first they observed profound secrecy. When Gudifrey had been\nsome time with the Earl\u2019s men, he returned to his castle. But they did\nnot remove their property from it, because they did not know whether the\nattack would be successful, and they could not put faith in the\ninhabitants.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER LXXXI\n\n                     EARL ROGNVALD TAKES A CASTLE.\n\n\nTHE tenth day of Yule-tide was a fine day, and Earl R\u00f6gnvald arose and\ncommanded his men to arm themselves, and summoned them with trumpets to\nthe attack of the castle. They dragged the wood close to it, and heaped\nup large piles round the walls. Then the Earl gave orders where each\nshould make the attack. He himself with the Orkneymen had the attack\nfrom the south, Erling and Asl\u00e1k from the west, J\u00f3n and Guttorm from the\neast, and Eindridi Ungi from the north. When they were ready for the\nattack, they set fire to the wood, and the Earl sang:\n\n                 Maids in lace and snow-white linen\n                 Bring us here the white wine sparkling.\n                 Fair to see was Ermingerda,\n                 When we met her in our travels.\n                 Fare we now to try the castle\n                 With our flaming oaken firebrands;\n                 Quickly leaping from the scabbard\n                 Gleams the sharp-edged smiter. Forward!\n\nNow they began to attack the castle vigorously, both with weapons and\nwith fire. They shot missiles into it, for that was the only way of\nattack. The besieged did not stand firm on the walls, because they had\nto guard themselves against the missiles. They poured down burning pitch\nand brimstone, which, however, did very little harm to the Earl\u2019s men.\nWhat Erling had foretold came to pass; the lime could not stand the\nfire, and the wall fell down, leaving large breaches open.\n\nA man named Sigmund Ongul (fish-hook), the Earl\u2019s stepson, was one of\nthe keenest in the attack, and frequently went in front of the Earl,\nalthough he was then hardly a full-grown man. When the attack had lasted\nfor a while, all the besieged were driven from the wall. The wind blew\nfrom the south, and drove all the smoke towards Eindridi, and when the\nfire began to spread rapidly the Earl had water poured on it to cool the\nburnt stones, and then there was a short pause in the attack. The Earl\nsang a song:\n\n                Now I mind me of the Yule-tide\n                Which I spent with friends and brave men\n                On the east of Agdir\u2019s mountains,\n                With the valiant warrior S\u00f6lmund;\n                Now, again, another Yule-tide\n                Am I in the same way busy\n                At the south side of this castle,\n                Adding to the din of weapons.\n\nFurther he sang:\n\n                  Glad I was when that fair lady\n                  Listened to my love-tale\u2019s telling;\n                  Hopelessly was I led captive\n                  By a Valland maid in autumn.\n                  Still I love the noble lady,\n                  And I spread the feast for eagles.\n                  Stone and lime, well bound together,\n                  Now before me fall asunder.\n\nThen Sigmund Ongul sang:\n\n                 When, in spring-time, o\u2019er the waters\n                 Ye go homeward to the Orkneys,\n                 Tell the lady whom I most love\u2014\n                 Lady of the splendid garments\u2014\n                 That, beneath the castle ramparts,\n                 There was none who stepped more boldly\n                 \u2019Mong the young men than her lover.\n\nThen the Earl and Sigmund prepared to force their way into the castle,\nand meeting with little resistance, they entered it, and many were\nkilled; but those that surrendered to the Earl received quarter. They\nobtained a great deal of property, but did not find the chief, and\nalmost no treasure. There was a great discussion about the escape of\nGudifrey, and how he had effected it; and they soon suspected Eindridi\nUngi that he had given him the means of escaping, and that he had\nfollowed the smoke, and thus gained the forest.\n\nAfter this Earl R\u00f6gnvald and his men stayed a short time in Galicialand,\nand directed their course along the west of Spain. They plundered far\nand wide in heathen Spainland,[378] and obtained great booty. They went\ninto a certain village, but the villagers ran together and offered\nfight. They made a stout resistance, but fled at last, when many of them\nhad been killed. The Earl sang:\n\n                 When in Spainland I went fighting,\n                 Quickly we o\u2019erthrew the foemen,\n                 For, when tired of our hard hewing,\n                 Home they ran to see their sweethearts:\n                 All the land was strewed with corpses.\n                 Our deeds in song shall now be famous;\n                 And my hope is, to be worthy\n                 Of the lovely Ermingerda.\n\nThen they sailed along the west of Spain, and were overtaken by a gale.\nThere they lay at anchor three days, and great waves broke over them, so\nthat the vessels nearly foundered. Then the Earl sang:\n\n                 Here I\u2019m storm-tossed, but undaunted,\n                 While the cables hold together,\n                 And the tackle of the vessel\n                 Breaks not, as she breasts the billows;\n                 I am promised to the fair one\n                 Whom we left out in the North-land;\n                 Now again there comes a fair wind;\n                 Speed we on into the channel.\n\nThen they set sail, and ran into Nj\u00f6rfasund[379] with a fair wind, and\nOddi sang:\n\n                 When the faithful friend of heroes,\n                 In the guest-hall sweet mead quaffing,\n                 Sat beside the fair ring-giver,\n                 That was a week to be remembered.\n                 Now the splendid steeds of billows\n                 Bear the noble-minded R\u00f6gnvald\n                 And his warriors, wearing bucklers,\n                 Quickly through the Sound of Nj\u00f6rfi.\n\nWhen they were tacking into the Sound, the Earl sang:\n\n                   By an east wind, breathing softly,\n                   As from lips of Valland lady,\n                   Are our ships now wafted onward,\n                   As we push the yards out farther;\n                   Though we had to tie the canvas\n                   Tighter than we had expected\n                   To the middle of the sailyard,\n                   South off Spain\u2014we bear away now.\n\nThey sailed through Nj\u00f6rfasund, and then the gale began to abate; and\nwhen they had cleared the Sound, Eindridi Ungi parted from the Earl with\nsix ships, and sailed across the sea to Marselia (Marseilles), but Earl\nR\u00f6gnvald and his men remained at the Sound. It was said that Eindridi\nnow himself proved that he had allowed Gudifrey to escape. The Earl\u2019s\nmen sailed out to sea, and stood southwards to Serkland.[380] Then Earl\nR\u00f6gnvald sang:\n\n                 Now our good ship, land forsaking,\n                 Laves her breast in limpid waters.\n                 Long ere he who sings these verses,\n                 Sees again the northern islands;\n                 With the sharp prow I the yielding\n                 Earth-surrounding sea am carving,\n                 Far off Spain-land, sweeping southward.\n\nMore is not said of the Earl\u2019s progress till they came south off\nSerkland, and lay near Sardinia, not knowing where the land was. It was\nvery calm, and a thick fog spread over the water, so that they could\nhardly see anything from the ships, and they sailed therefore slowly.\nOne morning the mist disappeared, and the crew arose and looked around\nand saw two islets. When they looked for them the second time, there was\nbut one islet. This they told to the Earl. Then he said: \u201cThis cannot\nhave been islets which you have seen; it must be ships such as they have\nin this part of the world, and which they call Dr\u00f3mundar.[381] From a\ndistance they look as big as holms. But where the other Dr\u00f3mund lay, a\npuff of wind has probably swept over the water, and she has sailed away;\nbut they are likely some rovers.\u201d\n\nThen he summoned the Bishop and all the ship-commanders, and said: \u201cI\nask of you my Lord Bishop, and Erling my kinsman, whether you see any\nchance or device by which we may overcome those in the Dr\u00f3mund.\u201d\n\nThe Bishop replied: \u201cI think you will find it difficult to attack the\nDr\u00f3mund in your long-ships, for you will hardly be able to reach their\nbulwarks with a boarding-pike, and they have probably brimstone and\nboiling pitch to pour under your feet and over your heads. You may see,\nEarl R\u00f6gnvald, wise as you are, that it would be the greatest rashness\nto place yourself and your men in such jeopardy.\u201d\n\nThen Erling said: \u201cMy Lord Bishop, it may be that you are right in\nthinking that we shall not obtain the victory by rowing at them; yet I\ncannot help thinking that if we try to push close to the Dr\u00f3mund, their\nmissiles will fall beyond our ships lying close alongside; but if this\nbe not the case, we can push away quickly, for they will not be able to\nchase us in the Dr\u00f3mund.\u201d\n\nThe Earl said: \u201cThat is bravely spoken, and very much to my own mind. I\nwill now make it known to the ships\u2019 commanders and all the men, that\nevery one may arm and prepare himself, each in his own place, as well as\nhe can. Then let us attack them, and if they are Christian merchants, we\ncan make peace with them; but if they are heathens, which I think they\nare, by the favour of Almighty God we shall be able to overcome them,\nbut of the booty we obtain we shall give every fiftieth penny to the\npoor.\u201d\n\nThen they unfastened their arms, prepared the bulwarks of their ships\nfor battle, and made themselves ready in other ways as their\ncircumstances permitted. The Earl assigned to each vessel its place in\nthe attack; then they pulled vigorously onwards.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER LXXXII\n\n                     R\u00d6GNVALD CONQUERS THE DR\u00d3MUND.\n\n\nWHEN the men in the Dr\u00f3mund saw the ships pulling towards them, to\nattack them, they spread fine clothing and costly stuffs out on the\nbulwarks, and made a great shouting, which the Earl\u2019s men took as a\nchallenge. Earl R\u00f6gnvald brought his ship close under the stem of the\nDr\u00f3mund, on the starboard side. Erling did the same on the larboard\nside. J\u00f3n and Asl\u00e1k brought theirs under her bows, and the others\namidships on either side, all sticking as close to her as possible. But\nwhen they came close under the Dr\u00f3mund, she was so high in the side that\nthe Northmen were unable to use their weapons, and the others poured\nblazing brimstone and burning pitch over them; but most of it fell\noutside the ships, as Erling had foreseen, and they had no need to\nshield themselves from it. However, when the attack did not succeed, the\nBishop moved away his ship and two others, and they told off their\nbowmen to go in them. After having got to a convenient distance for\nshooting, they shot their arrows into the Dr\u00f3mund, and this was the most\neffective mode of attack. The men in the Dr\u00f3mund protected themselves\nwith their shields, and paid little heed to what those were doing who\nwere in the ships close under the Dr\u00f3mund.\n\nEarl R\u00f6gnvald then ordered his men to take their axes, and cut the\nplanks of the Dr\u00f3mund, where the iron fastenings were fewest; and when\nthe men in the other ships saw what the Earl\u2019s men were doing, they did\nthe same. Now, where Erling had stationed himself, there was a large\nanchor hanging from the Dr\u00f3mund, which had its fluke hooked over the\ngunwale, but the shank hung down towards Erling\u2019s ship. One of his\nforecastle men was named Andun Raudi (red); he was lifted up on the\nanchor-stock, and then he pulled up others. Standing there as close as\nthey could, they hacked away at the planks with all their might; and\nthis was far higher than the others could reach. When they had made an\nopening large enough to admit them, they prepared to board the Dr\u00f3mund.\nThe Earl and his men entered on the lower deck, and Erling and his men\non the upper; and when they both got in, there began to be severe\nfighting. Those in the Dr\u00f3mund were Saracens, whom we call Mahometan\ninfidels. There were also many black men, who withstood them most\nfiercely. Erling received a severe wound in the neck, near the shoulder,\nwhen he jumped on board; it healed so badly that he carried his head to\na side ever after, and therefore he was called crick-neck (Skakki).\n\nWhen Earl R\u00f6gnvald and Erling joined each other, the Saracens were\ndriven to the forepart of the ship; and the Earl\u2019s men boarded one after\nanother until they were more numerous, and then they pressed the enemy\nhard. In the Dr\u00f3mund they saw one man far superior to the others in\nappearance and stature, and they were persuaded that he must be their\nchief. Earl R\u00f6gnvald ordered his men not to wound him, if they could\nseize him in any other way. Then they surrounded him, and pressed him\nwith their shields, and thus caught him. He and a few others with him\nwere sent to the Bishop\u2019s ship. All the rest they killed, and obtained\ngreat booty and many precious things. When they had finished the hardest\npart of their work, they sat down and rested, and the Earl sang:\n\n               At the spreading of the banner,\n               Erling, mighty tree of battle,\n               Went to victory and honour\n               Foremost when we fought the Dr\u00f3mund;\n               Then we felled the black-skinned fighters;\n               Everywhere the blood ran streaming,\n               And the keen-edged swords were reddened\n               As we hewed among the heathen.\n\n               We have had our fill of slaughter,\n               Round us lie the heaps of corpses;\n               Gory swords have been red-painting\n               At the Dr\u00f3mund all this morning;\n               Soon the news will spread to northward\n               Of this furious sword-tempest;\n               It will soon be known at Verbon,\n               How we dealt death-blows this morning.\n\nThere was much talk about what had been done; every one told what he had\nseen. Then they talked of who had been the first to board, but were not\nall of one opinion. Some said it would not be creditable to them if they\ndid not all relate this great exploit in the same way. At last they all\nagreed to let Earl R\u00f6gnvald decide, and every one should afterwards tell\nthe story in the same way as he did. Then the Earl sang:\n\n                Audun Raudi was the man who\n                First, with energy and valour,\n                Scaled the black sides of the Dr\u00f3mund;\n                Soon the brave one seized his booty.\n                By the help of God\u2019s good favour\n                Have we overcome the heathen;\n                Steeped our swords are all in red blood;\n                Round us lie the sable corpses.\n\nWhen they had cleared the Dr\u00f3mund, they set it on fire. When the big man\nwhom they had taken prisoner saw this, he changed colour and became\npale, and could not keep himself still. But though they tried to make\nhim speak, he did not say a word, neither did he make any kind of sign;\nhe was immovable to fair promises and menaces alike. But when the\nDr\u00f3mund began to blaze up, they saw a glowing stream, as it were, run\ninto the sea. At this the captive man was greatly moved. They concluded\nthat they had not made a careful search for the money, and now the\nmetal, whether gold or silver, had melted in the fire.\n\nThen Earl R\u00f6gnvald and his men sailed south, under Serkland, and lay off\na certain town of Serkland, and had seven nights\u2019 truce with the men of\nthe town, and sold them silver and other valuables. No one would buy the\nbig man; and then the Earl gave him leave to go away with four men. He\ncame back on the morning after, with his men, and told them that he was\na nobleman of Serkland, and that he had been ransomed from there with\nthe Dr\u00f3mund and all its contents. \u201cIt grieved me most,\u201d he said, \u201cthat\nyou should burn it, and thus destroy so much treasure, without any one\u2019s\nhaving the benefit of it. Now you are in my power, but it counts for\nyour benefit with me that you spared my life, and did me such honour as\nyou could. But I would gladly never see you again, and now may you live\nhale and well.\u201d Then he rode away into the country.\n\nEarl R\u00f6gnvald sailed to Crete, and anchored in a strong gale. When Armod\nkept watch during the night, he sang:\n\n                   Lie we now, where stormy billows\n                   Break above the sturdy bulwarks;\n                   My lot is to keep the watch well,\n                   On this wave-surmounting seahorse;\n                   While the lads are snugly sleeping,\n                   I, to Crete, look o\u2019er my shoulder.\n\nThey lay off Crete until they had fair wind to J\u00f3rsalir (Jerusalem), and\narrived early on a Friday morning at Akursborg (Acre). They went on\nshore with great pomp and splendour, such as seldom had been seen there.\nThorbi\u00f6rn Svarti sang:\n\n                    Oft have I, with comrades hardy,\n                    Been in battle, in the Orkneys,\n                    When the feeder of the people\n                    Led his forces to the combat.\n                    Now our trusty Earl we follow,\n                    As we carry up our bucklers\n                    Gaily to the gates of Acre\n                    On this joyful Friday morning.\n\nThey stayed in Akursborg for a while, and a disease broke out among\ntheir men, of which many died. Thorbi\u00f6rn Svarti died there. Oddi Litli\nsang:\n\n               Bravely bore the Baron\u2019s vessels\n               Thorbi\u00f6rn Svarti, scald and comrade,\n               As he trod the sea-king\u2019s highway,\n               Round by Thrasness, south to Acre.\n               There I saw them heap the grave-mould\n               Of the High Church o\u2019er the King\u2019s friend.\n               Earth and stones now lies he under\n               In that southern land of sunshine.\n\nEarl R\u00f6gnvald and his men left Akursborg, and visited all the holiest\nplaces of Jorsalaland. They went all to Jordan and bathed. Earl R\u00f6gnvald\nand Sigmund Ongul swam across the river, and went to some shrubs and\ntied large knots.[382] The Earl sang:\n\n                 Long the way is I have travelled\n                 To this heath, enclosed by deserts,\n                 And the wise maid will remember,\n                 Too, my crossing over Jordan.\n                 Seems to me, that those who tarry\n                 At their homesteads, will not find it\n                 A short journey here to travel.\n                 Warm the blood falls on the wide plain.\n\nThen Sigmund sang:\n\n                  This day I have tied a strong knot\n                  For the churlish clown that\u2019s sitting\n                  By the home-hearth; \u2019tis no falsehood\n                  That we play him now a fine trick.\n\nThe Earl sang:\n\n                  On this feast-day of St. Lawrence,\n                  Tie we knots for this fine fellow.\n                  Tired I came to this nice corner,\n                  Where the shrubs grow close together.\n\nAnd when they were going from Jorsalaland Earl R\u00f6gnvald sang:\n\n               From the scald\u2019s neck hangs the cross now,\n               In his hand a palm he carries.\n               Now should cease unkindly feelings:\n               From the heights my men rush downwards.\n\nDuring the summer Earl R\u00f6gnvald and his men left Jorsalaland, and were\ngoing to Mikligard. In the autumn they came to a town called\nImbolum,[383] and stayed there a long time. When two persons met where\nthe street was crowded, and one of them thought it necessary to go to\none side, he cried out to the other, \u201cMidway, midway!\u201d One evening the\nEarl\u2019s men, among whom was Erling Skakki, walked from the town, and on\nthe bridge leading to the ship, some inhabitants of the town met them,\nand cried out, \u201cMidway, midway!\u201d Erling was very drunk, and pretended\nnot to hear it; and when they met, he jumped from the bridge into the\nmud; his men ran to his assistance, and dragged him out, and had to\nundress him completely. Next morning, when the Earl saw him, and was\ntold what had happened, he smiled and sang:\n\n                  Bad the luck my friend has met with;\n                  In the mud he tumbled, splashing;\n                  As he would not cry out \u201cMidway!\u201d\n                  Loudly, like the foreign people.\n                  I suppose the prince\u2019s brother,\n                  When upset, looked rather rueful.\n                  Black the mud that on the ground is\n                  In Imbol, as Erling knoweth.\n\nSome time after, it happened that they came from the town very drunk,\nand J\u00f3n F\u00f3t was missed by his men, and no one else was missing. They\nsent immediately to the other ships to search for him, but he was not\nfound. They could not search for him on shore during the night; but in\nthe morning, when it was daylight, they found him murdered under the\nwall of the town; but it was never known who had slain him. They buried\nhim honourably at a holy church, and then they went away, and came north\nto \u00c6gisness,[384] and there they waited some nights for a fair wind to\nsail to Mikligard. They made their ships look splendidly, and sailed\nwith great pomp, as they knew Sigurd Jorsalafari had done. While they\nwere crossing the sea northward the Earl sang this song:\n\n                  Let us ride the sea-king\u2019s horses,\n                  Leave the plough in field untouched.\n                  As we drive the wet prows onward\n                  All the way to Mikligard.\n                  There we\u2019ll take the royal bounty,\n                  Paid for wielding well our weapons,\n                  While we fill the wolf\u2019s red palate,\n                  And on battlefields win honour.\n\n\n\n\n                            CHAPTER LXXXIII.\n\n                           OF EARL R\u00d6GNVALD.\n\n\nR\u00d6GNVALD and his men came to Mikligard, and were well received by the\nEmperor and the V\u00e6ringiar.[385] At this time Menelaus, whom we call\nManuli,[386] was the Emperor of Mikligard. He gave them a great deal of\nmoney, and offered them pay if they would stay there permanently. They\nspent there a great part of the winter. Eindridi Ungi was there when\nthey came, and was highly honoured by the Emperor. He had little to do\nwith the Earl and his men, but rather spoke slightingly of them to\nothers. R\u00f6gnvald commenced his journey from Mikligard during the winter,\nand went first to D\u00fdraksborg[387] in B\u00f3lgaraland. From there they sailed\nwest to P\u00fall.[388] Earl R\u00f6gnvald, Erling, Bishop William, and most\nothers of their noblest men left their ships there, procured horses, and\nrode first to R\u00f3maborg (Rome), and then from R\u00f3m until they came to\nDenmark. From there they went to Norway, where the people were glad to\nsee them. This journey became very famous, and all those who had made it\nwere considered greater men afterwards than before.\n\nOgmund Dreng, Erling Skakki\u2019s brother, had died while they were away;\nwhile both were alive, he was considered the greater of the two. After\nthe death of King Ingi, Magnus, the son of Erling and Krist\u00edn, the\ndaughter of Sigurd Jorsalafari, was made King, but the government of\nNorway was in the hands of Erling alone. Valdimar, King of the Danes,\ngave him the title of Earl, and he became a great chief. Eindridi came\nfrom the south some winters after Earl R\u00f6gnvald, and went to King\nEystein, because he would not have anything to do with Erling. But after\nKing Eystein\u2019s death Eindridi and Sigurd, the son of H\u00e1vard H\u00f6ld of\nReyr, raised a party, and made H\u00e1kon Herdabreid,[389] the son of King\nSigurd, son of Harald Gilli, their king. They slew Gregorius Dag\u2019s son\nand King Ingi. Eindridi and H\u00e1kon fought with Erling, under Sekkr,[390]\nwhere H\u00e1kon was killed; but Eindridi fled. Earl Erling had Eindridi Ungi\nkilled some time after in Vik.[391]\n\nEarl R\u00f6gnvald spent the summer in H\u00f6rdaland, in Norway, and heard many\ntidings from the Orkneys. There were great disturbances there, and most\nof the chiefs were divided into two factions, few remaining neutral.\nEarl Harald was at the head of one of these factions, and Earl Erlend\nand Swein, Asleif\u2019s son, of the other. When the Earl heard this, he\nsang:\n\n                   Though the most part of my nobles\n                   Have forgot the oaths they sware me\n                   (Such the wickedness of men is),\n                   Yet will their designs be thwarted.\n                   Traitors plotting in my absence,\n                   Will not by it grow more loyal;\n                   Slow but sure shall be my motto\n                   While a beard on chin I carry.\n\nThe Earl had no ships, but he asked his kinsmen and friends to build\nsome long-ships for him during the winter. They gave a favourable\nanswer, and consented to everything he proposed, and built the ships.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER LXXXIV\n\n                   EARL R\u00d6GNVALD GOES TO THE ORKNEYS.\n\n\nIN the summer the Earl made himself ready to go west to his dominions in\nthe Orkneys, but it was late before he was ready, because many things\nkept him back. He went to the west in a merchant-vessel belonging to\nTh\u00f3rhall, Asgr\u00edm\u2019s son, an Icelander of a noble family, who had a farm\nsouth in Biskupstungur.[392] The Earl had a numerous train of noblemen\non board the vessel. When they came to Scotland the winter was far\nadvanced, and they lay at Torfnes.[393] The Earl arrived in his\ndominions shortly before Yule.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER LXXXV\n\n                KING EYSTEIN TAKES EARL HARALD PRISONER.\n\n\nNOW we have to tell what happened in the Orkneys while Earl R\u00f6gnvald was\naway. The same summer that the Earl went on his journey, King Eystein,\nson of Harald Gilli, arrived from Norway with a numerous army, which he\nhad landed at R\u00ednarsey.[394] He heard that Earl Harald had gone over to\nCaithness in a ship of twenty benches, with eighty men, and lay then at\nTh\u00f3rs\u00e1. When King Eystein heard of him, he manned three boats, and\ncrossed the Pentland Firth, going westward, and on to Th\u00f3rs\u00e1. When he\narrived there the Earl and his men did not know anything of them until\nthe King\u2019s men boarded the ship, and took the Earl prisoner. He was\nbrought before the King, and the result was that the Earl ransomed\nhimself with three marks of gold, and surrendered his dominions to King\nEystein, so that he should hold them from him in the future. Then he\nbecame King Eystein\u2019s man, and confirmed their compact with oaths. From\nthere King Eystein went to Scotland, and ravaged there during the\nsummer. During this expedition he plundered in many parts of England,\nconsidering that he was taking revenge for King Harald, Sigurd\u2019s\nson.[395]\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER LXXXVI\n\n                            OF KING EYSTEIN.\n\n\nTHEN King Eystein returned to his kingdom, and his expedition was\nvariously thought of. Earl Harald remained in his dominions in the\nOrkneys, and most of the inhabitants were satisfied with his rule. At\nthis time his father, Earl Maddad, was dead; but his mother, Margar\u00e9t,\nhad gone to the Orkneys. She was a handsome woman,[396] but a virago. At\nthis time David, the King of Scots, died, and his son Malcolm[397] was\nmade king. He was quite a child when he succeeded his father.\n\n\n\n\n                            CHAPTER LXXXVII.\n\n                            OF EARL HARALD.\n\n\nERLEND, the son of Harald Sl\u00e9ttm\u00e1li, spent most of his time in Th\u00f3rs\u00e1.\nSometimes he was in the Sudreyar, or on war expeditions, after the death\nof Earl Ottar. He was a very promising man, and accomplished in most\nthings, liberal in money, gentle, open to advice, and greatly loved by\nhis men. He had a large following.\n\nThere was a man named Anakol, who had fostered Erlend, and to his\ncounsels he chiefly listened. He was of a noble family, and hardy. He\nwas Earl Erlend\u2019s right-hand man.\n\nWhen Earl R\u00f6gnvald had left his dominions to go to J\u00f3rsalaheim, Erlend\nwent to Malcolm,[398] the King of Scots, and requested him to give him\nan Earl\u2019s title, and Caithness for his support, as his father Earl\nErlend had. And because Erlend had many friends, and Malcolm was a child\nin years, it was brought about that he bestowed the title of Earl on\nErlend, and gave him the half of Caithness jointly with his kinsman\nHarald. Then Erlend went to Caithness to see his friends.\n\nAfter that he gathered troops together, went out to the Orkneys, and\nsought to be accepted by the inhabitants. When Earl Harald, Maddad\u2019s\nson, heard this, he gathered troops together, and had many men. Some\nparties went between the kinsmen and tried to make peace between them.\nErlend asked for half of the Islands jointly with Earl Harald, but Earl\nHarald refused to give them up. Truce was, however, made between them\nfor that year; and it was resolved that Erlend should go to the east and\nsee the King of Norway, and ask for that half which belonged to Earl\nR\u00f6gnvald, which Earl Harald said he would surrender. Then Erlend went\neast to Norway, but Anakol and some of his party remained behind.\n\nGunni, Olaf\u2019s son, the brother of Swein, Asleif\u2019s son, had children by\nMargar\u00e9t, Earl Harald\u2019s mother, but Earl Harald had banished him, and\ntherefore enmity arose between him and Swein. The latter sent his\nbrother Gunni south to Li\u00f3dh\u00fas (Lewis) to his friend Li\u00f3t\u00f3lf, with whom\nhe had been staying himself. Fugl, the son of Li\u00f3t\u00f3lf, was with Earl\nHarald, and there was therefore coldness between him and Swein. When\nEarl Erlend went east to Norway, Earl Harald went over to Caithness, and\nresided at V\u00edk (Wick) during the winter. Swein, Asleif\u2019s son, was then\nat Thrasv\u00edk (Freswick), in Caithness, and took care of the estate which\nhis stepsons had there, for his former wife was Ragnhild, Ingimund\u2019s\ndaughter, though they lived but a short time together. Their son was\nOlaf. After that he married Ingirid, Thorkel\u2019s daughter. Their son was\nAndreas.\n\nOn Wednesday in Passion week Swein went with some others to Lambaborg.\nThey saw a transport vessel coming from the north across the Pentland\nFirth, and Swein concluded that they were Earl Harald\u2019s men whom he had\nsent to collect his revenues (scat) in Hjaltland. Swein ordered his men\nto take a boat and attack the barge, which they did. They seized all its\ncargo, and put Earl Harald\u2019s men on shore, and they went to V\u00edk (Wick)\nand told him. Earl Harald did not say much to this, yet he said: \u201cSwein\nand I shall have our turns.\u201d He distributed his men to be entertained\nduring Easter. The Caithnessmen called this\u2014that the Earl was in\nguest-quarters.\n\n\n\n\n                           CHAPTER LXXXVIII.\n\n                        OF SWEIN, ASLEIF\u2019S SON.\n\n\nIMMEDIATELY after Easter week, Swein, Asleif\u2019s son, went with a barge\nand a boat rowed by oars to the Orkneys; and when they came to Sk\u00e1lpeid\n(Scapa), they took there a ship from Fugl, Li\u00f3t\u00f3lf\u2019s son. He was coming\nfrom his father at Li\u00f3dh\u00fas (Lewis), and was going to Earl Harald. During\nthe same trip they took twelve ounces of gold from Sigurd Klaufi, a\nhousecarl of Earl Harald\u2019s. This money had been left at the homestead,\nbut the owners were in Kirkiuvag (Kirkwall). Then Swein went over to\nNess (Caithness), and up through Scotland. He found Malcolm,[399] King\nof Scots, who was then nine winters old, in Apardion (Aberdeen). Swein\nspent a month there, and was well entertained. The King of Scots\ninsisted upon his enjoying all those emoluments of Caithness which he\nhad before he became Earl Harald\u2019s enemy.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER LXXXIX\n\n                          OF SWEIN AND ANAKOL.\n\n\nAFTER this Swein prepared to go away, and the King of Scots and he\nparted very good friends. Then Swein went to his ships, and sailed from\nthe south to the Orkneys. Anakol was at D\u00fdrness when Swein sailed from\nthe south, and they saw them sailing east off M\u00fali.[400] They sent\nGauti, a bondi of Skeggbjarnarstadir,[401] to Swein, and Anakol\nrequested him to come to terms with Fugl about the seizure of the ship,\nbecause Anakol and Fugl were related to each other. When Gauti found\nSwein, and told him Anakol\u2019s message, he sent a messenger back to\nAnakol, asking him to go to Sandey, that they might meet there, because\nhe (Swein) had to be there himself. They had a peaceful meeting there,\nand came to terms; and the result was that Swein should make the award\nas he liked himself. After that Anakol formed an alliance with Swein,\nand bound himself to make peace between Swein and Earl Erlend, when he\ncame from the east\u2014for they were bitter enemies on account of the\nburning of Fr\u00e1kork. Swein and Anakol went to Stri\u00f3nsey, and lay off\nHofsness[402] some nights. At this time Thorfinn Bessason lived at\nStri\u00f3nsey. His wife was Ingigerd, Swein\u2019s sister, who had been deserted\nby Thorbi\u00f6rn Klerk.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER XC\n\n              THE RECONCILIATION OF EARL ERLEND AND SWEIN.\n\n\nWHEN Swein and Anakol were lying off Hofsness, Earl Erlend arrived there\nfrom Norway. Anakol and Thorfinn endeavoured to reconcile him to Swein,\nbut he gave an unfavourable answer, saying that Swein had always been\nopposed to his kinsmen, and had not kept the agreement between him and\nEarl Ottar, that he should help him to the dominion. Then Swein offered\nthe Earl his support, and they were negotiating the whole day; yet the\nEarl would not be reconciled until Anakol and Thorfinn declared that\nthey would follow Swein from Orkney if the Earl would not make peace\nwith him. Earl Erlend then told the message from King Eystein, that he\nshould have that part of the Orkneys which had formerly been held by\nEarl Harald.\n\nWhen they had made peace, Swein gave the advice that they should go to\nEarl Harald before he heard this from others, and ask him to surrender\nthe dominion. Swein\u2019s advice was acted upon. They found Earl Harald on\nboard his ship, off Kj\u00e1rekstadir.[403]\n\nIt was in the evening of Michaelsmas that Harald and his men saw\nlong-ships approaching, and suspecting them to be enemies, they ran from\nthe ships into the castle. There was a man named Arni, Rafn\u2019s son, who\nran from Earl Harald\u2019s ship to Kirkiuvag. He was so frightened that he\nforgot that he had his shield at his shoulder until it stuck fast in the\ndoor. Earl Erlend and Swein ran from their ships, and pursued Earl\nHarald to the castle, and attacked them both with arms and fire. The\nassailed defended themselves bravely, until night parted them. Many were\nwounded on both sides, and Harald and his men would soon have been\nexhausted if the attack had lasted longer. The next morning the B\u0153ndr\nand their mutual friends arrived, and tried to make peace between them.\nEarl Erlend and Swein were very reluctant to make peace. In the end,\nhowever, they agreed, on condition that Harald should swear to let Earl\nErlend have his part of the Islands, and never demand it from him. These\noaths were made in the presence of the best men in the Islands.\n\nAfter that Earl Harald went over to Ness (Caithness), and to his friends\nin Scotland, accompanied by only a few men from the Orkneys.\n\nEarl Erlend and Swein called together a Thing-meeting with the B\u0153ndr in\nKirkiuvag, and they arrived from all the Islands. Earl Erlend pleaded\nhis cause, saying that King Eystein had given him that part of the\nOrkneys of which Earl Harald had charge, and he requested the B\u0153ndr to\nreceive him, showing them King Eystein\u2019s letters, which proved his\nwords. Swein, and many others of his friends and kinsmen, spoke in\nfavour of the Earl; and at last the B\u0153ndr promised obedience to Earl\nErlend. Then he took possession of all the islands, and became ruler\nover them. It was an agreement between Earl Erlend and the B\u0153ndr that he\nshould not hinder Earl R\u00f6gnvald from taking possession of that part of\nthe islands which belonged to him, if it should be granted him to come\nback; but if Earl R\u00f6gnvald should demand more than one-half of the\nislands, they should help Earl Erlend to resist his claims. Swein,\nAsleif\u2019s son, was frequently with Earl Erlend, and asked him to be on\nhis guard, and not to trust Earl Harald or the Scots. The most part of\nthe winter they were on board their ships, and had scouts on the\nlook-out. Towards Yule-tide the weather began to grow boisterous, and\nSwein went home to his estate in G\u00e1reksey, and asked the Earl not to\nrelax his vigilance though they parted, and the Earl did so. He remained\non board his ships, and had nowhere a Yule feast prepared for him in the\nIslands.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XCI\n\n             EARL HARALD COMES UNPERCEIVED TO THE ORKNEYS.\n\n\nTHE eleventh day of Yule-tide, it happened in G\u00e1reksey that Swein was\nsitting at his drink with his men. Rubbing his nose, he said: \u201cI think\nEarl Harald is now on his way to the Islands.\u201d\n\nHis men replied that this was unlikely, on account of the strong gales\nprevailing at that time.\n\nHe replied: \u201cI know such is your opinion, and I shall not therefore send\nintelligence to the Earl now, merely on the strength of my presentiment;\nyet I suspect it is necessary.\u201d Then the subject was dropped, and they\nwent on drinking as before.\n\nEarl Harald commenced his voyage to the Orkneys during Yule-tide. He had\nfour ships, and a hundred men. Two nights he lay under G\u00e1reksey\n(Grimsey?). They landed in Hafnarvag,[404] in Hrossey, and the\nthirteenth day of Yule-tide they walked to Fi\u00f6rd (Firth). They spent the\nYule-holiday at Orkahaug.[405] There two of their men were seized with\nmadness, which retarded their journey. It was near day when they came to\nFi\u00f6rd (Firth). There they learned that Earl Erlend was on board his\nship, but that he had been drinking during that day at a house on shore.\nThere Harald and his men killed two men\u2014one was named Ketill, the name\nof the other is not mentioned\u2014and made four prisoners: Arnfinn, Anakol\u2019s\nbrother, another man called Li\u00f3t\u00f3lf, and two others. Harald and\nThorbi\u00f6rn Klerk returned to Th\u00f3rs\u00e1; the brothers Benedict and Eir\u00edk went\nto Lambaborg, taking Arnfinn with them.\n\nAs soon as Earl Erlend became aware of the enemy, he sent men during the\nnight to G\u00e1reksey to tell Swein. He pushed out his boats immediately,\nand went to see Earl Erlend, according to the message, and they stayed\non board the ships a great part of the winter. Benedict and his brother\nsent word that Arnfinn would not be liberated unless Earl Erlend sent\nthem back their ship which had been seized off Kj\u00e1rekstadir. The Earl\nwas willing to give up the ship, but Anakol dissuaded him from it,\nsaying that Arnfinn would get away without this sacrifice.\n\nOn the Wednesday before Lent, Anakol and Thorstein, Ragna\u2019s son, went\nover by night to Ness (Caithness) in a boat with twenty men. They hauled\nthe boat ashore under a cliff in a hidden creek. Then they went up and\nhid themselves in some copsewood a short distance from Thrasv\u00edk\n(Freswick). They had fitted up the boat in such a way that the men\nseemed to be each in his place. Some men had come past the boat in the\nmorning, and had not suspected anything.\n\nAnakol and his men saw some men rowing from the borg[406] and landing at\nthe river-mouth.[407] Then they saw a man riding from the borg, and\nanother walking, whom they recognised to be Eir\u00edk. Then they divided\nthemselves into two parties. Ten went along the river down to the sea,\nto prevent them from getting to the boat; other ten went to the hamlet.\nEir\u00edk came a short time before them to the hamlet, and walked towards\nthe drinking-hall. Then he heard armed men moving about, and ran into\nthe hall, and out through another door, and down to his boat; but there\nhe came upon men who seized him, and brought him out to the Islands to\nEarl Erlend. Then messengers were sent to Earl Harald to tell him that\nEir\u00edk would not be liberated until Arnfinn and his companions came safe\nto Erlend. And the wishes of both were complied with.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XCII\n\n           THE RECONCILIATION OF THE EARLS HARALD AND ERLEND.\n\n\nIN the spring Earl Harald prepared to go from Caithness north to\nHjaltland. His intention was to take the life of Erlend Ungi, who had\nwooed his mother Margar\u00e9t, although the Earl (Harald) had refused him.\nThen Erlend gathered men together, and carried her off from the Orkneys,\nand took her north to Hjaltland, took up his residence in\nMoseyarborg,[408] and made great preparations (for defence). When the\nEarl (Harald) came to Hjaltland, he besieged the borg, and cut off all\ncommunication; but it was difficult to take it by assault, and men went\nbetween them and tried to reconcile them. Erlend asked the Earl to give\nhim the woman in marriage, and in return he offered to assist the Earl,\nsaying it was of greater consequence for him to recover his dominions\nthan this, and it would be advisable for him to make as many friends as\nhe could. Many spoke in favour of Erlend\u2019s proposal; and the result was\nthat they made peace, and Erlend married Margar\u00e9t. Then he became an\nally of Earl Harald, and during the summer they both went east to\nNorway.\n\nWhen these tidings came to Orkney, Earl Erlend and his men laid their\nplans. Swein counselled to go on a harrying raid to obtain booty. This\nthey did, and went south to Breidafiord,[409] and made inroads on the\neast of Scotland. They went south to Beruv\u00edk (Berwick-on-Tweed). There\nwas a man named Kn\u00fat the wealthy, who was a merchant, and always resided\nin Beruv\u00edk. Swein and Erlend seized a large and fine vessel belonging to\nKn\u00fat. On board was a valuable cargo, and Kn\u00fat\u2019s wife. Then they sailed\nsouth to Bl['y]h\u00f3lmar.[410] Kn\u00fat was at Beruv\u00edk when he heard of the\nplunder. He induced the Beruv\u00edk men for a hundred marks of silver to try\nto recover the goods. Of those who went in pursuit most were merchants.\nThey went in fourteen ships to search for them. When Earl Erlend and\nSwein were lying under Bl['y]h\u00f3lmar, Swein said in the night that they\nshould sleep without awnings, saying that he expected that the Beruv\u00edk\nmen might come upon them during the night in great numbers. A gale was\nblowing, and no heed was paid to Swein\u2019s words, and they slept under the\nawnings, except in Swein\u2019s ship, where there was no awning abaft the\nmast. Swein was sitting on a chest in a fur coat, saying that he wished\nto be ready during the night.\n\nOne of Swein\u2019s crew was called Einar Skeif. He said that Swein\u2019s bravery\nwas much talked of, that he was called a bolder man than others, but now\nhe dared not have awnings on board his ship. Watchmen were on shore in\nthe island. Swein, hearing that they did not agree about what they saw,\nwent up to them and asked what they were disputing about? They said they\nwere not sure what it was that they saw. Swein had keener sight than any\nof his men, and when he looked he saw fourteen ships approaching them\nfrom the north. Then he went on board his ship again, and told his men\nto wake up and take down the awnings, and then a great outcry arose,\nevery one asking Swein what they should do. He told them to be silent,\nand said that his advice was to moor the ships between the island and\nthe mainland, adding: \u201cWe shall see whether they do not pass by us, and\nif they do we shall part; but if they attack us, we shall row against\nthem as vigorously as possible, and let us make a stout resistance if we\nmeet.\u201d\n\nOthers spoke against this plan, saying the only way was to sail from\nthem, and so they did.\n\nSwein said: \u201cIf you wish to sail away, then stand out to sea.\u201d Swein was\nnot so soon ready as the others, but Anakol waited for him. Swein\u2019s ship\nwas, however, a swifter sailer, and he took in sail and waited for\nAnakol, not wishing him to be left behind in a single ship. When they\nstood off, with all sail set, Einar Skeif said: \u201cSwein, does our ship\nstand still?\u201d\n\nSwein replied: \u201cI do not think so; but I advise you not to question my\ncourage any more, since through your fright you cannot tell whether the\nship moves or stands still, yet it is one of the swiftest sailers.\u201d\n\nThey put in under Mosey,[411] and Swein sent men to Eidinaborg to tell\nthe King of Scots of his plunder; but before they came to the town they\nmet twelve men on horseback who had saddle-bags filled with silver, and\nwhen they met they inquired after Swein, Asleif\u2019s son. The others told\nwhere he was, and asked what they wanted with him. The Scots said they\nhad been told that Swein was taken prisoner, and the King of Scots had\nsent them to ransom him. Thus they told their errand.\n\nThe King did not make much of Kn\u00fat\u2019s loss, but sent a costly shield to\nSwein, and other presents besides.\n\nEarl Erlend and Swein arrived rather late in the Orkneys in the autumn.\nThis summer Earl Harald went east to Norway. At the same time, Earl\nR\u00f6gnvald and Erling Skakki came to Norway from Mikligard, and he arrived\nat his dominions in the Orkneys shortly before Yule.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XCIII\n\n              PEACE BETWEEN EARL R\u00d6GNVALD AND EARL ERLEND.\n\n\nTHEN there went men immediately between Earl Erlend and Earl R\u00f6gnvald,\nand tried to make peace between them, the B\u0153ndr pleading the agreement\nthey had come to with Earl Erlend, that he should not prevent Earl\nR\u00f6gnvald from taking possession of his part of the Islands. A conference\ntook place between the Earls at Kirkiuvag (Kirkwall), and at that\nconference they confirmed their peace with oaths. It was two nights\nbefore Yule when they made peace, and the terms were, that they should\neach have one-half of the Islands, and both should defend them against\nEarl Harald or any other if he claimed them. Earl R\u00f6gnvald had no ships\ntill his own came from the east in the summer. This winter all was\nquiet, but in the spring the Earls prepared their plans in case Earl\nHarald should come from the east. Earl Erlend went to Hjaltland to\nintercept him if he should come there. Earl R\u00f6gnvald went over to\nTh\u00f3rs\u00e1, because Earl Harald was expected to go there if he came from the\neast, as he had there many friends and kinsmen. Earl Erlend and Swein\nwere in Hjaltland during the summer, and kept back all ships, so that\nnone went to Norway.