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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4d72012 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #50249 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50249) diff --git a/old/50249-0.txt b/old/50249-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 6874952..0000000 --- a/old/50249-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,1531 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Orkney and Shetland Folk 872-1350, by A. W. Johnston - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Orkney and Shetland Folk 872-1350 - -Author: A. W. Johnston - -Release Date: October 18, 2015 [EBook #50249] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ORKNEY AND SHETLAND FOLK 872-1350 *** - - - - -Produced by Henry Flower and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - - - - - Orkney and Shetland Folk - 872-1350 - - - BY - A. W. JOHNSTON - - - LONDON - Printed for the Viking Society for Northern Research - University of London - 1914 - - - - -ORKNEY AND SHETLAND FOLK, 872-1350. - - - NOTE.--Unless where otherwise stated this paper is founded on - _Orkneyinga Saga_ (Rolls Series, text and translation). Page - references are to _Orkney and Shetland Records_, Vol. I. Fb., - _Flateyjarbók_. Hkr., _Heimskringla_. J.J., Jacob Jakobsen’s works. - S.S., _Sturlunga Saga_. - -This paper is an attempt to describe the mixed races which inhabited -Orkney and Shetland from the foundation of the Norse earldom, in -872, until the end of the rule of the Gaelic earls, _circa_ 1350, -and it is a first instalment of the evidence on which a paragraph -on “person-names” was founded, in the _Introduction_ to _Orkney and -Shetland Records_, vol. I. - -The earliest inhabitants, of whom we have any record, were the Picts, -and the Irish papas and Columban missionaries, who must have brought -some Irish settlers with them. - -It has already been suggested that the Norse must have settled in -Orkney and Shetland, _circa_ 664, among the aboriginal race, the Picts, -who would have become their thralls, and with whom the settlers would -have intermarried. - -The first Norsemen who came to Orkney and Shetland would have been -adventurers, and not settlers with wives, families and thralls, such -as later went to Iceland and Orkney. Consequently such adventurers -who settled in the islands would naturally have intermarried with the -aborigines. This kind of male settlement may have gone on for some -time, before the actual _bona fide_ colonisation took place. - -It has already been pointed out that Shetland was not so fully -colonised as Orkney, at the commencement of the Norse migration, which -appears to account for the older Norse dialect forms in Orkney, and -for the survival of more Keltic island-names in Shetland. - -A stronger Pictish strain is thus, on that account, to be looked for in -Shetland. The Norse would select the easiest landing-places, while the -Kelts would occupy the inland and inaccessible places, as they did in -the Isle of Man. The two inland districts of Hara and Stennes in Orkney -are especially rich in the remains of the pre-Norse inhabitants--stone -circles, brochs, etc.; and Ireland, the only sea-board of Stennes, is -particularly inhospitable for shipping. - -Besides the archæological and topographical proof of the continued -residence of the Picts in Orkney and Shetland, there is the much more -reliable evidence of anthropology, in the existence of a large strain -of the small and dark race in both Orkney and Shetland, representing -the aboriginal race, the later prisoners of raids and the later -settlers from Scotland. Allowance must also be made for thralls brought -from Norway. - -Queen Auðr djúpauðga (deeply-wealthy) or djúpúðga (deeply-wise), -passed through Orkney, in the ninth century, on her way to Iceland, -with twenty freed Irish thralls. After this, Einarr, grandson of earl -Torf-Einarr, went to Iceland from Orkney with two Vestmenn (Irishmen). -_Írar_, Irish, occurs in place-names in Iceland, Orkney and Shetland, -in each of which latter there is an _Ireland_. - -It will now be proved that there were only three possible pure-bred -Norse earls of Orkney and Shetland, viz., the first three--Sigurðr hinn -ríki, his son, GuÞormr, and his nephew, Hallaðr. - -The first earl of the main line was Torf-Einarr, who was half Norse -and half thrall, his mother being probably of the pre-Norse dark -race. His son, the next earl, married a Gael, and after this, through -repeated Gaelic marriages, the succeeding earls in the Norse male -line were never more than a cross between Norse and Gael, sometimes -almost approaching pure-bred Gaels, if the rules of a modern breeding -society are to be observed. The same holds good of earl St. Rögnvaldr, -a Norwegian, who succeeded on the distaff side, his mother being of -Gaelic extraction. The Gaelic conversion of the earls was completed on -the succession of the Gaelic earls in 1139. - -The next step will be to show that the leading families, some of which -were related to the earls, were also mainly of Gaelic descent, and in -some cases probably in the male line. - -As the Gaels did not give up patronymics and begin to assume permanent -surnames (usually those of their chiefs), until after 1350, those -who settled in Orkney before that, and became Norse in language -and customs, of course adopted the Norse, in place of the Gaelic, -patronymic, _i.e._, _-son_ for _mac-_. This was done by the Gaelic -earls in Orkney, in precisely the same way as had been done by the -Irish settlers in Iceland. - -In reply to a query, Sir Herbert Maxwell writes: “You ask me to fix a -date ‘when patronymics flourished and ceased in the Highlands?’ I think -it would be impossible to do so. There were few, if any, fixed surnames -in England or Lowland Scotland before the middle of the thirteenth -century, other than territorial ones, derived from the feudal tenure -of land. In the Highlands, the adoption of fixed names appears to have -been indefinitely deferred. Such counties as Perth and Dumbarton, -being nearest the frontier of civilisation, their people would find it -convenient to conform to the habit of their neighbours. In more remote -districts the shifting patronymic prevailed much longer, and when it -was abandoned individuals frequently assumed the surname of their -chief or the name of his clan, which accounts for the old patronymic -‘Macdonald’ being the third commonest surname in Scotland; Smith and -Brown being first and second.” - -In the following description particular attention will be called -to personal appearance, character, habits, superstitions, etc., as -indications of descent. - - -THE NORSE EARLS. - -Earl Torf-Einarr, 875-910, was the illegitimate son of the Norwegian -earl Rögnvaldr, by a thrall mother who was thrall born on all sides, -_í allar ættir þrælborinn_. He was therefore half Norse and half -thrall. His mother was probably of the pre-Norse small dark race, the -Finnar or Lappir, which may account for her son being ugly, _ljótr_, -one-eyed, _einsýnn_, but keen-sighted, _skygnstr_, an expression which -latterly meant second-sighted, and capable of seeing elves, etc. He -saw, what others did not, Hálfdán há-leggr, the self-appointed “king of -Orkney,” bobbing up and down on another island, and had a _blóð-örn_, -blood-eagle, carved on him. - -His poetic genius may have been the result of the mixture of Norse and -Finn. He died of sickness, _sótt-dauðr_, equivalent to _strá-dauðr_, -straw-dead, died in bed, an ignominious death for a víkingr. - -Nothing is known of his wife, but, as he had children before he left -Norway, she was, probably, a Norwegian. - -His children were earls Þorfinnr, Arnkell and Erlendr, and two -daughters, Þórdís, born in his youth, in Norway (she was brought up -by her grandfather, earl Rögnvaldr, and married Þórgeirr klaufi, -whose son Einarr went to Orkney to his kinsmen, and as they would not -receive him, he bought a ship and went to Iceland), and Hlíf, who had -descendants in Iceland. - -Earl Þorfinnr hausakljúfr (skull-cleaver), 910-963, was the son of earl -Torf-Einarr and an unknown mother, probably Norwegian, so that he would -be three-fourths Norse and one-fourth thrall in descent. He married -Grelöð, a daughter of Dungað (Gaelic _Donnchadh_, Duncan), Gaelic earl -of Caithness, and Gróa, daughter of Þorsteinn rauðr.