\n\nIn summer Earl Harald left Norway with seven ships, and landed in the\nOrkneys. Three of the ships, however, were driven by stress of weather\nto Hjaltland, and these were seized by Swein and Earl Erlend. When Earl\nHarald came to the Orkneys he heard of the agreement of Earl R\u00f6gnvald\nand Earl Erlend, that each of them should have one-half of the Islands;\nand then he saw that no territory was intended for him. He resolved to\ngo over to Ness (Caithness) to Earl R\u00f6gnvald before Earl Erlend and\nSwein came from the east. They were in Hjaltland, when they heard that\nEarl Harald had arrived in the Orkneys with five long-ships, and\nprepared to go thither immediately. In Dynr\u00f6st[412] they had strong\ncurrents and severe gales, and there they parted. Swein was driven back\nto Fridarey (Fair Isle), with twelve ships, and they thought the Earl\nhad perished. From Fridarey they went to Sandey, where they found Earl\nErlend with three ships. It was a joyful meeting for them. Then they\nwent to Hrossey (Mainland), and inquired about Earl Harald\u2019s movements.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XCIV\n\n                          PEACE IS TALKED OF.\n\n\nNOW it is to be told that Earl Harald came to Th\u00f3rs\u00e1 with six ships.\nEarl R\u00f6gnvald was in Sutherland, at the wedding of his daughter Ingirid,\nwhom he married to Eir\u00edk Slagbrellir. He heard immediately that Earl\nHarald had arrived at Th\u00f3rs\u00e1, and rode from Beruv\u00edk[413] to Th\u00f3rs\u00e1,\nattended by many men. Eir\u00edk was related to Earl Harald; and with many\nothers he tried to make peace between them, saying that it was absurd\nfor them to be at enmity, because of their relationship, their\nup-bringing, and their long alliance. At last matters came so far that a\nmeeting was appointed, and truce made. They should meet in a certain\ncastle at Th\u00f3rs\u00e1,[414] and talk together alone; but an equal number of\ntheir men should be outside the castle. They talked a long time, and\nagreed very well. They had not seen each other since R\u00f6gnvald returned.\nLate in the day information was given to Earl R\u00f6gnvald that Earl\nHarald\u2019s men were coming there armed. Earl Harald said that no harm\nwould be done. Then they heard heavy blows outside, and ran out.\nThorbi\u00f6rn Klerk had arrived there with a large party, and attacked\nR\u00f6gnvald\u2019s men immediately. The Earls called to them that they should\nnot fight. Then the inhabitants of the town came running to the spot to\nseparate them. Thirteen of Earl R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s men were killed, and he\nhimself was wounded in the face.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XCV\n\n                             SWEIN\u2019S PLANS.\n\n\nAFTER this their friends made an effort to establish peace between them,\nand the result was that they made peace, which they confirmed by oaths.\nThey renewed their alliance, pledging their faith and shaking hands; and\nit was resolved that they should go that very night out to the Orkneys\nto attack Earl Erlend. They went out on the Pentland Firth with ten\nships, taking the course to R\u00ednarsey.[415] They landed in Vidivag,[416]\nand went on shore. Erlend and his men lay on board their ships in\nBardvik,[417] and from there they saw a crowd on R\u00f6gnvaldsey, and sent\nout spies. When they heard of the reconciliation of the Earls, it was\nalso said that Earl Erlend would not be permitted to plunder on shore,\nor to obtain provisions in any other way; and their intention was to\nprevent them from getting any food in the island. Earl Erlend held a\nmeeting and consulted his men, and they agreed to leave it to Swein to\nsay what should be done. Swein replied that they should sail that very\nnight over to Caithness, saying that they had no strength to contend\nwith both the Earls there in the Islands. He gave out that they intended\nto go to the Sudreyar (Hebrides), and winter there.\n\nIt was Michaelmas-eve when they sailed out on the Firth, but when they\ncame over to Ness (Caithness), they ran up into the country, and drove\ndown a great number of cattle, which they brought on board their ships.\nThere were strong currents and bad weather, so that the Firth was\nfrequently impassable; but when favourable weather came, Swein sent a\nman in a boat from Ness, to give information that Earl Erlend had made a\ngreat strand-hewing[418] in Caithness, and was ready to sail to the\nSudreyar when there was a favourable wind. When this came to the ears of\nEarl R\u00f6gnvald, he called his men together and made a speech to them,\ntelling them to be on their guard, to be wary, and sleep every night on\nboard their ships; \u201cFor now,\u201d he said, \u201cSwein may be expected every hour\nin the Islands; the more certainly the more he talks of going away.\u201d\n\nEarly in the winter Earl Erlend and Swein left Th\u00f3rs\u00e1, and took their\ncourse by the west of Scotland. They had six large long-ships, all well\nmanned. They had to row, and when they had gone some distance from\nCaithness, Earl R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s spies went out to the Islands, and told him\nthe news. Then the Earls moved their ships to Sk\u00e1lpeid (Scapa), and Earl\nR\u00f6gnvald wished them to stay a while on board.\n\nWhen Swein and Erlend came west off Staur,[419] the former said that\nthey should not distress themselves by rowing any farther, and asked his\nmen to put the ships about and set the sails. This action on the part of\nSwein was thought foolish, yet his men did as he desired them. When they\nhad been sailing for a while the ships began to speed, because there was\na fine breeze, and nothing is said of their voyage until they came to\nVagaland,[420] in Orkney. There they heard that the Earls were lying at\nSk\u00e1lpeid, off Knarrarstadir,[421] with thirteen ships. There were Erlend\nUngi, Eir\u00edk Slagbrellir, and many other men of note. Thorbi\u00f6rn Klerk had\ngone out to Papuley,[422] to H\u00e1kon Karl, his brother-in-law. It was four\nnights before Simon\u2019s-mas when Swein, Asleif\u2019s son, decided to attack\nthe Earls during the night, but it was thought rather hazardous, as\ntheir followers were so much more numerous. Yet Swein insisted on having\nhis own way; and so he did, because the Earl wished to follow his\nadvice.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XCVI\n\n                    BATTLE BETWEEN THE THREE EARLS.\n\n\nDURING the night there fell a shower of sleet, and Earl R\u00f6gnvald left\nhis ship with six men, intending to go to his residence at J\u00f3rfiara\n(Orphir), because he expected no danger. During the shower they came to\nKnarrarstadir. An Icelander, by name B\u00f3t\u00f3lf Begla, an excellent skald,\nlived there. He pressed Earl R\u00f6gnvald with many invitations to stay\nthere during the night. Earl R\u00f6gnvald and his men entered the house;\ntheir clothes were pulled off them, and they went to sleep; but B\u00f3t\u00f3lf\nwas to keep watch. This same night Earl Erlend and Swein attacked Earl\nHarald and his men, and took them by surprise, and they knew of nothing\ntill they heard the battle-cry. They flew to arms, and defended\nthemselves bravely. Many were killed, and the attack ended in this\nway\u2014that Earl Harald leaped on shore when there were only five men left\nin his ship. Bjarni, brother of Erlend Ungi, a noble man, fell there,\nand a hundred men with him; and a great number were wounded. All the\nEarl\u2019s men jumped from the ships to reach the shore, and fled. Few of\nEarl Erlend\u2019s men were killed, and they took fourteen ships belonging to\nthe Earls, with all the valuables they contained. When the most part of\ntheir work was done, they heard that Earl R\u00f6gnvald had left his ship the\nevening before, and walked first to Knarrarstadir, and thither they\nwent. Bondi B\u00f3t\u00f3lf was outside the door when they came, and greeted them\nwell. They asked whether Earl R\u00f6gnvald was there. B\u00f3t\u00f3lf said he had\nbeen there during the night. They became very violent, and demanded\nwhere the Earl was then, saying that he no doubt knew where he was. He\npointed with his hand behind the farm-yard, and sang:\n\n                 This way went the Prince a-fowling;\n                 Skilful are his men with arrows.\n                 Now is many a heathcock meeting\n                 Death beside the verdant hillocks,\n                 Where the elmbow of the hunter,\n                 Keenly bent, as if by magic,\n                 Makes the moorfowl quickly perish.\n                 The Prince\u2019s sword the land defendeth.\n\nThe Earl\u2019s men ran away from the homestead, and he who could run fastest\nconsidered himself luckiest, as he would be the first to catch Earl\nR\u00f6gnvald. B\u00f3t\u00f3lf went into the house, awoke the Earl, and told him what\nhad happened during the night, and also what the Earl\u2019s men were doing.\nR\u00f6gnvald and his men started up instantly, and put on their clothes;\nthen they went away to the Earl\u2019s residence at J\u00f3rfiara; and when they\ncame there they found Earl Harald in hiding. The Earls [Harald and\nR\u00f6gnvald] went immediately over to Ness each in a separate boat; one had\ntwo men, the other three. All their men went over to Ness, wherever they\ncould get a boat.\n\nEarl Erlend and Swein took the ships belonging to the Earl, and a great\nquantity of other property. Swein took for his share all Earl R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s\ntreasures that were in his ship, and sent them to him over to Ness.\nSwein advised Earl Erlend to move his ships out to Vagaland (Walls), and\nto lie in the Firth, where they could see ships coming from Ness, as he\nthought it would be convenient to run out upon them if there was\nopportunity. But Earl Erlend yielded to the persuasions of his men that\nthey should go north to Daminsey (Damsey), and in a large castle there\nthey drank all day, but fastened the ships together every night, and\nslept on board. Thus time passed on till the Yule-feast.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XCVII\n\n                          EARL ERLEND\u2019S DEATH.\n\n\nFIVE nights before Christmas, Swein, Asleif\u2019s son, went east to\nSandvik,[423] to his kinswoman Sigr\u00edd, because he had to make peace\nbetween her and her neighbour by name Bj\u00f6rn. Before he went away he told\nEarl Erlend to sleep on board by night, and not to be less on his guard\nthat he himself was absent. Swein spent one night with his kinswoman\nSigr\u00edd. A tenant and dear friend of Sigr\u00edd\u2019s, by name Gisl, asked Swein\nto stay with him, as he had been brewing ale, and wished to entertain\nhim. When they came to Gisl they were told that Earl Erlend had not gone\non board that night; and as soon as Swein heard it, he sent Margad,\nGrim\u2019s son, and two other men to the Earl, and asked him to pay heed to\nhis advice, although he had not done so the preceding night, and then he\nadded: \u201cI suspect that I shall not have long to provide for this Earl.\u201d\n\nMargad and his companions found Earl Erlend, and told him Swein\u2019s words.\nThe Earl\u2019s men said: \u201cHe is a strange man; sometimes he is afraid of\nnothing, at other times he is so frightened that he does not know where\nto look for shelter to himself or others.\u201d They said they would sleep\nquietly on shore, and not go on board. The Earl said they should do as\nSwein advised them, and he went on board with four-and-twenty men; the\nothers slept at a house. Margad went to another creek, not far away.\nThis very night the Earls R\u00f6gnvald and Harald surprised Earl Erlend, and\nneither the watchmen who kept guard on the island nor those on board the\nship perceived them until they were climbing on board. A man named Orm\nand another Ufi were in the forepart of the Earl\u2019s ship. Ufi jumped up\nand tried to rouse the Earl, but could not, for he was dead-drunk. Then\nhe took him in his arms, and jumped overboard with him into a boat\nalongside the ship, and Orm jumped overboard on the other side, and\nescaped on shore. There Earl Erlend was slain, and most of those on\nboard. Margad and his men were awakened during the night by the\nbattle-cry, and took to their oars, and rowed round the headland. It was\nclear moonlight, and they saw when the Earls went away; and they felt\nsure that fate had decided between them. They rowed away first to\nRennadal (Rendale), and sent men to Swein, Asleif\u2019s son, to tell him\nwhat they had seen. Earl Harald wished to give Earl Erlend\u2019s men peace,\nbut Earl R\u00f6gnvald wished to wait, in order to know whether the Earl\u2019s\nbody would be found or not. The body was found two nights before Yule. A\nspear was seen standing in a heap of seaweed; and that spear was fast in\nEarl Erlend\u2019s body.[424] Then it was brought to church, and peace was\ngiven to the Earl\u2019s men, as well as to four of Swein\u2019s men who had been\ntaken.\n\nA man named J\u00f3n V\u0153ng was a sister\u2019s son of that J\u00f3n V\u0153ng who was\nmentioned before.[425] He had been with H\u00e1kon Karl, and had a child by\nhis sister; then he ran away, and was with Anakol on piratical\nexpeditions; but now he was with Erlend, yet he was not in the battle.\nAll Erlend\u2019s men went to Kirkiuvag, and took refuge in St. Magnus\u2019s\nchurch. The Earls went there, and a meeting for peace-making was held in\nthe church. The Earls would not pardon J\u00f3n until he promised to marry\nthe woman. All the men swore oaths of fealty to the Earls, and J\u00f3n V\u0153ng\nbecame Earl Harald\u2019s steward.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER XCVIII\n\n                          SWEIN SLAYS ERLEND.\n\n\nAFTER Earl Erlend\u2019s death Swein, Asleif\u2019s son, went to Rennadal\n(Rendale), and there he saw Margad, who was able to give him all the\ntidings of what happened in Daminsey. Then Swein went to Hr\u00f3lfsey\n(Rousay), and arrived there at high-water. He and his men brought all\nthe tackle of the ships on shore, and placed it in safety. They divided\nthemselves among the farms, and kept watch on the movements of the Earls\nand other chiefs. Swein, Asleif\u2019s son, mounted the hill with five men,\nand went down to the sea on the other side; they hid themselves at the\nhomestead in the darkness, and heard a great talking. There were\nThorfinn, his son Ogmund, and their brother-in-law Erlend.[426] He\nboasted of having given Earl Erlend the death-blow, and all of them were\ndeclaring they had done right well. When Swein heard this, he and his\ncompanions went in upon them. Swein was quickest, and immediately dealt\nErlend a death-blow. They took Thorfinn prisoner, and brought him away;\nbut Ogmund was wounded. Swein went to Thingav\u00f6ll,[427] to his father\u2019s\nbrother Helgi; and there they spent the first days of Yule in hiding.\nEarl R\u00f6gnvald went to Daminsey, but Earl Harald was at Kirkiuvag during\nYule-tide. Earl R\u00f6gnvald sent men to Thingav\u00f6ll, to Helgi, and asked him\nto tell his kinsman Swein, if he knew anything of his whereabouts, that\nEarl R\u00f6gnvald invited him to spend the Yule with him, and he would try\nto make peace between him and Earl Harald. When Swein received this\nmessage, he went to Earl R\u00f6gnvald, and remained with him during the rest\nof the Yule-tide, and was well treated.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER XCIX\n\n                OF EARL HARALD AND SWEIN, ASLEIF\u2019S SON.\n\n\nAFTER Christmas a meeting was appointed to make peace between the Earls\nand Swein, when they should finally settle all matters about which\nreconciliation had been made. When they met, Earl R\u00f6gnvald took great\npains to make peace between them. Others, however, who were not Swein\u2019s\nfriends or kinsmen, spoke against him, saying that he would always be\ncausing disturbances if he were not expelled from the Islands. At last,\nhowever, they agreed upon this\u2014that Swein should pay a mark of gold to\neach of the Earls, and should keep one-half of his estates and a good\nlong-ship.\n\nWhen Swein heard the award, he replied: \u201cOur agreement will be good only\nin case I am not oppressed.\u201d\n\nEarl R\u00f6gnvald would not accept the payment from Swein, saying that he\nwould in no way oppress him, as he considered his faithfulness and\nfriendship worth more than money.\n\nAfter the peace-meeting, Earl Harald went to G\u00e1reksey, and used Swein\u2019s\ncorn and other property rather wastefully. When Swein heard this he\ncomplained of his loss to Earl R\u00f6gnvald, and said, that \u201cthis was a\nbreach of their agreement, and that he would go home to look after his\nproperty.\u201d\n\nEarl R\u00f6gnvald said: \u201cStay with me, Swein: I shall send a message to Earl\nHarald, for he will be more than a match for you to deal with, strong\nand brave as you are.\u201d\n\nSwein was not to be dissuaded, and went with ten men in a boat to\nG\u00e1reksey, and arrived there late in the evening. They went behind the\nhouses, and Swein wished to set fire to the hall, and burn down the\nhomestead, and the Earl within it. A man named Swein, Bl\u00e1k\u00e1ri\u2019s son, the\nmost notable of Swein\u2019s companions, dissuaded him from doing so, saying\nthat the Earl was not perhaps in the homestead; and if he was there, he\nwould neither permit Swein\u2019s wife nor his daughter to go out, and it was\nnever to be thought of to burn them. Then they went up to the door, and\ninto the entry. Those who were inside the hall jumped up and closed the\ndoor, and then Swein and his men became aware that the Earl was not in\nthe house. Those who were within soon ceased resisting, surrendered\ntheir weapons to Swein, and went out unarmed. Swein gave quarter to all\nEarl Harald\u2019s men. He poured out all his beer, and took away his wife\nand daughter. He asked his wife Ingirid where Earl Harald was, but she\nwould not tell him. He then said: \u201cSay nothing then, but point to where\nhe is.\u201d She would not do that either, because she was related to the\nEarl. Swein gave up some of the arms, when they came on board the ships.\nBut the effect of this was that their agreement of peace was at an end.\n\nEarl Harald had gone out to a certain island to hunt hares.[428] Swein\nwent to Hellisey.[429] It rises abruptly from the sea, and there is a\nlarge cave in the cliffs, the mouth of which is flooded at high-water.\nWhen the Earl\u2019s men got their weapons from Swein, they went to Earl\nHarald and informed him of these doings of Swein\u2019s. The Earl had his\nship set afloat, and ordered his men to row after him. He said: \u201cThis\ntime our meeting with Swein shall be decisive.\u201d Then they rowed in\npursuit of him, and soon they saw and recognised each other.\n\nWhen Swein saw that they gained on him, he said: \u201cWe must devise some\nscheme, because I do not care to meet the Earl with so great odds\nagainst me as I suspect there are. Let us go to the cave and see how we\nfare.\u201d\n\nWhen Swein came to the cave it was ebb tide. They hauled up the boat\ninto the cave, which ran into the cliff, and the water rose before the\nmouth of the cave. During the day Earl Harald and his men searched for\nSwein throughout the island, and did not find him, neither did they see\nany boat leave the island. They wondered very much at this, as they\nthought it unlikely that Swein\u2019s boat had gone down. They rowed round\nthe island in search of the boat, but did not find it. Then they\nconcluded that he must have gone to some of the other islands, and they\nwent where they thought it most likely. It so happened that, when the\nEarl rowed away, the tide was back from the mouth of the cave. Swein had\noverheard the talk between the Earl and his men. He left his own boat in\nthe cave, and took a small boat which the monks[430] had, and went to\nSandey. There they landed, and pushed off the small boat, which drifted\nabout till it was wrecked. They came to a homestead called\nV\u00f6luness,[431] where a man lived by name B\u00e1rd, who was Swein\u2019s kinsman.\nThey made themselves known to him secretly, and Swein said he wished to\nstay there. B\u00e1rd said he might do as he liked, but that he dared not\nkeep him here unless in hiding. They went in, and sat by themselves in a\npart of the house separated from the other inmates by a partition-wall.\nThere was a secret door to it, filled up with loose stones. That evening\nJ\u00f3n V\u0153ng, Earl Harald\u2019s steward, arrived there with six men, and B\u00e1rd\nreceived them well. Large fires were made, at which they warmed\nthemselves. J\u00f3n was excited, and spoke of the dealings of Swein and the\nEarls. He blamed Swein very much, said he was a truce-breaker, and\nfaithful to no one. He had lately made peace with Earl Harald, and yet\nhe went to attack him and burn him in the house, adding that there would\nnever be peace in the land till Swein was banished from it. B\u00e1rd and\nJ\u00f3n\u2019s companions put in some words in Swein\u2019s defence. Then J\u00f3n began to\nblame Earl Erlend, saying there was no loss in his death, as he was a\nviolent man, and nobody could live in safety for him. When Swein heard\nthis, he could not restrain himself, but seized his weapons, and ran to\nthe secret door. He pushed the stones down, thus making a great noise.\nSwein\u2019s design was to leap before the hall-door. J\u00f3n was sitting in his\nshirt and linen breeches, and when he heard Swein coming he tied on his\nshoes and sprang out from the fire and away from the house. The night\nwas pitch dark, and it was hard frost. During the night he came to\nanother farm. His feet were very much frost-bitten, and some of his toes\nfell off. Through the intercession of B\u00e1rd, Swein gave peace to J\u00f3n\u2019s\ncompanions. He remained there during the night, but in the morning he\nand his men went away in a boat belonging to B\u00e1rd, which he gave to him.\nThey went south to Bardsv\u00edk,[432] and stayed in a certain cave.\nSometimes Swein took his meals at a house during the day, but slept\nduring the night down by his boat, and thus he guarded himself against\nhis enemies.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER C\n\n                         OF ROGNVALD AND SWEIN.\n\n\nONE morning early Swein and his men saw a large long-ship coming from\nHr\u00f3lfsey (Hrossey?) to R\u00f6gnvaldsey,[433] and Swein recognised it\nimmediately as Earl R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s ship, which he used to command himself.\nThey put in at R\u00f6gnvaldsey, where Swein\u2019s boat was lying, and five of\nthem went on shore. Swein and his men were on a certain headland, and\nthrew stones at the Earl\u2019s men. When those on board saw this, they drew\nforth their arms; and when that was seen by Swein, they ran down to the\nbeach, and pushed their boat afloat, and jumped into it. The long-ship\nstuck fast on the beach. When they rowed past it, Swein was standing up\nwith a spear in his hand. When Earl R\u00f6gnvald perceived it, he took a\nshield and held it before him, but Swein did not throw the spear. When\nthe Earl saw that they would get away from them, he ordered a\ntruce-shield to be held aloft, and asked Swein to go on shore. When\nSwein saw this, he told his men to put to land, saying that it was his\ngreatest satisfaction to be at peace with Earl R\u00f6gnvald.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER CI\n\n                       OF EARL HARALD AND SWEIN.\n\n\nTHEN Earl R\u00f6gnvald and Swein went on shore, and had a long conversation\nby themselves, and agreed very well. While they were talking, they saw\nEarl Harald sailing from Caithness to Vagaland (Walls), and when the\nship approached the island, Swein asked what was to be done. The Earl\nsaid Swein should go over to Ness immediately. This was during Lent.\nThey left R\u00f6gnvaldsey at the same time. The Earl went to Hrossey,[434]\nbut Swein went west to Straumsey (Stroma). Earl Harald saw the boat, and\nthought he recognised it as Swein\u2019s, and went immediately into the Firth\nin pursuit. When Swein saw the pursuit, they left the boat, and hid\nthemselves. When Earl Harald came to Straumsey (Stroma) he saw the boat,\nand suspected that the men were somewhere near, and would not therefore\ngo on shore. A man named Amundi, the son of Hnefi, who was Earl Harald\u2019s\nfriend, and father\u2019s brother to Swein, Asleif\u2019s son\u2019s stepchildren, went\nbetween them, and succeeded so far that they agreed to keep the\nagreement of peace which they had made the previous winter. A gale\narose, and they were both obliged to remain there during the night, and\nAmundi put Earl Harald and Swein in the same bed, and many of their men\nslept in the same house.\n\nAfter this Swein went over to Ness (Caithness), and Earl Harald to the\nOrkneys. Swein heard that the Earl had said that their agreement to be\nat peace had been rather loose. He paid little heed to this, however,\nand went south to Dalir, and spent the Easter there with his friend\nSumarlidi; but Earl Harald went north to Hjaltland, and was there a long\ntime during the spring.\n\nAfter Easter Swein went from the south, and met on his way two of J\u00f3n\nV\u0153ng\u2019s brothers\u2014one was called Bunu-P\u00e9tr, the other Bl\u00e1n. Swein and his\nmen seized them, and took from them all their goods, and brought them to\nland. A gallows was erected for them, and when everything was ready\nSwein said they should be allowed to run up the country, adding that\nthey were greater shame to their brother J\u00f3n alive than dead. They were\na long time out on the hills, and when they came to some habitations\nthey were very much frost-bitten.\n\nFrom thence Swein went to Li\u00f3dh\u00fas, in the Sudreyar, and stayed there\nsome time. When J\u00f3n V\u0153ng heard that Swein had taken his brothers\nprisoners, and not knowing what he had done with them, he went to Eyin\nHelga (Enhallow), and took Olaf, the son of Swein, Asleif\u2019s son, and\nKolbein Hruga\u2019s foster-son, and brought him to Westrey. They met Earl\nR\u00f6gnvald at Hreppisnes,[435] and when he saw Olaf, he said: \u201cWhy are you\nhere, Olaf?\u201d\n\nHe said: \u201cIt is the work of J\u00f3n V\u0153ng.\u201d\n\nThe Earl looked to J\u00f3n, and said: \u201cWhy did you bring Olaf here?\u201d\n\nHe replied: \u201cSwein took my brothers, and I don\u2019t know but he may have\nkilled them.\u201d\n\nThe Earl said: \u201cTake him back again as quickly as you can, and do not\ndare to do him any harm, whatever may have become of your brothers, for\nif you do, you will not be safe in the Islands from either Swein or\nKolbein.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER CII\n\n                           OF EARL R\u00d6GNVALD.\n\n\nAFTER Easter Swein commenced a journey to the Sudreyar, taking with him\nsixty men. He went to the Orkneys, and landed first in Hr\u00f3lfsey\n(Rousay). There they took a man, by name H\u00e1kon Karl,[436] who had been\nwith Earl Harald when Earl Erlend was slain. H\u00e1kon ransomed himself with\nthree marks of gold, and thus saved himself from Swein. In Hr\u00f3lfsey\nSwein found the ship which the Earls had taken from him, and two of the\nplanks were cut, which had been done by Earl R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s order, because\nSwein had refused to buy it or to accept it as a gift from the Earls.\nSwein went from there to Hrossey, and met Earl R\u00f6gnvald at Birgish\u00e9rad\n(Birsay). The Earl received him well, and Swein spent the spring with\nhim. Earl R\u00f6gnvald said that he had ordered the planks of the ship to be\ncut, because he did not wish him to row about rashly among the Islands\nwhen he came from the Sudreyar. Earl Harald came from Hjaltland in the\nspring during the Whitsuntide, and when he came to the Orkneys Earl\nR\u00f6gnvald sent men to him to say that he wished the compact of peace\nbetween him and Swein to be renewed, and a peace meeting was appointed\nin St. Magnus\u2019s church on Friday during the holy week. Earl R\u00f6gnvald\ncarried a broad axe to the meeting, and Swein went with him. Then the\npeace compact which had been made in the winter was confirmed.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER CIII\n\n                        OF SWEIN, ASLEIF\u2019S SON.\n\n\nTHEN Earl R\u00f6gnvald gave Earl Harald the ship which had belonged to\nSwein, but all other things which had been awarded him from Swein he\nreturned to him. Earl R\u00f6gnvald and Swein were standing at the\nchurch-door while the sail, which had been lying in St. Magnus\u2019s church,\nwas carried out, and Swein looked rather gloomy. The following Saturday,\nafter noontide service, Earl Harald\u2019s men came to Swein, Asleif\u2019s son,\nand said the Earl wished him to come to speak with him. Swein consulted\nEarl R\u00f6gnvald, but he did not say much in favour of his going, and added\nthat one did not know whom to trust. Swein went, nevertheless, with five\nmen. The Earl was sitting on a cross bench in a small room, and\nThorbi\u00f6rn Klerk beside him. A few other men were with the Earl, and they\nsat for a while and drank. Then Thorbi\u00f6rn left the room, and Swein\u2019s\ncompanions said to him that they distrusted the Earl\u2019s conduct very\nmuch. Thorbi\u00f6rn returned shortly after, and presented Swein with a\nscarlet tunic and a cloak, saying that he did not know whether he would\ncall it a gift, because these things had been taken from Swein in the\nwinter. Swein accepted the gifts. Earl Harald restored to him the\nlong-ship which had belonged to him, and the half of his property and\nestates. He asked him to stay with him, and said their friendship should\nnever be dissolved. Swein accepted all this gladly, and went immediately\nthe same night and told Earl R\u00f6gnvald how matters had turned out between\nhim and Earl Harald. Earl R\u00f6gnvald said he was much pleased with this,\nand told Swein to take care that they did not become enemies again.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER CIV\n\n                             OF THE EARLS.\n\n\nA SHORT time after, the three chiefs\u2014Swein, Thorbi\u00f6rn, and Eirik\u2014went\nout on a plundering expedition. They went first to the Sudreyar, and all\nalong the west to the Syllingar, where they gained a great victory in\nMar\u00eduh\u00f6fn[437] on Columba\u2019s-mas (9th June), and took much booty. Then\nthey returned to the Orkneys.\n\nWhen the Earls Harald and R\u00f6gnvald had made peace with Swein, Asleif\u2019s\nson, they were always together, and Earl R\u00f6gnvald governed, but they\nagreed very well. When they came home from the Syllingar, Thorbi\u00f6rn\nKlerk went to Earl Harald, and became his counsellor. Swein went home to\nG\u00e1reksey, and resided there during the winter with many men, living upon\nhis booty, and other stores which he possessed there in the Islands. He\nwas most attached to Earl R\u00f6gnvald. Every summer he was out on marauding\nexpeditions. It was said that Thorbi\u00f6rn did not improve the harmony\nbetween Earl Harald and Earl R\u00f6gnvald.\n\nTh\u00f3rarinn Killinef was one of Earl R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s men, a great friend of\nhis, and was always with the Earl. A man named Thorkel was one of\nThorbi\u00f6rn Klerk\u2019s followers, and a friend of his. Th\u00f3rarinn and Thorkel\nquarrelled over their drink at Kirkiuvag, and Thorkel wounded Th\u00f3rarinn,\nand then escaped to Thorbi\u00f6rn. Th\u00f3rarinn\u2019s companions pursued Thorkel,\nbut Thorbi\u00f6rn and his men defended themselves in a loft. The Earls were\ninformed of this, and they went to part them. Thorbi\u00f6rn refused to leave\nthe decision of this case to Earl R\u00f6gnvald, as it was his men that were\nconcerned in the pursuit. When Th\u00f3rarinn had recovered from his wounds,\nhe slew Thorkel as he was going to church. He ran into the church, but\nThorbi\u00f6rn and his men pursued him. Earl R\u00f6gnvald was told what was\nhappening, and he went there with his men, and asked Thorbi\u00f6rn whether\nhe was going to break the church open. Thorbi\u00f6rn said the church ought\nnot to shelter him who was within. Earl R\u00f6gnvald said there should be no\nviolation of the church at this time, and Thorbi\u00f6rn was pushed away from\nit. No agreement was come to about this case.\n\nThorbi\u00f6rn went over to Caithness, and was there for a while. Then many\nthings happened to estrange them, for Thorbi\u00f6rn was often guilty of\nviolence to women, and of manslaying. He went secretly out to the\nOrkneys in a boat with thirty men, and landed at Sk\u00e1lpeid, and walked to\nKirkiuvag with three men. In the evening he went alone into an inn where\nTh\u00f3rarinn was drinking, and struck him a death-blow immediately. Then he\nran out into the darkness and far away. For this the Earl made him an\noutlaw in every part of his dominions. Thorbi\u00f6rn went over to Ness, and\nremained in hiding with his brother-in-law, H\u00f6svir, who was called the\nstrong. He had married Thorbi\u00f6rn\u2019s sister, Ragnhild, and their son was\nStef\u00e1n R\u00e1dgiafi (counsellor), Thorbi\u00f6rn\u2019s follower. Shortly afterwards\nThorbi\u00f6rn went to Malcolm, King of Scots, and remained there a while, in\nhigh favour with the King. There was a man called Gillaodran with the\nKing of Scots. He was of a great family, but a violent man. He had\nincurred the displeasure of the King of Scots for violent acts and\nmanslaughters which he had committed in his kingdom. He fled to the\nOrkneys, and the Earls received him. Then he went to Caithness, and\nacted as a steward for the Earls. There was a noble Bondi in Caithness,\nby name Helgi, a friend of Earl R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s. Gillaodran quarrelled with\nhim about the stewardship, and Gillaodran attacked and killed him. After\nthe slaughter he went west to Scotland\u2019s Fiord, and was received by a\nchief named Sumarlidi H\u00f6ld,[438] who had possessions in Dalir, on\nScotland\u2019s Fiord. His wife was Ragnhild, the daughter of Olaf Bitling\n(little bit), King of the Sudreyar. Their sons were King Dufgall,\nR\u00f6gnvald, and Engull.[439] They were called the Dalverja family.\n\nEarl R\u00f6gnvald sent for Swein, Asleif\u2019s son, before he went out on his\nexpedition. When they met, Earl R\u00f6gnvald asked him to have an eye on\nGillaodran if he had an opportunity. Swein said he did not know how far\nhe might succeed.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER CV\n\n                         SWEIN SLAYS SUMARLIDI.\n\n\nTHEN Swein went on a marauding expedition, having five long-ships. When\nhe came west to Scotland\u2019s Fiord, he heard that Sumarlidi H\u00f6ld had gone\non board a ship, and was about to set out on an expedition. He had seven\nships, and Gillaodran commanded one. He had gone into the firths to\nbring up some troops that had not arrived. When Swein heard of\nSumarlidi, he gave him battle, and it was a fierce fight. Sumarlidi H\u00f6ld\nwas killed in that fight, and many men with him. When Swein became aware\nthat Gillaodran was not there, he went in search of him, and slew him in\nMyrkvifi\u00f6rd,[440] and fifty men with him. Then he went on his\nexpedition, and returned home in the autumn, as his custom was. He went\nto see Earl R\u00f6gnvald soon after his return, and he was much pleased with\nthese deeds.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER CVI\n\n                   OF EARL R\u00d6GNVALD AND EARL HARALD.\n\n\nEVERY summer the Earls were wont to go over to Caithness, and up into\nthe forests to hunt the red-deer or the reindeer.[441] Thorbi\u00f6rn Klerk\nwas with the King of Scots, and sometimes he went to Caithness and\nstayed in hiding with his friends. He had three friends in Caithness\nwhom he trusted most. One was his brother-in-law, H\u00f6svir; the second,\nLi\u00f3t\u00f3lf, who lived in Th\u00f3rsdal; and the third was Hallvard, D\u00fafa\u2019s son,\nin K\u00e1lfadal (Calder), at a certain promontory off Th\u00f3rsdal. All these\nwere his intimate friends.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER CVII\n\n                     THE SLAYING OF EARL R\u00d6GNVALD.\n\n\nWHEN Earl R\u00f6gnvald had been an Earl two-and-twenty winters from the time\nthat Earl Paul was taken prisoner, the Earls went over to Caithness\nduring the latter part of the summer as usual, and when they came to\nTh\u00f3rs\u00e1 they heard a rumour to the effect that Thorbi\u00f6rn was there in\nhiding with not a few men, and that he intended to attack them if he had\nan opportunity. Then the Earls called men together, and went with a\nhundred men, twenty of whom were on horseback and the rest on foot. In\nthe evening they went up into the valley,[442] and took up their\nquarters for the night. When they were sitting by the fire in the\nevening, Earl R\u00f6gnvald sneezed very much. Earl Harald said: \u201cThat was a\nloud sneeze, kinsman.\u201d In the morning they went along the valley.\n\nDuring the day Earl R\u00f6gnvald rode always ahead of his men, and a man\nwith him called As\u00f3lf, and another by name J\u00f3mar, his kinsman. They rode\nfive together along K\u00e1lfadal; and when they came to the farm, farmer\nH\u00f6skuld was on the top of a corn-stack piling up the corn, which his\nservants brought to him. Earl Harald was some distance behind. When\nH\u00f6skuld recognised Earl R\u00f6gnvald, he saluted him by name, and asked for\nnews, speaking very loud, so that he could be heard far away. This was a\nshort distance from the sitting-room of the house. The homestead stood\non an eminence, and one had to go through narrow and very steep passages\nup to it. Thorbi\u00f6rn was at this farm, and was sitting indoors drinking.\nThe passages led to the end of the house close to the gable, which had a\ndoor filled loosely with stones. Thorbi\u00f6rn and his men, hearing the\nwords of H\u00f6skuld when he saluted Earl R\u00f6gnvald, seized their weapons,\npushed the stones from the concealed door, and ran out. Thorbi\u00f6rn ran\nround the gable, and on to the wall of the passage. The Earl was then\nclose to the door. Thorbi\u00f6rn struck at him, and As\u00f3lf warded off the\nblow with his hand, and it was cut off; and then the sword touched the\nEarl\u2019s chin, inflicting a great wound.\n\nOn receiving the blow As\u00f3lf said: \u201cLet them serve the Earl better who\nhave to thank him for greater gifts.\u201d He was then eighteen winters old,\nand had lately entered the Earl\u2019s service.\n\nEarl R\u00f6gnvald was going to jump off his horse, and his foot stuck fast\nin the stirrup. At that moment Stef\u00e1n arrived and stabbed him with a\nspear; and Thorbi\u00f6rn wounded him again; but J\u00f3mar stabbed Thorbi\u00f6rn in\nthe thigh, the spear entering the bowels. Then Thorbi\u00f6rn and his men ran\nbehind the homestead, and down a steep bank, into a wet morass. Then\nEarl Harald and his men arrived and met Thorbi\u00f6rn. They recognised each\nother, and the Earl\u2019s men, when they knew his intentions, advised to\npursue him; but Earl Harald dissuaded them from it, saying that he\nwished to wait for Earl R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s opinion, \u201cBecause,\u201d said he, \u201cI am\nvery intimately connected with Thorbi\u00f6rn, as you know, both through\nrelationship and other ties.\u201d\n\nThose who were with Earl R\u00f6gnvald stood sorrowing over his dead body,\nand some time passed before Earl Harald heard the news. Thorbi\u00f6rn and\nhis men had got out on the bog, and across the moss-hag running along\nit. But through the urgency of the Earl\u2019s followers, he and his men ran\ndown to the bog, and they met at the moss-hag\u2014the two parties standing\none on either side. Thorbi\u00f6rn\u2019s party defended themselves from the bank,\nand his followers ran to his assistance from the neighbouring\nhomesteads, until they were fifty in number. They defended themselves\nbravely, for they had a strong position. The moss-hag was both deep and\nbroad, and the bog was soft; so they could only hurl spears at each\nother. Thorbi\u00f6rn told his men to throw none back; and when the Earl\u2019s\nparty had exhausted their missiles they spoke to each other, and\nThorbi\u00f6rn called to Earl Harald, saying, \u201cKinsman! I wish to ask you to\ngive me quarter, and I am willing to leave the decision of this case\nentirely in your hands. I will reserve nothing which may contribute to\nyour honour. I also think, kinsman, you must remember that there have\nbeen quarrels in which you would not have made such a difference between\nEarl R\u00f6gnvald and me that you would have killed me for having done this\ndeed, when he had you under his thumb, and left you no more power than\nif you had been his page; but I gave you the best gifts, and endeavoured\nto further your honour in every way I could. The deed which I have\ncommitted is indeed a great crime, and weighs heavily upon me, but the\nwhole of his dominions revert to you. You may also know that Earl\nR\u00f6gnvald intended for me the same fate which he met at my hands. And I\nsuspect, kinsman, that if it had so happened that I were dead, and Earl\nR\u00f6gnvald alive, you would not have quarrelled with him; and yet you wish\nto take away my life.\u201d\n\nThorbi\u00f6rn urged his case with many fair words, and many pleaded for him,\nand begged that quarter might be given him. And at last, when so many\npleaded, the Earl began to listen to them.\n\nThen Magnus, the son of Gunni, H\u00e1vard\u2019s son, a chief and a kinsman of\nthe Earl\u2019s, and the noblest born of Earl Harald\u2019s followers, took speech\nas follows:\u2014\u201cWe are not able to counsel you, Earl, after these great\ndeeds, but I shall tell you what will be said if quarter is given to\nThorbi\u00f6rn when he has done such a deed, and even dared to say to your\nface, almost in so many words, that he has done this wickedness in your\ninterest, or for your honour; and it will be an everlasting shame and\ndishonour to you and to all the Earl\u2019s kinsmen if he is not avenged. I\nthink Earl R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s friends will believe it to be the truth that for a\nlong time you have been planning his death, and that it is your plan\nwhich has now been accomplished. Do you think he will acquit you from\ncomplicity in his guilt when he has to defend himself; since no one says\na word for you when he tells you to your face that he has committed this\ncrime in your interest? And how can you better confirm this suspicion\nthan by now granting him peace? I have resolved, for my part, never to\ngive him quarter, if any doughty men are willing to follow me, whether\nyou like it or not.\u201d\n\nHis brother Thorstein, and H\u00e1kon, and Swein, Hr\u00f3ald\u2019s son, spoke to the\nsame effect. Then they left the Earl and went along by the moss-hag,\ntrying to find a place where they might cross.\n\nWhen Thorbi\u00f6rn saw Magnus and his followers walking along the moss-hag,\nhe said: \u201cNow, I suppose, they must have disagreed in their counsels;\nthe Earl has wished to give me peace, and Magnus has spoken against it.\u201d\n\nWhile they were thus talking, Thorbi\u00f6rn and his men went farther away\nfrom the moss-hag.\n\nHarald\u2019s party stood on the brink, and when he saw that no quarter would\nbe given, he leapt across in full armour, though it was nine ells[443]\nbroad. His followers leapt after him, but none of them were able to leap\nso far; and most of them caught the bank and crawled up out of the mud.\n\nThorbi\u00f6rn\u2019s men urged him to advance against Magnus and his men, and\ndecide the matter with them; but he said: \u201cI think the best plan is,\nthat each of you do what he thinks likely to be best, but I shall go to\nEarl Harald.\u201d\n\nMost of his men dissuaded him from this, and begged him rather to flee\nto the woods and save himself. He did not, however, accept that advice.\nThen his followers left him, and tried to save themselves in various\nways, and at last there were eight men only with Thorbi\u00f6rn. When he saw\nthat Earl Harald had crossed the ditch, he went to him and fell on his\nknees, saying that he brought his head to him. Many of the Earl\u2019s men\nasked that peace might be given him; and the Earl said: \u201cSave yourself,\nThorbi\u00f6rn; I have not the heart to kill you.\u201d\n\nWhile they were talking, they moved down the valley along\nKalfadals\u00e1,[444] and Magnus\u2019s party pursued them. When the Earl saw it,\nhe said: \u201cSave yourself, Thorbi\u00f6rn, I will not fight for you against my\nmen.\u201d Then Thorbi\u00f6rn and his men left the Earl\u2019s party, and went to some\ndeserted shielings called Asgr\u00edm\u2019s \u00e6rgin.[445] Magnus\u2019s party pursued\nthem, and set the buildings on fire immediately. Thorbi\u00f6rn and his men\ndefended themselves bravely; and when the buildings began to fall down\nwith the burning, they went out and were attacked by the other party\nwith their weapons, as soon as they could reach them. They were already\nvery much exhausted by the fire, and fell there all nine. When\nThorbi\u00f6rn\u2019s wounds were examined, it was found that the intestines\nprotruded through the wound inflicted by J\u00f3mar. Earl Harald led his men\ndown the valley, but those who were with Magnus went to Fors (Forss),\nwrapped up Earl R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s body, and brought it down to Th\u00f3rs\u00e1.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER CVIII\n\n                  THE REMOVAL OF EARL R\u00d6GNVALD\u2019S BODY.\n\n\nEARL R\u00d6GNVALD KALI died five nights after the summer Marymas.[446] Earl\nHarald brought the body with a splendid following to the Orkneys, and it\nwas buried at the Magnus Kirk; and there it rested until God manifested\nR\u00f6gnvald\u2019s merits by many and great miracles. Then Bishop Bjarni had his\nholy remains exhumed with the permission of the Pope.[447] Where the\nblood of the Earl fell on the stones when he died, it may be seen to\nthis day as fresh as if it had just come from the wounds.\n\nEarl R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s death was much lamented, because he was very popular in\nthe Islands and in many other parts. He had been helpful to many, was\nliberal with his money, gentle, and a true friend, highly accomplished,\nand a good scald. He left a daughter, Ingigerd, an only child, who was\nmarried to Eir\u00edk Slagbrellir. Their children were Harald Ungi, Magnus\nMangi, R\u00f6gnvald, Ingibiorg, El\u00edn, and Ragnhild.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER CIX\n\n                          OF HARALD AND SWEIN.\n\n\nAFTER Earl R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s death, Earl Harald took possession of the whole of\nthe Islands, and became their sole ruler. He was a mighty chief, and a\nman of large stature and great strength. His wife was Afreka, and their\nchildren were\u2014Heinrek, H\u00e1kon, Helena, and Margar\u00e9t. When H\u00e1kon was only\na few winters old, Swein, Asleif\u2019s son, offered to foster him, and when\nhe was able to take his part with other men, Swein took him out on\nmarauding expeditions every summer, and honoured him in everything.\nSwein used to reside at home in G\u00e1reksey, in winter, keeping there\neighty men at his own expense. He had such a large drinking-hall that\nthere was none equal to it anywhere else in the Orkneys. In the spring\nhe was very busy sowing a large breadth of seed, and he usually did a\ngreat part of the work himself. When this work was finished, he went\nevery spring on marauding expeditions. He plundered in the Sudreyar and\nIreland, and returned home after midsummer. This he called\nspring-viking. Then he stayed at home till the fields were reaped and\nthe corn brought in. Then he went out again, and did not return until\none month of winter had passed. This he called autumn-viking.\n\n\n\n\n                               CHAPTER CX\n\n                         SWEIN GOES TO IRELAND.\n\n\nONCE it happened that Swein went out on a spring expedition, taking with\nhim H\u00e1kon, the son of Earl Harald. They had five rowing ships, all\nlarge. They plundered in the Sudreyar. All the inhabitants were so\nafraid of him that they hid all their movable property in the ground or\nin heaps of loose stones. Swein went all the way south to Man, and\nobtained very little booty. Then they went to Ireland and plundered\nthere, but when they were approaching D\u00fdflin (Dublin) two merchant-ships\ncame from England, laden with English cloth and other merchandise; they\nwere going to D\u00fdflin. Swein made for the vessels, and offered them\nbattle. There was little resistance by the English, and Swein\u2019s party\ntook every penny in the vessels, leaving to the Englishmen only what\nthey stood in, and a small quantity of provisions. They sailed away in\nthe vessels, but Swein\u2019s party went to the Sudreyar, and divided their\nbooty. They sailed from the west with great pomp. When they were lying\nin harbours, they covered their ships with the English cloth, to make a\nshow; and when they sailed to the Orkneys, they sewed the cloth upon\ntheir sails, and then it looked as if the sails were made entirely of\nthe fine stuffs. This they named the Skrud-viking.[448]\n\nSwein went home to his estate in G\u00e1reksey. He had taken a large quantity\nof wine and English mead from the vessels. When he had been at home a\nshort time he invited Earl Harald, and prepared a splendid feast for\nhim. When Earl Harald was at the feast a great deal was said of Swein\u2019s\nmagnificence. The Earl said: \u201cI wish, Swein, you would now leave off\nyour marauding expeditions; it is good now to drive home a whole waggon.\nYou know that your plundering has fed you and your men a long time, but\nto most men of violence it happens that they perish in their raiding, if\nthey do not leave it off in time.\u201d\n\nSwein looked to the Earl and said, smiling: \u201cThis is well said, my Lord;\nyou have spoken like a friend, and it is good to take sound advice from\nyou; but some complain that you are not an over just man yourself.\u201d\n\nThe Earl replied: \u201cI must be responsible for my own acts, but I spoke as\nit occurred to me.\u201d\n\nSwein replied: \u201cYour intention is no doubt good, my Lord; and it shall\nbe so, that I will discontinue my marauding expeditions, for I am\ngetting old, and my strength is wasting away in the wet work and the\nfighting. I am now going to make an autumn expedition, and I wish it to\nbe not less glorious than the spring one. Then I shall leave off\nwar-going.\u201d\n\nThe Earl replied: \u201cIt is difficult to know, comrade, which comes\nfirst\u2014death or lasting fame.\u201d\n\nThen their conversation ceased. When Earl Harald left the feast\nhonourable gifts were presented to him, and he and Swein parted very\ngood friends.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER CXI\n\n                SWEIN, ASLEIF\u2019S SON\u2019S (LAST) EXPEDITION.\n\n\nSHORTLY after this Swein prepared to go on a marauding expedition with\nseven long-ships, all of them large. H\u00e1kon, the son of Earl Harald, went\nwith him. They went first to the Sudreyar, and found there little booty.\nThen they went to Ireland, and plundered there in many places. They went\nall the way south to D\u00fdflin (Dublin), and took the inhabitants by\nsurprise, so that they did not know till they were in the town. They\ntook a great deal of plunder, and took captive the rulers of the city,\nand their negotiations ended in the surrender of the town to Swein, and\nthey promised to pay as much money as he might levy on them. He was to\nquarter his men on the town, and have the command of it, and the D\u00fdflin\nmen confirmed this arrangement with oaths. Swein and his men went down\nto their ships in the evening, but in the morning they were to come into\nthe town and receive hostages from the inhabitants.\n\nNow it is to be told what was going on in the town during the night. The\nrulers of the town had a meeting, and considered the difficulties in\nwhich they were placed. They thought it a grievous hardship that they\nshould have to surrender their town to the Orkneymen, especially to him\nwhom they knew to be the most exacting man in the whole West; and they\ncame to the determination to play him false if they could. They resolved\nto dig large pits inside of the city gates, and in many other places\nbetween the houses, where it was intended that Swein\u2019s men should come\nin, and armed men were hidden in the houses close by. They placed such\ncoverings over the pits as were sure to fall in when the weight of the\nmen came upon them. Then they covered all over with straw, so that the\npits could not be seen, and waited till morning.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER CXII\n\n                      SWEIN, ASLEIF\u2019S SON\u2019S FALL.\n\n\nNEXT morning Swein and his men arose and armed themselves, and went to\nthe town; and when they came near the gates the D\u00fdflin men ranged\nthemselves on both sides from the gates along by the pits. Swein and his\nmen, not being on their guard, fell into them. Some of the townsmen ran\nimmediately to the gates, and others to the pits, and attacked Swein\u2019s\nmen with weapons. It was difficult for them to defend themselves, and\nSwein perished there in the pit, with all those who had entered the\ntown. It was said that Swein was the last man who died there, and that\nhe spake these words before his fall: \u201cKnow all men, whether I die\nto-day or not, that I am the holy Earl R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s henchman, and my\nconfidence is where he is with God.\u201d Swein\u2019s surviving followers went\nthen to their ships, and put out to sea; and nothing is said of their\nvoyage until they came to the Orkneys. Here is the end of Swein\u2019s\nhistory; and it has been said that he was the greatest man in the\nWestern lands, either in old times or at the present day, of those who\nhad not a higher title than he had. After his death his sons Olaf and\nAndr\u00e9s divided their patrimony. The next summer after his death they\nraised the end walls of the large drinking-hall which he had in\nG\u00e1reksey. Andr\u00e9s, the son of Swein, married Fr\u00edda, the daughter of\nKolbein Hruga, and sister to Bishop Bjarni.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER CXIII\n\n                      OF EARL HARALD AND HIS SONS.\n\n\nNOW Earl Harald ruled the Orkneys, and was a great chief.\nAfterwards[449] he married Hvarflod,[450] the daughter of Earl\nMalcolm,[451] of M\u00e6rh\u00e6fi (Moray). Their children were Thorfinn,[452]\nDavid, J\u00f3n, Gunnhild, Herborga, and Langl\u00edf.\n\nWhen Bishop William the Second was dead, Bjarni, the son of Kolbein\nHruga, was made bishop after him. He was a very great man, and a dear\nfriend of Earl Harald. Bishop Bjarni had a large party of kinsmen in the\nIslands. The sons of Eir\u00edk Slagbrellir were Harald Ungi, Magnus Mangi,\nand R\u00f6gnvald. The brothers went east to Norway to see King Magnus,\nErling\u2019s son, and he gave Harald the title of Earl, and one half of the\nIslands, which had belonged to the holy Earl R\u00f6gnvald, his mother\u2019s\nfather. Earl Harald Ungi went to the west, and with him Sigurd Murt, the\nson of Ivar Galli. The mother of Ivar, who fell at Akr with Erling\nSkakki, was the daughter of H\u00e1vard, Gunni\u2019s son. Sigurd Murt was young,\nhandsome, and a great dandy. Magnus Mangi remained with the King, and\nfell with him in Sogn.\n\nHarald (Ungi) and his followers came first to Hjaltland. Then they went\nover to Caithness, and then into Scotland, to William, King of\nScots.[453] Earl Harald requested King William to give him the half of\nCaithness which Earl R\u00f6gnvald had held. The King granted him this; and\nEarl Harald went then down to Caithness, and gathered troops. Then\nL\u00edf\u00f3lf Skalli, his brother-in-law, came to him. He had many noble\nkinsmen there. L\u00edf\u00f3lf had married Ragnhild, the sister of Earl Harald.\nHe was called Earl Harald Ungi (the younger); but Harald, Maddad\u2019s son,\nthe elder. L\u00edf\u00f3lf had the command of the Earl\u2019s troops. They sent men to\nthe Orkneys, to Earl Harald the elder, requesting him to give up one\nhalf of the Islands, since the King had given them to Earl Harald Ungi.\nWhen the Earl received this message, he refused absolutely to divide his\ndominions on any condition. L\u00edf\u00f3lf Skalli was the messenger, and the\nEarl upbraided him greatly before he left. After this, Earl Harald the\nelder collected troops, and obtained a great many. Earl Harald Ungi\u2019s\nparty were in Caithness, and had some gathering too. When they heard\nthat Harald the elder was collecting troops, they sent L\u00edf\u00f3lf a second\ntime across the Pentland Firth to gather information about the enemy\u2019s\nforces. He landed east in R\u00f6gnvaldsey, and ascended a hill, where he\nfound three of Harald\u2019s watchmen. Two of them he killed, and one of them\nhe took with him for information. Then L\u00edf\u00f3lf saw the Earl\u2019s fleet,\nwhich consisted of many ships, most of them large. Then he went down\nfrom the hill to his boat, and told his companions what he had\nascertained. He said Earl Harald had so large an army that it was quite\nhopeless for them to fight with him. \u201cI would advise,\u201d said L\u00edf\u00f3lf,\n\u201cthat we should go to-day to Th\u00f3rs\u00e1, and there many troops will come to\nus at once. If you wish to offer battle to Earl Harald now, it is most\nimprudent, whatever the result may be.\u201d\n\nThen said Sigurd Murt: \u201cIll has the Earl\u2019s brother-in-law fared across\nthe Pentland Firth if he has left his heart behind him;\u201d adding,\nfurther, that their prospects were not bright if all should lose heart\nwhen they saw Earl Harald\u2019s army.\n\nL\u00edf\u00f3lf replied: \u201cIt is difficult to see, Sigurd, where each one carries\nhis heart when courage is required; and I believe you men of mark will\nthink it a serious matter to remain behind when I run from Harald Ungi.\u201d\n\nThey did not go to Th\u00f3rs\u00e1; but shortly after they saw Earl Harald\u2019s\nfleet coming from R\u00f6gnvaldsey, and then they prepared for battle. Earl\nHarald went on shore, and placed his men in battle array. They far\nexceeded the others in number. Sigurd Murt and L\u00edf\u00f3lf arranged the\ntroops of Earl Ungi. The former was dressed in a scarlet tunic, and\ntucked the skirt under his belt. Some said that the same should be done\nbehind, but he told them not to do it, \u201cfor,\u201d said he, \u201cI shall not go\nbackwards to-day.\u201d L\u00edf\u00f3lf and Sigurd led one wing each, and when they\nhad arrayed their men the battle began with great fury. Among the troops\nof Earl Harald the elder there were many hardy, fierce, and well-armed\nmen, the Bishop\u2019s kinsmen, and many others of the Earl\u2019s champions. When\nthe battle had lasted for a while, Sigurd Murt fell, having borne\nhimself well and bravely. L\u00edf\u00f3lf behaved the most valiantly of them all.\nThe Caithnessmen say he broke three times through the ranks of Earl\nHarald\u2019s men, yet he fell in this fight, after having earned great fame.\nWhen both were dead\u2014L\u00edf\u00f3lf and Sigurd Murt\u2014Earl Ungi\u2019s men fled. Earl\nHarald Ungi fell at some turf-pits,[454] and that very night a great\nlight was seen where his blood fell on the ground. People said he was\ntruly a saint, and there is now a church where he fell. He is buried in\nNess (Caithness). Innumerable miracles are by God granted through his\nmerits, which testify that he wished to go to Orkney to his kinsmen Earl\nMagnus and Earl R\u00f6gnvald. After the battle Earl Harald subdued the whole\nof Caithness, and went back triumphant to the Orkneys.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER CXIV\n\n                           OF THE ORKNEYMEN.\n\n\nWILLIAM, King of Scots, heard that Earl Harald (Ungi) had been killed,\nand also that Earl Harald, Maddad\u2019s son, had subdued the whole of\nCaithness without asking his leave. He became enraged at this, and sent\nmen to the Sudreyar to R\u00f6gnvald, Gudr\u00f6d\u2019s son, the King of the Sudreyar.\nGudr\u00f6d\u2019s mother was Ingibiorg, daughter of Earl H\u00e1kon, Paul\u2019s son. King\nR\u00f6gnvald was the greatest warrior then in the western lands. Three\nwinters he had been out in war-ships without coming under a sooty\nrafter. When this message came to R\u00f6gnvald, he collected an army from\nall the kingdom of the Sudreyar and from Satiri (Kintyre). He had also a\nlarge army from Ireland. Then he went north to Caithness, took\npossession of the whole of the territory, and remained there some time.\nEarl Harald kept in the Orkneys, and took no heed of the King\u2019s\nmovements. Towards winter King R\u00f6gnvald prepared to go home to his\ndominions in the Sudreyar. He left three stewards (s\u00fdslumenn) over\nCaithness. One was M\u00e1ni, Olaf\u2019s son; the second Rafn, the lawman; and\nthe third, Hl\u00edf\u00f3lf Alli. Some time after, King R\u00f6gnvald returned to the\nSudreyar. Earl Harald sent a man over to Ness (Caithness), saying that\nhe would consider his journey a lucky one if he could kill any of the\nstewards or all of them. This man was brought across the Pentland Firth,\nand he went on till he came to Lawman Rafn. Rafn asked him where he was\ngoing, and he had little to say in reply. Rafn said: \u201cI can see in you\nthat Earl Harald has sent you over here for some evil purpose, but I\nhave not the heart to slay you, because you are my kinsman.\u201d Thus they\nparted, and he went away to Hl\u00edf\u00f3lf, and their intercourse ended in\nHl\u00edf\u00f3lf\u2019s murder. Then he fled to the Orkneys to Earl Harald, and told\nhim what he had done.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER CXV\n\n                      HARALD TORTURES THE BISHOP.\n\n\nNOW Earl Harald prepared to leave the Orkneys, and when he was quite\nready he went first to Th\u00f3rs\u00e1, and landed from his ships there. The\nBishop was in the borg at Sk\u00e1rab\u00f3lstad (Scrabster). When the\nCaithnessmen saw Earl Harald\u2019s army, they perceived it was so numerous\nthat they had no chance to withstand them. They were told also that the\nEarl was in such an evil temper that there was no knowing what he might\ndo. Then the Bishop took speech, and said: \u201cIf our dealings turn out\nwell, he will give you peace.\u201d[455] They did as the Bishop told them.\nThe Earl\u2019s men rushed from the ships up to the borg. The Bishop went to\nmeet the Earl, and saluted him with bland words, but their dealing\nturned out in this way, that Earl Harald had the Bishop seized, his\ntongue cut out, and then he caused a knife to be thrust into his eyes,\nand blinded him. Bishop J\u00f3n prayed to the holy virgin Tr\u00f6llh\u00e6na during\nhis torture, and then he went on a certain bank, when they let him go.\nThere was a woman on the bank, and the Bishop asked her to help him. She\nsaw that blood was flowing from his face, and said: \u201cBe silent, my lord,\nand I shall willingly help you.\u201d The Bishop was brought to the\nresting-place of the holy Tr\u00f6llh\u00e6na,[456] and there he recovered both\nhis speech and sight.\n\nEarl Harald went up to the borg, and it was immediately surrendered to\nhim.[457] He proceeded at once to punish the inhabitants severely, and\nimposed heavy fines on those whom he considered most guilty of treachery\nto him; and he made all the Caithnessmen acknowledge him by oath as\ntheir lord, whether they liked it or not. Then he took possession of all\nthe property belonging to the stewards, who had fled to the King of\nScots. Then Earl Harald resided in Caithness with many men.\n\n\n\n\n                              CHAPTER CXVI\n\n                            OF THE STEWARDS.\n\n\nNOW it is to be told of the stewards (s\u00fdslumenn) that they went six\ntogether to Scotland, and saw the King during Advent. They were able to\ngive particular intelligence of everything that had happened in\nCaithness during Earl Harald\u2019s stay there. The King was highly enraged\nat hearing the news, but he said he would pay back double to those who\nhad lost their own. The first day they stayed with the King twenty-five\nells of cloth and an English mark in ready money was given to each of\nthem. They spent the Yule-tide with the King, and were well treated.\n\nAfter Yule-tide the King sent word to all the chiefs in his kingdom, and\ncollected a large army throughout the country, and with all these troops\nhe went down to Caithness against Earl Harald. With this great army he\npursued his journey till he came to Eysteinsdal,[458] where Caithness\nand Sutherland meet. The camp of the King of Scots stretched far along\nthe valleys.\n\nEarl Harald was in Caithness when he heard the news, and he drew troops\ntogether immediately. It is said he obtained six thousand men, and yet\nhe had no chance to withstand the King of Scots. Then he sent men to him\nto sue for peace. When this request was brought before the King, he said\nit was no use asking for peace unless he had every fourth penny that was\nto be found in all the land of Caithness.\n\nWhen the Earl received this message, he called together the inhabitants\nand chiefs, and consulted with them. As, however, they had no means of\nresisting, it was agreed that the Caithnessmen should pay one-fourth of\nall their property to the King of Scots, except those men who had gone\nto see the King in winter. Earl Harald went out to the Orkneys, and was\nto have Caithness as he had it before it was given to Earl Harald Ungi\nby the King of Scots. Thorfinn, the son of Earl Harald, who was a\nhostage with the King of Scots, was blinded during these hostilities.\n\nWhen peace had been made, the King returned to Scotland. Earl Harald was\nnow the sole ruler of the Orkneys. In the later part of the days of Earl\nHarald, his brother-in-law, Olaf, and J\u00f3n, Hallkell\u2019s son, raised a\nparty in the Orkneys, and went east to Norway against King Sverrir. They\nmade Sigurd, the son of King Magnus, Erling\u2019s son, their King. Many men\nof noble birth in the Orkneys joined this party, and it was very strong.\nThey were for a while called Eyjarskeggiar (Islanders) or Gullbeinir\n(goldenlegs). They fought with King Sverrir in Fl\u00f3ruvogar, and were\nbeaten.[459] Both J\u00f3n and Olaf were killed, as also their King, and most\nof their men. After this King Sverrir became a great enemy of Earl\nHarald, laying it to his charge that he was the cause of the party being\nraised. At last Earl Harald went from the west, and Bishop Bjarni went\nalong with him. The Earl left his case without reservation to the\ndecision of King Sverrir. Then King Sverrir took all Hjaltland from Earl\nHarald, with its taxes (scat) and dues, as a fine; and the Earls of\nOrkney have never had it since.[460]\n\nEarl Harald was five winters old when he was made Earl, and for twenty\nwinters he and Earl R\u00f6gnvald were together Earls of Orkney. After Earl\nR\u00f6gnvald\u2019s death, he was forty-eight winters Earl of Orkney, and he died\nin the second year of the reign of King Ingi, Bard\u2019s son.[461] Earl\nHarald\u2019s sons, J\u00f3n and David, succeeded him; and Heinrek, his son, had\nRoss in Scotland.\n\nThe following have been the most powerful of the Earls of Orkney,\naccording to the relation of those who have made histories of\nthem:\u2014Sigurd, Eystein\u2019s son; Earl Thorfinn, Sigurd\u2019s son; and Earl\nHarald, Maddad\u2019s son.\n\nThe brothers J\u00f3n and David ruled the land after their father, until\nDavid died from disease, the same year as H\u00e1kon Galinn died in\nNorway.[462] After that J\u00f3n took the title of Earl of all the Orkneys.\n\n\n\n\n                             CHAPTER CXVII\n\n                      THE BURNING OF BISHOP ADAM.\n\n\nWHEN Bishop J\u00f3n, he who was maimed by the order of Earl Harald, died in\nCaithness, a man who was called Adam was made Bishop in his stead. None\nknew his family, because when a child he was found at the door of a\ncertain church. The Caithnessmen found him rather exacting in his\noffice, and blamed a certain monk who was with him chiefly for that. It\nwas an ancient custom that the Bishop should receive a spann[463] of\nbutter of every twenty cows. Every Bondi in Caithness had to pay this\u2014he\nmore who had more cows, and he who had fewer less, and so in proportion.\nBishop Adam wished to increase the impost, and demanded a spann of every\nfifteen cows; and when that was obtained, he demanded it of twelve; and\nwhen this too was conceded, he demanded it of ten. But this was thought\nby all men most unreasonable.\n\nThen the Caithnessmen went to see Earl J\u00f3n, who was then in Caithness,\nand they complained of this before the Earl. He said he would have\nnothing to do with it, adding that the case was not a difficult one.\nThere were two alternatives: this was not to be endured, yet he would\nnot say what the other might be.\n\nBishop Adam was at H\u00e1 Kirkia,[464] in Thorsdal, and Earl J\u00f3n was a short\ndistance off. The Caithnessmen held a meeting on a hill above the\nvillage where the Bishop was. Lawman Rafn was with the Bishop, and\nbegged him to spare the inhabitants, saying that otherwise he feared the\nconsequences. The Bishop asked him to be of good cheer, saying that the\nB\u0153ndr (farmers) would become quiet of their own accord. Then a man was\nsent to Earl J\u00f3n, requesting him to make peace between them and the\nBishop. But the Earl would not meddle with the matter at all. Then the\nB\u0153ndr ran down from the hill in great excitement, and when Lawman Rafn\nsaw it he warned the Bishop to take care of himself. The Bishop and his\nfriends were drinking in a loft there, and when the B\u0153ndr arrived the\nmonk went to the door, and he was immediately hewn across the face, and\nfell back into the room dead. When the Bishop heard it, he said: \u201cThis\ndid not happen sooner than might have been expected, for his\ninterference in our transactions has generally been unfortunate.\u201d Then\nRafn asked the Bishop to tell the B\u0153ndr that he was willing to come to\nan agreement with them; and when they heard it, all the wiser men among\nthem were very glad. Then the Bishop went out to make an arrangement\nwith them; but when he was seen by the more wicked ones, who were most\nfurious, they seized the Bishop, brought him into a small house, and set\nfire to it, and the house burnt so quickly that those who wished to save\nthe Bishop could not do anything. Bishop Adam perished there.[465] His\nbody was not much burnt when it was found. Then the body was buried\nsuitably and honourably; but those who had been the best friends of the\nBishop sent men to the King of Scots. Alexander, son of the holy King\nWilliam, was then King of Scotland. When he heard the tidings, he became\nso enraged that the punishments inflicted by him for the burning of the\nBishop, by mutilation and death, confiscation and outlawry from the\nland, are still in fresh memory.\n\nAnd now we cannot relate more distinctly than we have here done the\nevents concerning the Earls of Orkney.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                               APPENDIX.\n\n                                -------\n\n                      SAGA OF OLAF, TRYGGVI\u2019S SON.\n\n                       (_From the Flateyjarb\u00f3k._)\n\n\n            THE DOMINIONS OF KING HARALD AND EARL R\u00d6GNVALD.\n\n\n179. Earl R\u00f6gnvald assisted Harald Harfagri (fair-haired) to conquer the\ncountry (Norway), and he gave him the revenues of both M\u0153ri and\nRaumsdal. R\u00f6gnvald had married Ragnhild, the daughter of Hr\u00f3lf Nefia\n(nose). They had a son named Hr\u00f3lf, who conquered Normandy. Hr\u00f3lf was so\nbig that no horse could carry him, and he was therefore called\nG\u00f6nguhr\u00f3lf (Hr\u00f3lf the walker). From him the Earls of R\u00fada (Rouen) and\nthe Kings of England are descended. They had two other sons, Ivar and\nEarl Th\u00f3rir Thegiandi (the silent). R\u00f6gnvald had also sons by his\nconcubines. They were Hallad, Hrollaug, and Einar, who was the youngest.\nOne summer Harald Harfagri went to the west across the sea to punish the\nVikings, as he was weary of their devastations. They plundered in Norway\nduring the summer, and spent the winters in Hjaltland or the Orkneys.\nHarald subdued Hjaltland, the Orkneys, and the Sudreyar (Hebrides). He\nwent west as far as the Isle of Man, and destroyed all the dwellings in\nMan. He fought many battles there, and extended his dominion so far to\nthe west that none of the Kings of Norway since his time has had wider\ndominions. In one of these battles, Ivar, the son of Earl R\u00f6gnvald,\nfell. So when King Harald sailed from the west he gave Hjaltland and the\nOrkneys to Earl R\u00f6gnvald as a compensation for [the loss of] his son;\nbut Earl R\u00f6gnvald gave the Islands to his brother Sigurd, who was King\nHarald\u2019s forecastleman; and the King gave him the title of Earl before\nhe left the west. Sigurd remained out in the west.\n\n\n                     EARL MELBRIGD SLAIN BY SIGURD.\n\n\n180. Earl Sigurd became a great chief. He formed an alliance with\nThorstein the Red, son of Olaf the White, and Aud Dj\u00fapaudga (the very\nwealthy), and together they conquered all Caithness and much more of\nScotland\u2014M\u00e6rh\u00e6fui (Moray) and Ross. He built a borg on the southern\nborder of M\u00e6rh\u00e6fui. Melbrigd T\u00f6nn (tooth), an Earl of the Scots, and\nEarl Sigurd, made an arrangement to meet in a certain place, with forty\nmen each, in order to come to an agreement concerning their differences.\nWhen the appointed day arrived Earl Sigurd was suspicious of treachery\non the part of the Scots. He therefore caused eighty men to be mounted\non forty horses. When Earl Melbrigd saw this, he said to his men:\u2014\u201cNow\nwe have been treacherously dealt with by Earl Sigurd, for I see two\nmen\u2019s legs on one side of each horse, and the men, I believe, are thus\ntwice as many as the beasts. But let us be brave, and kill each his man\nbefore we die.\u201d Then they made themselves ready. When Sigurd saw it, he\nalso decided on his plan, and said to his men:\u2014\u201cNow, let one-half of our\nnumber dismount and attack them from behind, when the troops meet, while\nwe shall ride at them with all our speed to break their battle array.\u201d\nThere was hard fighting immediately, and it was not long till Earl\nMelbrigd fell, and all his men with him. Earl Sigurd and his men\nfastened the heads [of the slain] to their saddle-straps, in bravado,\nand so they rode home triumphing in their victory. As they were\nproceeding, Earl Sigurd, intending to kick at his horse with his foot,\nstruck the calf of his leg against a tooth protruding from Earl\nMelbrigd\u2019s head, which scratched him slightly; but it soon became\nswollen and painful, and he died of it. Sigurd the powerful was buried\nin a mound at Ekkialsbakki.[466]\n\nSigurd\u2019s son was named Guthorm. He reigned one winter, and died\nchildless.\n\nWhen Earl R\u00f6gnvald heard of the death of Earl Sigurd and his son, he\nsent his son Hallad out to the west, and King Harald gave him the title\nof Earl. Hallad came out to the west, and took up his residence in\nHrossey,[467] but Vikings went prowling about the islands and outlying\nheadlands, slaying men and seizing booty. The B\u0153ndr complained of their\nlosses to Earl Hallad, but they thought he did not get them much redress\nfor their wrongs. Then Hallad grew tired of the dignity, and resigned\nthe earldom, took up his odal rights, and returned to Norway, and his\njourney was regarded as a very ignominious one.\n\n\n                      EINAR COMES TO THE ISLANDS.\n\n\n181. Two Danish Vikings took up their quarters in the Islands; one of\nthem was called Th\u00f3rir Tr\u00e9skegg (wooden beard), the other K\u00e1lf Skurfa\n(scurf). When Earl R\u00f6gnvald heard this he became very angry, and called\nhis sons Th\u00f3rir and Hrollaug. Hr\u00f3lf was at that time on a war\nexpedition. R\u00f6gnvald asked which of them would go to the Islands. Th\u00f3rir\nsaid he would follow his advice.\n\nThe Earl replied: \u201cI foresee that your power will be greatest here; and\nyour ways do not lead from home.\u201d\n\nHrollaug said: \u201cFather, would you like me to go?\u201d\n\nThe Earl replied: \u201cIt will never be your fortune to become an Earl. Your\nway lies towards Iceland. There you will increase your family, and it\nwill be a noble one.\u201d\n\nThen Einar, his youngest son, came forward and said: \u201cWould you like me\nto go to the Islands? One thing I will promise, which will be very\nacceptable to you\u2014viz. that I shall never more come into your presence;\nlittle honour do I enjoy at home, and it is hardly likely that my\nsuccess will be less elsewhere than it is here.\u201d\n\nThe Earl said: \u201cYou are not likely to become a chief, on account of your\nbirth, for all your kin on the mother\u2019s side are thrall-born; but it is\ntrue that the sooner you go and the longer you stay the more agreeable\nit will be to me.\u201d Earl R\u00f6gnvald gave him a fully-equipped vessel, with\ntwenty benches, and King Harald gave him the title of Earl.\n\n\n                           THE VIKINGS SLAIN.\n\n\n182. Einar sailed to Hjaltland, and there many men gathered round him.\nThen he went to the Orkneys to meet K\u00e1lf Skurfa and Th\u00f3rir Tr\u00e9skegg.\nThere was a great battle, and both the Vikings were killed. This was\nsaid about it:\n\n                     Tr\u00e9-skegg gave he to the Trows:\n                     Skurfa fell before Torf-Einar.\n\nThen Einar took possession of the lands, and soon became a great chief.\nHe was the man who first cut turf (peat) from the ground for fuel at\nTorfnes in Scotland, for fuel was scarce in the Islands. Einar was a\ntall man, ugly, and with one eye, yet he was very keen-sighted.\n\n\n             BATTLE BETWEEN EARL EINAR AND PRINCE HALFDAN.\n\n\n183. When the sons of Harald Harfagri grew up they became men of great\nviolence and turbulence, as has been told before. The sons of Sn\u00e6fr\u00edd,\nH\u00e1lfd\u00e1n H\u00e1legg (high legs) and Gudr\u00f6d Liomi (splendour) killed R\u00f6gnvald,\nEarl of M\u0153ri. King Harald became very angry at this, and H\u00e1lfd\u00e1n had to\nflee over seas to the west, but Gudr\u00f6d became reconciled to his father.\nWhen H\u00e1lfd\u00e1n H\u00e1legg came to the Orkneys, Earl Einar fled from the\nIslands to Scotland, and H\u00e1lfd\u00e1n became King over the Islands. Earl\nEinar came back during the same year, and when they met there was a\ngreat battle, in which Einar had the victory, and H\u00e1lfd\u00e1n fled away.\nEinar sang this song:\n\n                 Why are not the spear-shafts flying,\n                 From the hands of Hr\u00f3lf and Hrollaug,\n                 Thickly \u2019gainst the press of warriors?\n                 Now, my father! I avenge thee.\n                 While we here are closed in battle,\n                 Sits Earl Th\u00f3rir all the evening,\n                 Silent o\u2019er his cheerless drink.\n\nNext morning they found H\u00e1lfd\u00e1n H\u00e1legg on Rinar\u2019s Hill. The Earl made a\nblood eagle be cut on his back with the sword, and had his ribs severed\nfrom the back-bone, and his lungs pulled out. Thus he gave him to Odinn\nas an offering for victory, and sang this song:\n\n                 Oft it is that bearded men\n                 Are guilty deemed for taking sheep;\n                 But my offence is that I slew\n                 The young son of the Islands\u2019 king.\n                 Men may say that danger waits me\n                 From the great king\u2019s speedy vengeance;\n                 But his wrath shall never daunt me,\n                 In whose shield I\u2019ve made a dint.\n\nThen he had a cairn raised over him, and sang this song:\n\n                  Vengeance for my father\u2019s death\n                  I have ta\u2019en for my fourth share.\n                  In him the people\u2019s champion fell;\n                  But it was the Norns\u2019 decree.\n                  Heap we now a cairn o\u2019er High-leg,\n                  Thus the hard skatt we shall pay him\n                  Which as victors we are due him.\n                  Let the wise to me now listen.\n\nWhen this was heard in Norway his brothers became greatly enraged, and\nthreatened an expedition to the Islands to avenge him, but Harald\ndelayed their journey. When Earl Einar heard of their threats, he sang:\n\n                 Men of no ignoble birth\n                 Are they who, from my native land,\n                 Seek my life for vengeance\u2019 sake;\n                 But the truth is, that they know not,\n                 Till their swords have surely slain me,\n                 Whom the eagles\u2019 claws shall rend.\n\nSome time afterwards King Harald set out for the western seas, and came\nto the Islands. Einar fled from the Islands to Caithness. Then men went\nbetween them, and they made peace. King Harald imposed a fine upon the\nIslands, adjudging them to pay sixty marks of gold. Earl Einar offered\n[to the B\u0153ndr] to pay the money himself, on condition that he should\nbecome proprietor of all their freeholds. The B\u0153ndr accepted this,\nbecause the wealthy men thought they might redeem their freeholds, and\nthe poorer men had no money. Einar paid the whole sum, and for a long\ntime afterwards the Earls held all the odal lands, until Earl Sigurd\ngave back their odal possessions to the Orkneymen. King Harald went back\nto Norway, but Earl Einar ruled over the Orkneys a long time, and died\non a sick-bed. He had three sons: one was named Arnkell, the second\nErlend, and the third Thorfinn Hausakliuf (skull-splitter).\n\nWhen Harald Harfagri died, Eir\u00edk Bl\u00f3d\u00f6x (bloody-axe) was King for two\nwinters. Then Hakon, Athelstan\u2019s foster son, came to the land, and Eir\u00edk\nfled. Arnkell and Erlend, the sons of Torf Einar, fell with Eir\u00edk Bl\u00f3d\u00f6x\nin England. Gunnhild and her sons then went to the Orkneys, and took\npossession of them, and stayed there for a time. From thence they went\nto Denmark, but before they went away they married Ragnhild, the\ndaughter of Gunnhild and Eir\u00edk, to Arnfinn, the son of Earl Thorfinn\n[Hausakliuf], and Earl Thorfinn took up his residence in the Islands: he\nwas a great and warlike chief. He died on a sick-bed, and was buried in\na mound on Hauga Heath,[468] in R\u00f6gnvaldsey, and was considered to have\nbeen a great man.\n\n\n                         THE MURDER OF HAVARD.\n\n\n184. Thorfinn had five sons. One was named H\u00e1vard Ars\u00e6li (blessed with\ngood seasons), the second Hl\u00f6dver, the third Li\u00f3t, the fourth Sk\u00fali, and\nthe fifth Arnfinn. Ragnhild, the daughter of Eir\u00edk, killed her husband\nArnfinn at Myrkhol (Murkle), in Caithness, and then she married H\u00e1vard\nArs\u00e6li, his brother. He became Earl, and was a good chief, and blessed\nwith good seasons. There was a man named Einar Kl\u00edning (buttered bread),\nthe son of H\u00e1vard\u2019s sister. He was a great chief, and had many men, and\nwent usually on war expeditions during the summer. He accepted an\ninvitation from H\u00e1vard, and at that feast he and Ragnhild talked much\ntogether. She said that it was more suitable that such a man as he\nshould be chief and Earl than H\u00e1vard his kinsman, adding that the woman\nwas well married who had him for a husband. Einar told her not to speak\nof such things, saying that H\u00e1vard was the noblest man in the Islands,\nand that she was well matched. Ragnhild replied: \u201cH\u00e1vard and I shall not\nbe long together after this. But it is true that men will be found in\nthe Islands who will not stick at trifles if you grudge me the dignity.\u201d\nBy her persuasion Einar was moved to covetousness and treachery against\nhis kinsman. They agreed that he should kill the Earl, and that she\nshould marry him. Some time after Einar prepared to take out his men,\nbut a certain spaeman who was with him said: \u201cDo not engage in this\nbusiness to-day; wait till to-morrow, or else family murders will be\nfrequent in your family.\u201d Einar pretended not to hear this. At this time\nH\u00e1vard was at Steinsness,[469] in Hrossey. There they met, and there was\nhard fighting, and it was not long till the Earl fell. The place is now\ncalled H\u00e1vard\u2019s teigar.[470] When this became known, Einar was\nconsidered a great nithing[471] for the deed. Ragnhild would have\nnothing to do with him, saying it was a mere lie that she had given him\nany promises. Then she sent for Einar Hardki\u00f6pt (hard mouth), who was\nthe son of another sister of H\u00e1vard. And when they met, she said it was\na great shame to H\u00e1vard\u2019s kinsmen that they did not avenge him, adding\nthat she would do anything that the Earl might be avenged. \u201cIt is\nevident,\u201d she said, \u201cthat he who avenges the Earl will be most esteemed\nby good people, and will most deserve his dominions.\u201d Einar replied: \u201cIt\nis said that you sometimes speak differently from what you think. But he\nwho does this deed will expect in return that you will help him to the\ndominions, as well as to other things which he will consider not less\nimportant.\u201d This was the end of their talk. After this Einar Hardki\u00f6pt\nwent to Einar Kl\u00edning and killed him. But Ragnhild sent for their\nbrother Li\u00f3t, and married him. Li\u00f3t became Earl, and was a great chief.\nNow Einar Hardki\u00f6pt had killed his kinsman, and was not any nearer the\nearldom than before. He was highly dissatisfied, and wished to collect\nmen together and subdue the Islands by force. He had great difficulty in\ngetting men, for the Orkneymen wished to serve the sons of Thorfinn\nHausakliuf. Some time afterwards the Earl had Einar Hardki\u00f6pt slain.\n\n\n                     BATTLE BETWEEN LIOT AND SKULI.\n\n\n185. Sk\u00fali, the brother of Li\u00f3t, went to Scotland, and had an Earl\u2019s\ntitle given him by the King of Scots. Then he went down to Caithness,\nand collected forces together; from thence he went to the Islands, and\nfought with his brother for the dominion of them. Li\u00f3t collected a\nnumerous army, and went against Sk\u00fali. When they met, Sk\u00fali would\nnothing but fight. There was a severely contested battle. Li\u00f3t gained\nthe victory, and Sk\u00fali fled over to Ness (Caithness). Li\u00f3t pursued him,\nstayed there for a while, and got many men together. Then Sk\u00fali came\ndown from Scotland with a large army, and met Li\u00f3t at Dalir (Dale), in\nCaithness, and a great battle ensued. Sk\u00fali had a large army given him\nby the King of Scots and Earl Magbi\u00f3d.[472] In the beginning of the\nbattle the Scots fought hotly. Earl Li\u00f3t told his men to act on the\ndefensive, and to stand firm; and when the Scots could not make any\nimpression on them, Li\u00f3t incited his men, and fought very fiercely\nhimself. When this had been going on for some time, the array of the\nScots was broken, and then they fled; but Sk\u00fali continued the battle,\nand was ultimately killed. Li\u00f3t took possession of Caithness, and he and\nthe Scots were at war, because they were vexed at their defeat. When\nEarl Li\u00f3t was in Caithness, Earl Magbi\u00f3d came down from Scotland with a\nlarge army, and they met at Skida-mire (Skitten), in Caithness. Although\nEarl Li\u00f3t\u2019s forces were not equal to those of the Scots, he fought so\nbravely that the Scots gave way, and the battle had not continued long\nwhen those of the Scots who were left alive fled, and many of them were\nwounded. Li\u00f3t returned from the pursuit victorious, but with many men\nwounded, and he himself had received wounds, of which he died.\n\n\n                                BATTLE.\n\n\n186. Hl\u00f6dver was Earl after Li\u00f3t, and became a great chief. He married\nAudna, the daughter of Kiarval, the King of the Ivar.[473] Their son was\nSigurd the stout. Hl\u00f6dver died on a sick-bed, and was buried at Hofn\n(Huna), in Caithness. His son Sigurd succeeded him, and became a great\nchief, with extensive possessions. He kept Caithness by main force from\nthe Scots, and went every summer on war expeditions to the Sudreyar\n(Hebrides), Scotland, and Ireland. One summer Finnleik, an Earl of the\nScots, challenged Sigurd to meet him at Skida-mire on a certain day; but\nSigurd went to consult his mother, who was a wise woman. The Earl told\nher that the difference in numbers would not be less than seven to one.\nShe replied: \u201cI should have reared thee up long in my wool-bag if I had\nknown that thou wouldst wish to live for ever. It is fate that rules\nlife, and not the place where a man may go. It is better to die with\nhonour than live with shame. Take thou here this banner which I have\nmade with all my skill, and I ween that it will bring victory to him\nbefore whom it is borne, but death to its bearer.\u201d The banner was\nwrought with cunningly executed handiwork and elaborate art. It was made\nin the shape of a raven, and when floating in the wind it resembled the\nraven flying. Earl Sigurd was very wroth at his mother\u2019s words. He\nrestored their odal rights to the Orkneymen to induce them to assist\nhim, and went to meet Earl Finnleik at Skida-mire, where they both\nplaced their men in battle array. When the forces met, Earl Sigurd\u2019s\nstandard-bearer was killed by an arrow. The Earl ordered another to bear\nthe banner, and when they had fought for a while he also fell. Three\nstandard-bearers were killed, but the Earl gained the victory, and the\nOrkneymen regained their freeholds.\n\n\n           MEETING BETWEEN OLAF (TRYGGVI\u2019S SON) AND THE EARL.\n\n\n187. Olaf, Tryggvi\u2019s son, sailed west to the Orkneys, as has been\nmentioned before. But as the Pentland Firth was not to be passed at the\ntime, he moored his ships in Asmundarvag (Osmondwall) opposite\nR\u00f6gnvaldsey. Earl Sigurd, Hl\u00f6dver\u2019s son, was there before him with three\nships, for he was going on a war expedition. When King Olaf became aware\nthat the Earl was there, he called him into his presence. But when the\nEarl came to the King\u2019s ship, the King spoke as follows:\u2014\n\n\u201cYou know, Earl Sigurd, that Harald Harfagri came here to the west with\nan army when he had obtained possession of all Norway. King Harald\nconquered the Orkneys and Hjaltland, and many other lands here in the\nwest. The King gave the Islands to R\u00f6gnvald the Powerful as a\ncompensation for his son, but R\u00f6gnvald gave them to his brother Sigurd,\nand he became the Earl of King Harald. King Harald went a second time\nagainst Earl Einar with a large army; but well-disposed men mediated\nbetween them, and they agreed to the following terms:\u2014The King claimed\nall the Orkneys and Hjaltland as his own; and the result of their\nnegotiations was that the Earl paid the King sixty marks of gold for the\nmurder of his son, Halfdan H\u00e1legg, and Earl Einar then held the lands\nfrom King Harald. Shortly afterwards, King Eir\u00edk, Harald\u2019s son, came\nfrom Norway. Then also the Earls, the sons of Torfeinar, were his\nvassals. This appears from the fact that they gave him many men for his\nwar expeditions. When King Eir\u00edk came to the Islands a second time, he\ntook away with him the two Earls, Arnkell and Erlend, and appointed\ntheir brother Thorfinn to rule over the land. They were both killed in\nEngland with King Eir\u00edk. Then the sons of Eir\u00edk came from England and\nruled over the Islands, and when they departed they appointed Arnfinn,\ntheir brother-in-law, ruler of the Islands. Havard first succeeded his\nbrother (Arnfinn), then Li\u00f3t, and lastly your father, Hl\u00f6dver. Now you,\nSigurd, are Earl over these lands which I claim as my possessions, with\nall other lands possessed by Harald Harfagri and his kinsmen, and\ndescending from them to me by inheritance from generation to generation.\nYou know that most of the sons of Eir\u00edk and Gunnhild have now been\nkilled. And although their sister Ragnhild is still alive, it seems to\nme that she has been guilty of such wickedness in the Orkneys that she\nought not to have dignity or power anywhere; indeed, my view is that she\nhas completely forfeited both property and life if it be true that she\nhas done all the shameful deeds that are reported of her, and generally\nbelieved. Now, since it has so happened, Earl Sigurd, that you have come\ninto my power, you have to choose between two very unequal alternatives.\nOne is, that you embrace the true faith, become my man, and be baptized\nwith all your subjects. In that case you may have certain hope of honour\nfrom me. You shall hold in full liberty as my subject, and with the\ndignity of an Earl, all the dominions which you have had before. And\nbesides, you will gain what is much more important\u2014namely, to reign in\neternal joy in the kingdom of Heaven with the Almighty God. Of this you\nmay be sure if you keep his commandments. The other alternative is a\nvery hard one, and quite unlike the former\u2014viz. that you shall be slain\non the spot, and after your death I will send fire and sword throughout\nthe Orkneys, burning homesteads and men, unless this people is willing\nto accept immunity by believing in the true God. And if you and your\nsubjects choose the latter alternative, you and they, who put your trust\nin idols, shall speedily die, and shall thereafter be tormented in\nhell-fire, with wicked devils, without end.\u201d\n\nWhen Earl Sigurd had listened to King Olaf\u2019s long and eloquent harangue,\nhe hardened his mind against him, and said: \u201cI will tell you, King Olaf,\nthat I have absolutely resolved that I will not, and I dare not,\nrenounce the faith which my kinsmen and forefathers had before me,\nbecause I do not know better counsels than they, and I do not know that\nthe faith which you preach is better than that which we have had and\nhave held all our lives.\u201d\n\nWhen the King saw that the Earl persisted obstinately in his error, he\ncaught hold of his young son, who was with him, and who had been brought\nup in the Islands. The King carried this son of the Earl to the forepart\nof the ship. There he drew his sword, and made ready to hew the boy\ndown, saying at the same time: \u201cNow I will show you, Earl Sigurd, that I\nshall spare no man who will not serve Almighty God, or listen to my\npreaching of the blessed message. Therefore I shall kill your son before\nyour eyes this instant, with the sword now in my hand, unless you and\nyour men will serve my God. For I shall not leave these Islands until I\nhave completely fulfilled his blessed commission, and you have been\nbaptized along with this son of yours whom I now hold.