[1] - -[1] Hkr. - -He is described as a great chief and warrior, _mikill höfðingi ok -herskár_, and died of sickness, _sótt-dauðr_, and was buried in a -mound, _heygðr_, in Rögnvaldsey _á Haugs-eiði_, at Hoxa. The Saga -reads _á Hauga-heiði_, wrongly; this isthmus would have been called -_Haugs-eið_, how’s isthmus, because the Norse found on it a large -mound, which covered the ruins of a pre-Norse round tower, in which the -earl may have been buried. - -His children were earls Arnfinnr, Hávarðr ár-sæli (of prosperous -years), Hlöðver, Ljótr or Arnljótr, and Skúli, and two daughters. Three -of his five sons married, in turn, the murdress Ragnhildr, daughter -of king Eiríkr blóðöx and the notorious Gunnhildr. She killed her -first husband herself. The second husband was killed by his nephew -Einarr klíningr (butter), at the instigation of his aunt, who promised -to marry him, and for which deed he was thought to be a _níðingr_, -dastard. Preparatory to marrying the third brother, she got rid of -Einarr at the hands of his cousin Einarr harðkjöptr (hard-jawed), who -was in turn slain by the third and last husband. - -One cannot wonder at the character of Ragnhildr, considering the -antecedents of her mother Gunnhildr, the reputed daughter of Özurr -toti, a lord in Hálogaland. She, probably a Finn, was found in a -Finmark cot, studying wizardry, and was brought to Eiríkr blóðöx, who, -struck with her great beauty, obtained her in marriage. She was held -guilty of having poisoned king Hálfdán svarti. Her life was spent in -plotting and mischief. She is described in _Heimskringla_: the fairest -of women, wise and cunning in witchcraft; glad of speech and guileful -of heart, and the grimmest of all folk. Fortunately, her daughter left -no descendants in Orkney. - -Earl Hlöðver (Ludovick or Lewis), 963-980, was the son of earl -Þorfinnr hausakljúfr, and Grelöð, who was half a Gael, and so he was -five-eighths Norse, one-eighth thrall and two-eighths Gael. He is -described as a mighty chief, _mikill höfðingi_, and died of sickness, -_sótt-dauðr_. He married Eðna (Eithne), daughter of the Irish king, -Kjarvalr (Cearbhall). She was learned in witchcraft, _margkunnig_, -and wove a magic banner, _merki_, in raven form, _hrafns-mynd_, for -her son; and predicted that those before whom it was borne should be -victorious, _sigrsæll_, but it would be deadly, _banvænt_, to the -bearer. - -Their children were earl Sigurðr hinn digri, and a daughter, Nereiðr or -Svanlaug, who married earl Gilli of Kola (Coll). - -Earl Sigurðr hinn digri, 980-1014, was the son of earl Hlöðver and -an Irish Gael, and was 5/16 Norse, 1/16 thrall, and 10/16 Gael. He -was a mighty chief, _höfðingi mikill_, and a great warrior.[2] He was -killed in the battle of Clontarf, _Brjáns-bardagi_, in Ireland in -1014, with the fatal _hrafns-merki_ wound around him, as no one else -would bear his _fjándi_, fiend. He was converted to Christianity by -the sword-baptism of king Ólafr Tryggvason, although he expressed his -preference for the religion and carved gods of his Norse forefathers, -notwithstanding any Christian teaching he may have received from his -Irish mother beyond witchcraft. He gave up the confiscated óðul to -the Orkney bœndr (for one generation) in return for military services -rendered against the Scots. The name of his first wife is unknown, -and his second one was a daughter of Malcolm, the Scot king. His -children by his first wife were Hundi or Hvelpr (Gaelic, _Cuilen_, who -was baptised with the name of his grandfather, earl Hlöðver), Einarr -rang-muðr, stern, grasping, unfriendly, and a great warrior, Brúsi, -meek, kept his feelings well in hand, humble and ready-tongued, and -Sumarliði. - -[2] Hkr. - -Earl Þorfinnr hinn ríki, 1014-1064, was the son of earl Sigurðr digri -and his second wife, a Gael, and was 5/32 Norse, 1/32 thrall, and 26/32 -Gael in descent. He was _bráðgjörr í vexti, manna mestr ok sterkastr_, -early in reaching full growth, tallest and strongest of men; _svartr -á hár_, black hair; _skarpleitr ok skolbrúnn_, sharp features and -swarthy complexion; _ljótr_, ugly; _nefmikill_, big nose; _kappsmaðr_, -an energetic man; _ágjarn bæði til fjár ok metnaðar_, greedy of wealth -and honour; _sigrsæll_, lucky in battle; _kænn í orrostum_, skilful in -war; _góðr áræðis_, of good courage. King Ólafr found that Þorfinnr -was _miklu skapstærri en Brúsi_, much more proud of spirit than his -brother, Brúsi. Þorfinnr gladly agreed with all the king’s proposals, -but the king doubted that he meant to go back on them, whereas he -thought that Brúsi, who drove a hard bargain, would keep his word, -and would be a _trúnaðar-maðr_, faithful liegeman. The earl married -Ingibjörg, jarla-móðir, daughter of Finnr Árnason. He made a pilgrimage -to Rome, got absolution from the Pope, and built the first cathedral in -Birsa, Orkney, where he died. - -He was liberal, in that he did that _frama-verk_, honourable deed, by -which he provided his _hirð_, bodyguard, and many other _ríkis-menn_, -mighty men, all winter through, with both _matr ok mun-gát_, food and -ale, so that no man required to put up at a _skytningr_, inn; whereas, -kings and earls in other lands, merely made a like provision only -during Yule. Arnórr jarlaskáld sang to his praise in his _Þorfinns -drápa_, and noted his liberal fare. - -His children were earls Páll and Erlendr, who were _miklir menn ok -fríðir_, mickle men and handsome, and so took after their Norwegian -_móðurætt_, mother’s kin, and were _vitrir ok hógværir_, wise and -modest; taking after their mother, a Norwegian, is in contrast to their -father, who was almost a pure-bred, black-haired, swarthy Gael. - -Earl Rögnvaldr Brúsason, 1036-1046, was the son of earl Brúsi -Sigurðarson and an unknown mother, and the nephew of earl Þorfinnr -hinn ríki. The _fríðastr_, most handsome of all men; _hárit mikit ok -gult sem silki_, much hair, yellow as silk; _snimma mikill ok sterkr, -manna var hann gjörfiligastr bæði fyrir vits saker ok svá kurteisi_, -tall and strong, the most perfect man was he both in wits and courtesy; -_fríðastr sjónum_, most handsome in face; _atgervi-maðr mikill svá at -eigi fanst hans jafningi_, an accomplished man without an equal. Arnórr -jarlaskáld said that he was the _bezt menntr af Orkneyja-jörlum_, the -most accomplished and best bred of the earls of Orkney. From this -description one would imagine that his unknown mother and grandmother -had both been Norwegians. It is not stated whether he was married or -had any children. - -Earl Páll Þorfinnsson, 1064-1098, was the son of earl Þorfinn hinn ríki -and Ingibjörg, a Norwegian, after whom he took--handsome and modest. He -was thus 19/32 Norse and 13/32 Gael in descent. - -He married a daughter of earl Hákon Ívarsson and Ragnhildr, daughter -of king Magnús hinn góði. Their children were earl Hákon, and four -daughters, Herbjörg (ancestress of bishop Biarni), Ingiriðr, Ragnhildr -(ancestress of Hákon kló), and Þóra. - -He was banished to Norway, in 1098, where he died. - -From 1098 to 1103, Sigurðr (afterwards king Sigurðr Jórsalafari), the -eighty-year-old son of king Magnús berfœttr, was earl of Orkney. - -Earl Erlendr Þorfinnsson, 1064-1098, was the son of earl Þorfinnr -hinn ríki and Ingibiörg, a Norwegian, and so was 19/32 Norse and -13/32 Gael in descent. He married Þóra Sumarliðadóttir, whose mother -and grandmother are not mentioned, but her father was the son of an -Icelander. The earl was banished to Norway, in 1098, where he died. - -His children were, earl St. Magnús, Gunnhildr, who married Kolr -Kalason, whose son Kali became earl Rögnvaldr, and Cecilia who -married Ísak, a Norwegian, whose sons were Kolr and Eindriði. He had -a thrall-born illegitimate daughter called Játvör (fem. of Játvarðr, -the Norse form of Edward), who had a son called Borgar,--the earliest -record of this name, which, however, occurs in Norwegian place-names; -they were both, mother and son, rather disliked, _úvinsæl_. - -Earl Hákon Pálsson, 1103-1122, was the son of earl Páll Þorfinnsson and -a Norwegian mother, and was 51/64 Norse and 13/64 Gael in descent. - -He was _ofstopamaðr mikill_, a very overbearing man, _mikill ok -sterkr_, great and strong; and _vel menntr um alla hluti_, well-bred, -accomplished in every way. He would be the _fyrirmaðr_, leader, over -his cousins, and thought himself better born, being the great grandson -of king Magnús hinn góði. He always wanted the largest share for -himself and his friends, and was _öfund_, jealous, of his cousins. When -abroad he suffered from _landmunr_, home-sickness, and wanted _at sækja -vestr til Eyja_, to seek west to the _Isles_ (Orkney). He consulted a -wizard as to his future. He murdered his cousin, St. Magnús, in order -to get the whole earldom, and then made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. -He ended by being a good ruler, and died in the Isles. - -It is not known whom he married, if he was wedded at all; but his son, -earl Páll, appears to have had a mother other than his father’s known -_frilla_ or concubine. She was a Gael, Helga, daughter of Moddan, a -nobleman rolling in wealth, _göfugr maðr ok vell-auðigr_, who lived in -Dalir, or Dalr, in Katanes. The Gaelic name _Moddan_ may be connected -with the Irish _O’Madadhain_. This man’s family of daughters was a -disgrace even to the morals of the twelfth century. After earl Hákon’s -death, Helga, aided by her sister Frakök, attempted to murder her -step-son, earl Páll, by means of a bewitched garment, white as snow, -_línklœði hvitt sem fönn_, which they had sewn and embroidered with -gold, but which her own jealous son donned and paid the penalty. Earl -Páll, who naturally deemed that this precious article, _gersemi_, had -been intended for him, promptly cleared them, and their family and -dependents, _skulda-lið_, out of the islands. - -It was the opinion of earl Rögnvaldr that Frakök was an old hag who -would not do anybody good, _kerling er til einkis er fær_. She was -burnt alive in her house by Sveinn Ásleifarson, for having instigated -her grandson Ölver rósta to burn Svein’s father in his house. -Moddan’s carlines and their offspring wormed themselves into Orkney -society. Frakök (a Gaelic name?) married Ljótr níðingr (the dastard) -of Sutherland, and their daughter married Þorljótr of Rekavík (in -Orkney). Another daughter married Þorsteinn fjaranz-muðr (dreadful -mouth). Þorleif Moddansdöttir was the mother of Auðhildr, the frilla -of Sigurðr slembi-djákn (the slim or tricky deacon), by whom he had an -illegitimate daughter, who married Hákon kló. Sigurðr himself, was the -illegitimate son of a priest, Aðalbrigð. When he and Frakök came to -Orkney a great faction, _sveitar-dráttr mikill_, took place. He took -part in the slaughter of Þorkell fóstri, a man much beloved in Orkney, -for which the deacon was promptly deported as an undesirable alien. As -the pretended son of king Magnús berfœttr, he, however, met a terrible -death with remarkable fortitude. Earl Hákon’s children were: earls -Haraldr slétt-máli (smooth-speaking) and Páll úmálgi (the silent), -Margrét, who married Maddadh, the Gaelic earl of Atholl, and Ingibjörg, -who married Ólafr bitlingr (the morsel), king of Suðreyjar. - -Earl St. Magnús Erlendsson, 1108-1116, was the son of earl Erlendr -Þorfinnsson and Þóra Sumarliðadóttir. In descent, 51/64 Norse 13/64 -Gael. In personal appearance he was, great of growth, _mikill at -vexti_; manly, _drengiligr_; intellectual in appearance, _skýligr -at yfirlitum_. The saga is voluminous in a description of his -good qualities, etc., _e.g._, he was a most noble man, _ágætastr_; -of good morals in life, _siðgóðr í háttum_; fortunate in battle, -_sigrsæll í orrostum_; a sage in wit, _spekingr at viti_; eloquent -and high-spirited and generous, _málsnjallr ok ríklundaðr_; liberal -of wealth and magnanimous, _örr af fé ok stórlyndr_; wise in counsel -and more beloved than any other man, _ráðsvinnr ok hverjum manni -vinsælli_; gentle and of good speech, with kind and good men, _blíðr -ok góðr viðmælis við spaka menn ok góða_; hard and unforbearing with -robbers and víkingar, _harðr, ok úeirinn við ránsmenn ok víkinga_; -he let murderers and thieves be taken and punished, high and low, -for robbery and theft and all bad deeds, _lét hann taka morðingja ok -þjófa, ok refsaði svá ríkum sem úríkum rán ok þyfsku ok öll úknytti_; -impartial in judgment, _eigi vinhallr í dómum_; he valued godly -justice, _guðligan rétt_, more than rank, _mann-virðingar_; munificent, -_stórgjöfull_, with _höfðingjar ok ríkis-menn_; but ever showed great -solicitude and comfort, _huggan_, for poor men, _fátækir menn_. -Along with his cousin, earl Hákon, he burnt a Shetlander, Þorbjörn í -Borgarfirði, in his house, and they slew their cousin Dufnjáll, without -any reason being assigned in either case. - -St. Magnús, as a youth, accompanied king Magnús on his expedition in -1098, but refused to fight, because he said he had no quarrel against -any man there, and he took a psalter, _saltari_, and sung during the -battle. He married an unknown Scotswoman of noble family, he had no -children, and was murdered by his cousin, earl Hákon, on April 16th, -798 years ago. - -Earl Rögnvaldr Kali hinn helgi, 1136-1158, was the son of Gunnhildr, -earl Erlends dóttir and Kolr Kalason, a Norwegian, and thus 115/128 -Norse and 13/128 Gael in descent. He is described as a most promising -man, _efniligasti maðr_; of average growth, _meðal-maðr á vöxt_; -well set, _kominn vel á sik_; best limbed man, _limaðr manna bezt_; -light chestnut hair, _ljósjarpr á hár_; a most accomplished man, -_atgervi-maðr_. He numbered nine accomplishments, _iþróttir_, viz., -_tafl_, chess, _rúnar_, runes, _bók_, book (reading and writing), -_smíð_, smith work, _skríða_, _á skíðum_, sliding on snow-shoes, -_róðr_, rowing, _hörpu-sláttr_, harp-playing, _brag-þáttr_, -versification, to which may be added a tenth, _sund_, swimming, as he -frequently _lagðist yfir vatnit_, in dangerous places. The king gave -him the name of earl Rögnvaldr Brúsason, because his mother said that -he had been the most accomplished, _görviligasti_, of all the earls of -Orkney, and that was thought to bring good luck, _heilla-vænligr_. - -In 1134, he plotted with his disreputable Gaelic relative, Ölver rósta, -to oust earl Páll, but was not successful. Like a good víkingr he was -slain in 1158, and was briefly described as _íþrótta-maðr mikill ok -skáld gott_, a very accomplished man and a good skáld. - -The name and race of his wife are unknown. He had a daughter, Ingigerð, -who married Eiríkr stagbrellr, in Sutherland (a grandson of one of -Moddan’s carlines, and whose mother had been the frilla of the slim -deacon), and their children were, earl Haraldr ungi, who was slain -in 1198, Magnús mangi (nobody; _Mangi_ is also a contracted form of -_Magnús_, which is sometimes spelt _Mangus_ in Orkney documents), -Rögnvaldr, Ingibiörg, Elin, and Ragnhildr. - -Margrét, daughter of earl Hákon Pálsson and Helga Moddansdóttir, was -51/128 Norse, 77/128 Gael, and is described as _fríð kona ok svarri -mikill_, a beautiful woman and very proud. She married Maddadh, the -Gaelic earl of Atholl, as his second wife, and was the mother of -Haraldr Maddaðarson, who became earl of Orkney. After her husband’s -death she returned to Orkney and had an illegitimate son by Gunni, -Svein’s brother, for which he was outlawed. After that she eloped with -Erlendr ungi, of whom nothing is known.[3] - -[3] He has been unaccountably confused with earl Erlendr, who would -thus have run off with his own aunt. - - -THE GAELIC EARLS. - -Earl Haraldr Maddaðarson, 1139-1206, was the son of Margrét -Hákons-dóttir and Maddadh, Gaelic earl of Athole (Gaelic, _maddadh_, -a dog), and was 51/256 Norse, 205/256 Gael. When about twenty years -of age, he was _mikill maðr vexti ok sterkr, ljótr maðr ok vel vitr_, -a big man in growth and strong, an ugly man and well-witted. He was a -_mikill höfðingi_, great chief; _manna mestr ok sterkastr_, the tallest -and strongest of men; _ódæll ok skap-harðr_, overbearing and harsh. - -He was twice married, viz., (1) Afreka, daughter of Duncan, Gaelic earl -of Fife, whom he repudiated, and (2) Hvarflöð (Gaelic, _Gormflaith_), -daughter of Malcolm, earl of Morhæfi (Moray). The names of the children -of the first were, Heinrekr (Henry), Hákon, Helena, Margrét, and by -the second, Þorfinnr, Davið, Jón, Gunnhildr, Herborg, and Langlíf. He -allowed a rebellion, against king Sverrir, to be hatched in Orkney, for -which he had Shetland taken from him in 1194, when it was placed under -the government of Norway,[4] and was not restored to the earls till -1379. - -[4] Fb. - -Here the _Orkneyinga Saga_ ends, and information about the succeeding -earls is derived from documents few and far between. - -Earl Haraldr Maddaðarson was succeeded by his sons, earls Davið -Haraldsson, d.s.p. 1214, and Jón Haraldsson, slain, 1231, the latter -having been predeceased by his son, Haraldr Jónsson, who was drowned in -1226.[5] Earl Jón Haraldsson was succeeded by Malcolm, the Gaelic earl -of Angus, from whom the title was transferred to his kinsman (uncle or -cousin), earl Magnús, who was succeeded by his son or brother, earl -Gilbert (Gaelic, _Gilleabart_), who was succeeded by his son, earl -Magnús Gilbertsson, who was succeeded by his sons, earls Magnús and -John and another earl Magnús, after which the earldom passed to Malise, -(Gaelic, _Maoliosa_), Gaelic earl of Strathearn, through his great -grandmother, a daughter of earl Gilbert. After Malise, the earldom, -after an interregnum, passed to his daughter’s son, Henry St. Clair, -in whom the earldom was vested in 1379. His grandson, earl William, -after the wadset of Orkney and Shetland to Scotland in 1468-9, resigned -his right to the earldom to the crown of Scotland in 1472, when it was -annexed to the crown as a royal title.