\u201d\n\nAnd because the Earl was situated as he was, he chose the better\nalternative of doing as the King desired, and so he embraced the true\nfaith. Then the Earl was baptized, and so were all the people of the\nOrkneys. Then Earl Sigurd became the Earl of King Olaf according to this\nworld\u2019s dignity, and held from him lands and dominions, and gave him as\na hostage his son who has already been mentioned. His name was Hvelp or\nHundi (whelp or hound). King Olaf had him baptized by the name of\nHl\u00f6dver, and took him with him to Norway. Earl Sigurd confirmed all\ntheir agreement with oaths. After this King Olaf sailed from the\nOrkneys, leaving priests to instruct the people in the holy faith. King\nOlaf and Earl Sigurd parted friends. Hl\u00f6dver lived but a short time, and\nafter his death Earl Sigurd paid no homage to King Olaf. Then he married\nthe daughter of Melkolf, the King of Scots, and their son was Thorfinn.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                                 INDEX.\n\n\n Aberbrothock, liv.\n\n Aberdeen (Apardion), 155.\n\n Acre (Akursborg), 147.\n\n Adalbert, Archbishop, lxxii.\n   \" Bishop, lxxii.\n\n Adalbrekt, Priest, 70.\n\n Adam, Bishop of Caithness, xliv, lxxxi, lxxxiii.\n\n Adam of Bremen, lxxii.\n\n Adamnan, x, xiii.\n\n Adriatic, 150.\n\n Aedan, King, xi.\n\n \u00c6gean Sea, 149.\n\n \u00c6gisness, 149.\n\n \u00c6gos, 149.\n\n Afreka, xlii, 188.\n\n Agdir, in Norway, 57, 58, 75, 82, 97, 140.\n\n Akursborg (Acre), 147.\n\n Alaborg (Aalborg in Jutland), 43.\n\n Alan, Bishop of Caithness, lxxxiv, lxxxvi.\n\n Alasund (Yell Sound, Shetland), 86.\n\n Albania, 150.\n\n Aldeigiuborg (Ladoga), 24.\n\n Alexander I., King of Scots, 108.\n   \" II., King of Scots, 201.\n   \" Bishop of Caithness, lxxxvii.\n\n Alvidra, 78.\n\n Amundi, 5, 6.\n   \" son of Knefi, 176.\n\n Anakol, 154, 156, 160, 162.\n\n Andrew, Bishop of Caithness, lxxxv.\n\n Andreas, Swein\u2019s son, 155, 191.\n\n Anglesea Sound, 54, 58.\n\n Angus, Earls of, xlvi.\n\n Anselm, Archbishop, lxxiii.\n\n Apardion (Aberdeen), 155.\n\n Archibald, Bishop of Caithness, lxxxiii.\n\n Apulia (Pull, Puglia), 150.\n\n Ard, Alexander de, lix.\n   \" Matilda de, lvii.\n   \" Wayland de, lvii.\n\n Ari Frodi, xiii, xx.\n\n Argyle, xi.\n\n Armagh, xxi.\n\n Armod, Skald, 130, 131, 134, 146.\n\n Arnfinn, 211.\n\n Arni, Rafn\u2019s son, 157.\n   \" Sp\u00edtulegg, 133, 134.\n\n Arnkell, Einar\u2019s son, Earl, xxv, 2, 207, 211.\n   \" of Scapa, 92.\n\n Arnor Jarlaskald, 17, 19, 20, 22, 28, 30, 33-35, 44, 107.\n\n Arran, xlviii.\n\n Asbi\u00f6rn, son of Grim of Swiney, 74, 91, 92.\n   \" Skerablesi, xxii.\n\n Asgrim\u2019s \u00e6rgin, 187.\n\n Ask, 84, 85.\n\n Askary, in Caithness, 187.\n\n Aslak, Erlend\u2019s son, 98, 105, 128, 134, 139, 144.\n   \" Kolbein Hruga\u2019s son, 126.\n\n Asleif, 91.\n\n Asmund the White, xxix.\n\n Asmundarvag (Osmondwall), xxvii, 3, 8, 210.\n\n Asolf, 183, 184.\n\n Assary; _see_ Askary.\n\n Assynt, Sutherlandshire, 167.\n\n Athole (Atj\u00f6klar), 86, 105, 107, 113, 115.\n\n Atjoklsbakki, 107.\n\n Aud the Wealthy, xxii, 203.\n\n Audfinn, Bishop of Bergen, li, liii, lxxvii.\n\n Audna, Kiarval\u2019s daughter, xxvi, xxix, 209.\n\n Audun Raudi, 144, 146.\n\n Aulver Illteit, xlvi.\n\n Aurridafiord (Bay of Frith, Orkney), 92, 95.\n\n Austragdir, 75.\n\n\n Baefiord, xxxi, 21.\n\n Baldwin, Abbot, 124.\n\n Balliol, Edward, lvii.\n\n Bardsv\u00edk, 166, 175.\n\n Barthhead, 175.\n\n Beaufort Castle, 21.\n\n Beauly Firth, 21.\n\n Beaumont, Henry de, lvii.\n\n Bellaland, 192.\n\n Benedict, 159, 160.\n\n Beorhtric, King, xxi.\n\n Berg, Borgar, 47, 74, 110.\n\n Bergen (Bi\u00f6rgvin), 57, 76, 77, 85, 98, 127, 131.\n\n Bergli\u00f3t, 47.\n\n Beruvik (Berriedale in Caithness), xxx, 18, 165.\n   \" (Berwick-on-Tweed), 161, 162.\n\n Bharruick, Caistal a, 18.\n\n Biadmonia, 57, 58.\n\n Birgish\u00e9rad (Birsay), 43, 44, 68, 178.\n\n Birsay, Brough of, church at, xcviii.\n\n Bishops of Caithness, list of, lxxix.\n   \" of Orkney, \" lxxi.\n\n Bjarni, Gr\u00edmkell\u2019s son, 131.\n   \" Skald, Bishop of Orkney, xxxix, lxxv, lxxx, 126, 188, 191, 193,\n      199.\n\n Bj\u00f6rn Brynj\u00falfson, cxi.\n\n Blan, Thorstein\u2019s son, 74, 92.\n\n Blingery, in Caithness, 187.\n\n Bly-holmar, 162.\n\n Bolgaraland, 150.\n\n Borgar, 47, 74, 110.\n\n Borgarfiord, 60, 115.\n\n Botolf Begla, 167, 168.\n\n Boyamund de Vitia, lxxxiv.\n\n Bracadale, Loch, 27.\n\n Breidafiord (Moray Firth), 20, 21, 107, 125, 161.\n\n Brekasettr, 60.\n\n Brekkur, 74, 105.\n\n Bressay (Brusey), xv.\n   \" sculptured stone at, xv, xvi, xvii.\n   \" Sound, xlvii.\n\n Bretland (Wales), 7, 54, 56, 117.\n\n Brian Borumha, King, xxviii, 4, 57.\n\n Brian\u2019s battle (Clontarf), xxviii, 4.\n\n Britons, 30, 113.\n\n Brogar, standing stones of, cvi.\n\n Bruce, Isabel, li.\n   \" Robert, li, lii, liv.\n\n Bruide Mac Bile, King, xi.\n   \" Mac Meilcon, x.\n\n Br\u00fasi, Thorfinn\u2019s son, Earl, xxix, 3, 4, 7, 10, 12, 15, 16, 23, 26, 34.\n\n Brynj\u00falf, Paul\u2019s son, 46.\n   \" Sigurd\u2019s son, 46, 73, 110.\n   \" Ulfaldi, 46.\n\n Brynj\u00falf, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 99.\n\n Bucholly Castle, 122.\n\n Burghead, 115.\n\n Burial customs of the Northmen, cxvii.\n\n Burra Firth (Borgar Fiord) in Shetland, 60.\n\n Burrian, in N. Ronaldsay, xiv, xv.\n\n Burswick, 166.\n\n Bute (B\u00f3t), xlviii.\n\n\n C\u00e6sar, 113.\n\n Caithness (Nes, Katanes), 2, 4, 8, 16, 18, 21, 23, 28, 29, 31-33, 35,\n    37, 70, 72, 73, 86, 87, 91, 116, 121, 122, 134, 152, 154, 155, 158,\n    160, 161, 164, 166, 169, 176, 180, 182, 193, 195, 196-200, 204, 206,\n    207, 209.\n\n Calder (Kalfadal) in Caithness, 182, 187.\n   \" Burn of, 187.\n   \" Loch of, 187.\n\n Canisbay (Conansb\u00e6), 3.\n\n Canterbury, lxxii, lxxiii.\n\n Canute (Knut) the Great, King, 16.\n Careston, 157.\n\n Carisness, Carness, 157.\n\n Cecilia, Erlend\u2019s daughter, 47.\n\n Chester, Hugh, Earl of, 54.\n\n Cholmogori (H\u00f3lmgard, Novgorod), 24.\n\n Christ\u2019s Kirk in Birsay, xxxiii, lxxi, xciii, xcv, 43, 44, 67, 112.\n\n Churches, ancient, of Orkney, lxxxvii.\n   \" round, of Britain, xciii.\n   \" towered, of Shetland, ci.\n\n Cleveland (Klifland), 47.\n\n Clontarf, battle of, xxvii, xxviii, xciii, 4.\n\n Cobbie Row (Holbein Hruga), lxxv, 126.\n\n Conchobhar (Konufogr), King, xxx, 7.\n\n Connaught (Kunnaktir), 57, 58.\n\n Constantinople (Mikligard), 24, 127, 148, 149, 150, 163.\n\n Cormac, x, xiii.\n\n Cornwall, xv.\n\n Cragy, James of, lxiii.\n\n Crete (Krit), 146, 147.\n\n Cufic coins, 127.\n\n Culbinsbrugh, Shetland, xv.\n\n Culen Induffson, King, 17.\n\n Cullen, in Banffshire, lv.\n\n Cumbria, 192.\n\n Cyder Hall (Siwardhoch), Sutherlandshire, 107.\n\n\n Dag, Elif\u2019s son, 54.\n\n Dagfinn, Hl\u00f6dver\u2019s son, 74, 97, 100.\n\n Dal, in Caithness, 69.\n\n Dalir, in Caithness, 209.\n   \" (Argyle), 176, 181.\n\n Dalriad Scots, xi.\n\n Dalverja family, 181.\n\n Daminsey, Damisey (Damsay), Orkney, 92, 95, 169, 171.\n\n Dardanelles, 149.\n\n David I., King of Scots, lxxx, 70, 80, 108, 124, 125, 153.\n   \" II., lx.\n   \" son of Harald Maddadson, Earl, xliv, 192, 199.\n\n David, Bishop of Caithness, lxxxvi.\n\n Deer, Book of, lxxx.\n\n Deerness (Dyrnes), Orkney, 5, 9, 19, 88, 156.\n   \" Brough of, and chapel at, xcix.\n   \" Parish Church of, c.\n\n Denmark, 29, 40, 42, 85, 98, 150.\n\n Dicuil, xi.\n\n Dolgfinn, Bishop of Orkney, lxxvi.\n\n Doll\u2019s Cave, 77.\n\n Donald Bane, xxxiii, 56.\n\n Dornoch, lxxix, lxxxii, lxxxiii.\n\n Dornoch Firth, 21, 107.\n\n Dorrery, in Caithness, 187.\n\n Doune Castle, lxxi.\n\n Dr\u00f3mund, 142-146.\n\n Drontheim (Nidaros), 25, 57.\n\n Drummond, John de, lxvii.\n\n Dublin (D\u00fdflin), xxi, xxiii, xxvii, 44, 189, 190, 199.\n\n D\u00fafeyrar (Duffus, Morayshire), 114, 123.\n\n Dufgall (Dugald) of the Isles, 181.\n\n Dufniall, 73.\n   \" Havard\u2019s son, 120, 122.\n\n Duncan (Dungal), Earl of Duncansb\u00e6, xxiii, 2.\n   \" Earl of Fife, xlii.\n   \" Crinan\u2019s son, King of Scots, 17.\n   \" son of Malcolm Canmore, King of Scots, xxxiii, 46.\n\n Duncansbay (Dungalsb\u00e6), xxiii, xxvi, 2, 18, 73, 91, 92, 116, 121, 122.\n\n Dunfermline, lxxx.\n\n Dungad, Dungal; _see_ Duncan.\n\n Dunkeld, lxxx.\n\n Dunnet Head, 33.\n\n Dunrossness, xiv.\n\n Durazzo, 150.\n\n Durness (Dyrness), Sutherlandshire, xlviii, lxxxiii.\n\n D\u00fdflin; _see_ Dublin.\n\n Dynr\u00f6st, 164.\n\n Dyrness (Deerness), in Orkney, 5, 9, 19, 88, 156.\n\n Dyrachium (D\u00fdraksborg), 150.\n\n\n Eadburh, xxi.\n\n Ebissa, x.\n\n Edgar, King of Scots, xxxiv, 56.\n\n Edinburgh (Eidinaborg), xli, 163.\n\n Edward I., King of England, lxxxiv.\n\n Efjusund (Evie Sound), Orkney, 106.\n\n Egill Skalagrimson, cxi.\n\n Egilsey, 61, 63, 109, 113.\n   \" church of, xci, xciii, 63.\n\n Eilif, Archbishop of Nidaros (Drontheim), lxxvii.\n\n Einar of Gulberwick, 130.\n   \" Hardki\u00f6pt, 208.\n   \" Klining, xxv, 207.\n   \" R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s son, Earl; _see_ Torf Einar.\n   \" Skeif, 162, 163.\n   \" Thorfinn\u2019s son (Rangmuth), Earl, xxix, 3, 4, 7, 9, 30, 31.\n   \" Thambarskelfir, 24.\n   \" Vorsakr\u00e1k, 46.\n\n Eindridi Ungi, xxxvi, 126, 127, 133, 134, 137, 142, 157.\n\n Eirik Blod\u00f6xe, King, xxv, 2, 11, 207, 211.\n   \" Eymuni, King, 49, 85.\n   \" the Icelander, 116.\n   \" Slagbrellir, xxxviii, 70, 73, 164, 167, 179, 193.\n   \" Spaki, King, 49.\n   \" Str\u00e6ta, 70.\n\n Ekkial (Oikel river), 21, 22, 107.\n\n Ekkialsbakki, xxiii, lxxix, cxii, cxvii, 21, 107, 115, 204.\n\n Elgin, chanonry church of, lxxxvi.\n\n Eller Holm (Hellisey), 103, 173, 174.\n\n Elon, Isle, 103.\n\n Ellisif, Queen, 47.\n\n Elwick Bay, xlvii.\n\n England, 28, 47, 56, 75, 98, 134, 135, 189.\n\n Engull (Angus of the Isles), 181.\n\n Enhallow (Eyin Helga), Orkney, xx, 177.\n\n Erlend, Einar\u2019s son, Earl, xxv, 2, 207, 211.\n\n Erlend, Harald\u2019s son (Ungi), Earl, xxxvii, cxi, 106, 151, 154, 156,\n    158-160, 164, 166-168, 170, 171.\n   \" Thorfinn\u2019s son, Earl, xxxiii, 30, 43, 47, 52, 54.\n\n Erling Erkidi\u00e1kn, 47.\n   \" Erlend\u2019s son, 47, 48, 54, 58.\n   \" Kyrpinga Orm\u2019s son, 80, 127.\n   \" Skakki, 134, 139, 144, 145, 149-151, 163, 193.\n   \" Vidkunnson, lv.\n\n Erngisl Suneson, Earl of Orkney, lviii, lxii.\n\n Evie Sound (Efjusund), Orkney, 106.\n\n Eyarskeggiar, xxxix, 199.\n\n Eyin Helga; _see_ Enhallow.\n\n Eyrar Thing, 25.\n\n Eystein Glumra, 1.\n   \" Harald Gilli\u2019s son, 126, 151-153, 157, 158.\n   \" Magnus\u2019, son, King, xxxvii, lxxiii, 58, 59, 66.\n   \" Orri, 47, 48.\n\n Eysteinsdal, xliv, 198.\n\n Eyvind, Maelbrigdi\u2019s son, 88, 92, 93, 94, 95.\n   \" Olnbogi, 54.\n   \" Urarhorn, 7, 14, 26.\n\n Fair Isle (Fridarey), xxxv, 74, 91, 97, 99-101, 164.\n\n Faroe Isles, xii, cxiii.\n\n Ferquhard, Bishop of Caithness, lxxxvi.\n\n Ferne, Abbey of, lxxxvi.\n\n Fifa, 128, 129.\n\n Fife (Fifi), 22.\n\n Finn Arnason, 30.\n\n Finnleik, Earl, xxv, 210.\n\n Frith (Fiord), in Orkney, 92, 159.\n\n Flettuness (Glettuness), in Orkney, 74, 131.\n\n Floruvagar, in Norway, 85, 199.\n\n Fluguness, in Orkney, 74, 92.\n\n Flydruness, in Orkney, 74, 92.\n\n Foula, cxiii.\n\n Fr\u00e1kork, Moddan\u2019s daughter, xxxv, 69-72, 85-88, 106, 110, 114-116, 156.\n\n Freswick (Thraswick), in Caithness, 154, 160.\n\n Frida, Kolbein Hruga\u2019s daughter, 126, 191.\n\n Fridarey; _see_ Fair Isle.\n\n Frisic sea, x.\n\n Fugl, Liotolf\u2019s son, 154, 155, 156.\n\n Fyrileif, in Norway, 84, 85.\n\n Gaddgedlar, 28.\n\n Gairsay (G\u00e1reksey), 73, 119, 134, 158, 159, 172, 179, 188, 189, 191.\n\n Galicialand, 136, 140.\n\n Gallgael, 28.\n\n Gallipoli, 149.\n\n Galloway, 28.\n\n Gardariki (Russia), 24.\n\n G\u00e1reksey; _see_ Gairsay.\n\n Gatnip, near Scapa, Orkney, 74, 110.\n\n Gauti of Skeggbjarnarstadir, 156.\n\n Gautland, 58.\n\n Gefsisness, in Orkney, 74.\n\n Geirbi\u00f6rn, 135.\n\n Geitaberg, 74, 100.\n\n Gerard, Archbishop of York, lxxiii.\n\n Gibraltar, Straits of (Nj\u00f6rfasund), 141.\n\n Gigha (Gudey), island of, xlviii.\n\n Gilbert, Bishop of Hamar, xlviii.\n   \" Bishop of Caithness, lxxxii.\n\n Gilbride, Earl of Angus, xlvi.\n   \" Earl of Orkney, xlvii.\n\n Gillaodran, 180, 181.\n\n Gilli, Earl, xxviii.\n\n Gillichrist, 75, 76.\n\n Glaitness (Glettuness), 74, 131.\n\n Glumdrapa, 2.\n\n Goi, 98.\n\n Gorm the Old, King, cv.\n\n Gormlath (Hvarflod), xxxviii, xlii, 192.\n\n Graemsay (Grimsey), 107, 159.\n\n Gregorius Dagson, 151.\n\n Grelaug, xxiv, xxv, 2.\n\n Grim Kamban, xii.\n\n Grim of Swiney, 91, 92.\n   \" Ormson, lxxvii.\n\n Gr\u00edmkell of Glettuness, 74, 131.\n\n Grimsby (Grimsb\u00e6), 75, 76.\n\n Grimsey; _see_ Graemsay.\n\n Groa, xxiv, 2.\n\n Groeningiasund, 78.\n\n Gudifrey, 138, 142.\n\n Gudr\u00f6d, King of Man and the Isles, 54.\n\n Gudrun, Fr\u00e1kork\u2019s daughter, 69, 114.\n\n Gulberwick in Shetland (Gulberuvik), xxxvi, 127.\n\n Gullbeinir, 199.\n\n Gunhild, Erlend\u2019s daughter, 57, 58, 83.\n   \" wife of Eirik Blod\u00f6xe, 207, 211.\n\n Gunnar Lambi\u2019s son, xxviii.\n\n Gunni, Olaf\u2019s son, 73, 91, 153, 154.\n\n Guthrod, son of Harald Harfagri, xxiv, 205.\n\n Guttorm, Sigurd\u2019s son, Earl, xxiv, 1, 204.\n   \" Mol, 128.\n   \" Sperra, lix, lxv, lxvi.\n\n Gyrid, Dag\u2019s daughter, 46.\n\n\n H\u00e6retha-land, xxi.\n\n Haey; _see_ Hoy.\n\n Haflidi, Thorkel\u2019s son, 105, 120, 122.\n   \" Steinson, priest, liv.\n\n Hafnarvag, 159.\n\n Hafursfiord, xxi.\n\n H\u00e1kirkia (Halkirk in Caithness), xliv, lxxix, 200.\n\n Hakon Athelstan\u2019s foster-son, 207.\n   \" Barn, 126.\n   \" Brynj\u00falfson, 46.\n   \" Gallin, 200.\n   \" Hakonson, King, xlvii, xc.\n   \" Harald\u2019s son, 188, 189.\n   \" Herdabreid, 151.\n   \" Ivar\u2019s son, 46, 48, 50.\n   \" Karl, 59, 73, 95, 111, 170, 177.\n   \" Klo, 47, 70, 73, 110.\n\n Hakon Magnusson, King, xl, li.\n   \" the Norwegian, 49.\n   \" Paul\u2019s son, Earl, xxxiii, xxxv, lxxiii, xcv, 46, 48, 50-54, 58-60.\n   \" Pik, 46, 73.\n\n Hald\u00f3r Brynj\u00falfson, 46.\n\n Halfdan H\u00e1legg, xxiv, 1, 205, 206, 211.\n\n Haliburton, Janet, lxiii.\n     \" Walter, lxiii.\n\n Halkel Huk, 84.\n\n Halkirk, in Caithness, xliv, lxxix, 200.\n\n Hall of Sida, 47.\n   \" Th\u00f3rarinn\u2019s son, 119.\n\n Hallad, Earl, xxiv, 203, 204.\n\n Halland, 85, 124.\n\n Hallvard, 9, 79, 80, 81.\n   \" D\u00fafa\u2019s son, 182.\n\n H\u00e1logaland, 55.\n\n Halsary, in Caithness, 187.\n\n Hanef Ungi, xlv.\n\n Harald of Borgarfiord, 60.\n   \" Gillichrist, King, 75, 83-85, 98, 126.\n   \" Godwinson, King, xxxiii, 47, 48.\n   \" Harfagri, xiii, xxi, 1, 2, 11, 53, 112, 203, 205, 207, 210, 211.\n   \" son of Earl John, xlv.\n   \" Maddadson, Earl, xxxv-lxvi, lxxx, cxi, 108, 134, 151, 153, 154,\n      157-159, 163-165, 168, 170-179, 182-199.\n   \" Sigurdson (Hardradi), King, xxxii, 23, 40, 43, 44, 47, 48, 153.\n   \" Slettmali, Earl, xxxv, 49, 53, 69, 71, 72.\n   \" Ungi, Earl, xlii, 188, 193-195, 198.\n\n Hardicanute, xxxi, 29.\n\n Hauga Thing, 83.\n\n Hauga Heath in R\u00f6gnvaldsey, 207.\n\n Havard, 77-79.\n   \" Earl, xxv, cvi, cviii, 2, 207, 208, 211.\n   \" Gunnarson, 47, 49, 62, 73, 120, 131.\n\n Havardsteigar, 208.\n\n Hebrides (Sudreyar), 26, 27, 29, 31, 32, 35, 37, 44, 53, 56, 64, 75,\n    86, 95, 97, 105, 115, 120, 121, 153, 166, 177, 179, 189, 190, 195,\n    196.\n\n Hebrista, Holm of, Shetland, 60.\n\n Hedin, cxiii.\n\n Heinrek, Emperor, 43.\n\n Helga, Harek\u2019s daughter, 69, 71, 72.\n\n Helgi of Westrey, 74, 192.\n\n Helene Holm, Orkney, 103.\n\n Hellisey, 173.\n\n Helmsdale (Hjalmundal), 115.\n\n Henry, Bishop of Orkney, xlviii, lxxvi.\n   \" II., Bishop of Orkney, lxxxviii.\n   \" of Nottingan in Caithness, lxxxiv.\n\n Herbi\u00f6rg, Paul\u2019s daughter, 46, 73, 126.\n   \" Sigrid\u2019s daughter, 46, 126.\n\n Herdis, Thorvald\u2019s daughter, lxvi.\n\n Hernur, 98.\n\n Hiluge, cxiv.\n\n Hildina, cxiv.\n\n Hjalp, 128, 129.\n\n Hjalmundal; _see_ Helmsdale.\n\n Hjaltland; _see_ Shetland.\n\n Hjaltlanders, 99, 100, 130.\n\n Hlifolf, 65.\n   \" Alli, 196.\n\n Hl\u00f6dver, Thorfinn\u2019s son, Earl, xxvi, 2, 3, 209, 211.\n\n Hofn, in Westray (Pierowall), 102.\n   \" in Caithness (Huna), xxvi, 209.\n\n Hofsness, 156.\n\n Hogboy (Haugbui), ci.\n\n Hogni, cxiii.\n\n Holdbodi, Hundi\u2019s son, 64, 95, 96, 116, 118, 120, 121.\n\n Holderness (Hallarness), 47.\n\n Holm of Houston, 159.\n\n H\u00f3lmgard (Novgorod), 24, 25.\n\n H\u00f6rdaland (H\u00e6retha-land), xxi, 48, 80, 151.\n\n H\u00f6skuld, 183, 184.\n\n Hoy (Haey), cxiii, 3, 74, 91, 105, 107.\n\n Hoxa, How of, in S. Ronaldsay, 207.\n\n Hrafn the Red, xxix.\n\n Hrafnseyri (Ravensere), 48.\n\n Hreppisness (Rapness) in Westray, 177.\n\n Hr\u00f3ald, 122.\n\n Hr\u00f3dbjart, 116.\n\n Hr\u00f3lf, priest, 113.\n   \" Nefia, 203.\n   \" R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s son (G\u00f6nguhrolf), 203, 205, 206.\n\n Hr\u00f3lfsey (Rousay), 73, 88, 105, 106, 107, 171, 177.\n\n Hrollaug, 203, 205, 206.\n\n Hrossey (the Mainland), Orkney, xxviii, 5, 36, 49, 60, 67, 74, 89, 102,\n    104, 105, 106, 107, 159, 164, 175, 178.\n\n Hugh the Bold, Earl of Montgomery, xxxiv, 54.\n   \" the Stout, Earl of Chester, xxxiv, 54.\n   \" Earl of Ross, lvi.\n\n Huipness, 156.\n\n Hundi, Earl, xxvi.\n   \" Sigurd\u2019s son, 3, 212.\n\n Hvarflod (Gormlath), xxxviii, xlii, 192.\n\n Hvera (the Wear), 134.\n\n Ibn Fozlan\u2019s narrative, cxviii.\n\n Iceland, xii.\n\n Icelander, 117.\n\n Il; _see_ Isla.\n\n Imbolum, 148, 149.\n\n Inganess, Orkney, xlvii.\n\n Ingelram, Archbishop of Dunkeld, lxxxvi.\n\n Ingi, Bard\u2019s son, King, 199.\n   \" Harold, Gilli\u2019s son, King, 126, 127, 151.\n   \" Steinkel\u2019s son, King, 49, 50, 52.\n\n Ingibiorg, Benedikt\u2019s daughter, 46.\n   \" Earl\u2019s mother, xxxi, xxxiii, 30, 43, 45, 48.\n   \" Erling\u2019s daughter, li, liii.\n   \" Eirik\u2019s daughter, cv.\n   \" Hakon\u2019s daughter, 195.\n   \" Moddan\u2019s daughter, 69.\n   \" Ragna, 46, 70, 73.\n\n Ingigerd, Queen, 25.\n   \" Harald\u2019s daughter, 47.\n   \" Olaf\u2019s daughter, 73, 156.\n   \" R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s daughter, cv, 188.\n\n Ingilbert Lyning, lxxvii.\n\n Ingimar, Swein\u2019s son, 83, 84.\n\n Ingirid, Kol\u2019s daughter, 58, 83.\n   \" Olaf\u2019s daughter, 114, 121.\n   \" Paul\u2019s daughter, 46.\n   \" Thorkel\u2019s daughter, 155.\n\n Ingulf, xii.\n\n Inispatrick, xxi.\n\n Invernairn, xli.\n\n Iona, xiii, xxi.\n\n Ireland (Irland), 4, 7, 21, 27, 29, 44, 53, 107, 189, 195, 210.\n\n Isla, xxxviii\n\n Islendingab\u00f3k, xiii.\n\n Istambol, 148.\n\n Ivar Galli, 193.\n   \" son of R\u00f6gnvald, Earl of Moeri, xxii.\n\n Ivist (Uist), xxxiv.\n\n Jala (Yell), in Shetland, 86.\n\n James I., King of Scotland, lxi.\n   \" II., \" \" lxi.\n   \" III., \" \" lxx.\n\n Jamtaland, 23, 25.\n\n Jarizleif, King, 24, 25.\n\n Jatvor, 47, 74, 110.\n\n Jellinge in Denmark, cv.\n\n Jerusalem (J\u00f3rsalaheim), 59, 68, 71, 128, 130, 134, 147, 154.\n\n Jofreyr, Bishop of Orkney, lxxv.\n\n John, Bishop of Athole, 113.\n   \" \" of Caithness, xliii, lxxx, 196, 197, 200.\n   \" \" of Orkney, lxxviii.\n   \" Earl of Orkney, xlix, lv.\n   \" of Courcy, xlii.\n John Comnenus, Emperor, 150.\n   \" Hallkell\u2019s son, 199.\n   \" son of Harald Maddadson, Earl, xliv, 199.\n   \" Earl of Sutherland, lxxxiii.\n   \" P\u00e9trsson (F\u00f3t), 76-83, 98, 105, 128, 131, 139, 144, 149.\n   \" V\u0153ng, 74, 105, 170, 174, 176, 177.\n\n J\u00f3rfiara; _see_ Orfjara.\n\n Jordan, 68, 147, 148.\n\n Jorsala-farers, xxxvi, ciii, cv.\n\n J\u00f3rsalaheim; _see_ Jerusalem.\n\n Jorsalaland (Palestine), 147, 148.\n\n Jutland, 40.\n\n Kalf Arnason, 24, 30, 32, 33, 34, 42.\n   \" Skurfa, 204, 205.\n\n Kalfadal in Caithness (Calder), 182, 183.\n\n Kalfadals\u00e1 (Calder Water), 187.\n\n Kali, Kol\u2019s son (Earl R\u00f6gnvald II.), xxxv, 58, 75-79, 83.\n   \" Hundason; _see_ Karl.\n   \" Sn\u00e6biorn\u2019s son, 54, 55, 57.\n\n Kari, xxviii.\n\n Karl Hundason, xxx, 17, 18.\n\n Karston, 157.\n\n Katanes; _see_ Caithness.\n\n Katharina, Countess of Caithness, lv.\n\n Ketil Flatnef, xxii.\n\n Kiarval, King of Dublin, xxvi, 209.\n\n Kintradwell, Sutherlandshire, 197.\n\n Kintyre (Satiri), xxxiv, cxii, 21, 56, 195.\n\n Kirkiboll, Sutherlandshire, 18.\n\n Kirkiuvag; _see_ Kirkwall.\n\n Kirk o\u2019 Taing, Caithness, 33.\n\n Kirkwall (Kirkiuvag), lxxxvii, lxxxix, 37, 39, 41, 99, 110, 155, 157,\n    158, 163, 170, 171, 179.\n\n Kj\u00e1rekstadir, 157, 160.\n\n Kj\u00f6len Mountains, 23, 25.\n\n Klifland, 47.\n\n Kol of Halland, 128.\n   \" Isak\u2019s son, 47.\n   \" Kali\u2019s son, xxxv, lxxxviii, 57, 58, 75, 79, 80, 83, 85, 86, 90, 98,\n      100, 111.\n\n Kolbein Hruga, lxxv, xcvii, cxxiii, 46, 126, 177.\n   \" Karl, 126.\n\n Konufogr (Conchobhar), King, 7.\n\n Kormak, Archdeacon of Sudreyar, lxxvi.\n\n Knut (Canute) the Great, King, 16.\n   \" the Wealthy, 161.\n\n Krist\u00edn, Sigurd\u2019s daughter, 151.\n\n Kugi of Westrey, 73, 91, 96, 101, 102-104.\n\n Kunnaktir (Connaught), 57, 58.\n\n Kyle Scow, Sutherlandshire, 182.\n   \" of Sutherland (Ekkialsbakki), xxiii, lxxix, cxii, 21, 107, 115.\n   \" of Tongue, 18.\n\n Kyrpinga Orm, 80.\n\n Ladoga (Aldeigiuborg), 24.\n\n Lanfranc, Archbishop of Canterbury, lxxii.\n\n Largs, battle of, xlviii.\n\n Larne, Lough (Ulfreksfiord), 7.\n\n Lambaborg, 122, 125, 155, 159, 160.\n\n Laufandaness, 5.\n\n Laurentius, priest, xlii.\n   \" Bishop of Hole, lxxvii.\n\n Leif, xii.\n\n Lewis (Liodhus), xxxiv, 54, 118, 154, 155, 177.\n\n Lifolf Skalli, 193, 194.\n\n Liodhus; _see_ Lewis.\n\n Liot, Earl, xxv, 209, 211.\n   \" N\u00edding, 69, 70.\n\n Liotolf, 106, 154, 159.\n\n Lingrow, 74.\n\n Linlithgow, palace of, lxxi.\n\n Lisbon, 140.\n\n Lochloy, xli.\n\n Lodbrok, cvi.\n\n Logierait, xxxvi.\n\n L\u00f6gman Gudrodson, 54.\n\n L\u00f6dver; _see_ Hl\u00f6dver.\n\n Lomberd, xliii.\n\n Lopness, in Sanday, 5.\n\n Lubeck, lii.\n\n Lundy island, 117, 118.\n\n Lybster, in Caithness, 91.\n   \" in Reay, Caithness, church of, xcvii.\n\n Macbeth, xxv, 43, 209.\n\n Macgarvey, battle of, xxxix.\n\n Maddad, Earl of Athole, xxxvi, cxi, 86, 105, 108, 113, 115, 153.\n\n Moddan, 69.\n   \" Eindridi, 69.\n\n Maeshow, ci, cv, 159.\n\n Maeyar (Isle of May), 123.\n\n Magbi\u00f3d, xxv, 209.\n\n Magnus Barelegs, King, xxxiii, 52-55, 58, 66, 75.\n   \" Erlend\u2019s son, Earl (St. Magnus), xxiv, 47, 48, 52, 54, 55, 58,\n      59-66, 71, 83, 95, 99, 105.\n   \" Erlingson, King, xxxix, 151, 193, 199.\n   \" Eyvind\u2019s son, 95.\n   \" Gilbride\u2019s son, Earl, xlvi, xlvii, xlix.\n   \" Harald\u2019s son, King, 48.\n   \" Havard\u2019s son, 47, 73, 91, 131, 134, 185.\n   \" John\u2019s son, Earl, liv.\n   \" Magnusson, Earl, xlix.\n   \" Mangi, 188, 193.\n   \" Olaf\u2019s son, King (the Good), xxxi, 24-26, 30-32, 34-36, 39-41, 43,\n      48.\n   \" Orfi, 72.\n   \" Orm, 69.\n   \" Sigurd\u2019s son, King (the Blind), 83, 84.\n\n Mainland (Meginland) of Orkney (Hrossey), xxviii, 5, 36, 49, 60, 67,\n    74, 89, 102, 104, 105, 106, 107, 159, 164, 175, 178.\n\n Malbrigd, xxiii, 107, 203, 204.\n\n Malcolm, Bishop of Caithness, lxxxvi.\n   \" Scottish Earl, xxvii.\n   \" II. (Melkolf), King of Scots, xxix, xxxiii, 3, 16, 44, 212.\n   \" Canmore (Langhals), 46, 55, 71, 86.\n   \" the Maiden, 108, 153, 154, 155, 180, 181, 192.\n   \" M\u2019Heth, Earl of Moray, xxxviii, xlii, 181, 192.\n\n Malise, Earl of Stratherne, lv.\n   \" the Younger, lvi.\n   \" Sperra, lx.\n\n Malvoisin, Bishop of St. Andrews, lxxxi.\n\n Man, Isle of, 116, 118, 203.\n\n Mani, Olaf\u2019s son, 196.\n\n Manuel I., Emperor, 150.\n\n Margad, Grim\u2019s son, 74, 91, 92, 122, 124, 125, 169, 170.\n\n Margaret, Hakon\u2019s daughter, xxxvii, cxi, 72, 86, 105, 108, 109, 153,\n    154, 161.\n   \" Moddan\u2019s daughter, 69.\n   \" the Maiden of Norway, xlix, l, xci.\n   \" the false Maiden of Norway, l, lii.\n\n Maria, Harald\u2019s daughter, 47.\n\n Mariuhofn, 179.\n\n Marseilles (Marselia), 142.\n\n Maurice de Moravia, lvii.\n\n May, Isle of, 123, 124, 163.\n   \" Monastery of, 124.\n\n Medalland\u2019s hofn (Midland harbour), in Orkney, 159.\n\n Melbrigd; _see_ Malbrigd.\n\n Melkolf; _see_ Malcolm.\n\n Melsnati, xxvi.\n\n Menelaus, Emperor, 150.\n\n Menteith, Johanna de, lvii.\n   \" Sir John de, lvii.\n\n Menzies, Sir David, lxviii.\n\n Mikligard (Constantinople), 24, 127, 148-150, 163.\n\n Moddan, 17, 20.\n\n Montgomery, Hugh, Earl of, 54.\n\n Moors, 140.\n\n Moravia, Maurice de, lvii.\n   \" Sir John de, lvii.\n Moray (M\u00e6rh\u00e6fi), 21, 204.\n   \" Firth (Breidafiord), 20, 21.\n\n Morukari (Morkere), 47.\n\n Moseyarborg; _see_ Mousa.\n\n Moslems, 141.\n\n Moulhead of Deerness, 88, 156.\n\n Mousa, Borg of (Moseyarborg), cix, cxi, 113, 161.\n\n Mowat of Bucholly, 122.\n\n Murcadh, son of Brian Borumha, xxviii.\n\n Muirceartach, xxxiv.\n\n Murdoch, Duke of Albany, lxx.\n\n Munkalif, monastery of, lxxv.\n\n Myrkhol (Murkle), in Caithness, xxv, 195, 207.\n\n M\u00fdrkiartan, 56.\n\n Myrkvifi\u00f6rd, 124, 181.\n\n Navidale, xiv.\n\n Nennius, x.\n\n Ness (Caithness), 8, 37, 87, 116, 121, 122, 155, 158, 160, 164, 166,\n    169, 180, 195, 209.\n   \" river, x.\n\n Nicolas, Abbot of Scone, lxxxiii.\n   Bishop of Caithness, lxxxvi.\n\n Nidaros (Drontheim), 25, 57.\n\n Njal\u2019s burning, xxviii.\n\n Nj\u00f6rfasund (Straits of Gibraltar), 141, 142.\n\n Norfolk, round-towered churches of, xciii.\n\n Normandy, lxxxix, 203.\n\n Northumberland (Nordymbraland), 134.\n\n Norway, 2, 3, 8, 12, 16, 26, 32, 35, 42, 47-49, 52, 54, 58, 75, 85, 86,\n    90, 105, 126, 127, 131, 133, 150-152, 161, 164.\n\n Novgorod (H\u00f3lmgard), 24, 25.\n\n Nottingan, in Caithness, lxxxiv.\n\n Ochtha, x.\n\n Oddi Litli, 130, 131, 147.\n\n Odin, xiii, cxiv, cxvii, 206.\n\n Offa, King, 21.\n\n Ogmund Dreng, 151.\n\n Ogmund, Kyrpinga, Orm\u2019s son, 80, 127.\n   \" Thorfinn\u2019s son, 151.\n\n Olaf Bitling, King of Sudreyar, 181.\n   \" Haraldson, King (the Holy), xxx, 8, 11, 14-16, 26, 38.\n   \" Kyrri, King, 48, 49, 93.\n   \" Magnusson, King, 58.\n   \" the Stout, 50.\n   \" Rolf\u2019s son, 74, 88, 89, 91, 92, 94.\n   \" Swein\u2019s son, 177, 192.\n   \" Tryggvi\u2019s son, King, xxvii, xcii, 3, 4, 11, 117, 210, 211, 212.\n   \" the White, xxi, xxiii, 203.\n\n Olvir Rosta, 69, 72, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 92, 110, 114-116.\n\n Onund, King, 23.\n\n Ord of Caithness, 115, 165.\n\n Orfjara (Orphir), 71, 92, 95, 159, 167, 168.\n\n Orkahaug, ci, cv, 159.\n\n Orkhill, 159.\n\n Orkneys (Orkneyar), 1, 2, 4, 6, 7, 11, 14-16, 23, 26, 28, 29, 32, 36,\n    42, 47, 48, 52, 56, 58, 62, 64, 66, 68, 69, 72, 75, 85, 86, 98-100,\n    105, 106, 109, 114, 116, 121, 125, 126, 131, 132, 134, 140, 147,\n    151, 152, 156, 157, 163, 164, 178, 188, 189, 196, 203, 205, 207,\n    210.\n\n Orkneymen (Orkneyingar), 2, 69, 112, 124, 132, 133, 134, 139, 191, 207.\n\n Orm, 170.\n\n Orphir (Orfjara, J\u00f3rfiara), 71, 92, 95, 159, 167, 168.\n\n Osloe (now Christiania), 83.\n\n Osmondwall (Asmundarvag), xxvii, 3, 8.\n\n Ottar, Earl, 72, 106, 153, 157.\n   \" Svarti, 16.\n\n Papas, xii.\n\n Papey, xii, xx, 96.\n   Meiri (Papa Westray), 38, 39.\n Papey Minni (Papa Stronsay), xxxii, 38.\n\n Papuli (Papley), xii, xx, 38, 58, 59, 73, 95, 167.\n\n Patrick, Bishop of Orkney, lxxviii.\n\n Paris, University of, 131.\n\n Paul Hakonsson (Um\u00e1lgi) Earl, xxxv, xcv, 69, 71-73, 83, 85-98, 104-111,\n    183.\n   \" Thorfinnson, Earl, xxxiii, lxxii, 30, 43, 44, 52, 54.\n\n Pentland Firth (Petlandsfiord), 18, 33, 34, 74, 86, 88, 92, 106, 113,\n    152, 155, 165, 193, 194, 196.\n   \" Skerries (Petlandsker), lv.\n\n Peter, Bishop of Orkney, lxxvi.\n\n Pictish Towers, cix, cxxii, cxxiii, 33, 113, 161.\n\n Pierowall (Hofn), in Westray, cxxii, 102.\n\n Pull, Puglia (Apulia), 150.\n\n Rafn, Lawman, 196, 200, 201.\n\n Ragna of Rinansey, 73, 96, 97, 119, 120.\n\n Ragnhild, Eirik\u2019s daughter, xxv, 193, 207, 208, 211.\n   \" Hr\u00f3lf\u2019s daughter, 203.\n   \" Ingimar\u2019s daughter, 154.\n   \" Paul\u2019s daughter, 46.\n   \" Simon\u2019s daughter, 60.\n\n Ralph, Bishop of Orkney, lxxii.\n\n Rapness, 74, 177.\n\n Rattar Brough (Raudabiorg), 33.\n   \" Burn of, 33.\n\n Raudabiorg, xxxi, 33, 45.\n\n Ravenscraig, lxxi.\n\n Ravensere (Hrafnseyri), 48.\n\n Reginald, Bishop of Rosemarkie, xlii, lxxx.\n   \" of the Isles, xlii, xliv.\n\n Reindeer in Scotland, 182.\n\n Scalpeid, 69.\n\n Renfrew, 181.\n\n Rendale (Rennadal), 170, 171.\n\n Reppisness, 74.\n\n Restalrig, 197.\n\n Richard I., King, 142.\n\n Rikgard of Brekkur, 74, 105.\n   \" priest, 78.\n   \" Thorleif\u2019s son, 120.\n\n Rinansey, R\u00ednarsey (N. Ronaldsay), xv, cxvii, 1, 73, 91, 96, 97, 100,\n    119, 152, 165.\n\n Rinar\u2019s Hill, 206.\n\n Robert, Bishop of Caithness, lxxxvii.\n\n Roger, Bishop of St. Andrews, xliii.\n   \" Bishop of Orkney, lxxiii.\n\n R\u00f6gnvald Br\u00fasi\u2019s son, Earl, xxxi, lxxiv, 7, 11, 15, 23, 24-26, 28, 30,\n    31-39, 44.\n   \" Eirikson, 183.\n   \" (Kali) Kol\u2019s son, Earl, xxxv-xxxvii, lxxxviii, xc, 58, 75-79,\n      83-91, 96, 97, 100, 102, 104, 105, 108-114, 118-154, 158, 163,\n      165-172, 175-184, 188, 192, 193, 199.\n   \" Earl of Moeri, xxiv, 1, 203, 204, 210.\n   \" (Reginald) of the Isles, xlii, xliv, lxxx, 181, 195.\n\n R\u00f6gnvaldsey (S. Ronaldsay), 89, 91, 165, 166, 175, 176, 194.\n\n Ronaldsay, North; _see_ Rinansey.\n\n R\u00f6gnvaldsvoe, xlvii.\n\n Rome (R\u00f3maborg), xxxii, xxxv, xxxvii, lxxi, 43, 63, 68, 150.\n\n Rorvag, 3.\n\n Ross, 18, 21, 199.\n   \" Hugh de, lxi.\n   \" Hugh, Earl of, lvi, lxi.\n   \" John of, lxx.\n   \" William, Earl of, lvi, lxi.\n\n Rouen (Ruda), 203.\n\n Rousay (Hr\u00f3lfsey), 73, 88, 91, 105, 106, 107, 171, 177.\n\n Roxburgh Castle, xliv, 192.\n\n Runic inscriptions, ciii, cxv, cxvi.\n\n Rurik, King, 24.\n\n Russia (Gardariki), 24.\n\n St. Adamnan, xx.\n\n St. Anschar, lxxiii.\n\n St. Brigid, xiv.\n\n St. Columba, x, xiii, xiv, 82.\n\n St. Clair, Alexander, lxi.\n   \" David, lxvii.\n   \" Elisabeth, lxvii.\n   \" Henry, ballivus of King Robert Bruce, lv, lxi.\n   \" Henry, Earl, xl, lx.\n   \" Isabella, lxii, lxvii.\n   \" John, lxviii.\n   \" Lucia, lxi.\n   \" Thomas, lxi.\n   \" William, Earl, lxi, lxix.\n\n St. Kilda, cxxi.\n\n St. Lawrence, xv.\n\n St. Magnus, xv, lxxii, lxxxix, xc, xciii, xcv, cxv, 99.\n   \" church of, xxxv, lxxiv, lxxxviii, 112, 173, 178, 188.\n\n St. Mary\u2019s, in the Scilly Isles, 179.\n\n St. Ninian, xiv, xx.\n\n St. Olaf, xv.\n   \" church of, Kirkwall, lxxxix.\n\n St. Oran\u2019s chapel, Iona, xxxiv.\n\n St. Patrick\u2019s church, Down, xxxiv.\n\n St. Peter, xv.\n\n St. Peter\u2019s church, S. Ronaldsay, xviii.\n   \" Brough of Birsay, xcviii.\n   \" Weir, xcvii.\n\n St. Regulus, 197.\n\n St. Sunniva, lxxvii.\n\n St. Triduana (Tredwell), xiv, 197.\n\n St. Vigeans, xx.\n\n Sanday, 5, 104, 174.\n\n Sandwick (Sandvik), in Deerness, Orkney, xxx, 5, 9, 169.\n\n Saracens, 144.\n\n Sardinia, 142.\n\n Satiri (Kintyre), 21, 56, 195.\n\n Saxi, 81.\n\n Saxland, 43.\n\n Saverough, xiv.\n\n Savigny, 192.\n\n Scapa (Scalpeid), xlviii, 74, 92, 110, 155, 166, 180.\n\n Scarborough (Skardaborg), 47.\n\n Scrabster (Skarabolstadr), xliii, lxxxiii, 196.\n\n Scilly Islands (Syllingar), 117, 179.\n\n Scone, lxxii, 108, 192.\n\n Scotland (Skotland), 2, 17, 21-23, 28-31, 53, 60, 64, 70, 72, 75, 86,\n    105, 109, 114, 118, 152, 161, 210.\n\n Scotland\u2019s Firth (Skotlandsfiord), 27, 56, 115, 180.\n\n Sculptured stones of Scotland, symbols of, xix.\n\n Scytheboll (Skibo), 107.\n\n Sekkr, 151.\n\n Seley, 40.\n\n Sepulchre, church of the Holy, xciii.\n\n Serk, 54, 76.\n\n Serkland, 142, 146.\n\n Serlo, monk of Newbottle, xliv, lxxxi.\n\n Setr, 76.\n\n Shetland (Hjaltland), 14, 16, 22, 32, 35, 36, 47, 60, 67, 86-89, 91,\n    97, 99, 102, 130, 133, 155, 161, 164, 176, 178, 203, 205, 210.\n\n Shurrery, in Caithness, 187.\n\n Siddera, Sutherlandshire, 107.\n\n Sig\u00e6um, promontory of, 149.\n\n Sigmund Brestisson, 88, 89.\n   \" Ongul, 139, 147, 148.\n\n Sigtrygg, King, xxvii.\n\n Sigurd, Andrew\u2019s son, 116.\n   \" Archbishop of Drontheim, lxxvi.\n   \" Arnkell\u2019s son, 92.\n   \" Eystein\u2019s son, Earl, xxiii, cxvii, 1, 107, 199, 204.\n   \" Harald Gilli\u2019s son, 151.\n   \" Havard Hold\u2019s son, 151.\n   \" Hl\u00f6dver\u2019s son, Earl, xxv, xxvi, 3, 4, 11, 112, 209, 210, 211, 212.\n   \" Hrani\u2019s son, 54.\n   \" Klaufi, 155.\n   \" Magnusson (the Jorsala-farer), King, xxxiv, lxxiii,\n Sigurd Murt, xli, 193, 194.\n   \" Slembir, 70, 71.\n   \" Sneis, 57, 75.\n   \" Syr, King, 5.\n   \" of Gloucester, 127.\n   \" of Papuli, 59, 73.\n   \" of Westness, 46, 70, 87, 91, 109, 110, 111.\n\n Sigurdhaug (Siwardhoch), cxvii, 107.\n\n Sinclair; _see_ St. Clair.\n\n Skaill, 33.\n\n Sk\u00e1lpeid (Scapa), xlviii, 74, 92, 110, 155, 166, 180.\n\n Skaney, 42.\n\n Skapti, 54.\n\n Skarabolstadr (Scrabster), near Thurso, xliii, lxxxiii, 196.\n\n Skebro Head, 156.\n\n Skeggbjarnarh\u00f6fdi, 156.\n\n Skeggbjarnarstadir, 156.\n\n Skida Myre (Skitten), in Caithness, xxvi, 112, 209, 210.\n\n Skinnet, church, of, in Caithness, lxxxii.\n\n Skuli, Earl, xxv, 2, 209, 211.\n\n Skye (Skidh), xxxiv, 27, 28, 192.\n\n Sn\u00e6frida, 205.\n\n Sn\u00e6koll Gunnason, xlvi, 126.\n\n Snorri Sturluson, 58.\n\n Sogn, 54, 76, 80.\n\n S\u00f6lmund, 75, 77-82, 84, 86, 98, 105, 140.\n\n Spain (Sp\u00e1nland), 140, 141.\n\n Stamford Bridge, xxxiii, 40.\n\n Staur (Ru St\u0153r), 167.\n\n Stef\u00e1n Radgafi, 180.\n\n Steigar Th\u00f3rir, 98.\n\n Steinsnes (Stennis), in Orkney, xxv, cvii, cviii, 61, 157, 159, 208.\n\n Steinvor the Stout, 69, 72.\n\n Stewart, Alan, lxi.\n   \" David, lx.\n   \" Walter, lxi.\n\n Stiklestadir, 23, 38, 118.\n\n Stratherne, Elizabeth de, lxiii.\n\n Stratherne, Euphemia de, lxi.\n   \" Malise, Earl of, lv-lx.\n   \" Marjory de, lviii.\n   \" Matilda de, lviii.\n\n Strickathro, 192.\n\n Stroma (Straumsey), 91, 96, 176.\n\n Stromness, 157.\n\n Stronsay (Sti\u00f3rnsey), 156.\n\n Studla, 80, 81.\n\n Sudreyar (Hebrides), xxii, 26, 27, 29, 31, 32, 35, 37, 44, 53, 56, 64,\n    75, 86, 95, 97, 105, 115, 120, 121, 153, 166, 177, 179, 189, 190,\n    195, 196, 203, 210.\n\n Sudreyarmen, 116, 118.\n\n Sumarlidi Hold, 176, 180, 181, 192.\n   \" Kolbein Hruga\u2019s son, 126.\n   \" Thorfinn\u2019s son, Earl, xxix, 3, 4.\n\n Sumburgh, 74.\n   \" Head, 164.\n   \" Roost (Dynr\u00f6st), 164.\n\n Sutherland (Sudrland), 4, 17, 18, 21, 70, 115, 116, 123, 164.\n\n Svelgr; _see_ Swelkie.\n\n Sverrir, King, xxxix, xli, 199.\n\n Sv\u00f6ldr, 4.\n\n Swefney; _see_ Swona.\n\n Swein Asleifson, xxxvi, xc, 5, 73, 91-95, 97, 105, 106, 108-110,\n    113-125, 133, 151, 155, 156, 158, 164-166, 168-181, 188-190.\n   \" Blakari\u2019s son, 172.\n   \" Bri\u00f3streip, 87, 89, 93-95, 97, 111.\n   \" Harald\u2019s son, 119.\n   \" Hr\u00f3ald\u2019s son, 131, 134, 186.\n   \" Ulf\u2019s son, King, xxxii, 39, 42, 43.\n\n Swelkie of Stroma (Svelgr), xlviii, 107.\n\n Sweden, 23, 49.\n\n Swona (Swefney, Swiney), 74, 91, 92.\n\n Swynbrocht, 74.\n Syllingar (Scilly Isles), 117, 179.\n\n Sytheraw, 107.\n\n Tankerness (Tannskarunes), 88.\n\n Tarbatness (Torfnes), 21.\n\n Thi\u00e1lbi, King, 57.\n\n Thing, 6, 61, 73, 83, 110, 112, 135, 158.\n\n Thingstead, Thingav\u00f6ll, 61, 171.\n\n Thiostolf, Ali\u2019s son, 83, 84, 85.\n\n Thomas, Archbishop of York, lxxiii.\n   \" de Fingask, Bishop of Caithness, lxxxvi.\n   \" Tulloch, Bishop of Orkney, xlvi, lxviii, lxxviii.\n\n Thony, Robert de, lviii.\n\n Thora, Paul\u2019s daughter, 46.\n   \" Sumarlidi\u2019s daughter, 47, 73.\n\n Th\u00f3rarinn Breidmagi, 119.\n   \" Killinef, 179.\n\n Thorberg Svarti, 131.\n\n Thorbi\u00f6rn of Borgarfiord, 60.\n   \" Hornklofi, 2.\n   \" Klerk, xxxviii, 69, 72, 114, 118, 119, 120-123, 125, 156, 159, 165,\n      167-180, 183-185.\n   \" Svarti, 147.\n\n Thordis, Hall\u2019s daughter, 47.\n\n Thore Hakonson, li, liii.\n\n Th\u00f3rir Thegiandi (the Silent), 203, 206.\n   \" Tr\u00e9skegg, 204, 205.\n\n Thorfinn Bessason, 156, 157.\n   \" Harald\u2019s son, xliv, 192, 198.\n   \" Hausakliuf, Earl, xxiv, xxv, 2, 3, 207, 208.\n   \" Sigurd\u2019s son, Earl, xxix-xxxiii, lxxii, xciii, xcv, 4-9, 12, 14,\n      15, 18, 19, 26, 28, 29-45, 67, 179, 212.\n\n Thorgeir Skotakoll, 131.\n\n Th\u00f3rhall, Asgrim\u2019s son, 152.\n\n Thorkel Flettir, 74, 88, 96, 120.\n   \" F\u00f3stri, Amundi\u2019s son, xxx, 5-9, 13, 18, 19, 20, 22, 38.\n   \" Sumarlidi\u2019s son, 71.\n\n Thorleif; _see_ Fr\u00e1kork.\n   \" Spaki, 54.\n\n Thorli\u00f3t, 69.\n\n Thorolf, Bishop, lxxii.\n\n Thorsa, Th\u00f3rsey; _see_ Thurso.\n\n Thorsdal, 182.\n\n Thorstein of Fluguness, 74, 92.\n   \" Havard\u2019s son, 47, 73, 91, 104, 186.\n   \" Hold, 69, 72, 114, 118, 126.\n   \" Krokauga, 74, 131.\n   \" Ragna\u2019s son, 73, 100, 101, 104, 119, 160.\n   \" son of Hall of Sida, xxix.\n   \" the Red, xxiii, 2, 203.\n\n Thorvald Thoresson, 60.\n\n Thrasness, 136.\n\n Thraswick (Freswick), in Caithness, 154.\n\n Thule, xi.\n\n Thurso (Thorsa), 20, 73, 106, 152, 153, 159, 164, 165, 183, 194.\n\n Thussasker, 44.\n\n Tingwall, in Rendal, 61.\n\n Tiree (Tyrvist), xxxiv, 95.\n\n Torf Einar, Earl, xxiv, cxvii, 1, 2, 112, 203, 205, 207, 211.\n\n Torfness, 21, 22, 152, 205.\n\n Tr\u00f6llh\u00e6na, 197.\n\n Tunsberg, 75, 83, 84.\n\n Turgot, Bishop of St. Andrews, lxxiii.\n\n Tyrvist; _see_ Tiree.\n\n Uist (Ivist), xxxiv.\n\n Uladstir; _see_ Ulster.\n\n Ulfreksfiord, xxx, 7.\n\n Ulli, Strath, 115.\n\n Ulbster, in Caithness, xx.\n\n Ulster (Uladstir), xxxiv, 58.\n\n Uni, 80, 81, 99-102.\n\n Unn, 76, 77.\n\n Uppland, in Hoy, 74, 105.\n Upsala, 120.\n\n V\u00e6rings, 127, 150.\n\n Vagaland (Walls), in Hoy, 167, 169, 176.\n\n Valdimar, King, 151.\n\n Valland, 135.\n\n Valkyriar, xxvii.\n\n Valthi\u00f3f, Earl, 47, 125, 126.\n   \" Olafson, 73, 91, 93, 96, 114.\n\n Varangians, 127, 150.\n\n Veradal, 25.\n\n Verbon (Nerbon), 135, 145.\n\n Vidivag (Widewall), 166.\n\n Vidkunn Jonsson, 54.\n\n Vigr (Weir), island of, 126.\n\n Vik, in Norway, 40, 78, 85, 151.\n   in Caithness (Wick), 118, 122, 154, 155.\n\n Vikings, xxii, xxiv, xxxvi, cxxi, 1, 25, 29, 33, 35, 59, 113.\n\n Volga, cxviii, cxxiii.\n\n V\u00f6luness, 174.\n\n Walls (Vagaland), in Hoy, 167, 169, 176.\n\n Walter, Bishop of Caithness, lxxxiii.\n\n Wales (Bretland), xv, 7, 54, 56, 117.\n\n Warrenne, John de, Earl of Surrey, lvi.\n\n Wear (Hvera), river, 134.\n\n Weir (Vigr), island of, 126.\n\n Weir, church of, xcvi.\n   \" castle of, cxxiii, 126.\n\n Westness, in Rousay, 46, 70, 73, 91, 101, 109.\n\n Westray, cxvii, cxxii, 74, 91, 96, 102, 177.\n\n Wick (Vik), in Caithness, 118, 122, 154, 155.\n\n William the Old, Bishop of Orkney, xxxvi, lxxii, lxxiv, lxxxix, xcv,\n    68, 95-97, 105, 109, 111, 113, 131, 134, 137, 143, 144, 150.\n   \" II., Bishop of Orkney, lxxv, 193.\n   \" III., Bishop of Orkney, lxxvi.\n   \" IV., Bishop of Orkney, lxxvii.\n   \" V., Bishop of Orkney, lxxviii.\n   \" Tulloch, lxxix.\n   \" Bishop of Caithness, lxxxiii.\n   \" Earl of Ross, lvi.\n   \" Fitz Duncan, 46.\n   \" Freskyn, xlvi.\n   \" of Egremont, xxxviii, 46, 181.\n   \" the Lion, King of Scots, xxxix, xl, lxxx, 193, 195.\n\n Wimund, Bishop, xxxvii, 181, 192.\n\n Wulstan, Bishop, lxxii.\n\n York (Yorvik), 47.\n\n Yell (Jala), 86.\n\n Yell Sound (Alasund), 86.\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n                               Footnotes\n\n\n-----\n\nFootnote 1:\n\n  Writing of the barrows and cairns of Orkney, Captain Thomas states\n  that at least 2000 might still be numbered. We have no estimate of the\n  number in Shetland, but there also they are very numerous. Not less\n  remarkable is the number of the early \u201cdwellings of strength,\u201d of\n  which Mousa is the type\u2014huge edifices, constructed with amazing labour\n  and wonderful skill. (See under Maeshow and Mousa.)\n\nFootnote 2:\n\n  The Frisic Sea is supposed to mean the Firth of Forth.\n\nFootnote 3:\n\n  The \u201cHistoria Britonum\u201d of Nennius (whoever he may have been) is\n  believed, on what seems reliable evidence, to have been written about\n  A.D. 858. (See the Irish Nennius, Irish Arch\u00e6ological Society, p. 18.)\n\nFootnote 4:\n\n  Ireland was then called Scotia.\n\nFootnote 5:\n\n  St. Ninian was commemorated at Dunrossness in Shetland (Sibbald\u2019s\n  Description, 1711, p. 15); at Stove in South Ronaldsay, Orkney\n  (Peterkin\u2019s Rentals, No. III.); at the north head of the bay of Wick\n  in Caithness; and at Navidale in Sutherland. St. Columba\u2019s three\n  chapels in South Ronaldsay were at Grymness, Hopay, and Loch of\n  Burwick (Peterkin\u2019s Rentals, No. III. p. 86). There were also\n  dedications to St. Columba in the islands of Sanday and Hoy in Orkney,\n  at Olrig and Dirlet in Caithness, on Island Comb, at Tongue, and at\n  Kilcalmkill in Sutherlandshire (Bishop Forbes\u2019s Calendar of Scottish\n  Saints). St. Triduana, whose name has been corrupted into St. Tredwell\n  and St. Trudlin (the Tr\u00f6llh\u00e6na of the Saga), had dedications in Papa\n  Westray in Orkney (Martin\u2019s and Brand\u2019s Descriptions), and at\n  Kintradwell in Sutherlandshire. It seems also, from the narrative of\n  Bishop John\u2019s mutilation in the Saga, that there was a dedication to\n  her near Thurso. St. Brigid had chapels in Stronsay and Papa Stronsay\n  in Orkney. But it is impossible to tell how many of these early\n  religious sites had similar dedications, as scarcely a tithe of those\n  that are known have preserved their names. Brand and Sibbald both\n  mention the fact that in their time there were still recognisable the\n  sites of 24 chapels in the island of Unst, 21 in the island of Yell,\n  10 or 11 in the island of Fetlar: 55 religious foundations in the\n  three most northerly islands of the Shetland group. The Christian\n  period of the Norse occupation is marked by dedications showing the\n  influence of the Crusades or of the national religious feeling. The\n  dedications to the Holy Cross, St. Mary, St. Peter, St. Lawrence, St.\n  Olaf, and St. Magnus, are probably all of this period.\n\nFootnote 6:\n\n  Unfortunately, the readings of these inscriptions which have been\n  attempted are far from satisfactory. The Shetland and Orkney specimens\n  are in different styles of the Ogham writing, and the whole subject of\n  the reading and interpretation of the inscriptions in this character\n  is beset with difficulties of no ordinary kind. One rendering of the\n  Bressay inscription makes it \u201cthe cross of Natdod\u2019s daughter here,\u201d\n  and on the other edge of the stone, \u201cBenres of the sons of the Druids\n  here;\u201d while the language is supposed to be a mixture of Celtic and\n  Icelandic. (Sculptured Stones of Scotland, vol. i. p. 30.)\n\nFootnote 7:\n\n  Sculptured Stones of Scotland (Spalding Club), by John Stuart, LL.D.,\n  _passim_.\n\nFootnote 8:\n\n  Sir James Simpson\u2019s reading of the inscription, given in the\n  Sculptured Stones of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 71.\n\nFootnote 9:\n\n  In Orkney we have the islands of Papa Westray and Papa Stronsay (the\n  _Papey meiri_ and _Papey minni_, or greater and lesser Papa of the\n  Saga), Paplay in South Ronaldsay, Paplay in the parish of Holm, and\n  Papdale, near Kirkwall, in the Mainland. In Shetland we have the isles\n  of Papa\u2014Papa Stour (_Papey stora_) and Papa Little (_Papey litla_),\n  and Papill in the islands of Unst and Yell. Papa Stronsay, Papa\n  Westray, and Paplay, in the Mainland of Orkney, are mentioned in the\n  Saga. Papa Stour occurs in a deed of A.D. 1229 (Diplom. Norveg. i.\n  89), Papill in Unst in a deed of A.D. 1360 (Ibid. iii. 310), and a\n  \u201cSigurdr of Pappley\u201d is mentioned in the agreement between Bishop\n  William of Orkney and Hakon Jonson, May 25, 1369 (Ibid. i. 404).\n\nFootnote 10:\n\n  There is a cairn in Sanday called Ivar\u2019s Knowe, which may be his\n  burial mound.\n\nFootnote 11:\n\n  Olaf Tryggvason\u2019s Saga, Flateyjarb\u00f3k, chap. 180, in the Appendix; and\n  Ynglinga Saga, Heimskringla, chap. 22. Earl Sigurd\u2019s grave-mound, on\n  the estuary of the Oykel (Ekkialsbakki), was known in the 12th century\n  as _Siwardhoch_, or Sigurd\u2019s How, and is still identifiable in the\n  modern Cyderhall. (See the note on Ekkialsbakki, p. 107 of the Saga.)\n\nFootnote 12:\n\n  Landnamab\u00f3k, chap. ii.\n\nFootnote 13:\n\n  Laxd\u00e6la Saga, chap. iv.\n\nFootnote 14:\n\n  Olaf Tryggvason\u2019s Saga, Flateyjarb\u00f3k, chap. 180, in Appendix.\n\nFootnote 15:\n\n  This was done by hewing the ribs from the backbone, and tearing out\n  the heart and lungs.\n\nFootnote 16:\n\n  B\u0153ndr, the odal landholders. (See note on this word, chap. i. of the\n  Saga.)\n\nFootnote 17:\n\n  Olaf Tryggvason\u2019s Saga, Flateyjarb\u00f3k, chap. 183, in Appendix.\n\nFootnote 18:\n\n  Finnleik has been conjectured to be Finlay, the father of Macbeth.\n\nFootnote 19:\n\n  Olaf Tryggvason\u2019s Saga, Flateyjarb\u00f3k, chap. 184, in Appendix.\n\nFootnote 20:\n\n  Ibid. chap. 185.\n\nFootnote 21:\n\n  This is probably the Celtic name Maelbrigd. Though it is suggestive of\n  Macbeth, the date is too early for Macbeth MacFinlay.\n\nFootnote 22:\n\n  The locality of Skida Myre has been identified by Munch with the Loch\n  of Scister, in the parish of Canisbay. It seems rather to be indicated\n  by the modern Skitten, as the name formerly applied to the great tract\n  of moorland in the north-west corner of the parish of Wick, now\n  generally known as the Moss of Kilmster.\n\nFootnote 23:\n\n  Olaf Tryggvason\u2019s Saga, Flateyjarb\u00f3k, chap. 186, in Appendix.\n\nFootnote 24:\n\n  \u201cHe kept Caithness by main force from the Scots.\u201d (See Appendix, p.\n  209.)\n\nFootnote 25:\n\n  Njal Saga, chap. lxxxvii.\n\nFootnote 26:\n\n  Njal Saga, _loc. cit._ This Hundi should be the father of the Kali\n  Hundason of the subsequent narrative.\n\nFootnote 27:\n\n  Njal Saga, chap. clvi.\n\nFootnote 28:\n\n  War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill, p. 191.\n\nFootnote 29:\n\n  Hrafn the Red, whose denunciation of the raven-banner as the earl\u2019s\n  devil may not altogether be accounted for by the fervour of his\n  Christianity, was chased into the river, where he was in danger of\n  being drowned by the rising tide. In this emergency he made a vow as\n  follows:\u2014\u201cThy dog, Apostle Peter, hath run twice to Rome, and he would\n  run the third time if thou gavest him leave.\u201d The Irish Chronicle\n  states that the full tide in Dublin Bay on the day of the battle\n  coincided with sunrise, and that the returning tide in the evening\n  aided in the destruction of the defeated foreigners. The date assigned\n  by the Chronicle for the battle is Good Friday, 23d April 1014. It has\n  been found by astronomical calculation that the full tide that morning\n  did coincide with sunrise\u2014a remarkable attestation of the authenticity\n  of the narrative.\n\nFootnote 30:\n\n  See the account of him in the Saga, chap. v. and note.\n\nFootnote 31:\n\n  Rattar Brough, a little to the east of Dunnet Head, seems to be the\n  modern form of Rauda Biorg.\n\nFootnote 32:\n\n  See the Saga account, chap. xxiii. and note. The dates do not bear out\n  the statement that Thorfinn was Earl for seventy years.\n\nFootnote 33:\n\n  Fordun, v. 24.\n\nFootnote 34:\n\n  Saga Magnus Berfoetts, Heimskringla, chap. xxv.\n\nFootnote 35:\n\n  Chron. Manni\u00e6, Munch\u2019s edition, p. 59.\n\nFootnote 36:\n\n  See the account of his death in the Saga, chap. xxxix. His feast days\n  were 16th April and 13th December, the former commemorating his death,\n  and the latter the removal of his relics from Birsay by Bishop\n  William. (Den Norske Kirkes Historie af R. Keyser: Christiania, 1856,\n  p. 162.)\n\nFootnote 37:\n\n  The Earls of Athole seem at this time to have occupied the _rath_ or\n  fortress at Logierait. It is mentioned in one of the Scone charters as\n  the capital of the earldom in the 12th century. (Lib. Eccles. de Scon,\n  p. 35.)\n\nFootnote 38:\n\n  This was the occasion in which he and his men spent the Yule-feast day\n  in the Orkahaug, which seems to be Maeshow. See the Saga, chap. xci.\n\nFootnote 39:\n\n  See the notice from the Saga of Egill Skalagrimson, in the chapter on\n  Mousa.\n\nFootnote 40:\n\n  Some years after his death Earl R\u00f6gnvald was canonised, but his name\n  is not commemorated in any of the dedications now remaining in the\n  Islands.\n\nFootnote 41:\n\n  Munch, Chron. Manni\u00e6, p. 84.\n\nFootnote 42:\n\n  Fordun\u2019s Annals, xvi.\n\nFootnote 43:\n\n  From this time till 1379 Shetland passed into the immediate possession\n  of the crown of Norway. So we find in 1312-1319, that King Hakon\n  Magnusson grants to the Mary-Kirk in Oslo (Christiania), for the\n  completion of the fabric of the kirk, \u201call our incomes of Hjaltland\n  and the Faroes, so that those who have charge of the kirk\u2019s building\n  and fabric every year shall render account thereof to our heirs, and\n  when the fabric is altogether completed, then shall the foresaid\n  revenues of Hjaltland and the Faroes revert to the crown.\u201d\n  (Nicolaysen, Norske Fornlevninger, p. 426.)\n\nFootnote 44:\n\n  Chronica Rogeri de Hoveden (Rolls Ed.), iv. pp, 10, 12.\n\nFootnote 45:\n\n  In the Chronicle of Melrose, under the date 1175, it is stated that\n  \u201cLaurentius, Abbot in Orkney, was made Abbot of Melrose.\u201d But as his\n  death is recorded in the year 1178, the priest here mentioned by\n  Hoveden must have been a different person, though of the same name. At\n  the same time, as this passage shows that Earl Harald had a\n  hird-priest named Laurentius, it is not improbable that the so-called\n  Orkney abbot, who was made abbot of Melrose, may also have been\n  Harald\u2019s family or court priest. Being himself the son of a Scottish\n  earl, and allied by marriage first with the family of the Earl of\n  Fife, and subsequently with the MacHeths, and having, moreover, such\n  close relations with the abbey of Scone, it is not unlikely that he\n  may have had Scottish priests about his family in preference to those\n  of Norwegian extraction.\n\nFootnote 46:\n\n  So says the Saga. Fordun says that the use of his tongue and of one\n  eye was in some measure left him. The letter of Pope Innocent,\n  addressed to the Bishop of Orkney, prescribing the penance to be\n  performed by the man who mutilated the bishop, only mentions the\n  cutting out of the tongue. It is as follows:\u2014\n\n  \u201cWe have learnt by your letters that Lomberd, a layman, the bearer of\n  these presents, accompanied his earl on an expedition into Caithness;\n  that there the Earl\u2019s army stormed a castle, killed almost all who\n  were in it, and took prisoner the Bishop of Caithness; and that this\n  Lomberd, as he says, was compelled by some of the earl\u2019s soldiery to\n  cut out the bishop\u2019s tongue. Now because the sin is great and\n  grievous, in absolving him, according to the form of the church, we\n  have prescribed this penance for satisfaction of his offence, and to\n  the terror of others:\u2014That he shall hasten home, and bare-footed, and\n  naked, except breeches, and a short woollen vest without sleeves,\n  having his tongue tied by a string, and drawn out so as to project\n  beyond his lips, and the ends of the string bound round his neck, with\n  rods in his hand, in sight of all men, walk for fifteen days\n  successively through his own native district, the district of the\n  mutilated bishop, and the neighbouring country; he shall go to the\n  door of the church without entering, and there, prostrate on the\n  earth, undergo discipline with the rods he is to carry; he is thus to\n  spend each day in silence and fasting until evening, when he shall\n  support nature with bread and water only; after these fifteen days are\n  passed he shall prepare within a month to set out for Jerusalem, and\n  there labour in the service of the Cross for three years; he shall\n  never more bear arms against Christians; for two years he shall fast\n  every Friday on bread and water, unless by the indulgence of some\n  discreet bishop, or on account of bodily infirmity, this abstinence be\n  mitigated. Do you then receive him returning in this manner, and see\n  that he observe the penance enjoined him.\u201d (Epist. Innoc. III. Lib.\n  iii. No. 77; Diplom. Norvegicum, vii. 3.)\n\nFootnote 47:\n\n  Chron. de Mailros, p. 114; see also p. lxxxi. _infra_.\n\nFootnote 48:\n\n  Magnus, son of the Earl of Angus, appears among those present at the\n  perambulation of the boundaries of the lands of the Abbey of\n  Aberbrothock on 16th January 1222 (Regist. Vet. de Aberbrothock, p.\n  163); but he seems to have been Earl of Angus as well as of Caithness\n  at the date after mentioned. A charter of King Alexander II. to the\n  chapel of St. Nicholas at Spey, dated 2d October 1232, is witnessed by\n  M. Earl of Angus and Kataness (Regist. Moraviense, p. 123).\n\nFootnote 49:\n\n  The title prefixed to the translation of this document by Dean Gule,\n  made for William Sinclair of Roslin, in 1554, calls it:\u2014\u201cA Diploma or\n  Deduction concerning the Genealogies of the ancient Earls of Orkney,\n  drawn up from the most authentic records, by Thomas, Bishop of Orkney,\n  with the assistance of his clergy and others, in consequence of an\n  order from King Eirik of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, to investigate\n  the rights of William Sinclair to the earldom.\u201d But in the document\n  itself King Eirik is spoken of as \u201cour former lord of illustrious\n  memory,\u201d and the date is evidently erroneous. It is probably to be\n  assigned to about 1443. It was first printed by Wallace in 1699, and\n  subsequently by Jon\u00e6us in the appendix to the Orkneyinga Saga in 1780;\n  by Barry in his History of the Orkneys in 1805; in the Bannatyne\n  Miscellany, 1848; and by Munch in his Symbol\u00e6, Christiania, 1850.\n\nFootnote 50:\n\n  Among the documents found in the King\u2019s Treasury at Edinburgh in 1282,\n  were the letters addressed by the King of Norway (presumably Hakon) to\n  the inhabitants of Caithness. The inhabitants of Caithness seem to\n  have been also obliged by the Scottish King to give hostages for their\n  fealty to him. In the accounts of Laurence Grant, Sheriff of\n  Inverness, for the year 1263, there is a charge of \u00a315:6:3 for the\n  expenses of twenty-one hostages from Caithness, at the rate of one\n  denarius (penny) for each per day for twenty-five weeks, \u201cand then\n  they were set at liberty.\u201d (Compota Camerarium Scoti\u00e6, i. p. 31.)\n\nFootnote 51:\n\n  Acta Parl. Scot., vol. i. p. 82.\n\nFootnote 52:\n\n  Iceland Annals, _sub anno_.\n\nFootnote 53:\n\n  The Scala Cronica says off the coast of Buchan. \u201cOne Master Weland, a\n  clerke of Scotlande, sent yn to Norway for Margaret, dyed with her by\n  tempeste on the se cumming oute of Norway to Scotland yn costes of\n  Boghan.\u201d (Scala Cronica, Mait. Club, pp. 110, 282.) Wyntoun says she\n  was \u201cput to dede by martyry,\u201d and assigns as the reason that the\n  Norwegians would not have one who was of another nation and a female\n  to be heir to the throne of Norway, though their laws allowed it. He\n  had probably heard the story of the \u201cfalse Margaret.\u201d (See p. lii.)\n\nFootnote 54:\n\n  In the Wardrobe Rolls of King Edward I. (1290) the following payments\n  occur:\u2014\u201cSept. 1.\u2014To Lord Eli de Hamville going by the king\u2019s orders\n  with the Lord Bishop of Durham towards Scotland to meet the messengers\n  of the King of Norway and the princess, and was to return with the\n  news to the king. To John Tyndale, the messenger from the Bishop of\n  St. Andrews, who brought letters from his master to the king\n  concerning the rumours of the arrival of the Princess of Scotland in\n  Orkney\u2014by gift of the king, xxsh. To William Playfair, messenger of\n  the Earl of Orkney, who brought letters to our Lord the King, on the\n  part of Lord John Comyn, concerning the reported arrival of the\n  Scottish Princess in Orkney\u2014by gift of the king, xiiish. 4d.\u201d There is\n  also a detailed account of the expenses of two messengers who left\n  Newcastle on the 15th September, were at Haberdene on the 23d, at the\n  Meikle Ferry in Sutherland on the 30th, where they met the messengers\n  from Scotland, then proceeded by Helmsdale and Spittal to Wick, which\n  they reached on the 4th October. They left Wick on the 6th October,\n  and arrived at Norham on the 21st November. On the 13th May of the\n  following year (1291) Earl John of Orkney had a safe conduct to come\n  to King Edward till the 24th June, when the earl would doubtless\n  communicate to the king all that he knew of the princess\u2019s death.\n\nFootnote 55:\n\n  This letter was dated 1st February 1320, and the substance of it is\n  given by Suhm, vol. xii. p. 29. It does not seem to be known from the\n  original document however, but from a later \u201cparaphrase,\u201d as Munch\n  calls it, preserved in the Royal Library at Stockholm. (Det Norske\n  Folks Historie, vol. iv. part 2, p. 348.)\n\nFootnote 56:\n\n  Under the date 1293 the following entry occurs in the Chronicle of\n  Lanercost:\u2014\u201cDominica etiam post festum Sancti Martini (Nov. 15)\n  desponsata est filia Roberti de Carrick regi Norwagiae Magno.\u201d (Chron.\n  de Lanercost, p. 155.) Magnus is plainly a mistake for Eirik, the son\n  of Magnus, who reigned from 1280 to 1299.\n\nFootnote 57:\n\n  Rymer\u2019s F\u0153dera, Syllabus I. p. 114.\n\nFootnote 58:\n\n  Det Norske Folks Historie, vol. iv. part 2, p. 202.\n\nFootnote 59:\n\n  Munch, Det Norske Folks Historie, vol. iv. part 2, pp. 195, 344.\n\nFootnote 60:\n\n  Haflidi Steinson died nearly nineteen years after this as priest of\n  Breidabolstad in Iceland. The Iceland Annals, recording his death in\n  1319, recount the story as if this were the real Margaret (whose death\n  they record in 1290), and add that \u201cto this Haflidi himself bore\n  witness when he heard that this same Margaret had been burnt at\n  Nordness.\u201d (See Wyntoun\u2019s Statement, p. 1, note 1.)\n\nFootnote 61:\n\n  On the 2d April 1320 Bishop Audfinn writes to the Archbishop that on\n  the 1st February he had issued a prohibition against the bad custom of\n  making pilgrimages to Nordness, and offering invocations to the woman\n  who had been burnt many years ago for giving herself out as King\n  Eirik\u2019s daughter. He also complains to the archbishop that opposition\n  had been offered to the reading out of the prohibition in the Church\n  of the Apostles of Bergen. (Munch, Det Norske Folks Historie, iv. part\n  2, p. 348.)\n\nFootnote 62:\n\n  This noble document was signed by eight earls and thirty-one barons of\n  Scotland, at the abbey of Aberbrothock on the 6th April 1320. After\n  asserting the legitimate claims of King Robert the Bruce, and\n  narrating his struggles in the cause of Scottish independence, it goes\n  on to say that \u201cIf he were to desist from what he has begun, wishing\n  to subject us or our kingdom to the King of England or the English, we\n  would immediately endeavour to expel him as our enemy, and the\n  subverter of his own rights and ours, and make another king who should\n  be able to defend us. For so long as a hundred remain alive, we never\n  will in any degree be subject to the dominion of the English. Since\n  not for glory, riches, nor honour, we fight, but for liberty alone,\n  which no good man loses but with his life.\u201d The duplicate, preserved\n  in the General Register House, is printed in facsimile in the National\n  Manuscripts of Scotland, published under the superintendence of the\n  Lord Clerk Register.\n\nFootnote 63:\n\n  The lands are those of Stufum, Kuikobba, Klaet, Thordar, Borgh, Leika,\n  Lidh, Haughs-\u00e6th and Petland-Sker. (Diplom. Norvegicum, ii. 146.)\n\nFootnote 64:\n\n  Munch, in his Genealogical Table of the Earls of Orkney, makes\n  Katharina to be the daughter of Earl John (following Douglas\u2019 Peerage\n  of Scotland), and Magnus to be a son of Malcolm of Caithness, whom he\n  conjectures to have been a son of the first Magnus. But in a note on\n  this subject in the second series of his History, he acknowledges the\n  mistake, referring to this document in proof of Magnus\u2019 descent from\n  Earl John. (Det Norske Folks Historie, Anden Afdeling, vol. i. p.\n  317.)\n\nFootnote 65:\n\n  An entry in the Chamberlain Rolls for that year mentions the dues of\n  the fourth part of Caithness, which the Earl of Stratherne had. (Comp.\n  Camer. Scot. i. p. 235.)\n\nFootnote 66:\n\n  This document is not now to be found, but Mr. Cosmo Innes says (Lib.\n  Insule Missarum, p. xliii) that he made a note of its purport as given\n  above in the Dunrobin charter-room. Sir Robert Gordon, in his\n  Genealogy of the Earls of Sutherland (p. 49), gives the purport of the\n  document in precisely similar terms, but says that it is dated 28th\n  May 1344. Sir James Balfour, in his Catalogue of the Scottish\n  Nobility, also gives 1344. The confirmation of this contract by David\n  II. is recorded as a \u201cconfirmation of a contract of marriage betwixt\n  Malisius, Earl of Stratherne, Caithness, and Orkney, and William, Earl\n  of Ross.\u201d (Robertson\u2019s Index of Missing Charters, p. 51.)\n\nFootnote 67:\n\n  There is also on record a confirmation by Robert I. of a charter of\n  the lands of Kingkell, Brechin, to Maria (Marjorie?) de Stratherne,\n  spouse of Malise of Stratherne. (Robertson\u2019s Index, p. 19.)\n\nFootnote 68:\n\n  Chronicle of the Earls of Ross, Mis. Scot., vol. iv. p. 128.\n\nFootnote 69:\n\n  There is an entry in the Chamberlain Rolls, in 1340, in regard to a\n  payment by Johannes More, \u201cpro terris de Beridale in Cattania, de\n  quibus dicit se hereditarium infeodari per comitem de Strathern et per\n  Regem confirmari.\u201d (Comp. Camerar. Scot. i. p. 265.)\n\nFootnote 70:\n\n  Sir James Balfour (Catalogue of the Scottish Nobility) says:\u2014\u201cThis\n  Earl Malisius was forfaulted by King David II. for alienating the\n  earldom of Stratherne to the Earl of Warrenne, an Englishman, the\n  king\u2019s enemy, and all his possessions annexed to the crown.\u201d Sir\n  Robert Gordon says that the charter by King David granting the earldom\n  of Stratherne to Maurice Moray is dated the last day of October 1345.\n\nFootnote 71:\n\n  A dispensation granted by Pope Benedict XII. in July 1339 for the\n  marriage of Maurice de Moravia with Johanna, widow of John, Earl of\n  Athole, styles her Countess of Stratherne. (Theiner\u2019s Monumenta, p.\n  275.) Maurice fell at the battle of Durham in 1346. Johanna, Countess\n  of Stratherne, in her widowhood executed a charter in favour of Robert\n  of Erskine and his wife, Christian of Keith, her cousin, which is\n  confirmed by Robert, Steward of Scotland and Earl of Stratherne in\n  1361. (Chartulary of Cambuskenneth, Grampian Club, p. 255.)\n\nFootnote 72:\n\n  Third Report of Com. on Hist. MSS. p. 416.\n\nFootnote 73:\n\n  Rymer\u2019s F\u0153dera, Syllabus i. p. 272.\n\nFootnote 74:\n\n  Robertson\u2019s Index of Charters, pp. 18, 34.\n\nFootnote 75:\n\n  Hist. Doc. Scot. i. p. 394.\n\nFootnote 76:\n\n  Balnagown Charters, Orig. Paroch. ii. 487.\n\nFootnote 77:\n\n  Robert Stewart, Seneschal of Scotland and Earl of Stratherne,\n  certifies that, in his court held at Crieff, 8th May 1358, he had seen\n  read and confirmed the charters granted to the abbot and convent of\n  Inchaffray of the annual of 42 marcs of the thanage of Dunyne, given\n  by the former earls of good memory\u2014Malise the first and Malise the\n  second, his predecessors. (Liber Insula Missarum, p. 55.) Et nihil hic\n  de terris quondam Malesii infra comitatu Cathanie quia comes de Ross\n  se intromittit de eisdem. (Conqu. Camerar. Scot., _an._ 1357, i. p.\n  320.) That the second Malise of Robert Stewart\u2019s deed is the last\n  Malise who was Earl of Stratherne seems to be shown by another deed of\n  Robert Stewart, dated in 1361, in which, as Seneschal of Scotland and\n  Earl of Stratherne, he grants to James Douglas the lands of Kellor in\n  Stratherne, \u201cwhich the late Malise gave.\u201d In the confirmation of this\n  grant by Eufamia, Countess of Moray and Stratherne, he is styled \u201cthe\n  late Malise of good memory.\u201d (Regist. Honoris de Morton, ii. pp. 60,\n  86.)\n\nFootnote 78:\n\n  See p. lvi.\n\nFootnote 79:\n\n  Called in the Diploma \u201cHere Ginsill de Swethrik,\u201d for \u201cErengisle de\n  Suecia.\u201d He was lawman of Tisherad in Sweden in 1337.\n\nFootnote 80:\n\n  In the Diploma he is called \u201cquodam Gothredo, nomine Gothormo le\n  Spere\u201d\u2014_Gothredo_ being a misreading for _Gothricio_, \u201ca native of\n  Gothland.\u201d (Munch, Symbol\u00e6, p. 55.)\n\nFootnote 81:\n\n  Munch, Norske Folks Historie, 2d series, i. p. 595.\n\nFootnote 82:\n\n  In 1360 he grants certain lands to the monastery of Calmar for the\n  souls of his deceased wives, Meretta and Annot or Agneta, the latter\n  being probably Malise\u2019s daughter, as the name is not a common one in\n  Sweden.\n\nFootnote 83:\n\n  He styles himself \u201cComes Orchadensis\u201d in a deed of 4th March 1388.\n  (Diplom. Norvegicum, v. 246.)\n\nFootnote 84:\n\n  Diplom. Norvegicum, ii. 337-339.\n\nFootnote 85:\n\n  See the document dated at Cullen, 4th August 1321, quoted on p. lv,\n  _supra_.\n\nFootnote 86:\n\n  In a deed executed at Kirkwall, 20th January 1364, by which Bernard de\n  Rowle resigns to Hugh de Ross (brother of William, Earl of Ross) the\n  whole lands of Fouleroule in Aberdeenshire, the witnesses are John de\n  Gamery and Symon de Othyrles, canons of Caithness; Euphemia de\n  Stratherne, one of the heirs of the late Malise, Earl of Caithness;\n  Thomas de St. Clair, \u201cballivus regis Norvagie;\u201d and Alexander St.\n  Clair. (Regist. Aberdonense, i. 106.)\n\nFootnote 87:\n\n  Sir James Balfour calls her Lucia. She is also called Lucia by William\n  Drummond, author of the \u201cGenealogie of the House of Drummond, 1681,\u201d\n  but in neither case is any documentary authority cited. Camden says\n  the eldest daughter.\n\nFootnote 88:\n\n  Barbour\u2019s Bruce (Spald. Club), p. 482.\n\nFootnote 89:\n\n  Munch\u2019s Norske Folks Historie, 2d series, vol. ii. p. 96. See also the\n  deed of investiture, which is printed at length in the Diplomatarium\n  Norvegicum, vol. ii. pp. 353-358.\n\nFootnote 90:\n\n  Balfour, Oppressions of Orkney (Maitland Club), p. xxvi. Such was not\n  the opinion of Father Hay, the panegyrist of the St. Clairs of Roslyn.\n  He says that \u201cHenry, prince of Orknay, was more honoured than any of\n  his ancestres, for he had power to cause stamp coine within his\n  dominions, to make laws, to remitt crimes;\u2014he had his sword of honour\n  carried before him wheresoever he went; he had a crowne in his armes,\n  bore a crowne on his head when he constituted laws; and, in a word,\n  was subject to none, save only he held his lands of the King of\n  Danemark, Sweden, and Noraway, and entred with them, to whom also it\n  did belong to crowne any of those three kings, so that in all those\n  parts he was esteemed a second person to the king.\u201d (Genealogie of the\n  St. Clairs, p. 17.) Father Hay\u2019s romances receive no countenance\n  whatever from the deed of investiture.\n\nFootnote 91:\n\n  About \u00a3333 sterling.\n\nFootnote 92:\n\n  Father Hay states (Genealogie of the St. Clairs, p. 17) that Henry St.\n  Clair \u201cmarried Elisabeth Sparres, daughter of Malesius Sparres, Prince\n  of Orkney, Earl of Caithness and Stratherne, through which marriage he\n  became Prince of Orkney.\u201d But Malise Sperra never had any connection\n  with the earldoms of Caithness or Stratherne. In another place, p. 33,\n  he says that Sir William Sinclair (who fell fighting with the Saracens\n  in Spain in 1330) \u201cwas married to Elizabeth Sparre, daughter to the\n  Earle of Orkney, and so by her became the first Earl of Orkney of the\n  Saintclairs. His name was Julius Sparre. He is also reputed Earl of\n  Stratherne and Caithness.\u201d But this is manifestly a tissue of\n  impossibilities. He seems to have copied the last statement from the\n  Drummond MS. (1681), where the additional statement is made that\n  Elizabeth\u2019s mother was Lucia, daughter of the Earl of Ross.\n  (Genealogie of the House of Drummond: Edinburgh, 1831, p. 237.) Both\n  writers seem to have confounded Malise, Earl of Stratherne, with his\n  daughter\u2019s son, Malise Sperra.\n\nFootnote 93:\n\n  Iceland Annals, _sub anno_. Munch, Det Norske Folks Historie, 2d\n  series, vol. ii. p. 106.\n\nFootnote 94:\n\n  He seems to have held lands in Banffshire. In the Chamberlain Rolls,\n  1438, there is an entry of a receipt of \u00a39 from James M\u2019fersane for\n  the land formerly belonging to Malis Speir, knight in the Sheriffdom\n  of Banff, remaining in the king\u2019s hands. (Diplom. Norvegicum, i. 366.)\n\nFootnote 95:\n\n  The Iceland Annals, under the date 1389, have the following\n  entry:\u2014\u201cMalise Sperra slain in Hjaltland, with seven others, by the\n  Earl of Orkney. He had previously been taken captive by him. From that\n  conflict there escaped a man-servant who with six men in a six-oared\n  boat got away safely to Norway.\u201d\n\nFootnote 96:\n\n  Diplom. Norvegicum, ii. 401. Regist. Mag. Sigill. 196.\n\nFootnote 97:\n\n  This deed is said by Robert Riddell to be in the Perth Charter-chest.\n  A copy of it is in one of his MS. note-books in the Advocates\u2019\n  Library. See also Robertson\u2019s Index of Charters, p. 128. The \u201cdouble\u201d\n  of this deed is said by William Drummond (1681) to have been given to\n  him by a friend, and the substance of it is given by him as\n  follows:\u2014\u201cSir John Drummond and his lady Elisabeth Sinclair oblige\n  themselves to a noble and potent Lord, Henry, Earle of Orkney, Lord\n  Roslin, their father, that they nor their aires shall never claime any\n  interest or right of propertie to any lands or possessions belonging\n  to the said earle or his aires lying within the kingdome of Norroway,\n  so long as he or any air-male of his shall be on lyfe to inherit the\n  same; bot if it happen (which God forbid) the said earle to die\n  without any air-male to succeed to him, then it shall be lawful for\n  them to claim such a portion of the aforesaid lands as is known by the\n  Norwegian laws to appertain to a sister of the family. Sealled at\n  Rosline 13th May 1396.\u201d (Genealogie of the House of Drummond, p. 91.)\n\nFootnote 98:\n\n  Henry himself had married a daughter of Malise. See p. lxiii.\n\nFootnote 99:\n\n  Father Hay says that he escaped through the instrumentality of one\n  John Robinsone, indweller at Pentland, one of his tenants, who went to\n  the place where his master was confined and played the fool so\n  cunningly that he was allowed access to the prison, and so found means\n  to convey the earl out in disguise. (Genealogie of the St. Clairs, p.\n  81.)\n\nFootnote 100:\n\n  Balfour\u2019s Annals, i. 148.\n\nFootnote 101:\n\n  Diplom. Norvegicum, ii. 482.\n\nFootnote 102:\n\n  Fordun, Scotichron. xv. chap. 32.\n\nFootnote 103:\n\n  Douglas\u2019 Peerage. The Diploma says nothing of his wife, but he is said\n  to have married Egidia Douglas, daughter of Lord William Douglas, and\n  Egidia, daughter of Robert II. (Extracta ex Cronicis Scocie, p. 200.)\n\nFootnote 104:\n\n  Diplom. Norvegicum, ii. 489. This document is endorsed\u2014\u201cBiscop Thomes\n  breff af Orknoy, at han skal halde Orknoy til myn herres konnungens\n  hand, oc hans effterkommende, oc lade him with Noren lagh.\u201d\n\nFootnote 105:\n\n  Diplom. Norvegicum, ii. 498. This document is endorsed\u2014\u201cItem biscop\n  Thomes aff Orknoy bref um Kirkwaw slot i Orknoy, oc um landet oc\n  greveschapet ther samestads.\u201d\n\nFootnote 106:\n\n  This document is printed at length in Torf\u00e6us, pp. 179-182; in\n  Balfour\u2019s Oppressions of Orkney (Maitland Club), pp. 105-110; and also\n  in the Norse language of the time in the Diplomatarium Norvegicum, ii.\n  514.\n\nFootnote 107:\n\n  Torf\u00e6us, Hist. Orc. 182. The document of which Torf\u00e6us here gives a\n  copy, however, is that of the 31st year of the reign of King Eirik\n  (1420), previously noticed, and refers not to the bishop\u2019s second\n  appointment but to his first.\n\nFootnote 108:\n\n  Torf\u00e6us, p. 183.\n\nFootnote 109:\n\n  Balfour\u2019s Annals, i. 155.\n\nFootnote 110:\n\n  Diplom. Norveg. vii. 430.\n\nFootnote 111:\n\n  He had received a grant of the earldom of Caithness from King James\n  II. 28th August 1455, as formerly mentioned, p. lxi.\n\nFootnote 112:\n\n  Diplom. Norvegicum, v. 599.\n\nFootnote 113:\n\n  Ibid. v. 605.\n\nFootnote 114:\n\n  These islands had been ceded by Norway to Scotland in 1266 on\n  condition of an annual payment of 100 marks, which at this time had\n  fallen into arrear for 26 years.\n\nFootnote 115:\n\n  His words imply that it was by request of the Orkneymen themselves\n  that Adalbert sent them preachers \u201cextremi venerant Islani, Gronlani,\n  et Orchadum legati petentes ut pr\u00e6dicatores illuc dirigeret, quod et\n  fecit.\u201d\n\nFootnote 116:\n\n  Keyser, Den Norske Kirkes Historie, i. 158; Torf\u00e6us, i. 160; Munch,\n  Det Norske Folks Historie, ii. p. 216; Grub\u2019s Eccles. Hist. i. 252.\n\nFootnote 117:\n\n  Twysden, Decem Scriptores, pp. 1709-13.\n\nFootnote 118:\n\n  Printed in the Notes and Illustrations to the Scala Cronica (Maitland\n  Club), p. 234.\n\nFootnote 119:\n\n  Monasticon Anglicanum, vi. p. 1186.\n\nFootnote 120:\n\n  Flor. Wig. Chron. Monum. Hist. Britann. p. 644.\n\nFootnote 121:\n\n  The name Christ\u2019s Church, says Munch, was only given to a cathedral\n  church.\n\nFootnote 122:\n\n  Sir Henry Dryden\u2019s Notices of Ancient Churches in Orkney, in the\n  _Orcadian_, 1867.\n\nFootnote 123:\n\n  Munch\u2019s Catalogue of the Bishops of Orkney, Bannatyne Miscellany, iii.\n  181.\n\nFootnote 124:\n\n  See the Saga, p. 126.\n\nFootnote 125:\n\n  Fornmanna S\u00f6gur, vol. vi.\n\nFootnote 126:\n\n  Diplom. Norvegicum, vii. p. 2.\n\nFootnote 127:\n\n  See p. lxxx.\n\nFootnote 128:\n\n  Hakonar Saga hins gamla, Flateyjarb\u00f3k, iii. 52.\n\nFootnote 129:\n\n  Diplom. Norvegicum, vii. p. 13.\n\nFootnote 130:\n\n  Ibid. i. 32.\n\nFootnote 131:\n\n  Keyser, Den Norske Kirkes Historie, ii. 210. Torf\u00e6us Hist. Orc., p.\n  172.\n\nFootnote 132:\n\n  Diplom. Norvegicum. The Chron. de Lanercost, under the date 1275,\n  incidentally notices a Bishop of Orkney, named William, who related\n  many wonderful things of the islands under Norwegian rule, and\n  specially of Iceland. Munch supposes him to have been one of the\n  titular bishops consecrated at York, and suggests that he may have\n  been the author of the curious fragment of a Chronicon Norvegi\u00e6\n  preserved in the Panmure transcript, along with the transcript of the\n  Diploma of the succession of the Earls of Orkney, printed at\n  Christiania, 1850. (Munch, Symbol\u00e6, pp. 2, 18; Det Norske Folks\n  Historie, iv. part 1, p. 678; Chron. de Lanercost, p. 97.)\n\nFootnote 133:\n\n  Keyser, Den Norske Kirkes Historie, ii. 216.\n\nFootnote 134:\n\n  Diplom. Norvegicum, vii. p. 134.\n\nFootnote 135:\n\n  Ibid. p. 134.\n\nFootnote 136:\n\n  Printed from the Panmure transcript in the Miscellany of the Spalding\n  Club, vol. v. p. 257.\n\nFootnote 137:\n\n  Theiner, Vetera Monumenta, p. 376.\n\nFootnote 138:\n\n  Among the persons mentioned in this record are Sir Richard of Rollisey\n  (Rousay), Sir Christen of Sanday, John of Orkney, Sigurd of Pappley,\n  John of Dunray (Downreay in Caithness). The title \u201csir\u201d is equivalent\n  to our \u201creverend.\u201d (Diplom. Norvegicum, i. 308.)\n\nFootnote 139:\n\n  See p. lxix. Both these documents are printed at length in the second\n  volume of the Diplomatarium Norvegicum, and are exceedingly curious\n  specimens of the language of the time.\n\nFootnote 140:\n\n  Diplom. Norveg. v. 605.\n\nFootnote 141:\n\n  There was a monastery at Dornoch before the death of Earl R\u00f6gnvald in\n  1158. King David of Scotland addressed a missive to R\u00f6gnvald, Earl of\n  Orkney, and to the Earl of Caithness (Harald Maddadson), and to all\n  good men in Caithness and Orkney, requesting them to protect the monks\n  living at Durnach in Caithness, their servants and their effects, and\n  to see that they sustained no loss or injury. (Regist. de Dunfermelyn,\n  p. 14.)\n\nFootnote 142:\n\n  Regist. de Dunfermelyn, p. 14.\n\nFootnote 143:\n\n  Ibid. p. 74.\n\nFootnote 144:\n\n  Diplom. Norveg. vii. p. 2.\n\nFootnote 145:\n\n  The Book of Deer (Spald. Club), p. 95.\n\nFootnote 146:\n\n  Diplom. Norvegicum, vii. p. 2.\n\nFootnote 147:\n\n  See p. xliii, and also the account of these transactions in the Saga,\n  chap. cxv.\n\nFootnote 148:\n\n  Printed in Theiner\u2019s Vetera Monumenta, p. 21.\n\nFootnote 149:\n\n  Chron. de Mailros, pp. 139, 150.\n\nFootnote 150:\n\n  Printed in the Miscellany of the Bannatyne Club, vol. iii.\n\nFootnote 151:\n\n  The bones of St. Fergus, the patron saint of Caithness, were deposited\n  in the abbey of Scone. Harald Maddadson, Earl of Orkney and Caithness,\n  granted a mark of silver yearly to the canons of Scone for the souls\n  of himself and wife, and the souls of his predecessors. The grant is\n  witnessed by his son \u201cTurphin.\u201d The Abbot of Scone obtained a royal\n  precept from King Alexander II. addressed to the sheriffs and bailies\n  of Moray and Caithness, for the protection of the ship of the convent\n  when on its voyages within their jurisdiction. The Abbey of Scone was\n  proprietor of the church of Kildonan, which, with its chapels and\n  lands, was confirmed to the canons of Scone by Pope Honorius III. in\n  1226. (Liber Ecclesie de Scon, pp. 37, 45, and 67.)\n\nFootnote 152:\n\n  Sir Robert Gordon mentions a tradition that he was the builder of the\n  noble castle of Kildrummy, in Mar.\n\nFootnote 153:\n\n  Theiner, Vet. Mon. Hib. et Scot. p. 89.\n\nFootnote 154:\n\n  Ibid. p. 104.\n\nFootnote 155:\n\n  There was collected in the year 1274\u2014From Olric (Olrig), 2 marcs;\n  Dinnosc (Dunnet), 32s. 4d.; Cranesby (Canisbay), 40s.; Ascend\n  (Skinnet), 5s. 4d.; Haukyrc (Halkirk), 14s. 2d.; Turishau (Thurso),\n  26s. 7d.; the chapel of Haludal (Halladale), 9s. 4d.; Lagheryn\n  (Latheron), 27s. 10d.; Durness, 14s. 8d. There was collected in the\n  year 1275\u2014Laterne (Latheron), 32s.; Cananby, 32s.; Thorsau, 2 marcs;\n  the chapel of Helwedale (Halladale), 9s. 4d.; Ra (Reay), 9s. 4d.;\n  Haukyrc (Halkirk), 13s. 9d.; Olric (Olrig), 2 marcs; the church of\n  Scynand (Skinnet), 18s. 8d.; the church of Dunost (Dunnet), 2 marcs;\n  Keldoninave (Kildonan), 2 marcs. The personal contributions include\n  one from Magister H. de Notingham\u2014doubtless the Notingham near Forse\n  which still bears the name unchanged. (Theiner, Vet. Monum. pp. 112,\n  115.)\n\nFootnote 156:\n\n  Theiner, Vet. Monum. p. 124.\n\nFootnote 157:\n\n  Henry of Nothingham was a canon of Caithness in 1272. (Lib. Eccles. de\n  Scon, p. 85.)\n\nFootnote 158:\n\n  Rotuli Scoti\u00e6, vol. i. p. 6.\n\nFootnote 159:\n\n  Ibid. vol. i. p. 7.\n\nFootnote 160:\n\n  Theiner, Vet. Monum, p. 161.\n\nFootnote 161:\n\n  Ibid.\n\nFootnote 162:\n\n  Ibid. p. 163.\n\nFootnote 163:\n\n  Ibid.\n\nFootnote 164:\n\n  Comp. Camerar. Scot. i. 25-26.\n\nFootnote 165:\n\n  See a paper by Joseph Robertson, Proc. Soc. Antiq. Scot. vol. ii. p.\n  31, _note_.\n\nFootnote 166:\n\n  Theiner, Vet. Monum., p. 276.\n\nFootnote 167:\n\n  Ibid.\n\nFootnote 168:\n\n  Ibid. p. 277.\n\nFootnote 169:\n\n  Origines Parochiales, ii. 485.\n\nFootnote 170:\n\n  Regist. Morav. p. 368.\n\nFootnote 171:\n\n  There is a writ of Pope Innocent VI., dated in May 1360, preferring\n  Thomas to be bishop of the \u201cEcclesia Cathayensis,\u201d and ordering him to\n  repair to his diocese on being consecrated by the Bishop of Preneste.\n  It appears from subsequent documents, however, that he was obstructed\n  and interfered with by the bishops of Limerick, Ardfert, and\n  Clonmacnoise, who laid many charges of criminal and illegal\n  proceedings against him, asserting that the \u201cEcclesia Cathayensis\u201d was\n  a parochial and not a cathedral church, and the Pope appointed George,\n  Archbishop of Cashel, to report on the matter. Owing to the death of\n  the archbishop the report was not made, and the remit was renewed by\n  the successor of Pope Innocent VI. to the Bishop of Lismore. It is not\n  clear whether this was a preferment to the see of Caithness following\n  on the death of Thomas de Fingask, or a series of mistakes. See\n  Theiner\u2019s Vetera Monumenta, pp. 316, 318, 324.\n\nFootnote 172:\n\n  Theiner, Vetera Monumenta, p. 333.\n\nFootnote 173:\n\n  Diplom. Norvegicum, vii. p. 309.\n\nFootnote 174:\n\n  Regist. Morav. p. 200.\n\nFootnote 175:\n\n  Regist. Episc. Brechinensis, p. 39.\n\nFootnote 176:\n\n  For the details of the structure by Sir H. Dryden, see the\n  Transactions of the Architectural Institute of Scotland, 1869-73. See\n  also Billings\u2019 Baronial and Ecclesiastical Antiquities, 1848; and\n  Worsaae\u2019s Danes and Northmen, 1852.\n\nFootnote 177:\n\n  Sir Henry Dryden recognises the following styles in the building:\u20141st\n  style, 1137 to 1160; 2d style, 1160 to 1200; 3d style, 1200 to 1250;\n  4th style, 1250 to 1350; 5th style, 1450 to 1500. (Guide to St.\n  Magnus\u2019 Cathedral by Sir H. Dryden, Daventry, 1871.)\n\nFootnote 178:\n\n  Magnus Helga Saga (edidit Jon\u00e6us: Hafni\u00e6, 1780), pp. 536, 538.\n\nFootnote 179:\n\n  The present church of St. Olaf\u2019s, which is not older than the 16th\n  century, and is said by Wallace to have been built by Bishop Reid, in\n  all probability stands on the site of the older one. The veneration of\n  St. Olaf extended both to Scotland and England. There was a church\n  dedicated to him at Cruden, and among the articles enumerated in an\n  inventory of the treasury of the cathedral of Aberdeen in 1518, there\n  is \u201ca small image of St. Olaf of silver decorated with precious\n  stones.\u201d\u2014(Regist. Episc. Aberdonense, ii. p. 172.)\n\nFootnote 180:\n\n  Neale, in his Ecclesiological Notes (p. 116), states that Earl\n  R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s remains were first interred in the church of Burwick, South\n  Ronaldsay, but gives no authority for the statement. The Saga, on the\n  other hand, states expressly that his remains were taken to Kirkwall,\n  and interred in the cathedral. It is not likely that the founder of\n  the cathedral would have been interred anywhere else.\n\nFootnote 181:\n\n  See p. liii, _antea_.\n\nFootnote 182:\n\n  In the engraving given of this church by Hibbert, the church and tower\n  are both represented as covered by a stone roof, that of the tower\n  being a conical cap resembling the usual termination of the Irish\n  Round Towers.\n\nFootnote 183:\n\n  In Jo. Ben\u2019s description of the islands (1529) it is said that the\n  church of Egilsey was dedicated to St. Magnus. But as he adds that St.\n  Magnus was born in Egilsey, and brought up there from his infancy, and\n  that he gave a piece of ground to his nurse, on which she made an\n  underground house with all its furniture of stone, it is plain that he\n  is merely repeating the absurd traditions of the time.\n\nFootnote 184:\n\n  There were three towered churches in Shetland (see p. ci.)\n\nFootnote 185:\n\n  \u201cIts style of architecture,\u201d says Sir Henry Dryden, \u201cdiscarding\n  certain indications of an earlier date, prevents our assigning to it a\n  date later than the beginning of the 12th century. When we contrast it\n  with the Kirkwall Cathedral begun in 1137, we are forced to give an\n  earlier date than that to Egilsey, and this opinion is corroborated by\n  the churches at Orphir and Brough of Birsay.\u201d\u2014(Ruined Churches in\n  Orkney and Shetland, in the _Orcadian_ of 1867.)\n\nFootnote 186:\n\n  Those in Britain are Cambridge, consecrated in 1101; Northampton,\n  about 1115; Maplestead, 1118; the Temple Church, London, 1185; the\n  small Norman church in Ludlow Castle, and the Earls\u2019 Church at Orphir\n  in Orkney\u2014the only example in Scotland. \u201cThe round churches at\n  Cambridge, Northampton, and London,\u201d says Ferguson, \u201cwere certainly\n  sepulchral, or erected in imitation of the church at Jerusalem\u201d\n  (History of Architecture, ii. p. 60). Wilson, on the other hand,\n  supposes that the early dry-built beehive houses of the Western\n  Islands may have served as a model for some of the earliest Christian\n  oratories, of which that at Orphir, he remarks, is an interesting\n  example (Prehistoric Annals, ii. p. 369). But there is no analogy\n  whatever between the architectural features of Orphir and those of the\n  beehive houses, nor has it any resemblance to the earlier oratories\n  and chapels of the Western Isles.\n\nFootnote 187:\n\n  Pope\u2019s Translation of Torf\u00e6us (Wick, 1866), p. 108.\n\nFootnote 188:\n\n  Sir H. Dryden says this mode of putting on the arch was probably\n  resorted to in order to give a support to the centre on which the arch\n  was built. This seems highly probable, and in some cases it would seem\n  as if the original supports still remain in the shape of two long thin\n  slabs resting on the imposts on either side and meeting in the centre\n  of the arch. See the engraving of the doorway in St. Mary\u2019s Church,\n  Kilbar, Barra, in Mr. Muir\u2019s Characteristics of Old Church\n  Architecture, p. 230.\n\nFootnote 189:\n\n  Caithness and Part of Orkney, an Ecclesiological Sketch, by T. S.\n  Muir, p. 25.\n\nFootnote 190:\n\n  From an expression of Jo. Ben\u2019s it would seem to have been dedicated\n  to St. Peter:\u2014\u201cWeir, insula est parva, Petro Apostolo dicata.\u201d\n\nFootnote 191:\n\n  This church, which was called St. Peter\u2019s in 1726, is called St.\n  Mary\u2019s by Mr. Muir.\n\nFootnote 192:\n\n  Sir Henry Dryden remarks that the same mode of making doorways is to\n  be seen in the chapels at Lybster in Caithness, at Weir, at Linton in\n  Shapinsay, Uyea in Shetland, and in some of the early oratories in\n  Ireland, and suggests the question\u2014Were there doors in these churches,\n  and if so, where were they placed and how were they hung? \u201cIt is\n  known,\u201d he adds, \u201cthat in many cottages in old time the door was an\n  animal\u2019s hide hung across the opening, and probably this may have been\n  the case in these unrebated church entrances.\u201d The custom of closing\n  the entrances to the places of worship by a skin or heavy curtain\n  survives in the East to the present day. The \u201cveil of the Temple,\u201d\n  covering the entrance to the Holy of Holies, is a familiar\n  illustration of this ancient custom among the Jews.\n\nFootnote 193:\n\n  The minister of Birsay in 1627 says:\u2014\u201cThere is likewise ane litill\n  holm within the sea callit the Brughe of Birsay, quhilk is thocht be\n  the elder sort to have belongit to the reid friaris, for there is the\n  foundation of ane kirk and kirkyard there as yet to be\n  seen.\u201d\u2014Peterkin\u2019s Rentals, No. III., p. 98.\n\nFootnote 194:\n\n  Low\u2019s Tour through Orkney and Zetland, MS. in the possession of David\n  Laing, Esq.\n\nFootnote 195:\n\n  See the article on \u201cThe Twin-towered Churches of Denmark,\u201d by J.\n  Kornerup, in the Aarboger for Nordisk Oldkindighed for 1869, p. 13.\n\nFootnote 196:\n\n  Detailed accounts of the excavation, with translations and facsimiles\n  of the inscriptions of Maeshow, have been given in a privately-printed\n  work by Mr. Farrer, and in a work published by the late Mr. John\n  Mitchell. An account of the structure of Maeshow, with notices of the\n  inscriptions, is given by Dr. John Stuart, secretary to the Society of\n  Antiquaries of Scotland, in their Proceedings, vol. v. p. 247. A\n  notice, with readings of the inscriptions, by Dr. Charlton, is given\n  in Arch\u00e6ologia \u00c6liana, vol. vi. p. 127 (1865). See also the splendid\n  work on The Runic Monuments of Scandinavia and England, by Professor\n  George Stephens, Copenhagen, 1866-68.\n\nFootnote 197:\n\n  Hogboy is the Norse word _Haug-bui_, the tenant of the _haug_, how, or\n  tomb\u2014a hoy-laid dead man, or the goblin that guards the treasures\n  buried in the how. (Ordbog det Norske Gamle Sprog, _sub voce_.)\n\nFootnote 198:\n\n  The leading specific feature of the Orkney group of chambered cairns\n  is the formation of small cells or loculi off the principal chamber.\n  The Caithness group is distinguished by the tricameration of the\n  chamber, and the Clava group by having a circular or oval chamber\n  undivided and unfurnished with _loculi_.\n\nFootnote 199:\n\n  See Chap. xci.\n\nFootnote 200:\n\n  The first par of the word seems analogous to the last part of our own\n  Carling-wark, indicating astonishment at the amount of labour required\n  for the rearing of such a structure.\n\nFootnote 201:\n\n  In his recent work on Rude Stone Monuments of all Countries (London:\n  John Murray, 1872), Mr. Ferguson suggests that Maeshow may have been\n  erected for Earl Havard, who fell at Stennis about A.D. 970. But apart\n  from its Celtic structural character, if it had been Earl Havard\u2019s\n  tomb his countrymen could scarcely have so completely forgotten the\n  fact in the short space of 200 years.\n\nFootnote 202:\n\n  The most detailed account of these is to be found in an elaborate\n  paper on the Celtic Antiquities of Orkney, by Captain F. W. L. Thomas,\n  R.N., in the Arch\u00e6ologia, vol. xxxiv.\n\nFootnote 203:\n\n  Flateyjarb\u00f3k (Christiania, 1860-68), vol. i. p. 225. See the\n  translation in the Appendix, p. 208.\n\nFootnote 204:\n\n  The following enumeration of the known sites of the \u201cPictish Towers,\u201d\n  Borgs, or Brochs, will give some idea of their number and\n  distribution. In Shetland there are, in the island of Unst, 7; in\n  Whalsay, 3; in Yell, 9; in Fetlar, 4; in Mainland and its outlying\n  islets, 51; in Foula, 1\u2014total, 75. In Orkney, in the island of North\n  Ronaldsay, 2; in Papa Westray, 2; in Westray, 5; in Sanday, 9; in\n  Eday, 1; in Stronsay, 3; in Shapinsay, 1; in Gairsay, 1; in Rousay, 3;\n  in Mainland, 35; in South Ronaldsay, 4; in Hoy, 1; in Hunday, 1; in\n  Burray, 2\u2014total, 70. In Caithness, 79. In Sutherland, 60. In Lewis and\n  Harris, 38. In Skye, 30. (For detailed descriptions of Mousa, and many\n  others of these Towers, and lists of their sites, so far as known, see\n  the Arch\u00e6ologia Scotica, \u201cTransactions of the Scottish Society of\n  Antiquaries,\u201d vol. v.)\n\nFootnote 205:\n\n  Detailed accounts of these are printed in the Proceedings and\n  Transactions of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.\n\nFootnote 206:\n\n  No instance of a flint arrow-point, a flint celt, a polished stone\n  axe, or perforated stone hammer, has yet been found in a Broch or\n  \u201cPictish Tower.\u201d\n\nFootnote 207:\n\n  As the people of the islands did universally to a comparatively recent\n  period, and as in some of the islands they do to this day.\n\nFootnote 208:\n\n  See the Saga, p. 161.\n\nFootnote 209:\n\n  _Scat_ still remains _the_ Orkney grievance. \u201cScalds\u201d were got rid of\n  in the 17th century, having been then solemnly abolished by the\n  kirk-session of Kirkwall, on pain of 40s. penalty and four hours in\n  the cuckstool, as slanderers and persons offensive to their\n  neighbours.\n\nFootnote 210:\n\n  Fasti Eccles. Scot. v. p. 441. This statement must be taken _cum grano\n  salis_. There can be no doubt, however, that the old language was in\n  use in Shetland at that date. The latest known document in the Norse\n  language, written in Shetland, is dated 1586, and among those\n  mentioned in it is \u201cMons Norsko minister i Jella\u201d\u2014Magnus Norsk,\n  minister in Yell. (Mem. de Soc. Antiq. du Nord, 1850-60, p. 96.)\n\nFootnote 211:\n\n  See Lyngbye\u2019s Faeroiske Qv\u00e6der, with Muller\u2019s Introduction: Randers,\n  1822. The old man, William Henry, of Guttorm, in Foula, from whom Low\n  took down the Shetland ballad, spoke to him of \u201cthree kinds of poetry\n  used in Norn and recited or sung by the old men\u2014viz., the Ballad, the\n  Vysie or Vyse, now commonly sung to dancers, and the simple song. By\n  the account he gave of the matter, the first seems to have been valued\n  chiefly for its subject, and was commonly repeated in winter by the\n  fireside; the second seems to have been used in public gatherings, now\n  only sung to the dance; and the third at both.\u201d (Low\u2019s MS.)\n\nFootnote 212:\n\n  In the Stockholm edition of Snorro\u2019s Edda, it was Hilda, by her\n  enchantments, who raised the slain, as fast as they fell, to renew the\n  combat, and the episode of Ivar Liomi and the Christian additions do\n  not occur. Allusions to Hogni\u2019s daughter Hilda occur in the stanzas of\n  Eyvind Skaldaspiller (Saga of Harald Harfagri, chap. 13), and in those\n  of Einar Skalaglum (Harald Grafeld\u2019s Saga, chap. 6, and Olaf\n  Tryggvason\u2019s Saga, chap. 18).\n\nFootnote 213:\n\n  For descriptions and readings of these see Munch\u2019s Chronicon Manni\u00e6,\n  Christiania, 1860; Cumming\u2019s Runic and other Monumental Remains in the\n  Isle of Man, London, 1857; and Worsaae\u2019s Danes and Northmen, London,\n  1852.\n\nFootnote 214:\n\n  It is no less singular to find a Rune-inscribed stone so far up the\n  valley of the Spey as Knockando in Morayshire. See Sculpt. Stones of\n  Scotland, i. p. 61.\n\nFootnote 215:\n\n  This fragment, which is now in the museum of the Society of\n  Antiquaries of Scotland, is figured and described by Professor George\n  Stephens of Copenhagen, in the \u201cIllustreret Tidende\u201d for 20th July\n  1873, and will be included in the third volume of his great work on\n  the Runic monuments of Scandinavia and England, now preparing for the\n  press.\n\nFootnote 216:\n\n  See the note at p. 107 of the Saga.\n\nFootnote 217:\n\n  \u201cDescription by Ahmed Ibn Fozlan (an eye-witness) of the ceremonies\n  attending the incremation of the dead body of a Norse chief, written\n  in the early part of the 10th century. Translated from Holmboe\u2019s\n  Danish version of the Arabic original, with notes on the origin of\n  cremation and its continuance, by Joseph Anderson, Keeper of the\n  Museum.\u201d Printed in the Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of\n  Scotland, vol. ix.\n\nFootnote 218:\n\n  A large number of these stone kettles, made of steatite, and furnished\n  with iron \u201cbows,\u201d exactly like those of our modern cast-iron pots, are\n  preserved in the Christiania Museum, filled, as they were found, with\n  the burned bones of the former owners. Sometimes the sword of the\n  owner is found twisted and broken, and laid on the top of the bones.\n\nFootnote 219:\n\n  There are upwards of 400 of these brooches in the museum at Stockholm,\n  nearly half as many in Christiania, and a large number in Copenhagen.\n\nFootnote 220:\n\n  The other one is in the museum at Copenhagen, and is figured in\n  Worsaae\u2019s Danes and Northmen, p. 255.\n\nFootnote 221:\n\n  Mem. de la Soc. Antiq. du Nord, 1840-44, p. 79.\n\nFootnote 222:\n\n  For full details of this remarkable group of interments, see Wilson\u2019s\n  Prehistoric Annals of Scotland, vol. ii. p. 303, and Journal of the\n  British Arch\u00e6ological Association, vol. ii. p. 329.\n\nFootnote 223:\n\n  The events narrated in this chapter are told with greater fulness of\n  detail in the extracts from the Flateyjarb\u00f3k given in the Appendix.\n\nFootnote 224:\n\n  _Vikinga-boeli_, a vik-ing station, or haunt of the sea-rovers, who\n  harried the coasts wherever they could find plunder. From _vik_, a bay\n  or creek, are formed the nouns _viking_, denoting the species of\n  plundering, and _vikingr_, denoting a person engaged in it.\n\nFootnote 225:\n\n  Moeri, a province of Norway, lying southwards of Drontheim (Saga of\n  Harald Harfagri, chap. x). The word signifies a plain bordering on the\n  sea.\n\nFootnote 226:\n\n  \u201cHe was called Torf-Einar because he cut peat for fuel.