[6] - -[5] Isl. Annals. - -[6] _Scots Peerage._ - - -THE GŒÐINGAR: EARL’S MEN. - -The suggestion of Vigfússon in the Oxford _Dictionary_ that -the _gœðingar_ of the earls of Orkney were synonymous with the -_lendir-menn_ of the kings of Norway can be amply proved by the Saga. -One explicit instance gives a clue to the whole mystery, viz., that of -Kúgi, a gœðingr (of earl Páll), whom we find living in Hreppisnes, now -Rapnes, in Westrey. The bú of Rapnes, Swartmeill, and Wasbuster, were, -in 1503, described as _boardlands_ or _borlands_ of the old earldom, -paying no skattr. _Bordland_ or _borland_ is a Scottish loanword, -meaning, “land kept for the board of the laird’s house.”[7] The Oxford -_New English Dictionary_ states that the form _bordland_ is first found -in Bracton, c. 1250, by whom it is wrongly derived from _bord_, a -table, whereas it is from M. Lat. _borda_, a hut, cot, and was applied -to land held in _bordage_ tenure by a _bordar_, a villein of the lowest -rank, a cottier. The Gaelic _bòrlum_, royal castle lands, _borlanachd_, -compulsory labour for a landlord, must also come from the same source. - -[7] _Scottish Land-Names_, by sir Herbert Maxwell, bt., 123, Macbain’s -_G. Dict._, s.v. _bòrlum_. - -_Boardland_ in Orkney is, therefore, a translation of Old Norse -_veizlu-jörð_, land granted in fief for military service and for the -entertainment of the superior when on circuit. In accordance with the -_Hirðskrá_ of king Magnús Hákonsson, the earl, while prohibited from -disposing of the earldom lands, was permitted to grant earldom lands -_at veita_ or _at veizlu_, _i.e._, in return for military service and -entertainment. It seems certain that the same privilege was allowed by -the older _Hirðskrá_, which is now lost. - -To return to Kúgi, he had the _upp-kvöð or útboð_, the calling out -of the levy, of ships and men, _leiðangr_, in Westrey. As he was the -instigator, _upphafsmaðr_, of a secret þing, _laun-þing_, in Westrey, -he probably acted as the representative of the earl in the district -assembly, _héraðs þing_. The localities of the other gœðingar support -the above conclusion. - -Þorkell flatr was also in Westrey; Þorsteinn Hávarðarson Gunnason had -the calling out of the levy in Rinansey, and his brother Magnús that -of the adjoining island, Sandey, where there were the boardlands of -Brugh, Halkisnes, Tofts, Lopnes and Tresnes; Valþjófr Ólafsson was -in Stronsey, where there were skatt-fré lands; Sigurðr á Vestnesi in -Rousey, where part of Westnes was old earldom land; and this leads -to the conclusion that the gœðingar also held skatt-land as well as -skatt-fré land of the earldom _at veita_; Jón vængr abode in Háey, -where there is boardland. The earls also gave gifts, _veita gjafir_, to -their friends, the gœðingar. - -_Gœði_ means, among other things, profits, emoluments, etc. It seems -certain that the _gœði_ in Caithness, which the king of Scotland -restored to Sveinn Ásleifarson, in 1152, were the _gœði_ of the -earldom, which he had formerly held as gœðingr. - -The gœðingar of Orkney (and Shetland?) were thus the feoffees of -the earl of Orkney, from whom they received grants of earldom land, -_veizlu-jörð_, _at veita_ or _at veizlu_, in consideration of military -service and the entertainment of the earl, when on circuit. As the -feoffees of the earl’s _gœði_, or emoluments, they received the name of -_gœðingar_, corresponding to the _lendir-menn_, landed men, of Norway, -who were so-called because they held land or emoluments from the king -for similar duties. A distinction in nomenclature had to be drawn -between the king’s and the earl’s feoffees. - -As was to be expected, some of the gœðingar were related to the -earls--remunerative government offices were then, as now, conferred -on the relatives and favourites of the rulers. Their military service -included the _upp-kvöð or útboð_, calling out of the _leiðangr_, levy, -the superintendence of the _vitar_, beacons, etc. - -Their civil functions probably included attendance at the local -assembly, _héraðs Þing_, the nomination of delegates, _lögréttumenn_, -to the jury, _lögrétta_, of the law-thing, and generally the -representation of the executive in their respective districts. - -As the callers out of the levy of ships and men, the gœðingar were -necessarily located at strategical points, with easy access to the sea -and in close touch with the beacons. - -Mr. J. Storer Clouston has suggested with regard to the Orkney -place-name, _Clouston_, older forms, _Cloustath_ and _Clouchstath_, -which probably represent an original *_kló-staðr_, claw-stead, that -_kló_ is “the original proprietor’s name--possibly Hákon kló of the -Saga.”[8] - -[8] _Sandey Church History_, by Rev. Alex. Goodfellow, Kirkwall, 1912, -p. 78. - -Now Hákon kló, who flourished _circa_ 1150, was a gœðingr, and was -presumably connected with the islands of Sandey and Rinansey, over -which his brothers were gœðingar, and there is no historical or -traditional evidence associating him or his family with Clouston, in -any way. - -Dr. Jakob Jakobsen has pointed out that _kló_, f., a claw, denotes, in -Norse place-names, something projecting, curved or pointed. It occurs -in a large number of place-names in Shetland, including an identical -name to that in Orkney, viz., Klusta, *_Kló-staðr_, _-staðir_, a -district situated on a headland between two bights. Now the bú, or -principal farm, of Clouston, from which the whole township takes its -name, is also situated on a ness; and directly opposite to the house is -a claw-formed or curved tongue of land which projects into the Loch of -Stennes, which leaves no possibility of a doubt as to the true origin -of the name. - -With regard to nicknames, those which are person forenames in -themselves, such as _brúsi_, buck, and personifications such as -_hlaupandi_, landlouper, etc., are used in place-name formation; while -nicknames which merely point to an eccentricity in personal detail and -are attached to forenames, such as _kló_, finger-nail, _flat-nefr_, -flat nose, _rang-beinn_, _-eygr_, _-muðr_, wry-legged, squint-eyed, -wry-mouth, etc., do not lend themselves for place-names, _quasi_, -“flat-nose’s farm.” But even if such nicknames were detached from -their forenames and applied to places, they would be in the genitive -case, _e.g._, if Hákon kló had been known as kló (of which there is -no evidence) then his farm would have been called *_Klóar-staðr_, -Claw’s farm, not *_kló-staðr_, claw-farm, which could only point to -a claw-formation in the place, such as we actually find in Clouston -itself, and hence the name. - -Circumstantial evidence is against Hákon kló, a gœðingr, with the -_uppkvöð_ of the _leiðangr_, levy of ships and men, being landlocked -in one of the very few inland townships in Orkney, situated from two -to three miles from the nearest easy landing place. Earl Haraldr -Maddaðarson in going from Grímsey to Fjörðr (Firth) by way of (Clouston -and) Orkahaugr (Maes-howe), chose Hafnarvágr (Stromness harbour) as his -landing place, and the same choice would be made now. - -The nearest coast to Clouston is that of Ireland, which is quite -unsuited for shipping, owing to its exposed position, shallow water, -extensive beach at low water--a place to be avoided by sea-going craft. -Moreover, it has been shown that the gœðingar were in the occupation -of earldom lands, of which there were absolutely not a penn’orth in -Stennes, and next to none in the adjoining inland parish of Hara. -This lack of earldom land in these inland districts, corroborates -the supposition (p. xx), viz., that the earldom estate was formed of -the confiscated estates of the leading víkingar of 872, which would -naturally be situated on the seaboard with easy landing places, which -is a characteristic of the earldom estate; while the two inland and -inaccessible districts of Stennes and Hara are remarkable for their -wealth of Pictish remains and dearth of earldom lands. - -The last notice we have of the gœðingar is in 1232, when a shipload -of them, _gœðinga-skip_, were drowned. Possibly the eighteen men of -Haraldr Jónsson, son of earl Jón Haraldsson, who were drowned, along -with him, on June 15th, 1226, were also gœðingar.[9] - -[9] Isl. Annals. - - -INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES. - -In 1106, Dufnjáll (Gaelic, _Domhnall_, Donald), son of earl Dungaðr -(Gaelic, _Donnchadh_, Duncan) was a first cousin once removed on the -father’s side, _firnari en bræðrungr_, of earls Hákon and Magnús, -by whom he was slain. Dufnjáll’s grandfather must have been an -illegitimate son of earl Þorfinnr hinn ríki, who lived mostly in -Caithness, and was almost a pure Gael. - -In 1159, Jómarr, a kinsman of earl Rögnvaldr, is mentioned in -Caithness, and his name may be the Norse form of some Gaelic name. - -In 1116, Gilli (Gaelic, _gille_, servant) was a _dugandi-maðr_, a -doughty or good man, with St. Magnús, and probably a relative of the -earl’s Gaelic wife. - -Kúgi (G., Cogadh), 1128-1137, was a wealthy bóndi and a gœðingr of earl -Páll, and lived in Hreppisnes, now Rapnes, in Westrey, which he would -have held as _veizlu-jörð_. Nothing is told of his family or relations. -He is described as a _vitr_, wise man, and had the _uppkvöð_, calling -out of the levy, in Westrey. As a schemer himself, he smelt a rat -when the invading earl Rögnvaldr played a clever trick in getting the -Fair Isle beacon lit; and his pawky _eyrendi_, speech, thwarted the -internecine complications which that deed was designed to arouse. Earl -Rögnvaldr, however, unexpectedly, landed in Westrey, whereupon the -_eyjarskeggjar_, the “island beards,” _hljópu saman_, louped together, -to get Kúgi’s _ráð_, advice, which was that they should at once get -_grið_, peace, from the earl; and he and the Vestreyingar submitted to -the earl and swore oaths to him. One night, however, the earl’s men -caught Kúgi napping at a secret meeting for _svíkræði_, treachery, -against the earl. He was promptly put _í fjötra_, in fetters. When -the earl arrived on the scene, Kúgi fell at his feet and _bauð_, -offered or left, all his case in God’s hands and the earl’s. He then -tried to shift the blame on to others, and asserted that he had been -brought to the þing, _nauðigr_, unwilling, and that all the bœndr had -wanted him to be the _upphafsmaðr_, instigator, of the _ráð_, plot. -The Saga states that Kúgi pleaded his own cause _orðfærliga_, with -great elocution or glibly. Fortunately for Kúgi’s life, the humour of -the situation tickled the earl’s poetic fancy to such a degree that -he could not resist the temptation of letting off steam in one of his -habitual improvisations, stuffed with scathing ridicule; a lasting -punishment, more severe than the decapitation, or sound drubbing, -which the object of his poetic flight so richly deserved. - -The earl referred to the fettered man before him as a _kveld-förlestr -karl_, a night-journey-hampered carl or old duffer, and advised him, -in future, never to hold _nátt-þing_, night meetings--which Vigfússon -says were not considered proper. The earl, further, admonished him that -it was needful to keep one’s oath and covenant. _Grið_, peace, was -given to all, and they bound their fellowship anew. Exit Kúgi, of whom -nothing further is related, beyond the one line which is preserved of -_Kúga drápa_, in praise of Kúgi, and which runs: - - _Megin-hræddir ro menn við Kúga, meiri ertu hverjom þeira._[10] - All are afraid of Kúgi, thou outdoest them all. - -[10] _Skálda._ - -This can only have been intended as biting sarcasm. His name and -character indicate that he was a typical bad Gael of his class. - - -SVEINN GROUP. - -The next persons to be described are the family, relatives and -companions of Sveinn Ásleifarson. - -Ólafr Hrólfsson was a gœðingr of earl Páll, and owned Gareksey -(Gairsey) in Orkney, and another bú in Dungalsbœr á Katanesi. He was -a most masterful man, _mesta afarmenni_, and his wife, Ásleif, was -wise and of great family, _vitr ok ættstór_, and most imperious, _ok -hin mesta fyrir sér_. In 1135, Ólafr had a great suite, _sveit mikla_, -á Katanesi, which included his sons Sveinn and Gunni, and Ásbjörn -and Murgaðr, sons of his friend Grímr of Svíney. His wife also lived -in Caithness at this time. Their children were Valþjófr (an English -name), Sveinn, Gunni, all well-bred men, _vel-menntir_, and a daughter, -Ingigerðr. Ólafr had a brother Helgi, who lived Þingvöllr in Hrossey, -now Tingwall in Mainland of Orkney, where the þing was held. - -Sveinn Ólafsson, after his father’s burning, was called Ásleifarson, -after his mother. He married Ingirið Þorkelsdóttir, a kinswoman of earl -Haraldr Maddaðarson, and the widow of Andrés of Suðreyjar or Man. Their -children were, Ólafr, and Andrés, who married bishop Biarni’s sister, -Fríða, and was the father of Gunni, whose son, Andreas, was in Iceland -in 1235 (SS). Sveinn was a wise man and prophetic, _forspár_, about -many things, unfair and reckless, _újafnaðarmaðr ok úfyrirleitinn_. -When drinking with his karlar he took to speaking, _hann tók til orða_, -and rubbed his nose, _ok gneri nefit_, and remarked, “it is my thought” -about so and so, and then mentioned his foreboding, _hugboð_. - -As an illustration of Svein’s masterful unfairness may be mentioned his -expedition against Holdboði. He asked the earl for _lið_, assistance, -and got five ships, of which the captains were Þorbjörn klerkr (a -grandson of Frakök and a brother-in-law of Sveinn), Hafliði son -Þorkels flettis, Dufnjáll son Hávarðs Gunnasonar, Ríkgarðr (Richard) -Þorleifsson and Sveinn himself. However, Holdboði judiciously fled, -but they slew many men in Suðreyjar and plundered wide and burnt and -got much booty, _fé_. On their return, when they were to share their -_herfang_, war spoil, Sveinn said that they should all share equally -except himself, who should have a chief’s share, _höfðingja-hlutr_, -because, he said, he alone had led them, and the earl had given them -to him for help, _til liðs_, and he alone had a quarrel with the -Suðreyingar, and they none. Þorbjörn thought that he had worked as much -and had been as much a leader, _fyrirmaðr_, as Sveinn. They also wished -all the ship-captains, _skipstjórnar-menn_, to have equal shares, -_jafnir hlutir_. But Sveinn would have his own way, _vildi þó ráða_, -and he had more men in the Nes than they had. Þorbjörn complained to -earl Rögnvaldr about Sveinn robbing them of their shares, _göra hlut -ræningja_. The earl said it was not the only time that Sveinn was an -unfair man, _engi jafnaðarmaðr_, and the day of retribution would -come for his wrong-doing, _ranglæti_. Although the earl made good -what Sveinn had cheated him of, Þorbjörn declared himself divorced -from Svein’s sister. The declaration made by him, _segir skilit við_, -corresponds with old Gulathinglaw, “ef maðr vill skiliast við kono sína -þa scal hann sva skilit segia at hvartveggia þeirra mege heyra mal -annars oc have við þat vatta.” The consequence of this was hostility, -_fjándskapr_, between them, which had its advantage, as it was now a -case of “Foruðin sjást bezt við”--the wrongdoer can best detect his -fellow. In contrast with the above is Svein’s sportsmanlike treatment -of earl Rögnvaldr. When earl Erlendr and Sveinn were at feud with earl -Rögnvaldr, on the latter’s return from his crusade, they captured his -ships and treasures. Sveinn claimed earl Rögnvald’s treasures as his -share of the spoil, which he promptly sent back to the earl. Being -a keen-sighted man, he probably anticipated that his drunken ally, -earl Erlendr, would ultimately be defeated by earl Rögnvaldr, whose -treasures from the Holy Land may have been curios and relics of no -great market value in the eyes of a víkingr. - -Sveinn is further described as of all men the sharpest-sighted, -_skygnastr_, and saw things which others could not see. It was the -opinion of Jón vængr, junior, that Sveinn was a truce breaker, -_grið-níðingr_, and was true to no man. When earl Haraldr advised -him to give up roving and twitted him with being an unfair man, -_újafnaðarmaðr_, Svein’s answer was _tu quoque_, and there the -discussion ended. The Saga sums him up as “mestr maðr fyrir sér í -Vestrlöndum,” the most masterful man in the West, both of old and now, -of those men who had no higher _tignar-nafn_, rank, than he. - -Of Svein’s relatives may be mentioned Eyvind Melbrigðason (Gael., -_Maelbrighde_, servant of St. Bride or Bridgit). He was one of the -_göfugir-menn_, great men, with earl Páll, and superintended the earl’s -famous _Jóla-boð mikit_, great Yule feast, at which Sveinn killed -Sveinn. - -Eyvind schemed to make his kinsman Sveinn Ásleifarson quarrel with his -namesake, Sveinn brjóstreip, and having succeeded in this, he then -plotted with Sveinn to kill Sveinn, and arranged an artful manœuvre, by -which the second Sveinn, before he died, killed his own relative, Jón, -the only other witness of the murder. Magnús Eyvindsson, by Eyvind’s -arrangement, took Sveinn by horse and boat to Damsey, where Blánn -sheltered him, and took him afterwards secretly to the bishop. Blánn -(Gael., _flann_, red), took charge of the castle in Damsey. His father, -Þorsteinn of Flyðrunes, his brother Ásbjörn krók-auga (squint-eye), and -himself were all _údœlir_, overbearing, men. - -Jón vængr, senior, a relative of Sveinn, abode in Háey á upplandi. -He was a gœðingr. His brother Ríkarðr (Richard), abode in Brekka í -Strjonsey; they were notable men, _gildir-menn_. They burned Þorkell -flatr, a gœðingr, in the house which their kinsman, Valþjófr, had -owned. The earl had given Þorkell the house for finding out where -Sveinn (the brother of Valþjófr) had fled to, after the murder for -which he had been outlawed. - -Jón vængr, junior, was a systur-son of Jón vængr, senior, and became -earl Harald’s _ármaðr_, or steward. He had two brothers, Blánn (Gaelic, -_Flann_) and Bunu-, or Hvínu-Pétr; (_buna_, a purling stream, and -_hvína_, to whistle or whine). These two were ignominiously disgraced -by Sveinn in a mock execution, to shame their brother Jón, who had -given Sveinn a bad character. - -Of Svein’s companions may be mentioned Grímr, in Svíney, a _félitill_, -poor, man, and his Sons Asbjörn and Murgaðr (Gael., _Murchadh_, -Murdock). Sveinn, who was sýslumaðr for the earl in Caithness, on one -occasion, in his absence, deputed his office to Murgaðr, who turned -out _sakgæfinn_, quarrelsome, and _áleitinn_, provocative, and was -_úvinsæll_, unpopular, for his _újafnaðr_, tyranny. Along with Sveinn, -he did much _úspektir_, uproars, _í ránum_, in plunder, in Katanes. - -As has already been mentioned, Ólafr Svein’s father was burnt in his -house in Caithness at the instigation of the hag, Frakök, whom Sveinn, -in turn, burnt in her house. - -Svein’s father had estates both in Orkney and Caithness, and as he -resided in Caithness, where he had the _yfirsókn_, the stewardship, -of the earldom, and where Sveinn was afterwards sýslumaðr, the family -appears to have been a Caithness one, and the Caithness Clan Gunn claim -to be descended from Gunni Sveinsson. This, taken in conjunction with -the personal characteristics and the numerous Gaelic names of members -of the family, relations and friends, makes it probable that these -families were all of Gaelic descent in the male line. - -Sveinn brjóstreip, _circa_ 1136, had a kinsman Jón, of whose family -nothing more is known. He was a hirðmaðr of earl Páll, by whom he was -well esteemed, _metinn vel af honum_. He spent the summer in víking -and the winter with the earl. He was a _mikill_ man and _sterkr_, -strong, _svartr_, of dark complexion, and rather evil-looking, -_úhamingju-samligr_, he was a great wizard, _forn mjök_, and had -always sat out at night (as a wizard), _úti setið_, in order to raise -_troll_, ghosts, which, in accordance with Old Gulathinglaw, was -_úbótaverk_, an unfinable crime punished by outlawry. He was one of -the earl’s forecastle men, _stafnbúi_, and was the foremost of all the -earl’s men in battle, and fought bravely, _barðist all-hraustliga_. -Sveinn preferred “sitting out” to attending midnight mass on Yule. -The bishop hailed his slaughter as a cleansing of the land of -miscreants, _land-hreinsan_. It was the opinion of Ragna of Rinansey, -that the earl had little scathe in Sveinn, even though he were a great -warrior or bravo, _garpr mikill_, and that the earl had suffered much -unpopularity, _úvinsældir miklar_, through him. - -There can be little doubt as to the race of the swarthy wizard Sveinn, -notwithstanding his Norse name. With him compare the Icelandic-named -Gaelic witch, Þórgunna, in _Eyrbyggja Saga_. - -Hávarðr Gunnason, _circa_ 1090, was a gœðingr, who married Bergljót, -daughter of Ragnhildr, daughter of earl Páll. Their children were -Magnús, Hákon kló, Dufnjáll (Gael., _Domhnall_, Donald) and Þorsteinn. -Hávarðr was on board earl Hákon’s ship, on the way to the last meeting -with earl St. Magnús; and when he was informed that Magnús was to be -killed, he jumped overboard and swam to a desert isle, rather than be -party to the martyrdom. - -Dufnjáll Hávarðsson and one Ríkarðr (Richard), were worst in their -counsel against Sveinn, when he was in trouble with the earl about -Murgað’s goings on. His brother, Hákon kló, married the illegitimate -daughter of Sigurðr slembidjákn, by a daughter of one of Moddan’s -carlines. The names Gunni and Dufnjáll appear to point to the Caithness -origin of this family, as well as does the Caithness marriage of Hákon -kló. - -Þorljótr í Rekavík, 1116-26, married Steinvör digra, (the stout), -daughter of Frakök Moddansdóttir and Ljótr níðingr (the dastard), in -Suðrland. Their son was Ölvir rósta (the unruly); a great and powerful -man, _manna mestr ok ramr at afli_, turbulent, _uppivöðslumaðr mikill_, -and a great manslayer, _vígamaðr mikill_. He, at the instigation of -his grandmother, Frakök, burnt Ólafr, Svein’s father, in his house. -Their other children were Magnús, Ormr, Moddan (Gaelic), Eindriði, and -a daughter, Auðhildr. The whole of this nest left Orkney with Frakök, -in her repatriation, under whose evil influence they were reared. - -Notices of Shetland, in the Saga, are to all intents and purposes -nil. We find among the Shetlanders who were taken to be healed at St. -Magnús’ shrine two bœndr, viz., Þorbjörn, son of Gyrð (O.E. Gurth), -and Sigurðr Tandarson, who abode in Dalr, in north Shetland, and who -was _djöful-óðr_ or _ærr_, possessed or mad. Tandr, or Taðkr, is -E.Ir. _Tadg_, and the Shetland Tandarson = Gaelic _M’Caog_, Ir., _Mac -Taidhg_, MacCaig, son of Teague. - -The Irish Gaels, who settled in Iceland in the ninth century, proved to -be desirable and enterprising colonists, the admixture of whose blood -helped to form the Icelandic genius in saga and song. They readily -adopted Icelandic patronymics and names, and gave up their Christianity -for the Norse religion. Their presence is commemorated there to this -day in Irish place-names and in the continued use of Irish person-names. - -The Scottish Gaels who settled in Orkney were, in accordance with the -Saga, in some cases undesirable adventurers, of evil reputation, loose -habits, glib, mischief-makers, oath-breakers, witches and wizards. -They do not appear to have endowed their offspring with traits other -than their own, combined with a personal appearance which is usually -described as unattractive. - -Gaelic names of residents in Orkney first make their appearance in -the late eleventh century in the family of Hávarðr Gunnason, who was -probably a Caithness Gael. - -The differentiation between the Norwegians and the mixed Gaelic-Norse -race in Orkney, is unmistakably brought into prominence in the middle -of the twelfth century, when the Norwegian contingent of the famous -crusade, which wintered in Orkney, got on so ill with the islanders -that it resulted in murder and bloodshed about love and mercantile -affairs. - -The earls who were of Gaelic descent in the female line, while -exhibiting Gaelic features, were also good rulers and great warriors, -whose exploits provided good copy for the _Orkneyinga-Saga_, which was -probably written down by Icelanders. The Gaelic admixture of blood in -Orkney does not appear to have produced any literary or poetic talent -such as it did in Iceland. - -As mentioned in a previous paper,[11] the _Orkneyinga saga_ consists -of only two complete sagas, viz. (1) _Jarlasögur_, earls’ sagas, the -history of earl Þorfinnr hinn ríki and his joint earls--his brothers, -and his nephew, Rögnvaldr Brúsason, 1014-1064, and (2) _Rögnvalds saga -hins helga_, the story of earl St. Rögnvaldr, 1136-1158, brought down -to the death of Sveinn Ásleifarson, 1171. The first of these sagas is -prefaced with a summary of the sagas of the preceding earls, 872-1014, -of which none have been preserved, while the second is prefaced with a -summary of the sagas of the earls, 1064-1136, the period between the -first and the second sagas, of which we have preserved St. Magnús’s -saga, 1108-1116. The saga of earl Haraldr Maddaðarson, 1139-1206, is -partly preserved in the second saga, and in _Flateyjarbók_. - -[11] _Saga-Book_, 1914. - -As regards Orkney poets, earl Torf-Einarr, the skáld, was a Norwegian -by birth and family, with a thrall mother, probably Finnish, from -which admixture of Norse and dark races he probably derived his ugly -appearance and poetic genius. - -Earl St. Rögnvaldr, the skáld, was also a Norwegian by birth, and -the son of a Norwegian father, while his mother was an Orkney woman -of Gaelic extraction. Bishop Biarni, the skáld, was the only Orkney -born poet, but his father was also a Norwegian, and his mother an -Orkney woman of Gaelic extraction. It is just possible that these two -last-named skálds derived their poetic inspiration from just the right -dash of Gaelic descent. - -All the other poets, whose compositions are recorded in the saga, were -Icelanders: Arnórr Jarlaskáld, Hallr, etc. It goes without saying that -Orcadians and Shetlanders must have been, like their fellow Norsemen of -the period, improvisers, whose verses, although referred to, have not -been preserved. - -There were only two Orkney saints, viz., earls