\u201d (See\n  Appendix).\n\nFootnote 227:\n\n  A son of Harald Harfagri.\n\nFootnote 228:\n\n  Rinansey, North Ronaldsay. Munch suggests that the form Ronansey\n  implies its derivation from St. Ronan or Ninian, and that the name is\n  therefore older than the Norse colonisation. St. Ninian is often\n  called St. Ringan, and Ringansey seems quite a probable derivation of\n  Rinansey.\n\nFootnote 229:\n\n  This is represented in the Saga of King Harald as a fine exacted by\n  Harald for the death of his son, and paid by the Earl for the _b\u0153ndr_\n  or freeholders who surrendered their odal lands to him in\n  consideration of being freed from this payment (see Appendix).\n\nFootnote 230:\n\n  A poem by Thorbi\u00f6rn Hornklofe, quoted in the Saga of Harald Harfagri.\n\nFootnote 231:\n\n  Son and successor of Harald Harfagri.\n\nFootnote 232:\n\n  They fell in battle in England, with King Eric Bloodyaxe, and \u201cfive\n  kings,\u201d as told in the Saga of Hakon the Good. The place where this\n  battle was fought has not been satisfactorily identified.\n\nFootnote 233:\n\n  Dungad, called also Dungal, was a native chieftain, Maormor, or\n  \u201cJarl,\u201d in the north-east corner of Caithness, who seems to have\n  considered the policy of conciliation preferable to that of\n  resistance, judging from the intimate relations he formed with the\n  foreigners, marrying the daughter of one, and giving his daughter in\n  marriage to another, of the chiefs of the invaders. His _b\u0153_ or hamlet\n  of residence became on this account so well known to the Norsemen,\n  that they named the district of Dungalsbae (now Duncansbay) by it, and\n  spoke of the headland (now Duncansbay Head) on which it was situated,\n  as Dungalsness, or Duncan\u2019s cape. The supposed remains of his castle\n  were seen by Pennant in 1796, and are described by him as the ruins of\n  a circular building, in all probability one of the \u201cburghs\u201d or\n  circular towers so common in the north of Scotland, which seem to have\n  been the defensive habitations of the native Celtic or Pictish\n  population of the period between the 6th and 9th or 10th centuries. It\n  is now a green mound. From the Session Records of the parish it\n  appears that the district retained its ancient name of \u201cDungasby\u201d down\n  to the beginning of the last century, when it first appears as\n  Duncansbay, and to this day it is called \u201cDungsby\u201d by the older\n  inhabitants. The name of the adjacent district of Canisbay, now\n  applied to the whole parish, is similarly derived from _Conan\u2019s b\u00e6_.\n  It appears between 1223 and 1245 as Canenesbi (Sutherland Charters),\n  and in Blaeu\u2019s Atlas, the MS. maps of which were drawn (_circa_ 1620),\n  by Mr. Timothy Pont, the minister of the adjacent parish of Dunnet, it\n  is marked Conansbay. These two, Duncan and Conan, are the only native\n  chieftains of Caithness at the time of the Norse invasion whose names\n  have come down to us, probably because they were the only ones who\n  held friendly relations with the invaders.\n\nFootnote 234:\n\n  In the Saga of Olaf, Tryggvi\u2019s son, it is said that Earl Sigurd lay at\n  Asmundarvag, now Osmundwall, in the south end of the island of Hoy.\n  There is a place called Roray on the west side of the island, which\n  might be the ancient R\u00f6rvag.\n\nFootnote 235:\n\n  Munch (Chronicon Manni\u00e6, p. 46) alludes to the mistake so common among\n  the historians of Scotland to confound the _two_ Malcolms, and to make\n  one of them, as if one Malcolm only (Malcolm II.) reigned from 1004 to\n  1034. Though this theory has been ingeniously supported from a Norse\n  point of view, it is at variance with the concurrent testimony of the\n  early Scottish Chronicles. The Saga is the only authority for this\n  marriage; but admitting its testimony on this point to be unassailable\n  scarcely necessitates the repudiation of the authority of the Scottish\n  Chronicles on the question of the succession. (Compare Skene\u2019s\n  Highlanders, chap. 5; Robertson\u2019s Scotland under her Early Kings, vol.\n  ii. p. 447; and Fordun (Skene\u2019s edition), text and notes.)\n\nFootnote 236:\n\n  Olaf, Tryggvi\u2019s son, fell at the battle of Sv\u00f6ldr, A.D. 1000.\n\nFootnote 237:\n\n  The battle of Clontarf, A.D. 1014 (see the Introduction). The Iceland\n  Annals say that he held the earldom for sixty-two years, so that he\n  must have become Earl in A.D. 952; but Munch makes his true period to\n  be 980-1014.\n\nFootnote 238:\n\n  The word _B\u00f3ndi_ (pl. _B\u0153ndr_), literally \u201ca resident\u201d or \u201cdweller,\u201d\n  has no English equivalent, although the form remains in the words\n  \u201chusband\u201d and \u201chusbandman,\u201d (hus-bondi, house-dweller or\n  house-master). The B\u0153ndr were freeholders by odal tenure, proprietors\n  of the lands which they had inherited by succession from the original\n  \u201cland-takers.\u201d \u201cIn the primitive form of Scandinavian society,\u201d says\n  Balfour, in his Odal Rights and Feudal Wrongs, \u201cland was the only\n  wealth, its ownership the sole foundation of power, privilege, or\n  dignity. As no man could win or hold possession without the strong arm\n  to defend it, every landowner was a warrior, every warrior a\n  husbandman. King Sigurd Syr tended his own hay harvest, and Sweyn of\n  Gairsay and Thorkel F\u00f3stri swept the coasts of Britain or Ireland\n  while the crops which they and their rovers had sown grew ready for\n  their reaping.\u201d The use of the ancient term survived in Orkney till\n  1529, as we learn from the description by Jo. Ben, that in the parish\n  of Rendale the people saluted each other with \u201cGoand da bound\u00e6\u201d (i.e.\n  _godan dag bondi!_) instead of the \u201cGuid day, gudeman,\u201d of the\n  Scottish vernacular. Among the documents found in the king\u2019s treasury\n  at Edinburgh in 1282, was one entitled \u201cA quit-claiming of the lands\n  of the _bondi_ of Caithness for the slaughter of the Bishop,\u201d\u2014viz.\n  Bishop Adam, who was burned at Halkirk in 1222 by the \u201c_bondi_,\u201d\n  exasperated by his exactions. Although the word is Icelandic, it has\n  been retained in the translation as a convenient term to designate the\n  class, in preference to such periphrastic renderings as\n  \u201cfarmer-lairds,\u201d \u201cpeasant proprietors,\u201d or \u201cpeasant nobles,\u201d as are\n  usually employed.\n\nFootnote 239:\n\n  Hrossey (Horse Isle) was the name given by the Norsemen to the\n  mainland of the Orkney group. The Sandvik here mentioned as the\n  residence of Amundi and Thorkel can only be the Sandvik (now Sandwick)\n  on Deerness. When Thorfinn drew his vessels in under Deerness before\n  he was attacked by Kali Hundason (chap. v.), he sent to Thorkel asking\n  him to collect men and come to his assistance. Thorkel\u2019s residence\n  could not therefore have been far from Deerness, although the mention\n  of Laufandaness is somewhat suggestive of Lopness in Sanday.\n\nFootnote 240:\n\n  The Things were local or general assemblies for determining by public\n  agreement the course that should be pursued with reference to matters\n  affecting the common weal or the public peace. All odal-born freemen\n  (not under outlawry) had an equal voice, and king, earl, or common\n  bondi, met on the thingstead on equal terms, as thingmen.\n\nFootnote 241:\n\n  Ulfreksfiord seems to have been the Norse name of Lough Larne, which\n  in a document of the reign of the Irish King John (A.D. 1210) is\n  styled _Wulvricheford_ (Worsaae\u2019s Danes and Northmen, p. 311). It is\n  suggestive of the identification of this Lough as the scene of Earl\n  Einar\u2019s defeat, that Norse burials have been discovered at Larne. One\n  of these is described in the Crania Britannica, pl. 56. The form of\n  the iron sword found buried with the skeleton, having a short guard\n  and triangular pommel, establishes its Norwegian character.\n\nFootnote 242:\n\n  Konuf\u00f6gr is plainly the Norse form of the Irish Conchobhar. Several\n  Irish kings of this name are mentioned in the Annals.\n\nFootnote 243:\n\n  Eyvind Urarhorn was a Lenderman (or Baron) of King Olaf Haraldson. He\n  had gone to Ireland to King Conchobhar previous to Einar\u2019s expedition,\n  and had assisted the Irish against the Orkneymen. The Saga of Olaf\n  Haraldson says that Earl Einar was much displeased with the Northmen\n  who had been in the battle on the side of the Irish king, and seized\n  this opportunity of wreaking his vengeance on Eyvind, their leader.\n\nFootnote 244:\n\n  Asmundarvag, now Osmundwall, in the south end of the island of Hoy.\n  The termination _v\u00e1gr_ usually becomes _wall_, as Kirkiuvagr, which in\n  the modern form is Kirkwall.\n\nFootnote 245:\n\n  Olaf Haraldson, surnamed \u201cthe Holy,\u201d and afterwards known as St. Olaf,\n  who became king in the year 1015.\n\nFootnote 246:\n\n  Now Sandwick, in Deerness.\n\nFootnote 247:\n\n  In the Saga of Harald Harfagri it is stated (chap. vi.) that \u201cKing\n  Harald made this law over all the lands he conquered, that all the\n  odal possessions should be his, and that the B\u0153ndr, both great and\n  small, should pay him land-dues for their possessions.\u201d Thus he put an\n  end to odal right, in its pure and simple form at least, wherever he\n  extended his authority; and the B\u0153ndr, thus taxed and deprived of\n  their odal rights, complained, with justice, that they were changed\n  from a class of proprietary nobles into a class of tributary tenantry.\n  Having assumed the ownership of the earldom of Orkney as his own by\n  conquest, his heirs became the odal-born lords of Orkney, while the\n  Earls were theoretically the liegemen of the Kings of Norway, though\n  having also an odal right to the earldom which the royal prerogative\n  could not set aside.\n\nFootnote 248:\n\n  If like meets like, or if you be met in the same spirit as you come.\n\nFootnote 249:\n\n  The word is _hirdman_. The hirdmen were the King\u2019s body-guard.\n\nFootnote 250:\n\n  The _manbote_ (or fine for manslaughter) for every Norwegian Lenderman\n  or Baron was fixed at 6 marks of silver, by the Older Gula-thing.\n\nFootnote 251:\n\n  Malcolm II., King of Scotland.\n\nFootnote 252:\n\n  The identity of Karl or Kali Hundason is one of the historical puzzles\n  which exercise the ingenuity of modern historians. Supposing the Saga\n  name of this individual to be a Norse corruption of the name of a\n  Scottish king, it resembles none more nearly than that of Culen\n  Induffson, the Culen Mac Induff of the _Chronica Pictorum_. But if\n  Kali Hundason be intended for Culen Induffson, the dates do not agree\n  by more than sixty years. On the other hand, supposing the events here\n  narrated to be of the period assigned to them by the Saga, Kali\n  Hundason ought to be Duncan, son of Crinan, Abbot of Dunkeld, who was\n  the grandson and successor of King Malcolm Mac Kenneth. But Fordun\n  states that Duncan\u2019s succession was a peaceful one. It is not to be\n  overlooked, however, that Earl Thorfinn was also a grandson of Malcolm\n  Mac Kenneth; and if we could account for the discrepancy as to the\n  name given by the Saga, the war between the two grandsons of the\n  deceased monarch might readily be accounted for. For full details of\n  the speculations regarding the identity of Kali Hundason, see Skene\u2019s\n  Highlanders of Scotland, chap. v.; the Irish version of \u201cNennius\u201d\n  (Irish Arch\u00e6ological Society), Appendix, p. 78; Robertson\u2019s Scotland\n  under her Early Kings, vol. ii. p. 477; and Munch\u2019s Norske Folks\n  Historie, vol. i. pt. 2, p. 854.\n\nFootnote 253:\n\n  The words \u201cat Beruvik\u201d in Jon\u00e6us\u2019s edition are not in the\n  Flateyjarb\u00f3k. Two places of this name are mentioned in the Saga. One\n  of these is plainly Berwick-on-Tweed (chap. xcii.) The locality of the\n  other (which must be the \u201cBeruvik\u201d of this passage) is fixed by the\n  statement in chap. xciv., where it is said that Earl R\u00f6gnvald was then\n  in Sutherland celebrating the marriage of his daughter with Eirik\n  Slagbrellir; and when word was brought to him that Harald had come to\n  Thurso, he rode with a number of his followers \u201cfrom Beruvik to\n  Thurso.\u201d It has been conjectured that the place here indicated was\n  _Caistal a Bharruick_, an old square tower situated on an eminence\n  near Kirkiboll, on the east side of the shore of the Kyle of Tongue\n  (_Orig. Parochiales_, vol. ii. p. 717). Judging from the context,\n  however, it seems more likely that it may have been the _vik_ or inlet\n  at the mouth of the water of Berriedale (Berudal), on the southern\n  border of Caithness, where there are also the ruins of an old square\n  tower\u2014the Castle of Berriedale. This agrees with the statement that\n  King Kali, sailing _northward_ from Beruvik, saw the sails of\n  Thorfinn\u2019s ships going towards Deerness, as he sailed into the mouth\n  of the Firth from the east. Had Kali come from the Kyle of Tongue, he\n  would have sailed _east_, and Thorfinn would have seen and intercepted\n  him from Duncansbay.\n\nFootnote 254:\n\n  Now Sandwick, in Deerness, Orkney.\n\nFootnote 255:\n\n  Broad Firth\u2014the Moray Firth.\n\nFootnote 256:\n\n  Torfness, the scene of the final conflict between Earl Thorfinn and\n  Kali Hundason, is here described as on the south side of B\u00e6fiord, and\n  by Arnor, the Earls\u2019 skald, as south of Ekkial, the river Oikel, which\n  gave its name to Ekki\u00e1lsbakk\u00e1, or the district along the banks of the\n  Oikel and its estuary\u2014the Kyle of Sutherland\u2014which formed the march\n  between the territory of the Norse earls and Scotland. Torfness may\n  thus be conjectured to be Tarbatness, although we have nothing to fix\n  the locality more definitely. B\u00e6fiord, in this case, would be the\n  wider portion of the Dornoch Firth. Munch suggests that the seemingly\n  French name of Beaufort Castle may be a corruption of B\u00e6fiord (which\n  in that case would be the Beauly Frith); but in all probability the\n  name Beaufort is what it seems to be, and much more modern.\n\nFootnote 257:\n\n  In which King Olaf Haraldson (the Holy) was killed, A.D. 1030.\n\nFootnote 258:\n\n  The Kj\u00f6len mountains, part of the range separating Norway from Sweden.\n\nFootnote 259:\n\n  H\u00f3lmgard, now Novgorod, formerly Cholmogori, in Russia, which the\n  Northmen called Gardariki.\n\nFootnote 260:\n\n  The town of Ladoga, which Rurik, the first King of Russia, made his\n  capital in the 9th century. It is now a mere hamlet.\n\nFootnote 261:\n\n  Alfifa, queen of Canute the Great.\n\nFootnote 262:\n\n  Ingigerd, daughter of King Olaf of Sweden, was married to King\n  Jarizleif. She stipulated that R\u00f6gnvald should accompany her to\n  Russia, and he received the town and earldom of Ladoga (Aldeigiuborg).\n\nFootnote 263:\n\n  N\u00eddar\u00f3s, now the town of Drontheim, so called from its being situated\n  at the mouth of the river Nid.\n\nFootnote 264:\n\n  King Olaf adjudged Earl Einar\u2019s third of the islands to be forfeited\n  for the slaying of Eyvind Urarhorn. (See chap. v.)\n\nFootnote 265:\n\n  _Skotlandsfiord_, Scotland\u2019s Firth, was the name given to the channel\n  between the Hebrides and the mainland of Scotland. (See chap. xxx.)\n\nFootnote 266:\n\n  Vatnsfiord, probably Loch Vattin, an arm of the sea branching off Loch\n  Bracadale, in Skye.\n\nFootnote 267:\n\n  Gaddgedlar.\u2014This passage has given rise to a variety of conjectures.\n  None of the explanations which have yet been offered are free from\n  difficulties. Munch (_Chronicon Manni\u00e6_, p. 46) says that, considering\n  the situation of Caithness, and how well the author of the saga must\n  have known it, it becomes evident that between \u201cCaithness\u201d and \u201cat the\n  place\u201d an _and_ must have been dropped by the subsequent writer, who,\n  living about A.D. 1380, and in Iceland (this part of the saga existing\n  only in the _Codex Flateyensis_), might easily have dropped an _ok_\n  (or the abbreviation thereof), not conscious of the great blunder he\n  committed. He further adds that Gaddgedlar is evidently the Norse\n  corruption of \u201cGalwydia,\u201d Galloway. This explanation is open to the\n  objections that, besides the improbability of Thorfinn having dwelt\n  for the most part in Caithness and in Galloway, the latter place does\n  not fit the description that there Scotland and England meet. The word\n  _eingland_, signifying meadow, or strath land, may possibly have been\n  used as a general term for \u201cThe Dales of Caithness,\u201d if it may not be\n  supposed to be a mis-transcription of the word _eignarland_, meaning\n  Thorfinn\u2019s own territory. Gaddgedlar might be the Norse pronunciation\n  of the native word Gall-gael, applied to the mixed population of the\n  districts where the Norse element had not entirely displaced the\n  Celtic, or the border districts between the Norse earldom and the\n  purely Celtic territory \u201cwhere Scotland and his (Thorfinn\u2019s) own land\n  meet.\u201d\n\nFootnote 268:\n\n  Raudabiorg, or Red Headland, must be looked for in the neighbourhood\n  of Dunnet Head, where the red beds of the Old Red Sandstone form the\n  distinctive feature of the coast. A little to the east of Dunnet Head\n  there is an outlying crag named Brough of Rattar, or Rattar Brough\u2014in\n  all probability a corrupted form of the old name Raudabiorg. Still\n  farther to the eastward, where the burn of Rattar enters the Firth,\n  are the ruins of an old \u201cPictish tower,\u201d or broch\u2014in old Norse,\n  _borg_. In its immediate vicinity is a little promontory called Kirk\n  o\u2019 Taing (_Kirkiu Tunga_, the Tongue, or Ness of the Kirk), on which\n  are the ruins of one of the small rudely-built chapels of the early\n  Christian time. On the north side of the chapel the edges of a number\n  of stone cists are visible through the turf; and from two of these,\n  which were dug up in cutting a drain in the spring of 1872, eight\n  silver armlets of the ancient penannular form were obtained. These\n  correspond exactly with the armlets which formed part of the great\n  hoard exhumed at Skaill, in Orkney, on the opposite side of the Firth,\n  with Cufic and Anglo-Saxon coins of the tenth century\u2014in all\n  probability a hoard deposited by some of the vikings on their return\n  from a plundering expedition. As Earl Thorfinn and his men were\n  Christians, it seems probable that, if the chapel was then in\n  existence, the bodies of the seventy slain in the fight off\n  Raudabiorg, which were landed here, would be buried in the consecrated\n  ground attached to this chapel.\n\nFootnote 269:\n\n  The Mainland of Orkney.\n\nFootnote 270:\n\n  The two Papeys, the great and the little (anciently Papey meiri and\n  Papey minni), now Papa Westray and Papa Stronsay, are both mentioned\n  in the Saga. Fordun, in his enumeration of the islands, has a \u201cPapeay\n  tertia,\u201d which is not now known. There are three islands in Shetland\n  called Papey, and both in Orkney and Shetland there are several\n  districts named Paplay or Papplay, doubtless the same as the Papyli of\n  Iceland. Munch considers that these names betray a Kelto-Christian\n  origin. They probably indicate the settlements of Irish ecclesiastics\n  in the islands previous to the arrival of the Northmen. The recent\n  discoveries in Orkney of ecclesiastical bells of the early square\n  form, and of stone monuments with Ogham inscriptions (in one case\n  associated with a figure of the cross of an early form), seem to point\n  to the settlement of ecclesiastical communities in the islands at a\n  very early period. (See Introduction.)\n\nFootnote 271:\n\n  Now Papa Westray.\n\nFootnote 272:\n\n  King of Denmark.\n\nFootnote 273:\n\n  Harald Sigurdson is the famous Harald Hardradi who afterwards fell at\n  the battle of Stamford Bridge, near York, fighting against Harald\n  Godwinson the Saxon King of England, in 1066.\n\nFootnote 274:\n\n  A small island off Lindesnes, in the south of Norway.\n\nFootnote 275:\n\n  The district round the head of the Christiania Fiord.\n\nFootnote 276:\n\n  Scania, the southern part of Sweden.\n\nFootnote 277:\n\n  Aalborg, in Jutland.\n\nFootnote 278:\n\n  Earl Thorfinn\u2019s pilgrimage to Rome took place most probably about the\n  year 1050. King Magnus died in A.D. 1047, and some time must have\n  elapsed before Thorfinn heard of his death. Then his messengers went\n  to Norway, and returned; and his own expedition was thereafter\n  prepared. After visiting King Harald Hardradi in Norway, he stayed\n  some time with Svend Estridson, the King of Denmark. Then he visited\n  Henry III., Emperor of Germany, and would probably reach Rome soon\n  after the accession of Pope Leo IX., who occupied the Papal throne\n  from 1049 to 1055. As Macbeth, the only Scottish sovereign who ever\n  visited the city of Rome, made his pilgrimage thither in the year\n  1050, and Thorfinn and he were close friends and allies, it is\n  probable that they went together. (Compare Saga of King Harald\n  Hardradi; Wyntoun, vol. ii. pp. 468, 469; Marianus Scotus, in Mon.\n  Hist. Brit., p. 604; Florence of Worcester; Chron. de Mailros;\n  Ritson\u2019s Annals, vol. ii. p. 116; Skene\u2019s Highlanders, chap. v.;\n  Grub\u2019s Ecclesiastical History of Scotland, chap. xiii.)\n\nFootnote 279:\n\n  This quotation from Arn\u00f3r seems to have reference only to Thorfinn\u2019s\n  conquests in Ireland. Doubtless the extent of these is considerably\n  exaggerated. The Thussasker appear to be the outlying skerries off the\n  S.E. of Ireland, still known as the Tuscar Rocks.\n\nFootnote 280:\n\n  Malcolm II., Mac Kenneth.\n\nFootnote 281:\n\n  Harald Sigurdson (Hardradi) was slain at Stamford Bridge in 1066, and\n  Earl Thorfinn died in 1064.\n\nFootnote 282:\n\n  Transferred their allegiance to the native chieftains, to whom they\n  belonged by hereditary right.\n\nFootnote 283:\n\n  This marriage is unknown in Scottish history, and rests on the\n  authority of the Sagas alone. Duncan is said by the Scottish\n  historians to have been a bastard, while the Sagas make him the\n  legitimate offspring of Malcolm and Ingibiorg, who must by this time\n  have been old enough to be Malcolm\u2019s mother. She was married to Earl\n  Thorfinn before K\u00e1lf Arnason was banished by King Magnus (chap. xiv.),\n  which was some time between 1036 and 1041. Earl Thorfinn died in 1064,\n  seven years after King Malcolm was crowned at Scone, in 1057.\n  Malcolm\u2019s marriage with the Princess Margaret of England took place in\n  1067, or less than three years after Ingibiorg became a widow. Munch\n  supposes that Ingibiorg must have died in childbed with Duncan, and\n  suggests that the fact that Duncan claimed the crown before Edgar, the\n  son of Malcolm by Margaret, may be taken as showing that he must have\n  been the offspring of a previous marriage. Macpherson (Wyntoun, vol.\n  ii. p. 472), while accepting the statement of the Saga, accounts for\n  Duncan being called a bastard from the circumstance that Malcolm\u2019s\n  marriage with Ingibiorg was within the degrees of propinquity\n  forbidden by the canon law.\n\nFootnote 284:\n\n  This William Odling (the Noble) is William of Egremont (the boy of\n  Egremont), son of William Fitz Duncan, and consequently grandson of\n  Duncan. The reference here to him as the person whom all the Scots\n  wished to have for their king is explained by the fact that, on the\n  death of David I., by the old Celtic law of succession, he became in\n  the eyes of the Celtic population the rightful heir to the throne; and\n  his claims were supported by no fewer than seven Earls, among whom\n  were those of Strathern, Ross, and Orkney. The insurrection was\n  speedily put down, but the claim was subsequently revived by Donald\n  Bane Macwilliam, who, on the same principle, obtained the support of\n  the northern chiefs. (See Skene\u2019s Highlanders of Scotland for a full\n  account of the conflict between the feudal and the Celtic systems of\n  succession.)\n\nFootnote 285:\n\n  This is a mistake. Morkere was present at the battle of Hastings, and\n  he and Waltheof went afterwards to Normandy with William the\n  Conqueror.\n\nFootnote 286:\n\n  Fordun (v. chap. i.) records the landing of Macduff \u201cat Ravynsore in\n  England.\u201d Camden mentions a place on Holderness, at the mouth of the\n  Humber, formerly called Ravensere. It no longer exists, having been\n  destroyed by the encroachments of the sea.\n\nFootnote 287:\n\n  Now called the Mainland of Orkney.\n\nFootnote 288:\n\n  The reference here must be supposed to be to the murder of St. Magnus.\n\nFootnote 289:\n\n  \u201cHugh the Stout\u201d was Hugh, Earl of Chester; and \u201cHugh the Bold,\u201d Hugh\n  of Montgomery, Earl of Salop. According to Odericus Vitalis, King\n  Magnus came into the Menai Straits with only six ships, carrying a red\n  shield on the mast as a sign of peace and commercial intercourse. The\n  Welsh King Griffith was at that time engaged in war with the Norman\n  Earls above mentioned, who had invaded his territories, and advanced\n  as far as the Straits, when the arrival of King Magnus gave an\n  unexpected turn to the course of events, in the death of the Earl of\n  Montgomery, as here narrated.\n\nFootnote 290:\n\n  H\u00e1logaland, the most northern part of Norway.\n\nFootnote 291:\n\n  The Saga writer (says Munch) has been here misled by the Scottish\n  denomination of the reigning monarch, Edgar MacMalcolm. Malcolm\n  Canmore died in 1093, the year of King Magnus\u2019s first expedition to\n  the west. The second expedition, which was in 1098, was the one in\n  which he fought with the two Norman Earls in Anglesea Sound. The\n  events of the two expeditions are here mixed up together, and the\n  references to Malcolm Canmore do not synchronise with either. It is\n  possible that the offer of the islands (as here mentioned) may have\n  come to King Magnus from Donald Bane, the brother of King Malcolm, to\n  secure the support of King Magnus in his attempt to retain the throne\n  against Edgar, although the incident of the drawing of the boat across\n  the isthmus may have taken place in the reign of Edgar. The\n  \u201cFagrskinna\u201d (p. 156) adds that King Malcolm of Scotland, sent his\n  daughter out to the Orkneys to be married to Magnus\u2019s son Sigurd, he\n  being then nine and she five years of age, and that he left her in the\n  Orkneys when he went to Norway. The author has confounded Malcolm with\n  M\u00fdrkiartan.\n\nFootnote 292:\n\n  Pennant mentions (1772) that not long previously it was customary for\n  vessels of nine or ten tons to be drawn across the isthmus by horses,\n  in order to avoid the dangerous and circuitous passage round the Mull.\n\nFootnote 293:\n\n  Scotland\u2019s Firth\u2014the channel between the west coast of Scotland and\n  the Hebrides.\n\nFootnote 294:\n\n  Muircearteach, grandson of Brian Boroimhe, King of Munster.\n\nFootnote 295:\n\n  Now Drontheim, so called because situated at the mouth of the Nid.\n\nFootnote 296:\n\n  See note at p. 38.\n\nFootnote 297:\n\n  Ulster, in Ireland.\n\nFootnote 298:\n\n  King Sigurd, the Jorsala-farer, set out on his pilgrimage to Jerusalem\n  in 1107.\n\nFootnote 299:\n\n  Borgarfiord, the \u201cfiord of the Borg,\u201d now Burra Firth, on the west\n  side of the Mainland of Shetland, so named by the Norsemen on account\n  of the \u201cborg,\u201d or \u201cPictish tower,\u201d which still stands on the little\n  holm of Hebrista, though greatly ruined. It is probable that the\n  reason of Thorbi\u00f6rn\u2019s connection with Borgarfiord was its affording\n  him and his followers a shelter and defensive position in the borg.\n  The old name Borgarfiord occurs in a document in the Norse language\n  dated 1299. It is a record drawn up in the Lagthing of certain charges\n  made against Herr Thorvald Thoresson, by a woman named Ragnhild\n  Simonsdatter, who accuses him of malversation of the land-rents of\n  Brekasettr. (_Diplom. Norvegicum_, vol. i. p. 81.) Harald of\n  Borgarfiord in Shetland witnesses a document in 1498.\n\nFootnote 300:\n\n  The place where the Orkney Things were held is nowhere more\n  particularly indicated. Stennis has been suggested, on the supposition\n  that the great stone circle there would have been thus utilised by the\n  Northmen. It does not appear, however, that the occasion on which\n  Havard, son of Thorfinn Hausakliuf, was killed at \u201cSteinsness\u201d was a\n  Thing meeting there, and this is the only occasion on which Stennis is\n  mentioned in the whole of the Flateyjarb\u00f3k. \u201cTingwale,\u201d in the parish\n  of Rendale, occurs in the Orkney Land List of 1502. This seems to be\n  the only trace of the old Thing-v\u00f6ll in Hrossey.\n\nFootnote 301:\n\n  Egilsey, in Jo. Ben\u2019s description of the Orkneys (1529) called\n  \u201cInsularum Ecclesia,\u201d is regarded by Munch as deriving its name not\n  from the Norse proper name _Egil_, but from the Irish _Eaglais_, a\n  church. \u201cTo this day,\u201d he says, \u201cEgilsey contains a church shown by\n  its construction to have been built before the Northmen arrived in\n  Orkney, or at all events to belong to the more ancient Christian\n  Celtic population. (See under \u201cEgilsey\u201d in the Introduction).\n\nFootnote 302:\n\n  These dates are self-contradictory, and utterly irreconcilable. King\n  Magnus Barelegs fell in Ireland in the year 1103; and it is stated in\n  the Saga of Sigurd, the Jorsala-farer, that H\u00e1kon, Paul\u2019s son, came to\n  Norway to King Sigurd \u201ca year or two after King Magnus\u2019s fall.\u201d The\n  King gave him the earldom and government of the Orkneys, and he went\n  back immediately to Orkney. Then it is added that four years after the\n  fall of King Magnus\u2014that is, in 1107\u2014King Sigurd set out on his\n  pilgrimage to Jerusalem. Now, it is mentioned in this Saga (chap.\n  xxxiii.) that Earl Magnus went to Norway to see King Eystein, \u201cfor\n  King Sigurd had then gone to Jerusalem.\u201d This must have been after\n  1107. King Eystein gave him his patrimony, one-half of the Orkneys. If\n  his visit to Norway was in the year after King Sigurd\u2019s departure, as\n  seems likely from the narrative, or in 1108, and \u201che had been seven\n  winters Earl in the Orkneys along with Earl H\u00e1kon,\u201d this would bring\n  the date of his death exactly to the year assigned in the Iceland\n  Annals appended to the Flateyjarb\u00f3k, or to 1115. The entry in the\n  \u201cAnnalar\u201d for that year is: \u201cPindr enn heilagi Magnus jarl i\n  Orkneyium.\u201d Torf\u00e6us dates this event in 1110. The Saga of St. Magnus\n  says he had been twelve winters Earl of the Orkneys jointly with\n  H\u00e1kon, counting evidently from the vacancy of earldom in 1103 by the\n  accession of Sigurd, Magnus\u2019 son, then Earl of the Orkneys, to the\n  throne of Norway. This also gives the date 1115.\n\nFootnote 303:\n\n  A curious catalogue of cases in which diseased and infirm people were\n  miraculously restored to health and vigour, after paying their vows at\n  the shrine of St. Magnus, is given in the Magnus Saga. These pilgrims\n  mostly came from Shetland. Two of the cases are interesting as\n  affording the earliest notices of leprosy (_l\u00edkthr\u00e1_) in Shetland\u2014a\n  disease which seems to have continued in the Islands till towards the\n  close of the last century.\u2014(Sir James Simpson\u2019s Arch\u00e6ological\n  Essays\u2014Leprosy and Leper Hospitals in Britain.) These cases appear to\n  have been overlooked by Sir James. Schr\u00f6der has published a curious\n  Swedish version of the story of St. Magnus, in which the account of\n  his miracles is considerably varied.\n\nFootnote 304:\n\n  That is for sixty-six years. As William died, according to the\n  Icelandic Annals, in 1168, and was bishop in the year of St. Magnus\u2019s\n  death, 1115, he was undoubtedly bishop for fifty-three years. That he\n  was bishop for the long period of sixty-six years, as this passage\n  seems to imply, may be open to some doubt. Munch supposes that the\n  \u201cseventh decade\u201d may be an error for \u201csixth.\u201d This would place his\n  consecration to the see of Orkney in 1112; but the Saga of St. Magnus\n  says he was bishop sixty-six years.\n\nFootnote 305:\n\n  Rekav\u00edk is either the modern Rackwick, on the northern point of the\n  Island of Westray, in Orkney, or Rackwick, in the Island of Hoy; more\n  probably the latter.\n\nFootnote 306:\n\n  Sigurd Slembir or Slembidiakn had a most romantic history. In his\n  youth he was considered the son of a priest, Adalbrekt by name, and\n  was brought up for the church. His tastes appear to have lain in quite\n  another direction, however; and he soon broke loose from the\n  restraints of ecclesiastical life. He gave himself out as an\n  illegitimate son of King Magnus Barelegs, and commenced a life of\n  roving and adventure, visiting the Holy Land, and turning an honest\n  penny occasionally by trading expeditions to Scotland, the Orkneys,\n  Ireland, and Denmark. In the latter country he proved his paternity by\n  the ordeal of hot iron, as King Harald Gilli had done. He then went to\n  King Harald, and asked him to recognise him; but instead of this he\n  was placed on his trial for the slaying of Thorkel F\u00f3stri, Sumarlidi\u2019s\n  son. He managed to make his escape by jumping overboard with two of\n  his guards in his arms, and soon after returned and killed King Harald\n  Gilli in his bed in Bergen. Then he tried to place Magnus the Blind on\n  the throne by assistance from Denmark; but the expedition was met on\n  the south coast of Norway by the sons of King Harald, and totally\n  defeated. Magnus was slain, and Sigurd Slembir was taken, and put to\n  death with almost incredible tortures. (See the account of him in the\n  Sagas of Magnus the Blind and the sons of Harald in the Heimskringla.)\n\nFootnote 307:\n\n  Westness, in Rousay (Hr\u00f3lfsey), see p. 73.\n\nFootnote 308:\n\n  Thorkel F\u00f3stri Sumarlidi\u2019s son, foster-father to Earl Paul, not to be\n  confounded with Thorkel F\u00f3stri, Amundi\u2019s son, previously noticed as\n  foster-father to Earl Thorfinn Sigurdson.\n\nFootnote 309:\n\n  Stofa. In the twelfth century men began to live more comfortably, and\n  broke up their large halls into separate compartments. Thus, a portion\n  of the Sk\u00e1li at the upper end, where the pall or dais was, was shut\n  off, and called _stofa_.\u2014(Dasent\u2019s preface to the Njals Saga.)\n\nFootnote 310:\n\n  Gefsisness. No place answering to this name can now be traced in\n  Westray, but a various reading of the passage has Reppisness; and\n  there is a place on the south-east side of the island still called\n  Rapness, probably the place here indicated.\n\nFootnote 311:\n\n  Fluguness does not again occur in the saga, and has not been\n  identified. It is the same as the Flydruness of p. 92.\n\nFootnote 312:\n\n  Knarrarstadir seems to signify the district at the head of Scapa Bay,\n  south of Kirkwall. Munch derives the name from _kn\u00f6rr_, a\n  merchant-ship. It is said at p. 110 that J\u00e1tv\u00f6r and her son Borgar\n  lived at Geitaberg, which seems to be the place now called Gatnip, on\n  the east side of Scapa, anciently Scalpeid.\n\nFootnote 313:\n\n  Brekkur in Straumsey may have been the name of a homestead in the\n  island of Stroma. There is some confusion as to the locality, however.\n  It is said in chap. lxvii. to have been in Stronsay. The name is not\n  now recognisable in either of the islands.\n\nFootnote 314:\n\n  Glaitness, near Kirkwall, is probably the modern representative of the\n  ancient Glettuness. In the testament of Sir David Synclair of\n  Swynbrocht (Sumburgh, in Shetland), in the year 1506, there is a\n  bequest \u201cto Thorrald of Brucht, and to his wife and his airis, ten\n  merks land in Glaitness, and fifteen merks land in Linggo, with all\n  guids there contenit, and twenty-two merks in Pappale, ten merks in\n  Brucht.\u201d\n\nFootnote 315:\n\n  Harald Gillichrist, who subsequently became King of Norway, under the\n  name of King Harald Gilli. See p. 84, note.\n\nFootnote 316:\n\n  Comparing men. This was a favourite occupation of their leisure hours\n  among the Northmen. A curious instance of it occurs in the Saga of\n  King Sigurd, the Jorsala-farer, in the Heimskringla, where the\n  narrative states that as the ale was not good the guests were very\n  quiet and still, until King Eystein said, \u201cIt is a common custom over\n  the ale-table to compare one person with another, and now let us do\n  so.\u201d As in this case, a quarrel was the usual result.\n\nFootnote 317:\n\n  Osl\u00f3, or Opslo, was the old capital of Norway. Its site is now\n  included in that of Christiania.\n\nFootnote 318:\n\n  Hauga-Thing, so called apparently because the place of meeting was a\n  _haug_, or barrow. Whether this was a local name at T\u00fansberg, or\n  whether it refers to a special assembly held at the burial-place of\n  the King, is not clear.\n\nFootnote 319:\n\n  Harald Gillichrist, illegitimate son of King Magnus Barelegs, was of\n  Celtic extraction, his mother being a native of the Hebrides. He and\n  his mother were brought over to Norway from the Southern Hebrides in a\n  ship belonging to a Norwegian merchant named Halkel H\u00fak. When the\n  story of Harald\u2019s parentage was told to King Sigurd, he consented to\n  allow Harald to prove his paternity by the ordeal of hot iron, but on\n  condition, that if he succeeded in proving his descent according to\n  his claim, he should not desire the kingdom in the lifetime either of\n  King Sigurd or of his son, King Magnus, and to this Harald bound\n  himself by oath. This seems to be the oath referred to as given under\n  compulsion. \u201cThe ordeal,\u201d it is added in the Saga of King Sigurd, \u201cwas\n  the greatest ever made in Norway, for nine glowing ploughshares were\n  laid down, and Harald walked over them with bare feet, attended by two\n  bishops, and invoking the holy St. Columba\u201d\u2014another testimony to his\n  Celtic birth. His feet were then bound up, and he was laid in bed.\n  After the customary three days had elapsed, his feet were examined,\n  or, as the Saga has it, \u201cthe ordeal was taken to proof, and his feet\n  were found unburnt.\u201d His claims were therefore held to have been\n  proven, and made good. It is curious to find that among the privileges\n  granted by the Scottish King David to the monks of Holyrood, they were\n  specially empowered to make trials by the ordeal of hot iron.\n\nFootnote 320:\n\n  In V\u00edk, in the south of Norway.\n\nFootnote 321:\n\n  Now Ferlof, in Sogn, Norway.\n\nFootnote 322:\n\n  V\u00edk meant properly the bay of Oslo, the upper part of which is now\n  called the Christiania Fiord, but it was also applied to the district\n  bordering on the bay.\n\nFootnote 323:\n\n  Harald and Eric, Kings of Denmark, had sworn mutual brotherhood.\n\nFootnote 324:\n\n  Alasund is now Yell Sound, the ancient name for the island of Yell\n  being Jala. In the latest known Hjaltland document, written in Norse,\n  and dated in 1586, the name of the island appears as \u201cYella.\u201d\n\nFootnote 325:\n\n  Outsittings, a peculiar kind of sorcery resorted to in order to obtain\n  foreknowledge of the future, in which the person sat out at night\n  under the open sky, and by certain magical rites or incantations\n  summoned the dead from their graves to consult them. A curious\n  instance is given in the 40th chapter of the F\u00e6reyinga Saga, in which\n  Sigmund Brestisson is brought from the dead, with his head in his\n  hand, to show who was his murderer.\n\nFootnote 326:\n\n  The Moul Head of Deerness.\n\nFootnote 327:\n\n  The Norsemen were in the habit of carrying stones on board their\n  warships to be used as missiles. It is told in the F\u00e6reyinga Saga of\n  Sigmund Brestisson that when about to attack the ships of another\n  Viking lying on the opposite side of an island on the coast of Sweden,\n  he spent the whole night in landing the goods and plunder from his\n  vessels, and breaking up stones, and loading his vessel with them to\n  serve as missiles in the attack. The same thing had been done by the\n  Earl\u2019s men in this case before the commencement of the fight.\n\nFootnote 328:\n\n  Probably at the place now called Swiney, in Caithness, near Lybster.\n  Though the context here seems to imply that Swiney, in Caithness, is\n  meant, it seems that Grim was in the island of Swona (the small island\n  between Hoy and South Ronaldsay), when Swein, Asleif\u2019s son, visited\n  him (see p. 92). Perhaps Swiney, in Caithness, was so named from its\n  being the property of Grim of Swona.\n\nFootnote 329:\n\n  Aurrida Firth, or Salmon-trout Firth, now the Bay of Firth.\n\nFootnote 330:\n\n  Flydruness seems to be the same as Fluguness, in Hrossey (Mainland),\n  mentioned as the residence of Blan and his father Thorstein, at p. 74.\n\nFootnote 331:\n\n  The Earl\u2019s seat at Orphir appears to have consisted of a cluster of\n  buildings, of which the main hall or sk\u00e1li answered to the public room\n  of the residence. The descriptions given of the Orkney sk\u00e1lis are\n  wanting in that minuteness which is necessary to enable us to\n  understand the details of their construction. No doubt they were\n  similar to those of Iceland, the larger of which were constructed\n  partly of stone and partly of timber, the middle division of the hall\n  being higher in the roof than the \u201caisles\u201d on either side of it, and\n  separated from them by a row of pillars running parallel to each of\n  the side walls. The walls of the aisles and the spaces between the\n  pillars were covered with wainscoting, sometimes with carved work, and\n  on high days hung with tapestry. Shields and weapons were hung along\n  the sides of the hall, above the benches, and the fires were lit on\n  hearths in the middle of the floor. The benches were ranged along both\n  sides of the hall; the \u201chigh seat\u201d of the Earl, or owner of the sk\u00e1li,\n  was in the centre of the south side, and the seats of highest honour\n  were those next to him on either side.\n\nFootnote 332:\n\n  Probably a large flagstone set on end to serve as a partition-wall.\n  This is a common feature of the ancient structures in Caithness and\n  Orkney. It was in the shadow of this flagstone that Swein, Asleif\u2019s\n  son, stood when he killed Swein Bri\u00f3streip (see p. 95).\n\nFootnote 333:\n\n  Serving the table, and holding lights. The light-bearers or\n  candle-holders were a distinct class of servants at the King\u2019s court.\n  This custom is said to have been first introduced by King Olaf Kyrre\n  in the latter half of the eleventh century.\n\nFootnote 334:\n\n  The emptying of horns of ale to the memory of departed heroes and\n  comrades, with the accompaniment of speeches setting forth their\n  famous deeds, was a recognised custom at the festivals of the\n  Northmen.\n\nFootnote 335:\n\n  Besides his evil repute as a turbulent fellow, Swein was suspected of\n  sorcery, and thus obnoxious to the church (see p. 88).\n\nFootnote 336:\n\n  This must either he Paplay in South Ronaldsay, or Paplay on the\n  Mainland. Munch says that the circumstance that the name of the island\n  is always carefully added in the Saga when a Mainland district is not\n  the one alluded to favours the supposition that it is the latter which\n  is here meant.\n\nFootnote 337:\n\n  G\u00f3i, the fourth month of the year, corresponding to our February and\n  part of March. The ancient mode of reckoning among the Northmen was by\n  \u201cwinters,\u201d the year commencing on the 23d November. G\u00f3i was sometimes\n  called \u201chorning-month\u201d\u2014the month in which the deer shed their horns;\n  and it was also the month in which, in heathen times, the great annual\n  sacrifice took place at Upsala, as mentioned in the Saga of King Olaf\n  the Holy.\n\nFootnote 338:\n\n  _H\u00f6fn_, the haven, in Westray, is probably the modern Pierowall, the\n  only safe natural harbour in the island, and the only place entitled\n  to the name of \u201cthe haven.\u201d\n\nFootnote 339:\n\n  The _thorp_ or village of H\u00f6fn here mentioned most likely stood on the\n  shore by the landing-place at Pierowall. The fact that there are a\n  number of graves on the links here, in which have been found the\n  swords peculiar to the Norse viking period, shield-bosses, bronze\n  tortoise brooches (a distinctively Scandinavian form), and other\n  relics unquestionably of Norse origin, shows that the neighbourhood\n  must have been largely frequented by the Northmen, and perhaps made a\n  permanent settlement long before this time. The Church of Westray is\n  mentioned among those vacant in 1327-28 by the Papal Nuncio, who\n  collected the tithes for these years.\n\nFootnote 340:\n\n  Although there is a curious similarity between this incident and that\n  related in chap. lxxi. on the occasion of the visit of Bishop John to\n  the Orkneys, yet the fact of Earl R\u00f6gnvald turning the procession into\n  ridicule, whereas Bishop John\u2019s party appear to have been received\n  with all due respect, suggests that the two narratives can scarcely\n  refer to the same incident. The reference here to the \u201cisle Elon,\u201d\n  taken in connection with the statement in chap. xcix. that there were\n  monks on Eller Holm (named \u201cHelene-holm\u201d by Fordun), may mean that\n  there was a colony of clerics on the little island, whose dress and\n  tonsure may thus have tickled the fancy of the rhyming Earl. In the\n  rental of Shapinsay (1642), Elgin-holme is set in feu to Sir John\n  Buchanan for payment of 12s. annually. In 1529 Jo. Ben mentions that\n  there were foundations of houses and even of a chapel on Eloerholme,\n  though it was then waste and uninhabited (see chap. xcix). Neale\n  notices \u201cthe ruins of a very small chapel\u201d on Ellerholm\n  (Ecclesiological Notes, p. 111).\n\nFootnote 341:\n\n  The Iceland Annals place Earl R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s winning the Orkneys in the\n  year 1136.\n\nFootnote 342:\n\n  Evie Sound; from _Efja_, now Evie.\n\nFootnote 343:\n\n  _H\u00fadfat_\u2014skin-bags, or sleeping haps, made of hides sewed together, so\n  as to envelope the sleeper as in a sack.\n\nFootnote 344:\n\n  Still known as the Swelkie, a dangerous whirlpool in certain states of\n  the tide, off the island of Stroma, fabled to be caused by the waters\n  being sucked down through the eye of the quern \u201cGrotti,\u201d which once\n  belonged to King Fr\u00f3di. Grotti was found in Denmark, and was the\n  largest quern that had ever been known. It would grind for King Fr\u00f3di\n  gold or peace, which he pleased. But the sea-king M['y]sing took\n  Grotti, and caused white salt to be ground in his ships till they sank\n  in Pentland\u2019s Firth. This is why the Swelkie has been there ever\n  since. As the waters fall through the eye of the quern, the sea roars\n  as the quern grinds; and, moreover, this is how the sea first became\n  salt.\u2014(Elder Edda, Grottas\u00f6ng.) Traces of this legend still linger in\n  the locality.\n\nFootnote 345:\n\n  Ekkialsbakki is three times mentioned in the Flateyjarb\u00f3k, and Ekkial\n  once by Arn\u00f3r Jarlask\u00e1ld (see p. 22). Earl Sigurd, Eystein\u2019s son, who\n  killed Malbrigd (Maormor of Mar according to Skene), was \u201choy-laid\u201d\n  (buried in a how or barrow, _haugr_), on Ekkialsbakki. \u201cThere cannot\n  be the least doubt,\u201d says Worsaae, in his \u2018Danes and Northmen,\u2019 \u201cthat\n  Ekkial is the river Oykill (Oykel), which still forms the southern\n  boundary of Sutherland. But nobody is able to point out the barrow of\n  Sigurd Jarl. The tradition relating to it has vanished with the\n  Norwegian population.\u201d But, fortunately, there are records more\n  permanent and reliable than popular tradition, by which the truth of\n  the Saga narrative may be verified, and the locality of Sigurd\u2019s\n  grave-mound indisputably fixed. There is a place near the Ferry on the\n  north bank of the Dornoch Firth (into which the Oykel runs) which is\n  now somewhat inappropriately called Cyder Hall. In Blaeu\u2019s Atlas\n  (1640) it appears as Siddera. In older charters it is conjoined with\n  Skebo, and called Sythera. In a deed of the year 1275 the Bishop of\n  Caithness claims right to \u201csix davochs of Schythebolle and Sytheraw,\n  with the ferry.\u201d In the deed of constitution of the Cathedral Chapter\n  of Caithness, executed between 1223 and 1245, there are assigned to\n  the treasurer the rectorial tithes of Scytheboll and _Siwardhoch_, its\n  conjunction with Scytheboll showing it to be the same place which is\n  called at subsequent periods Sytheraw, Siddera, and Cyder Hall. This\n  place, named Siward\u2019s Hoch (_Sigurd\u2019s haug_) at that early date, could\n  be no other than the traditional site of Earl Sigurd\u2019s grave-mound,\n  and the Ekkialsbakki on which he was buried must thus have been the\n  north bank of the Oykel\u2019s estuary. But the Ekkialsbakki twice\n  mentioned in connection with Swein Asleifson\u2019s journey to Athole can\n  scarcely be the same with that of the earlier narrative. It seems\n  probable that in Swein Asleifson\u2019s narrative the word may have been\n  originally Atjoklsbakki\u2014the coast on the side of the Breidafiord\n  (Moray Firth) next to Atj\u00f6klar (Athole). The word _bakki_ is sometimes\n  used for a \u201ccoast.\u201d The Saga writer may have been misled by the\n  similarity of sound to substitute Ekkialsbakki for Atjoklsbakki. (See\n  p. 115.)\n\nFootnote 346:\n\n  The name of Maddad, Earl of Athole, appears in contemporary documents\n  as Maddoc, Madach, and Madeth. In the foundation-charter of Scone by\n  King Alexander I. and his queen Sibilla, \u201cMadach Comes\u201d is a witness.\n  \u201cMaddoc\u201d and \u201cMadeth Comes\u201d also witness charters of King David I.\n  From a charter by King Malcolm the Maiden, granting aid for the\n  restoration of the Abbey of Scone, we learn that the style of the\n  Earls of Athole was \u201cComes de Ethocl,\u201d the Atjokl of the\n  Saga.\u2014(Regist. de Dunferm. Regist. de Scone.)\n\nFootnote 347:\n\n  Geitaberg is probably the place now known as Gatnip, on the east side\n  of Scapa Bay, near Kirkwall. It is formerly stated that J\u00e1tv\u00f6r and her\n  son Borgar lived at Knarrarstad, which is evidently the name for the\n  district, while Geitaberg was the name of Borgar\u2019s homestead. Gatnip\n  is the highest point on that side of the bay, and thus Borgar was able\n  to notice the barge rowed by Swein\u2019s men as it passed up and down the\n  Firth.\n\nFootnote 348:\n\n  Magnus, in the text here, is clearly a mistake for H\u00e1kon.\n\nFootnote 349:\n\n  The erection of St. Magnus\u2019 Church was commenced apparently between\n  the years 1136 and 1138. The remains of St. Magnus appear to have been\n  transferred to it from Christ\u2019s Church, in Birsay, previous to the\n  departure of Earl R\u00f6gnvald to the Holy Land in 1152. After Earl\n  R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s death, in 1158, the building of the cathedral was carried\n  on by Bishop William, until his death in 1168, after which we have no\n  record of its progress.\n\nFootnote 350:\n\n  The odal tenure of the lands in the islands was first modified by\n  Harald Harfagri in the time of the Earl Torf Einar. Earl Sigurd\n  Hl\u00f6dverson restored the odal rights in return for the assistance of\n  the B\u0153ndr at the battle of Skida Myre (see Appendix). This arrangement\n  subsisted till the imposition of the succession-dues by Earl R\u00f6gnvald,\n  which were subsequently bought up, as here narrated.\n\nFootnote 351:\n\n  Knarrarstad, as has been formerly explained, was applied to the\n  district at the head of the Bay of Scapa. It was so called because it\n  was the place where the merchant-ships lay\u2014from _Knarrar_, genitive of\n  _kn\u00f6rr_, a merchant-ship; and _stadr_, a stance or stead. The name is\n  preserved in old estate-lists as _Knarstane_. In the near\n  neighbourhood there is an ancient \u201cbroch\u201d or \u201cPictish tower,\u201d recently\n  excavated by Mr. George Petrie. Remains of very extensive buildings\n  have been found within and around it, evidently belonging to a\n  secondary occupation of the tower, of later date than that of its\n  original construction. Among the relics found in these secondary\n  buildings there are some which correspond with relics of the later\n  Viking period found in Scandinavia. This gives a certain amount of\n  probability to the supposition that the ruins of this \u201cPictish tower\u201d\n  may have been occupied and utilised by Earl R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s men, as we know\n  that the similar tower of Mousa, in Shetland, was on different\n  occasions, one of which is narrated in chap. xcii. of this same Saga.\n\nFootnote 352:\n\n  This incident bears a remarkable similarity to that related in chap.\n  lxvi.\n\nFootnote 353:\n\n  It is curious that C\u00e6sar has described the ancient Britons as\n  observing in his time the same custom of shaving the lower part of the\n  chin, and wearing the hair long on the upper lip.\n\nFootnote 354:\n\n  Borgarfiord seems here to be a misreading for Breidafiord (the Moray\n  Firth), unless we suppose that there was another Borgarfiord besides\n  the one in Shetland. Jon\u00e6us has _nordr_ instead of _sudr_, thus making\n  Swein sail north to Borgarfiord, which in this case would be in\n  Shetland. But it is hardly probable that he would have taken Shetland\n  in his route from Orkney to the coast of Moray.\n\nFootnote 355:\n\n  D\u00fafeyrar must have been situated on the sandy shore of the parish of\n  Duffus, on the Moray coast, _eyri_ signifying a spit of sand. It has\n  been supposed, with some degree of probability, that Burghead is the\n  place here meant.\n\nFootnote 356:\n\n  Ekkialsbakki, probably for Atjoklsbakki. (See note on p. 107.)\n\nFootnote 357:\n\n  Hjalmundal, Strath Helmsdale, or Strath Ulli, which runs up along the\n  south side of the Ord, the mountain chain separating Caithness from\n  Sutherland. The expression \u201cnear the middle of Sutherland\u201d must mean\n  that Swein came up through the central or inland region of the\n  country, and thus came down into Strath Helmsdale, a long way from the\n  coast, or \u201cnear the middle of the land.\u201d\n\nFootnote 358:\n\n  _Ines_ in Jon\u00e6us; it has not been identified.\n\nFootnote 359:\n\n  Probably Lundy Island, in the Bristol Channel.\n\nFootnote 360:\n\n  Syllingar, the Scilly Islands. There was an ecclesiastical settlement\n  there in Olaf Tryggvason\u2019s time. It was in the Scilly Islands that he\n  was baptized, and embraced the faith which he afterwards propagated\n  with the strong hand both in his own kingdom and in Orkney.\n\nFootnote 361:\n\n  _L\u00fadr._\u2014This same signal was used by the army of the B\u0153ndr at the\n  battle of Stiklestad (Flateyjarb\u00f3k, ii. 352). The signal-horn used at\n  the present day by the Shetland fishermen still retains the ancient\n  name, \u201cthe ludr-horn.\u201d\n\nFootnote 362:\n\n  _Clavis Rhythmica_, apparently a kind of rhyming dictionary or\n  repertory of versification. Torf\u00e6us states that this joint production\n  of Earl R\u00f6gnvald and Hall, Ragna\u2019s son, is still extant in the library\n  at Upsala.\n\nFootnote 363:\n\n  From the description of Lambaborg, and its situation with regard to\n  the coast and the river at Freswick, it seems to have been the\n  fortalice now called Bucholly Castle, from a Mowat of Bucholly who\n  possessed it in the 17th century, and by whom it was partially\n  rebuilt.\n\nFootnote 364:\n\n  Probably now represented by Duffus in Moray.\n\nFootnote 365:\n\n  This passage supplies the name of a prior of the monastery of May, not\n  otherwise on record. (See records of the Priory of the Isle of May,\n  issued by the Soc. Antiq. Scot. 1868).\n\nFootnote 366:\n\n  See p. 123.\n\nFootnote 367:\n\n  See chap. lxxiv.\n\nFootnote 368:\n\n  The Stockholm translation of the Saga has \u201cin Vigr,\u201d instead of \u201cin\n  the Islands.\u201d\n\nFootnote 369:\n\n  In the Saga of Hakon Hakonson it is stated that Kolbein Hruga\u2019s castle\n  was on the island of Vigr, now Weir. It was to this stronghold that\n  Sn\u00e6koll Gunnason fled when he had slain Earl John (son of Harald\n  Maddadson), the last of the Norse Earls of Orkney, in A.D. 1232; and\n  the Saga states that the castle was so strong that it resisted all the\n  efforts of the Earl\u2019s friends to take it. In 1529 we learn from Jo.\n  Ben that the ruins were still visible. Barry describes it as a small\n  square tower, 15 feet square inside, and the walls 7 feet thick,\n  strongly built with large stones, well cemented with lime. It is now a\n  green mound, like the older Pictish towers; but to this day among the\n  peasantry of the locality the mound bears the name of _Cobbie Row\u2019s_\n  (Kolbein Hruga\u2019s) Castle.\n\nFootnote 370:\n\n  See note on p. 84.\n\nFootnote 371:\n\n  Probably in the body-guard of the Greek Emperor, which, the Byzantine\n  historians of the period inform us, was composed of natives of the\n  remote north, whom they call Varangians. The name Varangi first\n  appears with them in the year 935, but they are said to have served of\n  old in the body-guard, and to have come partly from Thule and partly\n  from England. In the Saga of Harald Hardradi his exploits during his\n  sojourn in the East are minutely detailed, and it is recorded that he\n  became chief of the V\u00e6rings, who were at that time in the Imperial\n  service. For several centuries these mercenaries in the pay of the\n  Emperors were renowned for their bravery, discipline, and fidelity.\n  After the Norman conquest of England, a body of Anglo-Saxon youth,\n  under Siward of Gloucester, choosing exile rather than the ignominy of\n  submission to the conquerors, went to Constantinople, and enrolled\n  themselves among the V\u00e6rings. So many followed them that a mixture of\n  Danish and Saxon became the official language of the guards of the\n  Imperial Palace. Hoards of Eastern coins and ornaments are almost\n  annually discovered in Norway and Sweden, and occasionally in Orkney\n  and the North of Scotland. The museum of Stockholm possesses a\n  collection of more than 20,000 Cufic coins found in Sweden, dating\n  from the close of the 8th to the end of the 10th century, and vast\n  quantities of those silver ornaments of peculiar forms and style of\n  workmanship, which are also believed to have been brought from the\n  East, partly by trade and partly by the returning V\u00e6rings.\n\nFootnote 372:\n\n  The scene of the shipwreck seems to have been near Gulberwick.\n\nFootnote 373:\n\n  The MS. translation at Stockholm reads \u201ctwo Icelanders.\u201d\n\nFootnote 374:\n\n  Having studied probably at the University of Paris. Schr\u00f6der gives the\n  names of several Swedish students at the University of Paris as early\n  as 1275. (De Universitate Parisiensi: Joh. Hen. Schr\u00f6der.)\n\nFootnote 375:\n\n  Valland, probably for Gaul-land, the Norse name for the west coast of\n  France.\n\nFootnote 376:\n\n  Verbon has not been identified.\n\nFootnote 377:\n\n  Galicialand, the modern Galicia, the north-west corner of Spain.\n\nFootnote 378:\n\n  Heathen Spainland must refer to the provinces then in possession of\n  the Moors. The Saga of Sigurd the Jorsala-farer says that when he\n  visited Lisbon, four years after the fall of King Magnus Barelegs\n  (circa A.D. 1107), \u201cthere lies the division between Christian Spain\n  and heathen Spain, and all the districts that lie west of the city are\n  occupied by heathens\u201d\u2014meaning Moslems.\n\nFootnote 379:\n\n  Nj\u00f6rfasund, the Straits of Gibraltar.\n\nFootnote 380:\n\n  Serkland, or Saracen land\u2014the north coast of Africa.\n\nFootnote 381:\n\n  _Dromones_, originally used for long and swift ships, was in later\n  times applied to the larger ships of war (Du Cange _sub voce_). In the\n  early French romances it appears as \u201cDromons,\u201d and \u201cDromont.\u201d Matthew\n  Paris, in his account of the crusading expedition of Richard I. of\n  England (A.D. 1191) notices the capture of a Saracen ship\u2014\u201cnavis\n  permaxima quam Dr\u00f3mundam appellant.\u201d\u2014_Hist. Angl._ vol. ii. p. 23,\n  Rolls Ed.\n\nFootnote 382:\n\n  The tying of knots at the Jordan is also alluded to in the saga of\n  Sigurd the Jorsala-farer. King Sigurd and his brother Eystein are\n  \u201ccomparing each other\u2019s exploits,\u201d and Sigurd says:\u2014\u201cI went to\n  Palestine, and I came to Apulia, but I did not see you there, brother.\n  I went all the way to Jordan, where our Lord was baptized, and swam\n  across the river; but I did not see thee there. On the edge of the\n  river-bank there was a bush of willows, and there I twisted a knot of\n  willows, which is waiting thee there; for I said this knot thou\n  shouldst untie, and fulfil the vow, brother, that is bound up in it.\u201d\n  The tying of knots seems also to have had another meaning covertly\n  alluded to in the stanzas.\u2014(See the story of Gunnhild and Hrut in the\n  Nj\u00e1ls Saga, p. 18.)\n\nFootnote 383:\n\n  This seems to be no place-name, but a name formed, as the Turks formed\n  the name Istambol, from hearing the Greeks constantly talking of going\n  \u201c\u03b5\u03b9\u03c2 \u03c4\u03b7\u03bd \u03c0\u03bf\u03bb\u03b9\u03bd\u201d\u2014\u201cto the city,\u201d meaning Constantinople.\n\nFootnote 384:\n\n  Probably the promontory of Sigeum, at the mouth of the Dardanelles. It\n  might be called \u00c6gisness, from its being at the entrance to the \u00c6gean\n  Sea. It is called Engilsness in the saga of \u201cKing Sigurd the\n  Jorsala-farer,\u201d and it is stated that Sigurd\u2019s fleet also lay here for\n  a fortnight waiting a side-wind, that they might show off their sails\n  (which they had stitched over with silks) as they passed up to\n  Constantinople. There was, however, a town called \u00c6gos, at the mouth\n  of a stream of the same name, near the northern end of the\n  Dardanelles, a little below the modern Gallipoli.\n\nFootnote 385:\n\n  See note at p. 127.\n\nFootnote 386:\n\n  Manuel I., successor of John Comnenus, who reigned from 1143 to 1180.\n\nFootnote 387:\n\n  D\u00fdraksborg must be Durazzo, the ancient Dyrachium, a seaport in\n  Albania, on the Adriatic, opposite to Brundusium in Italy.\n\nFootnote 388:\n\n  Pull, the ancient Apulia or Puglia, in Italy, on the opposite shore of\n  the Adriatic from Dyrachium. Apulia had been under the dominion of its\n  Norman dukes from the middle of the eleventh century, and this may\n  have been the reason why the route homewards through Apulia was chosen\n  both by Sigurd the Jorsala-farer and Earl R\u00f6gnvald.\n\nFootnote 389:\n\n  H\u00e1kon Herdabreid (the broad-shouldered) became King in 1161. (For an\n  account of his death, and that of King Ingi and Gregorius Dagson, see\n  the sagas of the sons of Harald Gilli and H\u00e1kon Herdabreid, in the\n  Heimskringla.)\n\nFootnote 390:\n\n  Near Bergen.\n\nFootnote 391:\n\n  Viken, in the south of Norway.\n\nFootnote 392:\n\n  Bishop\u2019s-tongues, a district lying between three rivers in the south\n  of Iceland, also mentioned in the Nj\u00e1ls Saga.\n\nFootnote 393:\n\n  See note on p. 21.\n\nFootnote 394:\n\n  One of the MS. copies of the saga has \u201cR\u00f6gnvaldzeyiar.\u201d\n\nFootnote 395:\n\n  Harald Hardradi, son of Sigurd Syr, who was slain in the battle of\n  Stamford Bridge. See p. 47.\n\nFootnote 396:\n\n  See the account of her elopement with Earl Erlend Ungi in chap. xcii.,\n  and of her relations with Gunni, Olaf\u2019s son, chap. lxxxvii.\n\nFootnote 397:\n\n  This was Malcolm the Maiden, the grandson, and not the son, of King\n  David I.\n\nFootnote 398:\n\n  Malcolm the Maiden.\n\nFootnote 399:\n\n  Malcolm the Maiden was twelve years old when he came to the throne.\n  Perhaps the Saga-writer meant that he had then been nine winters king.\n\nFootnote 400:\n\n  The Mull of Deerness, or Moulhead of Deerness, as it is called in the\n  maps, in the north-east of the Mainland, Orkney.\n\nFootnote 401:\n\n  Skeggbjarnarstad was probably a homestead on Skebro Head, in Rousay.\n  The old form of Skebro Head might be Skeggbjarnarh\u00f6fdi.\n\nFootnote 402:\n\n  Hofsness, probably Huipness, the most northerly point of Stronsay.\n\nFootnote 403:\n\n  Kjarekstad.\u2014Munch identifies this place with the modern Karston or\n  Careston, which lies on the inlet leading to the Loch of Stennis, a\n  little to the north-east of Stromness. But this would make Arni,\n  Rafn\u2019s son, run a good ten miles without once remembering that he had\n  his shield on his shoulder until it stuck in the door at Kirkwall. If\n  this Kjarekstad be not the same with Knarrarstad at Scapa, which was\n  Earl R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s homestead (see p. 113), and might be the castle here\n  spoken of, there is a Carness near Kirkwall (in old maps Carisness)\n  which may be more readily supposed to be the Kjarekstad from which\n  Arni ran than Careston near Stromness.\n\nFootnote 404:\n\n  Munch says of this passage that the text reads, very improperly,\n  \u201cG\u00e1reksey\u201d for \u201cGrimsey.\u201d Hafnarvag he identifies with the Medalland\u2019s\n  hofn of Hakon Hakonson\u2019s saga, which is the \u201cMidland Harbour\u201d lying\n  between the Holm of Houston and the Mainland on the south side of\n  Orphir. The name Hafnarvag, however, simply signifies a landing-place\n  in a voe or inlet, and might more appropriately be applied to some\n  place near the head of the inlet immediately opposite Grimsey, which\n  goes up to the Loch of Stennis. If Harald and his men landed at\n  \u201cMidland Harbour,\u201d they took the longest land route to walk to Firth;\n  if they landed near the head of the inlet above mentioned, they chose\n  the shortest land route.\n\nFootnote 405:\n\n  The word Orkahaug is only known to occur twice\u2014once here, and once in\n  one of the Runic inscriptions on the walls of the chamber of Maeshow.\n  Here it is given merely as the name of the place where Earl Harald and\n  his men had a Yule-tide carouse, which disabled two of them from\n  proceeding on their journey, so that they failed in surprising Earl\n  Erlend at his Yule feast. In the inscription in the chamber of Maeshow\n  it appears as the name of the burial-mound which was broken into by\n  the Jorsala-farers in search of treasure. There seems to be little\n  doubt that this name \u201cOrkahaug\u201d was the name by which the Maeshow was\n  then known. The Orkahaug of the text must either mean the actual \u201chow\u201d\n  itself, or a homestead near it which was named from it. There is an\n  Orkhill (Orquill) not very far from Maeshow, and there was another\n  Orkhill near Knarstane, Scapa, which is called Orquile in \u201cthe coppie\n  of my Lord Sinclairis Rentale that deit at Flowdin.\u201d No other\n  Orkahaug, however, is known. (See under Maeshow in the Introduction.)\n\nFootnote 406:\n\n  The castle at Freswick, elsewhere called Lambaborg (see p. 122).\n\nFootnote 407:\n\n  The mouth of the burn of Freswick.\n\nFootnote 408:\n\n  Moseyjar-borg, the burg or castle on the little island of Mousa, in\n  Shetland. This curious structure is the best preserved example of the\n  old Celtic strongholds, or \u201cPictish towers,\u201d which were so thickly\n  planted over the northern and western districts of Scotland, and\n  specially in those districts exposed to the ravages of the Northmen.\n  We learn from the Saga of Egill Skalagrimson that fully two centuries\n  before the event here narrated Mousa had been occupied in a precisely\n  similar manner by a couple who fled from Norway, and after celebrating\n  their marriage in the deserted burg, lived in it for a whole winter.\n  (See under Mousa in the Introduction.)\n\nFootnote 409:\n\n  The Moray Firth.\n\nFootnote 410:\n\n  Bly-holmar (lead islands) must refer to a group of islands not far to\n  the south of Berwick, probably the Fern Islands.\n\nFootnote 411:\n\n  Mosey, the Isle of May.\n\nFootnote 412:\n\n  Off Sumburgh Head, now called Sumburgh Roost.\n\nFootnote 413:\n\n  Beruvik, probably the inlet at the mouth of the Berriedale water, on\n  the north side of the Ord of Caithness, where there is an old tower\n  called Berriedale Castle. (See note at p. 18.)\n\nFootnote 414:\n\n  This was probably the castle which was destroyed by King William the\n  Lion in the end of the twelfth century, when he sent his troops\n  against Earl Harald \u201cto Turseha,\u201d and destroyed the Earl\u2019s residence\n  there.\n\nFootnote 415:\n\n  This is evidently a mistake in the text for R\u00f6gnvaldsey, or South\n  Ronaldsay. In the MS. the contraction R.ey is used both for R\u00ednarsey\n  and R\u00f6gnvaldsey.\n\nFootnote 416:\n\n  Vidivag, the voe or creek of the beacon; now Widewall, in South\n  Ronaldsay.\n\nFootnote 417:\n\n  Bardvik, the bay beside Barth Head; now Burswick, in South Ronaldsay.\n\nFootnote 418:\n\n  Strandh\u00f6gg, strand-hewing, or victualling the ships of a viking\n  squadron, by driving cattle to the shore, and killing them there.\n\nFootnote 419:\n\n  Ru Stoer in Assynt, on the west coast of Sutherlandshire.\n\nFootnote 420:\n\n  Walls, in the Island of Hoy, Orkney.\n\nFootnote 421:\n\n  Knarston, at Scapa, in the Mainland of Orkney. (See note at p. 113.)\n\nFootnote 422:\n\n  Paplay, in Mainland, where H\u00e1kon Karl, the brother of Earl Magnus the\n  Holy, had his residence. (See p. 96.)\n\nFootnote 423:\n\n  Sandwick, in Deerness.\n\nFootnote 424:\n\n  The Iceland Annals place the fall of Earl Erlend in A.D. 1154.\n\nFootnote 425:\n\n  See p. 74.\n\nFootnote 426:\n\n  None of these men are again mentioned in the Saga.\n\nFootnote 427:\n\n  In the \u201cCoppie of my Lord Sinclaire\u2019s Rentale, that deit at Flowdin,\u201d\n  dating between 1497 and 1503, there is a Tyngwale in Rendale, set to\n  John Selatter. The name still remains, but there is no other trace of\n  an Orkney thing-stead in the Islands. (See p. 61.)\n\nFootnote 428:\n\n  Mackaile and Sir Robert Sibbald both notice the existence of white\n  hares in the hill of Hoy. Low, in his \u201cFauna Orcadensis,\u201d states that\n  they did not exist in his day; and he adds, \u201cnor is there a hare of\n  any kind to be found in the Orkneys.\u201d\n\nFootnote 429:\n\n  Cave Isle\u2014now Eller Holm, a small island between Shapinsay and the\n  Mainland of Orkney.\n\nFootnote 430:\n\n  This seems to indicate that there was an ecclesiastical settlement on\n  Eller Holm. Possibly it may have been the \u201cisle Elon\u201d referred to in\n  the stanza made by Earl R\u00f6gnvald on the occasion of the singular\n  apparition of the sixteen shaven crowns described in chap. lxvi. It is\n  suggestive of this that Fordun gives the name of this island as\n  Helene-holm instead of Eller Holm. (See note, chap. lxvi.)\n\nFootnote 431:\n\n  V\u00f6luness has not been identified.\n\nFootnote 432:\n\n  This must be Barswick, near Barthhead, in South Ronaldsay, as it is\n  afterwards stated that from this headland R\u00f6gnvald and Swein saw Earl\n  Harald\u2019s ship coming across the Firth from Caithness to Walls.\n\nFootnote 433:\n\n  In the text it is \u201cHr\u00f3lfsey to R(inans)ey\u201d\u2014Rousay to North Ronaldsay,\n  but Munch\u2019s reading of the passage seems to be the true one. (See the\n  next chapter.)\n\nFootnote 434:\n\n  The Mainland of Orkney. This shows that in all likelihood it is\n  Hrossey that is meant where the text has Hr\u00f3lfsey at the beginning of\n  the previous chapter.\n\nFootnote 435:\n\n  Probably Rapness, in the south-east of the island of Westray.\n\nFootnote 436:\n\n  It does not appear whether this is the H\u00e1kon Karl who lived at Papuli\n  or not.\n\nFootnote 437:\n\n  St. Mary\u2019s, the largest of the Scilly Isles, called Syllingar in the\n  Sagas.\n\nFootnote 438:\n\n  This was the famous Somerled, styled by the Chronicle of Man \u201cRegulus\n  Herergaidel\u201d\u2014ruler of Argyle. This chronicle also adds the information\n  that his marriage with Ragnhild was the cause of the ruin of the\n  monarchy of the Isles. Although the Saga here makes Swein, Asleif\u2019s\n  son, kill Somerled about the year A.D. 1159, we learn from the more\n  trustworthy sources of Fordun and the Chron. de Mailros that Somerled\n  was killed at Renfrew on the 1st January 1164, having landed there\n  with a fleet of 160 galleys in the attempt to make a conquest of\n  Scotland. He had given his sister in marriage to Wimund, ex-bishop,\n  _alias_ Malcolm M\u2019Heth, whom the Saga calls Earl of Moray. After the\n  unsuccessful termination of Malcolm M\u2019Heth\u2019s attempt to gain\n  possession of the crown of Scotland, his brother-in-law, Somerled,\n  seems to have continued the hostilities against King David, and to\n  have joined the party against Malcolm IV. when the attempt was made to\n  place the \u201cBoy of Egremont\u201d on the throne. (See Fordun Skene\u2019s ed.)\n  II. 250, and Munch, _Chron. Man._ p. 80.\n\nFootnote 439:\n\n  Dugald, Reginald, and Angus; from Reginald sprang the Macrories,\n  Macdougalls, and Macdonalds of the Isles.\n\nFootnote 440:\n\n  This is the Firth of Forth in chapter lxxvii. Here it evidently refers\n  to one of the sea-lochs on the west coast, and may probably be Loch\n  Gleann Dubh, the inner portion of Kyle Scow. At least the Norse name\n  \u201cDark Fiord,\u201d and the Gaelic \u201cLoch of the Dark Glen,\u201d are suggestively\n  similar, and both equally descriptive of the upper part of the Kyle.\n\nFootnote 441:\n\n  In reference to this passage, Jon\u00e6us, in his edition of the Saga\n  (Hafni\u00e6, 1780), says, that what is of the greatest moment is the fact\n  which it points out, that at this date (circa 1158) there were\n  reindeer in Scotland. In his Latin version of the original he\n  translates the phrase \u201c_at veida rauddyri edr hreina_\u201d as \u201c_feras\n  rubras et rangiferos venari_,\u201d and has no doubt or hesitancy about the\n  matter. It is established by geological evidence that the reindeer was\n  widely distributed in Great Britain in post-glacial times, although\n  the instances of its occurrence within the human period, and in\n  association with the remains of man, have been comparatively rare.\n  Recently, however, evidence has been supplied by excavations in the\n  ruins of the brochs, or \u201cPictish towers,\u201d of the north of Scotland,\n  which fully corroborates the statement of the Saga that the reindeer\n  was actually hunted and eaten by the later occupants of these\n  structures, their latest occupation on record being an occasional one\n  by the Norsemen. In the refuse-heaps of several of these towers, the\n  horns of the reindeer have been found, in some instances cut and sawn\n  as if to be utilised for artificial purposes; while in other cases it\n  is evident that the animals must have been killed when the horns were\n  in the velvet. It is also significant that the reindeer moss\n  (_Cladonia rangiferina_) still grows abundantly in Caithness. The\n  question is very fully and ably discussed in a paper on \u201cThe Reindeer\n  in Scotland,\u201d by Dr. J. A. Smith, in the eighth volume of the\n  Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.\n\nFootnote 442:\n\n  It is plain from the original that some words are here omitted from\n  the text. One of the MS. copies of the Saga has had the additional\n  words, which are thus rendered in the Danish translation preserved at\n  Stockholm, \u201c_Der som vaar noget_ erg, _det kalde vi setter_,\u201d etc.\n  \u201cThere were there some shielings (erg), which we call setter; and\n  there they took up their quarters for the night.\u201d What is remarkable\n  about this passage is that the Gaelic word for a shieling, _Airidh_,\n  given phonetically by the old Norse saga-writer as \u201cerg,\u201d is glossed\n  in the Danish translation by the word \u201csetter\u201d\u2014summer pasturing-place,\n  where rude huts were erected for temporary occupation. The word\n  setter, which is common in the place-names of Caithness and the\n  Northern Isles, is to this day understood by the inhabitants in the\n  same sense, although the custom of sending the cattle to the\n  hill-pastures in summer, and living in \u201cshielings,\u201d has now ceased, on\n  the mainland at least. (See also the note on \u201cAsgrim\u2019s \u00e6rgin,\u201d p.\n  187.)\n\nFootnote 443:\n\n  A Norwegian ell is half a yard. The leap was thus four yards and a\n  half.\n\nFootnote 444:\n\n  Kalfadals\u00e1, the Kalfadal\u2019s stream, is the Burn of Calder, which,\n  issuing from the Loch of Calder, falls into the Thurso water. The\n  situation of Kalfadal, a valley running up from the valley of the\n  Thurso water towards Forss, is exactly that of the valley of Calder.\n\nFootnote 445:\n\n  The word _\u00e6rgin_ is not Norse. It is, however, a Norse corruption of\n  the Gaelic word for a shieling\u2014_airidh_, plur. _aridhean_, which\n  enters into the composition of many of the place-names in\n  Caithness\u2014_e.g._ Halsary, Dorrery, Shurrery, Blingery, etc. Asgrim\u2019s\n  _\u00e6rgin_ is still recognisable in the modern Askary or Assary, near the\n  north end of the Loch of Calder. It is curious to find thus\n  incidentally in the Saga an indication of the blending of the\n  folk-speech of the time, and to find also in the modern names of Norn\n  Calder and Scotscalder a record (preserved on the spot) of the time\n  when one portion of the dale was possessed by the Norsemen and another\n  by the natives. Passing from Calder towards the coast the place-names\n  are mostly Norse; and passing from Calder in the opposite direction\n  towards the uplands, the place-names are almost entirely Gaelic.\n\nFootnote 446:\n\n  The feast of the Assumption of St. Mary, or the 15th August. The\n  Iceland Annals give 1158 as the year of R\u00f6gnvald\u2019s death.\n\nFootnote 447:\n\n  Earl R\u00f6gnvald was canonised A.D. 1192.\n\nFootnote 448:\n\n  Skrud, a general term for fine cloth and costly stuffs.\n\nFootnote 449:\n\n  After the divorce of his first wife Afreka. (See chap. cix.)\n\nFootnote 450:\n\n  The Celtic form of her name is Gormlath.\n\nFootnote 451:\n\n  This \u201cMalcolm, Earl of Moray,\u201d has a curious history. He appears first\n  as Wimund, a monk of Savigny, and priest in the Isle of Skye.\n  Afterwards he became Bishop of Man, and subsequently appeared in the\n  character of a pretender to the Scottish crown, giving himself out to\n  be Malcolm MacHeth, son of that Angus MacHeth who was defeated by King\n  David, and slain at Strickathro A.D. 1130. Assisted by Somerled of\n  Argyle and by this alliance with the Earl of Orkney, he ravaged the\n  western coasts of Scotland, until he was captured by King David, and\n  confined in the Castle of Roxburgh in 1134. He was released by Malcolm\n  the Maiden after the death of King David, and received from the young\n  king the sovereignty of a portion of the ancient kingdom of Cumbria.\n  His tyranny was such that his subjects revolted, took him prisoner,\n  put out his eyes, and confined him in the monastery of Bellaland\n  (Byland), in Yorkshire. (Munch, _Chron. Man._ p. 80.)\n\nFootnote 452:\n\n  Thorfinn, the son of Earl Harald, appears on record about the year\n  A.D. 1165. In the Chartulary of Scone there is a document by \u201cHarald,\n  Earl of Orkney, Hetland, and Cataness,\u201d granting to the monks of Scone\n  a mark of silver to be paid annually by himself, his son Turphin, and\n  their heirs.\u2014_Lib. Eccles. de Scone_, p. 37. Thorfinn died in prison\n  in Roxburgh Castle, after being mutilated by King William the Lion, to\n  whom he had been given as a hostage for his father.\n\nFootnote 453:\n\n  William the Lion.\n\nFootnote 454:\n\n  The \u201cFagrskinna\u201d has (p. 148) \u201cer fell i Vik\u201d\u2014he fell at Wick; but\n  there is nothing to fix the locality of this battle more definitely.\n  The tradition of the district points to Clairdon Hill, between Murkle\n  and Thurso, as the scene of the encounter. The church which is here\n  said to have been erected on the spot where Harald fell, and which is\n  spoken of as standing there when the Saga was written, is not now in\n  existence. The ruins of a chapel, which was traditionally believed to\n  mark the spot, were removed when the ground was brought under\n  cultivation by the late Sir John Sinclair. A remonstrance by the late\n  Rev. Mr. Pope, of Reay, seems to have had the effect of causing the\n  erection of an edifice (now used as the tomb of the Sinclair family)\n  over the place where an old chapel stood. It is now known locally as\n  \u201cHarold\u2019s Tower.\u201d Large quantities of human bones, and several of the\n  peculiarly-shaped Norse swords which Mr. Pope describes as \u201codd\n  machines resembling ploughshares, all iron,\u201d have been dug up in the\n  neighbourhood.\n\nFootnote 455:\n\n  The Bishop advised the people to allow him first to speak with the\n  Earl, in the hope that he would be able to mollify him.\n\nFootnote 456:\n\n  This seems to imply that it was at the grave of the holy Tr\u00f6llh\u00e6na\n  that the Bishop received his sight. Tr\u00f6llh\u00e6na seems to be the Celtic\n  St. Triduana or St. Tredwell, who, according to her legendary history,\n  came from Achaia with St. Regulus in the fourth century. Being of\n  extraordinary beauty, she was solicited by a Gallic prince, and to put\n  an end to his solicitations she cut out both her eyes, and sent them\n  to him skewered on a twig. Sir David Lindsay alludes to this:\u2014\n\n                 \u201cSanct Tredwall, als, there may be sene,\n                  Quhilk on ane prick hes baith her ene.\u201d\n\n  She died at Restalrig, near Edinburgh, and her tomb there continued,\n  so late as Lindsay\u2019s time, to be a resort of pilgrims who came to\n  \u201cmend their ene.\u201d There is a chapel dedicated to St. Tredwell in the\n  island of Papa Westray, which Munch considers likely to have been\n  erected by Celtic ecclesiastics previous to the Norse invasion. There\n  was another chapel dedicated to her at Kintradwell, in\n  Sutherlandshire, where she is known as St. Trullen; but there is now\n  no trace of a St. Tredwell\u2019s chapel in Caithness.\n\nFootnote 457:\n\n  The letter of Pope Innocent to the Bishop of Orkney, prescribing the\n  penance to be performed by the man Lomberd, who cut out the Bishop\u2019s\n  tongue, gives the additional information that when the Earl\u2019s men took\n  the \u201cborg\u201d they killed almost all that were in it. (See the\n  Introduction.) The \u201cborg,\u201d or castle, at Scrabster, may have been an\n  earlier building on the site of the \u201cBishop\u2019s Castle,\u201d an old\n  fortalice on the cliff near the present hamlet of Scrabster, or it may\n  have been the ruins of one of the still older Pictish towers, not far\n  off, which the Caithnessmen may have occupied for the occasion as a\n  defensible position.\n\nFootnote 458:\n\n  Eysteinsdal is not now represented in the topography of the district.\n\nFootnote 459:\n\n  The battle of Floruvogar took place in 1194, according to the Iceland\n  Annals appended to the Flateyjarb\u00f3k.\n\nFootnote 460:\n\n  Shetland then passed into the immediate possession of the Crown of\n  Norway. Its revenues were granted by King Hakon Magnusson, in 1312-19,\n  to the Mary-kirk in Osloe (Christiania) for the completion of the\n  fabric, with the proviso that then they should revert to the crown.\n\nFootnote 461:\n\n  According to the Iceland Annals of the Flateyjarb\u00f3k, King Ingi Bardson\n  \u201ctook the kingdom\u201d in 1204, and Harald Maddadson died in 1206.\n\nFootnote 462:\n\n  The death of Hakon Galinn took place in the year 1214, according to\n  the Annals appended to the Flateyjarb\u00f3k.\n\nFootnote 463:\n\n  A spann = 24 marks, or 12 lbs. Scottish.\u2014_Balfour\u2019s Odal Rights_, p.\n  99.\n\nFootnote 464:\n\n  Halkirk, in the Thurso valley.\n\nFootnote 465:\n\n  The Icelandic Annals place the burning of Bishop Adam in the year\n  1222, and add that the King of Scots caused the hands and feet to be\n  hewn off eighty men who had been concerned in the Bishop\u2019s burning.\n  Among the documents found in the King\u2019s treasury at Edinburgh in 1282\n  (and subsequently lost) was one entitled: \u201cA quit-claiming of the\n  lands of the Bondi of Caithness for the slaughter of the Bishop.\u201d A\n  bull of Pope Honorius, dated 23d January 1223, and addressed to the\n  Bishops of St. Andrews, Glasgow, Dunkeld, and Dunblane, speaks in\n  terms of high commendation of King Alexander\u2019s zealous desire to\n  avenge such an unheard-of crime as the burning of a bishop, and\n  thoroughly corroborates the Saga account of the manner of Adam\u2019s\n  death, stating that these \u201cwolves\u201d and \u201cdemons,\u201d having stripped their\n  Bishop of his garments, stoned him, mortally wounded him with an axe,\n  and finally burned him in his own kitchen. (Theiner\u2019s _Vetera\n  Monumenta_, p. 21.)\n\nFootnote 466:\n\n  See note at p. 107.\n\nFootnote 467:\n\n  The Mainland of Orkney.\n\nFootnote 468:\n\n  Haugaheith, now Hoxa, a peninsula on the north-west side of South\n  Ronaldsay, on which there are still several ancient grave-mounds, and\n  one mound larger than the rest, which has been ascertained to cover\n  the ruins of a Pictish tower. The grave-mound of Earl Thorfinn has not\n  been identified, but Low mentions that in his time there was a\n  tradition that the son of a King of Norway had been buried in the How\n  (_haug_) of Hoxa (_Haugs-heith_).\n\nFootnote 469:\n\n  Steinsness, in Hrossey, is the \u201cness\u201d or promontory at the Loch of\n  Stennis on the Mainland of Orkney, now so well known as the site of\n  the \u201cstanding stones of Stennis.\u201d The Norsemen evidently named it\n  Steinsness from the stone circles and monoliths which stood on it when\n  they first knew it. (See the Introduction, under \u201cStennis.\u201d)\n\nFootnote 470:\n\n  There is a place at Stennis called Havard\u2019s-teigr by the country\n  people to the present day; _teigr_ meaning an individual\u2019s share of\n  the t\u00fan-land.\n\nFootnote 471:\n\n  Nithing\u2014cowardly miscreant.\n\nFootnote 472:\n\n  The name Magbi\u00f3d is suggestive of Macbeth, but the date is too early\n  for Macbeth Mac-Finlay.\n\nFootnote 473:\n\n  Audna is probably the Irish name _Eithne_. Kiarval, her father, is the\n  Cearbhal or Carrol of the Irish Annals, who was King of Dublin\n  872-887. He is mentioned in the opening chapter of the Landnamab\u00f3k as\n  King of Dublin when Harald Harfagri ruled in Norway and Sigurd was\n  Earl of the Orkneys. The two branches of the Hy Ivar, Kings of Dublin\n  and Limerick, were the descendants of Ivar the Boneless, son of Ragnar\n  Lodbrok. 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Price 30s.\n\nOn the Constitution of Papal Conclaves.\n\n  By W. C. CARTWRIGHT, M.P. Fcap. 8vo, price 6s. 6d.\n\n  \u201cA book which will, we believe, charm careful students of history,\n  while it will dissipate much of the ignorance which in this country\n  surrounds the subject.\u201d\u2014Spectator.\n\nGustave Bergenroth. A Memorial Sketch.\n\n  By W. C. CARTWRIGHT, M.P. Author of \u2018The Constitution of Papal\n  Conclaves.\u2019 Crown 8vo, price 7s. 6d.\n\n  \u201cTo those who knew this accomplished student, Mr. Cartwright\u2019s\n  enthusiastic memoir will be very welcome.\u201d\u2014Standard.\n\nLife and Works of Rev. Thomas Chalmers, D.D., LL.D.\n\n  MEMOIRS OF THE REV. THOMAS CHALMERS. By REV. W. HANNA, D.D., LL.D. 4\n  vols., 8vo, cloth, \u00a32 2s.\n\n  \u2014\u2014 Cheap Edition, 2 vols., crown 8vo, cloth, 12s.\n\n  POSTHUMOUS WORKS, 9 vols., 8vo\u2014\n\n  Daily Scripture Readings, 3 vols., \u00a31:11:6. Sabbath Scripture\n  Readings, 2 vols., \u00a31:1s. 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By\n  LIEUT.-COLONEL GORDON CUMMING. With Illustrations by Lieut.-Col.\n  BAIGRIE and others. Second edition. Demy 4to, price 24s.\n\n  Also, a Cheaper Edition, with Lithographic Illustrations. 8vo, price\n  12s.\n\nNotes on the Natural History of the Strait of Magellan and West Coast of\n  Patagonia, made during the voyage of H.M.S. \u2018Nassau\u2019 in the years\n  1866, 1867, 1868, and 1869. By ROBERT O. CUNNINGHAM, M.D., F.R.S.,\n  Naturalist to the Expedition. With Maps and numerous Illustrations.\n  8vo, price 15s.\n\n    \u201cThere is a good deal of interesting and novel information in the\n    present volume, and we can recommend it especially to those whose\n    tastes lie in that direction.\u201d\u2014Standard.\n\nThe Annals of the University of Edinburgh.\n\n  By ANDREW DALZEL, formerly Professor of Greek in the University of\n  Edinburgh; with a Memoir of the Compiler, and Portrait after Raeburn.\n  2 vols. demy 8vo, price 21s.\n\nGisli the Outlaw.\n\n  From the Icelandic. By G. W. DASENT, D.C.L. Small 4to, with\n  Illustrations, price 7s. 6d.\n\nThe Story of Burnt Njal;\n\n  Or, Life in Iceland at the end of the Tenth Century. From the\n  Icelandic of the Njals Saga. By GEORGE WEBBE DASENT, D.C.L. 2 vols.\n  8vo, with Map and Plans, price 28s.\n\nSelect popular Tales from the Norse.\n\n  For the use of Young People. By G. W. DASENT, D.C.L. New Edition, with\n  Illustrations. Crown 8vo, 6s.\n\nPlates and Notes relating to some Special Features in Structures called\n  Pyramids. By ST. JOHN VINCENT DAY, C.E., F.R.SS.A. Royal folio, price\n  28s.\n\n  By the same Author.\n\nPapers on the Great Pyramid.\n\n  8vo, price 4s.\n\nSome Evidence as to the very early Use of Iron.\n\n  8vo, sewed, price 2s. 6d.\n\nThe Law of Railways applicable to Scotland, with an Appendix of Statutes\n  and Forms. By FRANCIS DEAS, M.A., LL.B., Advocate. 1 vol. Royal 8vo,\n  price 38s.\n\nOn the Application of Sulphurous Acid Gas to the Prevention, Limitation,\n  and Cure of Contagious Diseases. By JAMES DEWAR, M.D. Thirteenth\n  edition, price 1s.\n\nRheumatism and Rheumatic Gout treated on Antiseptic Principles. By JAMES\n  DEWAR, M.D. Price 1s.\n\nDick and I.\n\n  Uniform with \u2018Little Tales for Tiny Tots,\u2019 with six Illustrations.\n  Square 18mo, price 1s.\n\nMemoir of Thomas Drummond, R.E., F.R.A.S., Under-Secretary to the\n  Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, 1835 to 1840. By JOHN F. M\u2019LENNAN,\n  Advocate. 8vo, price 15s.\n\n    \u201cA clear, compact, and well-written memoir of the best friend\n    England ever gave to Ireland.\u201d\u2014Examiner.\n\nPolitical Survey.\n\n  By MOUNTSTUART E. GRANT DUFF, Member for the Elgin District of Burghs;\n  Author of \u2018Studies in European Politics,\u2019 \u2018A Glance over Europe,\u2019 &c.\n  &c. 8vo, price 7s. 6d.\n\n    \u201cIn following up his \u2018Studies in European Politics\u2019 by the\n    \u2018Political Survey\u2019 here before us, Mr. Grant Duff has given strong\n    evidence of the wisdom of the choice made by the Ministry in\n    appointing him Under-Secretary for India. In the space of about 240\n    pages, he gives us the cream of the latest information about the\n    internal politics of no less than forty-four different countries\n    under four heads, according to their situation in Europe, Asia, and\n    Africa, Northern and Central America, or South America.\u201d\u2014Pall Mall\n    Gazette.\n\n  By the same Author.\n\nElgin Speeches. 8vo, cloth, price 8s. 6d.\n\nA Glance over Europe. Price 1s.\n\nAddress as Rector at the University of Aberdeen. Price 1s.\n\nEast India Financial Statement, 1869. Price 1s.\n\nRemarks on the Present Political Situation. Price 1s.\n\nExpedit\u2014Laboremus. Price 1s.\n\n                  *       *       *       *       *\n\nVeterinary Medicines; their Actions and Uses.\n\n  By FINLAY DUN. Fourth Edition, revised and enlarged. 8vo. [In the\n  press.\n\nSocial Life in Former Days; Chiefly in the Province of Moray.\n  Illustrated by letters and family papers. By E. DUNBAR DUNBAR, late\n  Captain 21st Fusiliers. 2 vols. demy 8vo, price 19s. 6d.\n\nDeep-Sea Soundings.\n\n  COLLOQUIA PERIPATETICA. By the late JOHN DUNCAN, LL.D., Professor of\n  Hebrew in the New College, Edinburgh; being Conversations in\n  Philosophy, Theology, and Religion. Edited by Rev. W. Knight. Third\n  Edition. I vol. fcap. 8vo. Price 3s. 6d.\n\n    \u201cSince these lectures were published there has appeared an\n    exceedingly interesting volume, entitled \u2018Colloquia Peripatetica,\u2019\n    by the late John Duncan, LL.D., Professor of Hebrew in the New\n    College, Edinburgh. These Colloquies are reported by the Rev.\n    William Knight, who seems to be admirably adapted for the task he\n    has undertaken. His friend must have been a man of rare originality,\n    varied culture, great vigour in expressing thoughts, which were\n    worthy to be expressed and remembered.... The reader who shall give\n    himself the benefit and gratification of studying this short volume\n    (it will suggest more to him than many of ten times its size) will\n    find that I have not been bribed to speak well of it by any praise\n    which Dr. Duncan has bestowed on me. The only excuse for alluding to\n    it is, that it contains the severest censure on my writings which\n    they have ever incurred, though they have not been so unfortunate as\n    to escape censure.... Against any ordinary criticism, even a writer\n    who is naturally thin-skinned becomes by degrees tolerably hardened.\n    One proceeding from a man of such learning and worth as Dr. Duncan I\n    have thought it a duty to notice.\u201d\u2014Extract from Preface to \u2018The\n    Conscience.\u2019 By the late Professor F. D. Maurice. Second Edition,\n    1872.\n\nRecollections of the late John Duncan, LL.D., Professor of Hebrew and\n  Oriental Languages, New College, Edinburgh. By the REV. A. MOODY\n  STUART. Extra fcap. 8vo, 3s. 6d.\n\nMemoir of the late John Duncan, LL.D., Professor of Hebrew, New College,\n  Edinburgh. By the REV. DAVID BROWN, D.D. Second edition, crown 8vo,\n  cloth, price 6s.\n\n    \u201cDr. Brown\u2019s book must be read and re-read. We must therefore refer\n    our thoughtful and inquiring readers to this discriminating and\n    carefully wrought biography.\u201d\u2014Literary World.\n\nEdmonston and Douglas\u2019 Juvenile Library.\n\n  Square 18mo, with Illustrations. 1s. each.\n\n  DICK AND I.\n  LITTLE TALES FOR TINY TOTS.\n  BIRDS\u2019 NEST STORIES.\n  THE CHARITY BAZAAR.\n  NELLY RIVERS\u2019 GREAT RICHES.\n  STORIES TOLD IN THE WOODS.\n\n                             NEW NIGHT-CAPS.\n\n        \u2e2b Other volumes of this attractive series in preparation.\n\nKarl\u2019s Legacy.\n\n  By the REV. J. W. EBSWORTH. 2 vols. ex. fcap. 8vo. Price 6s. 6d.\n\nCharlie and Ernest; or, Play and Work.\n\n  A Story of Hazlehurst School, with Four Illustrations by J. D. By M.\n  BETHAM EDWARDS. Royal 16mo, 3s. 6d.\n\nA Memoir of the Right Honourable Hugh Elliot.\n\n  By his Granddaughter, the COUNTESS of MINTO. 8vo, price 12s.