Magnús and Rögnvaldr, -the one was martyred and the other assassinated, and both of them had -very little Gaelic blood. - -It is a question whether Orkney and Shetland, with their Christian -Picts and heathen Norse, in the seventh, eighth and ninth centuries, -were the birth-place of some of the Edda lays; and whether any of these -lays were current there, as oral tradition, and taken down in writing -in the twelfth century by earl St. Rögnvaldr and his Icelandic skálds. -The solitary preservation and use of many Edda poetic words in Shetland -is significant. The first notices we have of writing in the saga are in -1116, when Kali Kolsson, afterwards (1136), earl Rögnvaldr Kali, in a -verse, numbered among his accomplishments, _bók_, reading and writing, -and, in 1152, when earl Erlendr produced king Eysteinn’s _bréf_, -letter, at the þing in Kirkjuvágr. - -With regard to person-names, it will have been noted that the Norse -earls in the male line, although half Gaels, always gave their children -Norse names, while the Gaelic earls, who were only of slight Norse -descent, gave their children Norse, Gaelic and English names. So that -the gœðingar and other leading families of the late eleventh and early -twelfth centuries, who also gave their children Norse, Gaelic and -English names, were therefore probably, like the Gaelic earls, also of -Gaelic descent in the male line. This is also in accordance with the -known practice of other Gaelic settlers in Iceland, etc. - -The non-Norse characteristics of persons of Gaelic descent are most -pronounced--black hair, swarthy complexion, quarrelsome, given to -witchcraft, pawky and glib, oath-breakers, etc., which perhaps point -to the Iberian element rather than to the true Gael; and that in -comparison with the Norse--fair-haired, accomplished and well-bred, -generous, makers of hard bargains, which they, however, kept, true to -their word, etc. - -It must be remembered that these comparative characteristics are the -observations of the Norsemen themselves, who wrote the saga, probably -Icelanders, and therefore, presumably, exaggerated in their own favour. -They are valuable, however, in placing beyond doubt the large strain of -non-Norse people who lived in Orkney. - -It has been shown that the Gaelic earls, 1139-1350, adopted Norse -patronymics, and that all persons in Orkney and Shetland before 1350 -used Norse patronymics, including the numerous Gaelic families, which -must have settled in the islands. There was no other alternative, -just as it was, conversely, the case in the Hebrides, where the Gaels -predominated, and where their language prevailed, and was adopted by -the Norsemen. Here the Norse _Goðormsson_ became Gaelic _M’Codrum_, -_Þorketilsson_: _M’Corcodail_, _Ivarsson_: _M’Iamhair_, etc., etc. -Compare also the case in Ireland. - -Gaelic names in Orkney and Shetland in their Norse form have already -been dealt with. - -The blending of Norse and Gael in the Hebrides does not appear to have -been more successful than in Orkney, since we find, in 1139, that earl -Rögnvaldr said that most Suðreyingar were untrue, and even Sveinn -Ásleifarson put little faith in them. - -The use of Norse names and patronymics by the leading Gaels in -Caithness, who are alone mentioned in the Saga, is accounted for by the -fashion set by their Norse earls, as well as through the influence of -Norse marriages. While the leading people must have been bilingual, -speaking Norse (the court language), and Gaelic, the _almúgi_, or -common people, appear to have maintained their native Gaelic. This is -indicated in two striking instances in the Saga. In 1158, earls Haraldr -and Rögnvaldr went from Þórs-á up Þórs-dalr and took _gisting_, night -quarters, at some _erg_, which “we call _setr_.” The local Gaelic name -of such a shieling was _àiridh_, E. Ir. _airge_, _áirge_. In 1152, earl -Haraldr, who was living at Víkr, dispersed his men _á veizlur_, _i.e._, -quartered them on various houses, in accordance with the obligations -of the householders, during Páskar, Easter; then the Katnesingar said -that the earl was on _kunn-mið_. Vigfússon suggested that this word was -some corrupt form of a local name; Dasent translated it “visitations,” -and Goudie “guest-quarters,” which is correct, as _kunn-mið_ must be -Gaelic, _comaidh_, a messing, eating together, E. Ir. _commaid_; _cf._ -Gaelic _coinne_, _coinneamh_, a supper, a party, to which everyone -brings his own provisions, E. Ir. _coindem_, _cionmed_, quartering. In -both these cases the E. Ir. spelling comes nearer to the Norse than the -Scottish Gaelic does, and corresponds to the Scottish Gaelic of the -twelfth century. - -The fact that the earl had the right to quarter his men in Orkney and -Shetland, is preserved in the tax, _wattle_ < _veizla_, which was paid -in lieu of actual entertainment. This tax continues to be paid to this -day. - -“The Inhabitants of Orkney and Shetland after 1350,” will be the -subject of a future paper; meanwhile it may be emphasised that the -Gaelic earls of Orkney failed in the male line before the Scots began -to assume permanent surnames. The Gaelic earls were succeeded, in -the female line, by the Lowland-Norman family of St. Clair, bearing -a hereditary surname, about the time of whose arrival began the -Lowland-Scottish settlement of Orkney, to the influence of which must -be attributed the assumption of the Lowland Scottish language and the -adoption of place-surnames, and not fixed patronymics, in Orkney, by -the Norse-Gaelic inhabitants. Shetland, being far removed from the seat -of government and fashion, continued the use of patronymics until the -nineteenth century, when they became fixed. - -The great number of persons in Orkney and Shetland bearing the names -of Tulloch and Sinclair appears to indicate that the ancestors of some -of them may have been tenants of the bishopric and earldom who, in -accordance with Gaelic custom, assumed the names of their lords of that -ilk. The Tulloch bishops ruled, 1418-1477, and the Sinclair earls and -lessees, 1379-1542, the period during which patronymics were giving -place to hereditary surnames in Orkney. Tulloch and Sinclair may also -have been Christian names which became stereotyped as patronymics and -the “son” termination afterwards dropped, as in the case of Omondson, -> Omond. - -Shetlanders pride themselves in their geographic detachment from Orkney -with its Scottish people and customs, and claim to be regarded as purer -Norsemen as compared with the Scots of Orkney. Perhaps it is owing to -this qualified humdrum purity that the Shetlanders did not achieve any -deeds of sufficient interest to be recorded in the Saga. However, from -an anthropological point of view, the Pictish and small dark strain is -as much in evidence in Shetland as in Orkney, and perhaps more so. - -In the twelfth century even an ordinary Shetland _bóndi_, farmer, had -his thrall, and _manfrelsi_, giving a thrall his freedom, is mentioned -as an ordinary transaction. The thrall element must therefore have -formed a large proportion of the population, and intermarriage must -have taken place between the Norse and the thralls. We find the earls -had children by thralls, and intermarriage between the bœndr and -thralls, especially the freed thralls, must also have taken place. - -Persons of mixed racial descent are usually very loud in an exaggerated -appreciation of the heroic line of their ancestry, especially when it -is on the distaff side, usually coupled with an inverse depreciation -of the other ascent which is represented by an inappropriate and -inconvenient surname. - -There would be no necessity for a genuine Norse islander to crow -himself hoarse on his native rock; and, to do so, would indicate that -there were grave doubts as to the purity of his strain. - -Hitherto the Norse traditions of Orkney and Shetland have been solely -espoused by outlanders and by natives bearing surnames which leave no -doubt as to their foreign origin. - -The most voluminous history of Shetland was written by an English -tourist, Dr. Hibbert, afterwards Dr. Hibbert Ware. But then, the -English are noted for their greater interest in the history and -antiquities of countries other than their own, which may be accounted -for by the exceptional variety of races which they represent. - -But after all the land makes the man. If it had not been for these -northern islands there would have been no _Orkneyinga Saga_ with its -verses and narratives of stirring events. - -Dr. John Rae, first honorary president of this Society, was a Scottish -Gael born in Orkney (where his father had settled), an Orkneyman of -Orkneymen; and to his youthful training, experience in boating, and -his environment in these islands, he attributed his success in Arctic -exploration. - -And, moreover, it is well known that Orkney and Shetland supply the -British Navy and mercantile marine with a deal more than their due -share of personnel, and have given the British colonies a good supply -of useful pioneers and settlers. - - - - -Transcriber's Note - - -The following apparent errors have been corrected: - -p. 3 "_circa_," changed to "_circa_" - -p. 12 "slaugher" changed to "slaughter" - - -The following are inconsistently used in the text: - -Atholl and Athole - -Ingibiörg and Ingibjörg - -seaboard and sea-board - -sir and Sir - -slembidjákn and slembi-djákn - -Svein and Sveinn - -uppkvöð and upp-kvöð - - - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Orkney and Shetland Folk 872-1350, by -A. 