\n\n    \u201cLady Minto produced a valuable memoir when she printed the\n    substance of the work before us for private circulation in 1862. It\n    now, in its completed shape, presents a full-length and striking\n    portrait of a remarkable member of a remarkable race.\u201d\u2014Quarterly\n    Review.\n\nThe Spiritual Order, and other Papers selected from the MSS. of the late\n  THOMAS ERSKINE of Linlathen. Crown 8vo, cloth, price 5s.\n\n    \u201cIt will for a few have a value which others will not the least\n    understand. But all must recognise in it the utterance of a spirit\n    profoundly penetrated with the sense of brotherhood, and with the\n    claims of common humanity.\u201d\u2014Spectator.\n\n  By the same Author.\n\nThe Unconditional Freeness of the Gospel.\n\n  New Edition revised. 1 vol. fcap. 8vo. Price 3s. 6d.\n\nThe Purpose of God in the Creation of Man.\n\n  Fcap. 8vo, sewed. Price 6d.\n\n  A few Copies of the original editions of Works by the same Author are\n  still for Sale.\n\nAn Essay on Faith. Fourth Edition, 12mo, 3s.\n\nThe Brazen Serpent; or, Life Coming through Death.\n\n  Second Edition, 12mo, 3s.\n\n                  *       *       *       *       *\n\nGood Little Hearts.\n\n  By AUNT FANNY. Author of the \u2018Night-Cap Series.\u2019 4 vols., fancy\n  covers, 1s. each; or cloth extra, 1s. 6d. each.\n\n  Charity Bazaar.\n  Birds\u2019 Nest Stories.\n  Nelly Rivers\u2019 Great Riches.\n  Stories Told in the Wood.\n\nL\u2019Histoire d\u2019Angleterre. Par M. LAM\u00c9 FLEURY. 18mo, cloth, 2s. 6d.\n\nL\u2019Histoire de France. Par M. LAM\u00c9 FLEURY. New Edition, corrected to\n  1873. 18mo, cloth, 2s. 6d.\n\nChristianity viewed in some of its Leading Aspects.\n\n  By REV. A. L. R. FOOTE, Author of \u2018Incidents in the Life of our\n  Saviour.\u2019 Fcap. cloth, 3s.\n\nKalendars of Scottish Saints, with Personal Notices of those of Alba,\n  etc. By ALEXANDER PENROSE FORBES, D.C.L., Bishop of Brechin. 1 vol.\n  4to. Price \u00a33: 3s. A few copies for sale on large paper, price \u00a35: 15:\n  6.\n\n    \u201cA truly valuable contribution to the arch\u00e6ology of\n    Scotland.\u201d\u2014Guardian.\n\n    \u201cWe must not forget to thank the author for the great amount of\n    information he has put together, and for the labour he has bestowed\n    on a work which can never be remunerative.\u201d\u2014Saturday Review.\n\nThe Deepening of the Spiritual Life.\n\n  By A. P. FORBES, D.C.L., Bishop of Brechin. Third edition. 18mo,\n  cloth, price 1s. 6d.; or paper covers, 1s.\n\nFrost and Fire; Natural Engines, Tool-Marks, and Chips, with Sketches\n  drawn at Home and Abroad by a Traveller. Re-issue, containing an\n  additional Chapter. 2 vols. 8vo, with Maps and numerous Illustrations\n  on Wood, price 21s.\n\n    \u201cA very Turner among books, in the originality and delicious\n    freshness of its style, and the truth and delicacy of the\n    descriptive portions. For some four-and-twenty years he has\n    traversed half our northern hemisphere by the least frequented\n    paths; and everywhere, with artistic and philosophic eye, has found\n    something to describe\u2014here in tiny trout-stream or fleecy cloud,\n    there in lava-flow or ocean current, or in the works of nature\u2019s\n    giant sculptor\u2014ice.\u201d\u2014Reader.\n\nThe Cat\u2019s Pilgrimage.\n\n  By J. A. FROUDE, M.A., late Fellow of Exeter College, Oxford. With 7\n  full page Illustrations by Mrs. BLACKBURN (J. B.) 4to, price 6s.\n\nGifts for Men. By X. H.\n\n  1. The Gift of Repentance.\n  2. The Gift of the Yoke.\n  3. The Gift of the Holy Ghost.\n  4. The Promise to the Elect.\n\n                                                    Crown 8vo, price 6s.\n\n    \u201cThere is hardly a living theologian who might not be proud to claim\n    many of her thoughts as his own.\u201d\u2014Glasgow Herald.\n\nGlimpses of Life in Victoria.\n\n  By a Resident. 8vo, with Illustrations, price 12s.\n\n    \u201cOut of sight the best book about Australia that has come into our\n    hands.\u201d\u2014British Quarterly.\n\nThe Gospel in Isaiah: being an Exposition of the 55th and 56th Chapters\n  of the Book of his Prophecies. By JOHN GEMMEL, M.A., Fairlie. Ex.\n  fcap. 8vo, price 5s.\n\nArthurian Localities: their Historical Origin, Chief Country, and\n  Fingalian Relations, with a Map of Arthurian Scotland. By JOHN G. S.\n  STUART GLENNIE, M.A. 8vo, price 7s. 6d.\n\nWorks by Margaret Maria Gordon (n\u00e9e Brewster).\n\n  WORKERS. Fcap. 8vo, limp cloth, 1s.\n\n  LADY ELINOR MORDAUNT; OR, SUNBEAMS IN THE CASTLE. Crown 8vo, cloth,\n    9s.\n\n  WORK; OR, PLENTY TO DO AND HOW TO DO IT. Thirty-fifth thousand. Fcap.\n    8vo, cloth, 2s. 6d.\n\n  LITTLE MILLIE AND HER FOUR PLACES. Cheap Edition. Fifty-third\n    thousand. Limp cloth, 1s.\n\n  SUNBEAMS IN THE COTTAGE; OR, WHAT WOMEN MAY DO. A narrative chiefly\n    addressed to the Working Classes. Cheap Edition. Forty-third\n    thousand. Limp cloth, 1s.\n\n  PREVENTION; OR, AN APPEAL TO ECONOMY AND COMMON-SENSE. 8vo, 6d.\n\n  THE WORD AND THE WORLD. Price 2d.\n\n  LEAVES OF HEALING FOR THE SICK AND SORROWFUL. Fcap. 4to, cloth, 3s.\n    6d. Cheap Edition, limp cloth, 2s.\n\n  THE MOTHERLESS BOY; with an Illustration by J. Noel Paton, R.S.A.\n    Cheap Edition, limp cloth, 1s.\n\n    \u201cAlike in manner and matter calculated to attract youthful\n    attention, and to attract it by the best of all\n    means\u2014sympathy.\u201d\u2014Scotsman.\n\n'Christopher North;' A Memoir of John Wilson, late Professor of Moral\nPhilosophy in the University of Edinburgh. Compiled from Family Papers\nand other sources, by his daughter, MRS. GORDON. Third Thousand. 2 vols.\ncrown 8vo, price 24s., with Portrait, and graphic Illustrations.\n\n\u2018Mystifications.\u2019\n\nBy Miss STIRLING GRAHAM. Fourth Edition. Edited by JOHN BROWN, M.D. With\nPortrait of \u2018Lady Pitlyal.\u2019 Fcap. 8vo, price 3s. 6d.\n\nHappiness and Utility as promoted by the Higher Education of Women. By SIR\nALEX. GRANT, Bart., Price 1s.\n\nGrandmamma\u2019s Lessons, or Little Trix.\n\nA Story for Children. Square 18mo. [In the press.\n\nLife of Father Lacordaire.\n\nBy DORA GREENWELL. Fcap. 8vo. Price 6s.\n\n  \u201cShe has done a great service in bringing before the English public\n  the career of a great man whose biography they might have refused to\n  read if written by a Roman Catholic.\u201d\u2014Church Times.\n\nScenes from the Life of Jesus.\n\nBy SAMUEL GREG. Second Edition, enlarged. Ex. fcap. 8vo, price 3s. 6d.\n\n  \u201cOne of the few theological works which can be heartily commended to\n  all classes.\u201d\u2014Inverness Courier.\n\nArboriculture; or, A Practical Treatise on Raising and Managing Forest\nTrees, and on the Profitable Extension of the Woods and Forests of Great\nBritain. By JOHN GRIGOR, The Nurseries, Forres. 8vo, price 10s. 6d.\n\n  \u201cHe is a writer whose authorship has this weighty recommendation, that\n  he can support his theories by facts, and can point to lands, worth\n  less than a shilling an acre when he found them, now covered with\n  ornamental plantations, and yielding through them a revenue equal to\n  that of the finest corn-land in the country.... His book has interest\n  both for the adept and the novice, for the large proprietor and him\n  that has but a nook or corner to plant out.\u201d\u2014Saturday Review.\n\n  \u201cMr. Grigor\u2019s practical information on all points on which an\n  intending planter is interested is particularly good.... We have\n  placed it on our shelves as a first-class book of reference on all\n  points relating to Arboriculture; and we strongly recommend others to\n  do the same.\u201d\u2014Farmer.\n\nAn Ecclesiastical History of Scotland, From the Introduction of\nChristianity to the Present Time. By GEORGE GRUB, A.M. 4 vols. 8vo, 42s.\n\nChronicle of Gudrun;\n\nA Story of the North Sea. From the medi\u00e6val German. By EMMA LETHERBROW.\nWith frontispiece by J. NOEL PATON, R.S.A. New Edition, price 5s.\n\nNotes on the Early History of the Royal Scottish Academy.\n\nBy Sir GEORGE HARVEY, Kt., P.R.S.A. 8vo, price 3s. 6d.\n\nThe Resurrection of the Dead.\n\nBy WILLIAM HANNA, D.D., LL.D., author of \u201cThe Last Day of our Lord\u2019s\nPassion,\u201d etc. 1 vol. fcap. 8vo, price 3s. 6d.\n\nThe Wars of the Huguenots.\n\nBy REV. WILLIAM HANNA, D.D., LL.D. Ex. fcap. 8vo, price 5s.\n\nThe Life of our Lord.\n\nBy the REV. WILLIAM HANNA, D.D., LL.D. 6 vols., handsomely bound in\ncloth extra, gilt edges, price 30s.\n\n        Separate vols., cloth, extra gilt edges, price 5s. each.\n\n    1. THE EARLIER YEARS OF OUR LORD. 8th Thousand.\n    2. THE MINISTRY IN GALILEE. Second Edition.\n    3. THE CLOSE OF THE MINISTRY. 6th Thousand.\n    4. THE PASSION WEEK. 5th Thousand.\n    5. THE LAST DAY OF OUR LORD\u2019S PASSION. 47th Thousand.\n    6. THE FORTY DAYS AFTER THE RESURRECTION. 9th Thousand.\n\nThe Guidman of Inglismill, and The Fairy Bride.\n\nLegends of the North. With Glossary, etc. 4to, price 2s. 6d.\n\nHeavenly Love and Earthly Echoes.\n\nBy a Glasgow Merchant. 4th Edition. 18mo, price 1s. 6d.\n\n  \u201cWe have read this volume with unmingled satisfaction. We very\n  cordially recommend it, as one much fitted to commend religion to the\n  young, to cheer and help the tempted and desponding, and indeed to\n  have a wholesome influence on the minds and hearts of all.\u201d\u2014Original\n  Secession Magazine.\n\n  \u201cFitted to be useful and heart-stirring to all who are in earnest in\n  religion. We hope and believe it will reach many more\n  editions.\u201d\u2014Christian Work.\n\nHerminius.\n\nA Romance. By I. E. S. Fcap. 8vo, price 6s.\n\nHistorians of Scotland.\n\nPrice to Non-Subscribers, 15s. per volume. An Annual Payment of \u00a31 will\nentitle the Subscriber to Two annual volumes.\n\n               Vols. for \u2502FORDUN\u2019S SCOTICHRONICON. Vol.\n                         \u2502I.\n\n                1871-2.  \u2502WYNTOUN\u2019S CHRONICLE. Vol. I.\n\n               Vols. for \u2502WYNTOUN\u2019S CHRONICLE. Vol. II.\n\n                1872-3.  \u2502FORDUN\u2019S SCOTICHRONICON. Vol.\n                         \u2502II.\n\n\u2e2b Detailed Lists of the forthcoming Volumes on application.\n\n                  *       *       *       *       *\n\nIf the Gospel Narratives are Mythical, what then?\n\nCrown 8vo, price 3s. 6d.\n\n  \u201cThis is a striking little essay ... thoughtful and subtle. It is an\n  attempt to show that something like the philosophy of the Christian\n  Gospel would be forced upon us by the facts of our spiritual\n  nature.\u201d\u2014Spectator.\n\nLectures on Scotch Legal Antiquities.\n\nBy COSMO INNES, F.S.A., author of \u201cScotland in the Middle Ages.\u201d\n\nContents:\u2014I. Introductory. II. Charters. III. Parliament. IV. The Old\nChurch. V. Old Forms of Law. VI. Rural Occupations. VII. Student\u2019s Guide\nBooks. VIII. Appendix. In 1 vol. demy 8vo, price 10s. 6d.\n\nSketches of Early Scotch History. By COSMO INNES, F.S.A., Professor of\nHistory in the University of Edinburgh. 1. The Church; its Old\nOrganisation, Parochial and Monastic. 2. Universities. 3. Family\nHistory. 8vo, price 16s.\n\nConcerning some Scotch Surnames.\n\nBy COSMO INNES, F.S.A., Professor of History in the University of\nEdinburgh. Small 4to, cloth antique, 5s.\n\nInstructive Picture-Books.\n\nFolio, 7s. 6d. each.\n\n  \u201cThese Volumes are among the most instructive Picture-books we have\n  seen, and we know of none better calculated to excite and gratify the\n  appetite of the young for the knowledge of nature.\u201d\u2014Times.\n\n                                   I.\n\nThe Instructive Picture Book. A few Attractive Lessons from the Natural\nHistory of Animals. By ADAM WHITE, late Assistant, Zoological\nDepartment,\n\nBritish Museum. With 54 folio coloured Plates. Eighth Edition,\ncontaining many new Illustrations by Mrs. BLACKBURN, J. STEWART, GOURLAY\nSTEELL, and others.\n\n                                  II.\n\nThe Instructive Picture Book. Lessons from the Vegetable World. By the\nAuthor of \u2018The Heir of Redclyffe,\u2019 \u2018The Herb of the Field,\u2019 etc. New\nEdition, with 64 Plates.\n\n                                  III.\n\nInstructive Picture Book. The Geographical Distribution of Animals, in a\nSeries of Pictures for the use of Schools and Families. By the late Dr.\nGREVILLE. With descriptive letterpress. New Edition, with 60 Plates.\n\n                                  IV.\n\nPictures of Animal and Vegetable Life in all Lands. 48 Folio Plates.\n\n                                   V.\n\nRecreative Instruction. Pictorial Lessons on Form, Comparison, and\nnumber, for Children under 7 years of age, with explanations. By\nNicholas Bohny. Fifth edition. 26 Oblong folio Plates, price 7s. 6d.\n\nThe History of Scottish Poetry, From the Middle Ages to the Close of the\nSeventeenth Century. By the late DAVID IRVING, LL.D. Edited by JOHN\nAITKEN CARLYLE, M.D. With a Memoir and Glossary. Demy 8vo, 16s.\n\nJohnny Gibb of Gushetneuk. 12mo, ornamental boards, price 2s.\n\nSermons by the Rev. John Ker, D.D., Glasgow.\n\nNinth Edition. Crown 8vo, price 6s.\n\n  \u201cThis is a very remarkable volume of sermons. And it is no doubt a\n  most favourable symptom of the healthiness of Christian thought among\n  us, that we are so often able to begin a notice with these words.\n\n  \u201cWe cannot help wishing that such notice more frequently introduced to\n  our readers a volume of Church of England sermons. Still, looking\n  beyond our pale, we rejoice notwithstanding.\n\n  \u201cMr. Ker has dug boldly and diligently into the vein which Robertson\n  opened; but the result, as compared with that of the first miner, is\n  as the product of skilled machinery set against that of the vigorous\n  unaided arm. There is no roughness, no sense of labour; all comes\n  smoothly and regularly on the page\u2014one thought evoked out of another.\n  As Robertson strikes the rock with his tool, unlooked-for sparkles\n  tempt him on; the workman exults in his discovery; behind each\n  beautiful, strange thought, there is yet another more strange and\n  beautiful still. Whereas, in this work, every beautiful thought has\n  its way prepared, and every strange thought loses its power of\n  starting by the exquisite harmony of its setting. Robertson\u2019s is the\n  glitter of the ore on the bank; Ker\u2019s is the uniform shining of the\n  wrought metal. We have not seen a volume of sermons for many a day\n  which will so thoroughly repay both purchase and perusal and\n  re-perusal. And not the least merit of these sermons is, that they are\n  eminently suggestive.\u201d\u2014Contemporary Review.\n\n  \u201cThe sermons before us are indeed of no common order; among a host of\n  competitors they occupy a high class\u2014we were about to say the highest\n  class\u2014whether viewed in point of composition, or thought, or\n  treatment.\n\n  \u201cHe has gone down in the diving-bell of a sound Christian philosophy,\n  to the very depth of his theme, and has brought up treasures of the\n  richest and most recherch\u00e9 character, practically showing the truth of\n  his own remarks in the preface, \u2018that there is no department of\n  thought or action which cannot be touched by that gospel which is the\n  manifold wisdom of God.\u2019 These subjects he has exhibited in a style\n  corresponding to their brilliancy and profoundness\u2014terse and telling,\n  elegant and captivating, yet totally unlike the tinsel ornaments laid\n  upon the subject by an elaborate process of manipulation\u2014a style which\n  is the outcome of the sentiment and feelings within, shaping itself in\n  appropriate drapery.\u201d\u2014British and Foreign Evangelical Review.\n\nStudies for Sunday Evening; or, Readings in Holy Writ.\n\nBy LORD KINLOCH. New edition, in 2 vols. fcap. 8vo, price 9s.\n\n                            Also separately.\n\nReadings in Holy Writ, and Studies for Sunday Evening.\n\nPrice 4s. 6d. each.\n\nFaith\u2019s Jewels.\n\nPresented in Verse, with other devout Verses. By LORD KINLOCH. Ex. fcap.\n8vo, price 5s.\n\nThe Circle of Christian Doctrine;\n\nA Handbook of Faith, framed out of a Layman\u2019s experience. By LORD\nKINLOCH. Third and Cheaper Edition. Fcap. 8vo, 2s. 6d.\n\nTime\u2019s Treasure; Or, Devout Thoughts for every Day of the Year. Expressed\nin verse. By LORD KINLOCH. Fourth and Cheaper Edition. Fcap. 8vo, price\n3s. 6d.\n\nDevout Moments.\n\nBy LORD KINLOCH. Price 6d.\n\nHymns to Christ. By LORD KINLOCH. Ex. fcap. 8vo, price 3s. 6d.\n\nThe Philosophy of Ethics:\n\nAn Analytical Essay. By SIMON S. LAURIE, A.M. Demy 8vo, price 6s.\n\nNotes, Expository and Critical, on certain British Theories of Morals. By\nSIMON S. LAURIE. 8vo, price 6s.\n\nThe Reform of the Church of Scotland\n\nIn Worship, Government, and Doctrine. By ROBERT LEE, D.D., late\nProfessor of Biblical Criticism in the University of Edinburgh, and\nMinister of Greyfriars. Part I. Worship. Second Edition, fcap. 8vo,\nprice 3s.\n\nLife in Normandy;\n\nSketches of French Fishing, Farming, Cooking, Natural History, and\nPolitics, drawn from Nature. By an ENGLISH RESIDENT. Third Edition,\ncrown 8vo, cloth ex. gilt, price 4s. 6d.\n\nA Memoir of Lady Anna Mackenzie, Countess of Balcarres, and afterwards of\nArgyle, 1621-1706. By ALEXANDER LORD LINDSAY (Earl of Crawford). Fcap.\n8vo, price 3s. 6d.\n\n\u201cAll who love the byways of history should read this life of a loyal\nCovenanter.\u201d\u2014Atlas.\n\nLismore, Book of the Dean of.\n\nSpecimens of Ancient Gaelic Poetry, collected between the years 1512 and\n1529 by the Rev. JAMES M\u2019GREGOR, Dean of Lismore\u2014illustrative of the\nLanguage and Literature of the Scottish Highlands prior to the Sixteenth\nCentury. Edited, with a Translation and Notes, by the Rev. THOMAS\nMACLAUCHLAN. The Introduction and additional Notes by WILLIAM P. SKENE.\n8vo, price 12s.\n\nLiterary Relics of the late A. S. Logan, Advocate, Sheriff of Forfarshire.\nExtra fcap. 8vo, price 3s. 6d.\n\nLittle Ella and the Fire-King,\n\nAnd other Fairy Tales. By M. W. with Illustrations by HENRY WARREN.\nSecond Edition. 16mo, cloth, 3s. 6d. Cloth extra, gilt edges, 4s.\n\nLittle Tales for Tiny Tots.\n\nWith 6 Illustrations by WARWICK BROOKES. Square 18mo, price 1s.\n\nA Survey of Political Economy.\n\nBy JAMES MACDONELL, M.A. Ex. fcap. 8vo, price 6s.\n\n\u201cThe author has succeeded in producing a book which is almost as easy\nreading as a three-volume novel.\u201d\u2014Athen\u00e6um.\n\n\u201cOf its class it is one of the best we have seen; and had we to choose\nfor a beginner among the crowd of manuals and introductions to the\nstudy, there is much which would induce us to recommend the present\nvolume.\u201d\u2014Spectator.\n\n\u201cMr. Macdonell\u2019s book, entitled \u2018A Survey of Political Economy,\u2019\nestablishes him as a writer of authority on economical subjects.\u201d\u2014MR.\nNEWMARCH.\n\nTen Years North of the Orange River.\n\nA Story of Everyday Life and Work among the South African Tribes, from\n1859 to 1869. By JOHN MACKENZIE, of the London Missionary Society. With\nMap and Illustrations. 1 vol. crown 8vo, cloth, extra gilt, price 4s.\n6d.\n\nNug\u00e6 Canor\u00e6 Medic\u00e6.\n\nBy DOUGLAS MACLAGAN, Professor of Medical Jurisprudence in the\nUniversity of Edinburgh. A new edition, enlarged, with Illustrations by\nTHOMAS FAED, R.A.; WILLIAM DOUGLAS, R.S.A.; JAMES ARCHER, R.S.A.; JOHN\nBALLANTYNE, R.S.A., etc. In 1 vol. 4to, price 7s. 6d.\n\nSelect Writings: Political, Scientific, Topographical, and Miscellaneous,\nof the late CHARLES MACLAREN, F.R.S.E., F.G.S., Editor of the Scotsman.\nEdited by ROBERT COX, F.S.A. Scot., and JAMES NICOL, F.R.S.E., F.G.S.,\nProfessor of Natural History in the University of Aberdeen. With a\nMemoir and Portrait. 2 vols. crown 8vo, 15s.\n\nMemorials of the Life and Ministry of Charles Calder\n\nMackintosh, D.D., of Tain and Dunoon. Edited, with a Sketch of the\nReligious History of the Northern Highlands of Scotland, by the Rev.\nWILLIAM TAYLOR, M.A. With Portrait. Second Edition, extra fcap. 8vo,\nprice 4s. 6d.\n\nMacvicar\u2019s (J. G., D.D.)\n\nTHE PHILOSOPHY OF THE BEAUTIFUL; price 6s. 6d. FIRST LINES OF SCIENCE\nSIMPLIFIED; price 5s. INQUIRY INTO HUMAN NATURE; price 7s. 6d.\n\nMary Stuart and the Casket Letters.\n\nBy J. F. N., with an Introduction by HENRY GLASSFORD BELL. Ex. fcap.\n8vo, price 4s. 6d.\n\nMax Havalaar;\n\nOr, The Coffee Auctions of the Dutch Trading Company. By MULTATULI;\ntranslated from the original MS. by Baron Nahuys. With Maps, price 14s.\n\nWhy the Shoe Pinches.\n\nA contribution to Applied Anatomy. By HERMANN MEYER, M.D., Professor of\nAnatomy in the University of Zurich. Price 6d.\n\nThe Estuary of the Forth and adjoining Districts viewed\n\nGeologically. By DAVID MILNE HOME of Wedderburn. 8vo, cloth, with Map\nand Plans, price 5s.\n\nThe Herring:\n\nIts Natural History and National Importance. By JOHN M. MITCHELL. With\nSix Illustrations, 8vo, price 12s.\n\nThe Insane in Private Dwellings.\n\nBy ARTHUR MITCHELL, A.M., M.D., Commissioner in Lunacy for Scotland,\netc. 8vo, price 4s. 6d.\n\nCreeds and Churches.\n\nBy the REV. SIR HENRY WELLWOOD MONCREIFF, Bart., D.D. Demy 8vo, price\n3s. 6d.\n\nAncient Pillar-Stones of Scotland:\n\nTheir Significance and Bearing on Ethnology. By GEORGE MOORE, M. D. 8vo,\nprice 6s. 6d.\n\nHeroes of Discovery.\n\nBy SAMUEL MOSSMAN. Crown 8vo, price 5s.\n\nPolitical Sketches of the State of Europe\u2014from 1814-1867.\n\nContaining Ernest Count M\u00fcnster\u2019s Despatches to the Prince Regent from\nthe Congress of Vienna and of Paris. By GEORGE HERBERT, Count M\u00fcnster.\nDemy 8vo, price 9s.\n\nBiographical Annals of the Parish of Colinton.\n\nBy THOMAS MURRAY, LL.D. Crown 8vo, price 3s. 6d.\n\nHistory Rescued, in Answer to \u201cHistory Vindicated,\u201d being a recapitulation\nof \u201cThe Case for the Crown,\u201d and the Reviewers Reviewed, in re the\nWigtown Martyrs. By MARK NAPIER. 8vo, price 5s.\n\nNightcaps: A Series of Juvenile Books. By \u201cAUNT FANNY.\u201d 6 vols. square\n16mo, cloth. In case, price 12s., or separately, 2s. each volume.\n\n    1. Baby Nightcaps.\n    2. Little Nightcaps.\n    3. Big Nightcaps.\n    4. New Nightcaps.\n    5. Old Nightcaps.\n    6. Fairy Nightcaps.\n\n  \u201cNeither a single story nor a batch of tales in a single volume, but a\n  box of six pretty little books of choice fiction, is Aunt Fanny\u2019s\n  contribution to the new supply of literary toys for the next\n  children\u2019s season. Imagine the delight of a little girl who, through\n  the munificence of mamma or godmamma, finds herself possessor of Aunt\n  Fanny\u2019s tastefully-decorated box. Conceive the exultation with which,\n  on raising the lid, she discovers that it contains six whole and\n  separate volumes, and then say, you grown-up folk, whose pockets are\n  bursting with florins, whether you do not think that a few of your\n  pieces of white money would be well laid out in purchasing such\n  pleasure for the tiny damsels of your acquaintance, who like to be\n  sent to bed with the fancies of a pleasant story-teller clothing their\n  sleepy heads with nightcaps of dreamy contentment. The only objection\n  we can make to the quality and fashion of Aunt Fanny\u2019s Nightcaps is,\n  that some of their joyous notions are more calculated to keep\n  infantile wearers awake all night than to dispose them to slumber. As\n  nightcaps for the daytime, however, they are, one and all,\n  excellent.\u201d\u2014Athen\u00e6um.\n\nNEW NIGHTCAPS. New cheaper Edition, Fancy Cover, price 1s.\n\n                  *       *       *       *       *\n\nODDS AND ENDS\u2014Price 6d. Each.\n\n        Vol. I., in Cloth, price 4s. 6d., containing Nos.  1-10.\n        Vol. II.,  Do.                         do.   Nos. 11-19.\n\n     1. Sketches of Highland Character.\n     2. Convicts.\n     3. Wayside Thoughts.\n     4. The Enterkin.\n     5. Wayside Thoughts\u2014Part 2.\n     6. Penitentiaries and Reformatories.\n     7. Notes from Paris.\n     8. Essays by an Old Man.\n     9. Wayside Thoughts\u2014Part 3.\n    10. The Influence of the Reformation.\n    11. The Cattle Plague.\n    12. Rough Night\u2019s Quarters.\n    13. On the Education of Children.\n    14. The Stormontfield Experiments.\n    15. A Tract for the Times.\n    16. Spain in 1866.\n    17. The Highland Shepherd.\n    18. Correlation of Forces.\n    19. \u2018Bibliomania.\u2019\n    20. A Tract on Twigs.\n    21. Notes on Old Edinburgh.\n    22. Gold-Diggings in Sutherland.\n    23. Post-Office Telegraphs.\n\nThe Bishop\u2019s Walk and The Bishop\u2019s Times.\n\nBy ORWELL. Fcap. 8vo, price 5s.\n\nMan: Where, Whence, and Whither?\n\nBeing a glance at Man in his Natural-History Relations. By DAVID PAGE,\nLL.D. Fcap. 8vo, price 3s. 6d.\n\n\u201cCautiously and temperately written.\u201d\u2014Spectator.\n\nThe Great Sulphur Cure.\n\nBy ROBERT PAIRMAN, Surgeon. Thirteenth Edition, price 1s.\n\nKidnapping in the South Seas.\n\nBeing a Narrative of a Three Months\u2019 Cruise of H. M. Ship Rosario. By\nCAPTAIN GEORGE PALMER, R.N., F.R.G.S. 8vo, illustrated, 10s. 6d.\n\nFrance: Two Lectures.\n\nBy M. PREVOST-PARADOL, of the French Academy. 8vo, price 2s. 6d.\n\n\u201cShould be carefully studied by every one who wishes to know anything\nabout contemporary French History.\u201d\u2014Daily Review.\n\nSuggestions on Academical Organisation,\n\nWith Special Reference to Oxford. By MARK PATTISON, B.D., Rector of\nLincoln College, Oxford. Crown 8vo, price 7s. 6d.\n\nPractical Water-Farming.\n\nBy WM. PEARD, M.D., LL.D. 1 vol. fcap. 8vo, price 5s.\n\nOn Teaching Universities and Examining Boards.\n\nBy LYON PLAYFAIR, C.B., M.P. 8vo, price 1s.\n\nOn Primary and Technical Education.\n\nBy LYON PLAYFAIR, C.B., M.P. 8vo, price 1s.\n\nPopular Genealogists;\n\nOr, The Art of Pedigree-making. Crown 8vo, price 4s.\n\nThe Pyramid and the Bible:\n\nThe rectitude of the one in accordance with the truth of the other. By a\nCLERGYMAN. Ex. fcap. 8vo, price 3s. 6d.\n\nQuixstar.\n\nBy the Author of \u2018Blindpits.\u2019 A Novel, in 3 vols. Crown 8vo, price 31s.\n6d.\n\nChrist and his Seed: Central to all things; being a Series of Expository\nDiscourses on Paul\u2019s Epistle to the Ephesians. By JOHN PULSFORD, Author\nof \u2018Quiet Hours.\u2019 Square 8vo, price 8s. 6d.\n\nA Critical History of the Christian Doctrine of Justification and\nReconciliation. By ALBRECHT RITSCHL, Professor Ordinarius of Theology in\nthe University of G\u00f6ttingen. Translated from the German, with the\nAuthor\u2019s sanction, by JOHN S. BLACK, M.A. 8vo, cloth, price 12s.\n\n\u201cAn exceedingly valuable contribution to theological literature. The\nhistory begins no earlier than the Middle Ages; since he considers that\nin earlier times, while the theory of a price paid to Satan was current,\nthere was no real theology on the subject. A more thorough historical\nstudy of the doctrine of the Atonement, and a correct understanding and\nappreciation of the various forms it has assumed in different schools,\nare very much needed in this country.\u201d\u2014British and Foreign Evangelical\nReview.\n\nReminiscences of Scottish Life and Character.\n\nBy E. B. RAMSAY. M.A., LL.D., F.R.S.E., Dean of Edinburgh. Library\nEdition, in demy 8vo, with Portrait by James Faed, price 10s. 6d.\n\n\u2e2b The original Edition in 2 vols., with Introductions, price 12s.; and\nthe Popular Edition, price 2s., are still on sale.\n\n\u201cThat venerable Dean, who is an absolute impersonation of the\n\u2018reminiscences\u2019 of all the Scottish Churches, who in his largeness of\nheart embraces them all, and in his steadfast friendship, his generous\nchampionship of forgotten truths and of unpopular causes, proves himself\nto be in every sense the inheritor of the noble Scottish name which he\nso worthily bears.\u201d\u2014Dean Stanley\u2019s Lectures on the Church of Scotland.\n\nDean Ramsay\u2019s Reminiscences.\n\nTwenty-first Edition, in fcap. 8vo, boards, price 2s.; cloth extra, 2s.\n6d.\n\n\u201cThe Dean of Edinburgh has here produced a book for railway reading of\nthe very first class. The persons (and they are many) who can only under\nsuch circumstances devote ten minutes of attention to any page, without\nthe certainty of a dizzy or stupid headache, in every page of this\nvolume will find some poignant anecdote or trait which will last them a\ngood half-hour for after-laughter: one of the pleasantest of human\nsensations.\u201d\u2014Athen\u00e6um.\n\nRecess Studies.\n\nEdited by Sir ALEXANDER GRANT, Bart., LL.D. 8vo, price 12s.\n\nRights of Labour, and the Nine Hours\u2019 Movement.\n\nAddressed to the Men of Newcastle. By a LADY. Price One Penny.\n\nPast and Present: or, Social and Religious Life in the North.\n\nBy H. G. REID. 1 vol., crown 8vo, illustrated, price 6s.\n\n\u201cThese papers show great good sense, a thorough appreciation of the\nimportance of social questions, and a deep conviction of the influence\nof principle and truth in a nation\u2019s true progress.\u201d\u2014Freeman.\n\nArt Rambles in Shetland.\n\nBy JOHN T. REID. Handsome 4to, cloth, profusely illustrated, price 25s.\n\n\u201cThis record of Art Rambles may be classed among the most choice and\nhighly-finished of recent publications of this sort.\u201d\u2014Saturday Review.\n\nThe One Church on Earth. How it is manifested, and what are the Terms of\nCommunion with it. By REV. JOHN ROBERTSON, A.M., Arbroath. Extra fcap.\n8vo, price 3s. 6d.\n\nHistorical Essays in connection with the Land and the\n\nChurch, etc. By E. WILLIAM ROBERTSON, Author of \u2018Scotland under her\nEarly Kings.\u2019 In 1 vol. 8vo, price 10s. 6d.\n\nCONTENTS.\n\nSTANDARDS OF THE PAST IN WEIGHT AND CURRENCY.\n\nPART I.\u20141. The Roman and Byzantine Pounds. 2. Talents of the Classical\nEra. 3. The Roman Currency. 4. The Stipendium. 5. Early Byzantine\nCurrency. Approximate Standards.\n\nPART II.\u20141. Early Substitutes for a Coinage. 2. Currency of the Early\nFranks and the House of Capet. 3. Early Germanic and Frison Currency. 4.\nNorwegian and Irish Currency. 5. Morabetin and Early Spanish Currency.\n6. Early English Currency and Standards. Medi\u00e6val Standards.\n\nTHE YEAR AND THE INDICTION.\n\nTHE LAND.\u20141. The Acre. 2. The Hide. 3. The Land-gavel. 4. The Shire. 5.\nScottish Measurements. 6. Irish Measurements. 7. Irish Land-tenure. 8.\nThe Toshach and the Thane.\n\n  CHAPTERS OF ENGLISH HISTORY BEFORE THE CONQUEST.\u20141. The King\u2019s Wife.\n  2. Handfasting. 3. The King\u2019s Kin. 4. Dunstan and his Policy. 5. The\n  Coronation of Edgar.\n\n                                 ROME.\n\n               In 1 vol. Demy 8vo, cloth, price 10s. 6d.\n\nScotland under her Early Kings.\n\nA History of the Kingdom to the close of the 13th century. By E. WILLIAM\nROBERTSON. In 2 vols. 8vo, cloth, 36s.\n\n  \u201cMr. Robertson, in the Appendix to his \u201cScotland under her Early\n  Kings\u201d on the English claims, appears to the Editor to have completely\n  disposed of the claims founded on the passages in the Monkish\n  Historians prior to the Norman Conquest. This paper is one of the\n  acutest and most satisfactory of these very able essays.\u201d\u2014W. F. Skene\n  in Preface to \u2018Chronicles of the Picts and Scots.\u2019\n\nDoctor Antonio.\n\nA Tale. By JOHN RUFFINI. Cheap Edition, crown 8vo, boards, 2s. 6d.\n\nLorenzo Benoni; Or, Passages in the Life of an Italian. By JOHN RUFFINI.\nWith Illustrations. Crown 8vo, cloth gilt, 5s. Cheap Edition, crown 8vo,\nboards, 2s. 6d.\n\nThe Salmon;\n\nIts History, Position, and Prospects. By ALEX. RUSSEL. 8vo, price 7s.\n6d.\n\nDruidism Exhumed. Proving that the Stone Circles of Britain were Druidical\nTemples. By REV. JAMES RUST. Fcap. 8vo, price 4s. 6d.\n\nGowodean:\n\nA Pastoral, by JAMES SALMON. 8vo, price 6s.\n\nNatural History and Sport in Moray.\n\nCollected from the Journals and Letters of the late CHARLES ST. JOHN,\nAuthor of \u2018Wild Sports of the Highlands.\u2019 With a short Memoir of the\nAuthor. Crown 8vo, price 8s. 6d.\n\nA Handbook of the History of Philosophy.\n\nBy DR. ALBERT SCHWEGLER. Fourth Edition. Translated and Annotated by J.\nHUTCHISON STIRLING, LL.D., Author of the \u2018Secret of Hegel.\u2019 Crown 8vo,\nprice 6s.\n\n  \u201cSchwegler\u2019s is the best possible handbook of the history of\n  philosophy, and there could not possibly be a better translator of it\n  than Dr. Stirling.\u201d\u2014Westminster Review.\n\nThe Scottish Poor-Laws: Examination of their Policy, History, and\nPractical Action. By SCOTUS. 8vo, price 7s. 6d.\n\n  \u201cThis book is a magazine of interesting facts and acute observations\n  upon this vitally important subject.\u201d\u2014Scotsman.\n\nGossip about Letters and Letter-Writers.\n\nBy GEORGE SETON, Advocate, M.A. Oxon., F.S.A. Scot. Fcap. 8vo, price 2s.\n6d.\n\n  \u201cA very agreeable little brochure, which anybody may dip into with\n  satisfaction to while away idle hours.\u201d\u2014Echo.\n\n\u2018Cakes, Leeks, Puddings, and Potatoes.\u2019\n\nA Lecture on the Nationalities of the United Kingdom. By GEORGE SETON,\nAdvocate, M.A. Oxon., etc. Second Edition. Fcap. 8vo, sewed, price 6d.\n\nCulture and Religion.\n\nBy J. C. SHAIRP, Principal of the United College of St. Salvator and St.\nLeonards, St. Andrews. Third Edition, fcap. 8vo, price 3s. 6d.\n\n  \u201cA wise book, and unlike a great many other wise books, has that\n  carefully-shaded thought and expression which fits Professor Shairp to\n  speak for Culture no less than for Religion.\u201d\u2014Spectator.\n\nJohn Keble:\n\nAn Essay on the Author of the \u2018Christian Year.\u2019 By J. C. SHAIRP,\nPrincipal of the United College of St. Salvator and St. Leonards, St.\nAndrews. Fcap. 8vo, price 3s.\n\nStudies in Poetry and Philosophy.\n\nBy J. C. SHAIRP, Principal of the United College of St. Salvator and St.\nLeonard\u2019s, St. Andrews. Second Edition, 1 vol. fcap. 8vo, price 6s.\n\nThe Shores of Fife; or the Forth and Tay.\n\nComprising Inland Scenery in Fife, Perth, Clackmannan, Kinross, and\nStirling: with frontispiece\u2014\u201cQueen Margaret expounding the Scriptures to\nMalcolm Canmore,\u201d presented by SIR NOEL PATON, Knight, R.S.A., Her\nMajesty\u2019s Limner for Scotland; and original drawings, by WALLER H.\nPATON, R.S.A., SAMUEL BOUGH, A.R.S.A., JOHN LAWSON, W. F. VALLANCE, E.\nT. CRAWFORD, R.S.A., CLARK STANTON, A.R.S.A., J. H. OSWALD, JOHN T.\nREID, and other Artists. Engraved by WILLIAM BALLINGALL.\n\n                              CONTAINING\u2014\n\n  AN OUTLINE OF THE ARCH\u00c6OLOGY OR FIFE, by A. LAING, F.S.A. Scot.,\n  Newburgh-on-Tay.\n\n  HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE ACCOUNT OF ST. ANDREWS, by the Very Rev.\n  PRINCIPAL TULLOCH, D.D.\n\n  HISTORICAL AND DESCRIPTIVE NOTES ON FALKLAND PALACE, LOCHLEVEN,\n  RUMBLING BRIDGE, PERTH, DUNDEE, NEWPORT, BROUGHTY-FERRY, BELL ROCK,\n  etc., by the Rev. 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Simpson Bart., M.D.\n\nBy JOHN DUNS, D.D., Professor of Natural Science, New College,\nEdinburgh. Demy, 8vo.\n\nArch\u00e6ological Essays by the late Sir James Y. Simpson, Bart., M.D.,\nD.C.L., one of her Majesty\u2019s Physicians for Scotland, and Professor of\nMedicine and Midwifery in the University of Edinburgh. Edited by JOHN\nSTUART, LL.D., Secretary of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland,\nAuthor of \u2018The Sculptured Stones of Scotland,\u2019 etc. etc. 2 vols. sm.\n4to, half Roxburghe, price \u00a32:2s.\n\nProposal to Stamp out Small-pox and other Contagious\n\nDiseases. By Sir J. Y. SIMPSON, Bart., M.D., D.C.L. Price 1s.\n\nThe Four Ancient Books of Wales, Containing the Cymric Poems attributed to\nthe Bards of the Sixth Century. By WILLIAM F. SKENE. With Maps and\nFacsimiles. 2 vols. 8vo, price 36s.\n\n\u201cMr. Skene\u2019s book will, as a matter of course and necessity,\nfind its place on the tables of all Celtic antiquarians and\nscholars.\u201d\u2014Arch\u00e6ologia Cambrensis.\n\nThe Coronation Stone.\n\nBy WILLIAM F. SKENE. Small 4to. With Illustrations in Photography and\nZincography. Price 6s.\n\nNearness of Kin: its Principle in Scripture and in Nature.\n\nBy Rev. J. M. SLOAN. 8vo, price 6d.\n\nThe Sermon on the Mount.\n\nBy the REV. WALTER C. SMITH, Author of \u2018The Bishop\u2019s Walk, and other\nPoems, by Orwell,\u2019 and \u2018Hymns of Christ and Christian Life.\u2019 Crown 8vo,\nprice 6s.\n\nDisinfectants and Disinfection.\n\nBy DR. ROBERT ANGUS SMITH. 8vo, price 5s.\n\n\u201cBy common consent Dr. Angus Smith has become the first authority in\nEurope on the subject of Disinfectants. To this subject he has devoted a\nlarge portion of his scientific life; and now, in a compact volume of\nonly 138 pages, he has condensed the result of twenty years of patient\nstudy. To Sanitary officers, to municipal and parochial authorities,\nand, indeed, to all who are particularly concerned for the public health\nand life; and who is not? we sincerely commend Dr. Angus Smith\u2019s\ntreatise.\u201d\u2014Chemical News.\n\nLife and Work at the Great Pyramid.\n\nWith a Discussion of the Facts Ascertained. By C. PIAZZI SMYTH,\nF.R.SS.L. and E., Astronomer-Royal for Scotland. 3 vols. demy 8vo, price\n56s.\n\nAn Equal-Surface Projection for Maps of the World, and its Application to\ncertain Anthropological Questions. By C. PIAZZI SMYTH, F.R.SS.L. & E.,\nAstronomer-Royal for Scotland. 8vo, price 3s.\n\nBritain\u2019s Art Paradise; or, Notes on some Pictures in the Royal Academy,\n1871. 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By REV.\nEDWARD STEANE, D.D. 8vo, Price 10s. 6d.\n\n  \u201cI have now attentively, and with great pleasure, perused your volume,\n  and I desire to express my sincere thankfulness to God and to you for\n  so timely a publication.\u201d\u2014J. H. HINTON, M.A.\n\n  \u201cWe have read this volume with more than ordinary pleasure. In the\n  midst of so much in modern theological literature that is\n  objectionable or doubtful, it is refreshing to meet with a clear,\n  manly, outspoken exposition of those great evangelical doctrines which\n  are in danger of being less \u2018commonly believed among us\u2019 than they\n  were among our fathers. The style of the whole book is clear, free,\n  and vigorous; it is characterised by a tone of sustained eloquence\n  which reminds us more of the style of Dr. Chalmers than anything we\n  have read for a long time.\u201d\u2014Wesleyan Methodist Magazine.\n\n  \u201cThe style is graceful and flowing, the spirit devout and tender, and\n  the theology of the Puritan type.\u201d\u2014General Baptist Magazine.\n\n  \u201cHere there is no uncertain sound on the doctrine of substitution and\n  of expiatory sacrifice, nor on that which Luther called \u2018Articulus\n  stantis vel cadentis ecclesi\u00e6,\u2019 the great doctrine of justification by\n  faith.\u201d\u2014Daily Review.\n\n  \u201cIn our judgment, a more valuable contribution in a single volume to\n  the exposition, defence, and illustration of evangelical truth has not\n  been often made. Thoughtful educated Christian laymen, students, and\n  young ministers, will read it with equal pleasure and profit.\u201d\u2014The\n  Literary World.\n\n  \u201cA handsome welcome book, full of the old Gospel, and rich in\n  tenderness and feeling, the ripe fruit of an honoured and green old\n  age. The work is conscientiously and lovingly done, and the result is\n  a treatise on the Prophetic, Priestly, and Kingly Offices of Our Lord\n  such as will give to all readers much intelligent thought and much\n  holy and suggestive sentiment. The text gives proof of careful study\n  and ample scholarship, and it is further enriched with notes taken\n  from recent Biblical criticism.\u201d\u2014The Freeman.\n\nMemoir of Sir James Dalrymple, First Viscount Stair, President of the\nCourt of Session in Scotland, and Author of \u2018The Institutions of the Law\nof Scotland.\u2019 A Study in the History of Scotland and Scotch Law during\nthe Seventeenth Century. By \u00c6. J. G. MACKAY, Advocate. 8vo, price 12s.\n\nHistory Vindicated in the Case of the Wigtown Martyrs.\n\nBy the REV. ARCHIBALD STEWART. Second Edition. 8vo, price 3s. 6d.\n\nDugald Stewart\u2019s Collected Works.\n\nEdited by Sir WILLIAM HAMILTON, Bart., Vols. I. to X. 8vo, cloth, each\n12s.\n\n  Vol. I.\u2014Dissertation. Vols. II. III. and IV.\u2014Elements of the\n  Philosophy of the Human Mind. Vol. V.\u2014Philosophical Essays. Vols. VI.\n  and VII\u2014Philosophy of the Active and Moral Powers of Man. Vols. VIII.\n  and IX.\u2014Lectures on Political Economy. Vol. X.\u2014Biographical Memoirs of\n  Adam Smith, LL.D., William Robertson, D.D., and Thomas Reid, D.D.; to\n  which is prefixed a Memoir of Dugald Stewart, with Selections from his\n  Correspondence, by John Veitch, M.A. Supplementary Vol.\u2014Translations\n  of the Passages in Foreign Languages contained in the Collected Works;\n  with General Index.\n\nJerrold, Tennyson, Macaulay, and other Critical Essays.\n\nBy JAMES HUTCHISON STIRLING, LL.D., Author of \u2018The Secret of Hegel.\u2019 1\nvol. fcap. 8vo, price 5s.\n\n  \u201cThe author of \u2018The Secret of Hegel\u2019 here gives us his opinions of the\n  lives and works of those three great representative Englishmen whose\n  names appear on the title-page of the work before us. Dr. Stirling\u2019s\n  opinions are entitled to be heard, and carry great weight with them.\n  He is a lucid and agreeable writer, a profound metaphysician, and by\n  his able translations from the German has proved his grasp of mind and\n  wide acquaintance with philosophical speculation.\u201d\u2014Examiner.\n\nSongs of the Seasons.\n\nBy THOMAS TOD STODDART, Author of \u2018The Angler\u2019s Companion.\u2019 Crown 8vo,\nprice 6s.\n\nChrist the Consoler;\n\nOr, Scriptures, Hymns, and Prayers, for Times of Trouble and Sorrow.\nSelected and arranged by the REV. ROBERT HERBERT STORY, Minister of\nRoseneath. Fcap. 8vo, price 3s. 6d.\n\nRecollections of Professor John Duncan.\n\nBy the Rev. A. MOODY STUART. Uniform with \u2018Colloquia Peripatetica.\u2019\nFcap. 8vo, cloth, price 3s. 6d.\n\nOutlines of Scottish Arch\u00e6ology.\n\nBy REV. G. SUTHERLAND. 12mo, sewed, profusely Illustrated, price 1s.\n\nWorks by the late Professor Syme.\n\nOBSERVATIONS IN CLINICAL SURGERY. Second Edition. 8vo, price 8s. 6d.\n\nSTRICTURE OF THE URETHRA, AND FISTULA IN PERINEO. 8vo, 4s. 6d.\n\nTREATISE ON THE EXCISION OF DISEASED JOINTS. 8vo, 5s.\n\nON DISEASES OF THE RECTUM. 8vo, 4s. 6d.\n\nEXCISION OF THE SCAPULA. 8vo, price 2s. 6d.\n\nTaine\u2019s History of English Literature.\n\nA New and carefully revised Library Edition. In 4 vols., small demy 8vo,\nprice 7s. 6d. each.\n\n                                                   [Vol. I. immediately.\n\nTaine\u2019s History of English Literature.\n\nTranslated from the French by HENRI VAN LAUN. Third edition. 2 Vols.\ndemy 8vo, price 21s.\n\n\u2e2b Copies of Vol. ii., Second Edition, may still be had to complete sets.\n\n  \u201c\u2018Taine\u2019s History of English Literature\u2019 shows a sounder appreciation\n  of the spirit of our literature, and is a better exponent of its\n  growth from stage to stage, and of the minute characteristics of each\n  stage, than any of the numerous summaries and outline histories that\n  have been produced by Englishmen.... Of the general method pursued by\n  M. Taine in this work we cannot speak too highly.... We are bound to\n  bear testimony at once to the very great ability with which M. Van\n  Laun has translated the work.\u201d\u2014The Examiner.\n\n  \u201cTaine\u2019s short chapter on Chaucer is thoroughly well worth reading....\n  His chapter on our dramatic literature is particularly noteworthy....\n  A better exposition of the nature and ramifications of Shakspeare\u2019s\n  genius could hardly be looked for within the limits of a moderately\n  short chapter.\u201d\u2014The Examiner.\n\n  \u201cM. van Laun has done a difficult task admirably well, by translating\n  into the English of a scholar one of the most brilliant books that\n  France has produced for years.... The analysis of a consummate critic\n  and a brilliant rhetorician ... with as true a sympathy as if all his\n  life he had breathed the intellectual air of England.\u201d\u2014The Spectator.\n\nThermodynamics.\n\nBy P. G. TAIT, Professor of Natural Philosophy in the University of\nEdinburgh. 1 vol. 8vo, price 5s.\n\nDay-Dreams of a Schoolmaster.\n\nBy D\u2019ARCY W. THOMPSON. Second Edition. Fcap. 8vo, price 5s.\n\nSales Attici:\n\nOr, The Maxims, Witty and Wise, of Athenian Tragic Drama. By D\u2019ARCY\nWENTWORTH THOMPSON, Professor of Greek in Queen\u2019s College, Galway. Fcap.\n8vo, price 9s.\n\nTwo Little Rabbits, or the Sad Story of Whitetail.\n\nBy G. A. DALRYMPLE. With 8 Illustrations. Square 18mo, price 1s.\n\nHandbook of the Education (Scotland) Act, 1872.\n\nContaining\u2014I. A digest of the Act, with subjects grouped for the\nconvenience of School Boards. II. Copy of the Act, with Explanatory\nNotes. III. The Incorporated Acts, Industrial Schools\u2019 Act, etc., and\nIndex. By JAMES TOD, Advocate. Fourth Edition. Crown 8vo, price 2s. 6d.\n\nTwelve Years in China:\n\nBy a British Resident. With coloured Illustrations. Second Edition.\nCrown 8vo, cloth, price 10s. 6d.\n\nTravels by Umbra. 8vo, price 10s. 6d.\n\nHotch-Pot.\n\nBy UMBRA. An Old Dish with New Materials. Fcap. 8vo, price 3s. 6d.\n\nThe Merchant\u2019s Sermon and other Stories.\n\nBy L. B. WALFORD. 18mo, price 1s. 6d.\n\n  \u201cA volume of very modest appearance which deserves more than the brief\n  notice for which we can find space. The four tales it contains are all\n  pleasant and spirited little stories. The last of these, \u2018Dolly\n  Spanker\u2019s Green Feather,\u2019 is really admirable.\u201d\u2014Spectator.\n\nA History of the Battle of Bannockburn, fought A.D. 1314.\n\nWith Map and Armorial Bearings, and Notices of the principal Warriors\nwho engaged in that Conflict. By ROBERT WHITE, Author of \u2018A History of\nthe Battle of Otterburn.\u2019 1 vol. 8vo, price 12s.\n\nDante\u2019s\u2014The Inferno.\n\nTranslated line for line by W. P. WILKIE, Advocate. Fcap. 8vo, price 5s.\n\nResearches on Colour-Blindness.\n\nWith a Supplement on the danger attending the present system of Railway\nand Marine Coloured Signals. By the late GEORGE WILSON, M.D. 8vo, 5s.\n\nAn Historical Sketch of the French Bar, from its Origin to the Present\nDay. By ARCHIBALD YOUNG, Advocate. Demy 8vo, price 7s. 6d.\n\n  \u201cA useful contribution to our knowledge of the leading French\n  politicians of the present day.\u201d\u2014Saturday Review.\n\n\n\n\n------------------------------------------------------------------------\n\n\n\n\n \u25cf Transcriber\u2019s Notes:\n    \u25cb The Errata was applied to the text. The corrections made are as\n      follows:\n        \u25aa Page lxxix.\u2014For \u201cH\u00e1 Kirkiu\u201d, read \u201cH\u00e1 Kirkia\u201d.\n        \u25aa Page 44.\u2014For \u201cShe was married to Kolbein Hruga, read \u201cShe was\n          the mother of Hakon Barn and of Herborg, who was married to\n          Kolbein Hruga.\u201d\n        \u25aa Page 135.\u2014After \u201cVerbon\u201d, read \u201c(Nerbon).\u201d\n        \u25aa Page Footnote 1 on p. 157 (footnote 403).\u2014For \u201cCorness\u201d, read\n          \u201cCarness\u201d.\n        \u25aa Page Footnote 1 on p. 192 (footnote 449).\u2014For \u201cdeath\u201d, in Note\n          1, read \u201cdivorce\u201d.\n\n    \u25cb Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected.\n    \u25cb Typographical errors were silently corrected.\n    \u25cb Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only\n      when a predominant form was found in this book.\n    \u25cb Text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_);\n      text that was bold by \u201cequal\u201d signs (=bold=).","title":"The Orkneyinga Saga","tradition":"myth-cosmogony","translated_text":null,"word_count":141966}