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W. Johnston - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Orkney and Shetland Folk 872-1350 - -Author: A. W. Johnston - -Release Date: October 18, 2015 [EBook #50249] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ORKNEY AND SHETLAND FOLK 872-1350 *** - - - - -Produced by Henry Flower and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - - - - - - -</pre> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[1]</a></span></p> - - - - - -<h1> -Orkney and Shetland Folk<br /> - -<span class="smaller">872–1350</span></h1> - - -<p class="titlepage"><span class="smcap smaller">By</span><br /> - -A. W. JOHNSTON</p> - - -<p class="titlepage">LONDON<br /> - -Printed for the Viking Society for Northern Research<br /> - -University of London<br /> - -1914 -</p> - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[3]</a></span></p> - - - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 class="nobreak">ORKNEY AND SHETLAND FOLK, 872–1350.</h2> - -</div> - -<div class="blockquot"> - -<p><span class="smcap">Note.</span>—Unless where otherwise stated this paper is founded on -<i>Orkneyinga Saga</i> (Rolls Series, text and translation). Page references -are to <i>Orkney and Shetland Records</i>, Vol. I. Fb., <i>Flateyjarbók</i>. -Hkr., <i>Heimskringla</i>. J.J., Jacob Jakobsen’s works. S.S., <i>Sturlunga -Saga</i>.</p></div> - -<p>This paper is an attempt to describe the mixed -races which inhabited Orkney and Shetland -from the foundation of the Norse earldom, in -872, until the end of the rule of the Gaelic earls, <i>circa</i> -1350, and it is a first instalment of the evidence on -which a paragraph on “person-names” was founded, -in the <i>Introduction</i> to <i>Orkney and Shetland Records</i>, -vol. I.</p> - -<p>The earliest inhabitants, of whom we have any -record, were the Picts, and the Irish papas and Columban -missionaries, who must have brought some Irish -settlers with them.</p> - -<p>It has already been suggested that the Norse must -have settled in Orkney and Shetland, <i>circa</i> 664, among -the aboriginal race, the Picts, who would have become -their thralls, and with whom the settlers would have -intermarried.</p> - -<p>The first Norsemen who came to Orkney and Shetland -would have been adventurers, and not settlers with -wives, families and thralls, such as later went to Iceland -and Orkney. Consequently such adventurers who -settled in the islands would naturally have intermarried -with the aborigines. This kind of male settlement may -have gone on for some time, before the actual <i>bona fide</i> -colonisation took place.</p> - -<p>It has already been pointed out that Shetland was -not so fully colonised as Orkney, at the commencement -of the Norse migration, which appears to account for<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[4]</a></span> -the older Norse dialect forms in Orkney, and for the -survival of more Keltic island-names in Shetland.</p> - -<p>A stronger Pictish strain is thus, on that account, to -be looked for in Shetland. The Norse would select the -easiest landing-places, while the Kelts would occupy -the inland and inaccessible places, as they did in the -Isle of Man. The two inland districts of Hara and -Stennes in Orkney are especially rich in the remains -of the pre-Norse inhabitants—stone circles, brochs, -etc.; and Ireland, the only sea-board of Stennes, is particularly -inhospitable for shipping.</p> - -<p>Besides the archæological and topographical proof of -the continued residence of the Picts in Orkney and -Shetland, there is the much more reliable evidence of -anthropology, in the existence of a large strain of the -small and dark race in both Orkney and Shetland, -representing the aboriginal race, the later prisoners of -raids and the later settlers from Scotland. Allowance -must also be made for thralls brought from Norway.</p> - -<p>Queen Auðr djúpauðga (deeply-wealthy) or djúpúðga -(deeply-wise), passed through Orkney, in the -ninth century, on her way to Iceland, with twenty -freed Irish thralls. After this, Einarr, grandson of earl -Torf-Einarr, went to Iceland from Orkney with two -Vestmenn (Irishmen). <i>Írar</i>, Irish, occurs in place-names -in Iceland, Orkney and Shetland, in each of -which latter there is an <i>Ireland</i>.</p> - -<p>It will now be proved that there were only three possible -pure-bred Norse earls of Orkney and Shetland, -viz., the first three—Sigurðr hinn ríki, his son, -GuÞormr, and his nephew, Hallaðr.</p> - -<p>The first earl of the main line was Torf-Einarr, who -was half Norse and half thrall, his mother being probably -of the pre-Norse dark race. His son, the next earl, -married a Gael, and after this, through repeated Gaelic -marriages, the succeeding earls in the Norse male line -were never more than a cross between Norse and Gael,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[5]</a></span> -sometimes almost approaching pure-bred Gaels, if the -rules of a modern breeding society are to be observed. -The same holds good of earl St. Rögnvaldr, a Norwegian, -who succeeded on the distaff side, his mother -being of Gaelic extraction. The Gaelic conversion of -the earls was completed on the succession of the Gaelic -earls in 1139.</p> - -<p>The next step will be to show that the leading -families, some of which were related to the earls, were -also mainly of Gaelic descent, and in some cases probably -in the male line.</p> - -<p>As the Gaels did not give up patronymics and begin -to assume permanent surnames (usually those of their -chiefs), until after 1350, those who settled in Orkney -before that, and became Norse in language and customs, -of course adopted the Norse, in place of the -Gaelic, patronymic, <i>i.e.</i>, <i>-son</i> for <i>mac-</i>. This was done -by the Gaelic earls in Orkney, in precisely the same way -as had been done by the Irish settlers in Iceland.</p> - -<p>In reply to a query, Sir Herbert Maxwell writes: -“You ask me to fix a date ‘when patronymics flourished -and ceased in the Highlands?’ I think it would -be impossible to do so. There were few, if any, fixed -surnames in England or Lowland Scotland before the -middle of the thirteenth century, other than territorial -ones, derived from the feudal tenure of land. In the -Highlands, the adoption of fixed names appears to have -been indefinitely deferred. Such counties as Perth and -Dumbarton, being nearest the frontier of civilisation, -their people would find it convenient to conform to the -habit of their neighbours. In more remote districts the -shifting patronymic prevailed much longer, and when -it was abandoned individuals frequently assumed the -surname of their chief or the name of his clan, which -accounts for the old patronymic ‘Macdonald’ being the -third commonest surname in Scotland; Smith and -Brown being first and second.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[6]</a></span></p> - -<p>In the following description particular attention will -be called to personal appearance, character, habits, -superstitions, etc., as indications of descent.</p> - - -<h3 class="nobreak"><span class="smcap">The Norse Earls.</span></h3> - -<p>Earl Torf-Einarr, 875–910, was the illegitimate son -of the Norwegian earl Rögnvaldr, by a thrall mother -who was thrall born on all sides, <i>í allar ættir þrælborinn</i>. -He was therefore half Norse and half thrall. -His mother was probably of the pre-Norse small dark -race, the Finnar or Lappir, which may account for her -son being ugly, <i>ljótr</i>, one-eyed, <i>einsýnn</i>, but keen-sighted, -<i>skygnstr</i>, an expression which latterly meant -second-sighted, and capable of seeing elves, etc. He -saw, what others did not, Hálfdán há-leggr, the self-appointed -“king of Orkney,” bobbing up and down -on another island, and had a <i>blóð-örn</i>, blood-eagle, -carved on him.</p> - -<p>His poetic genius may have been the result of the -mixture of Norse and Finn. He died of sickness, <i>sótt-dauðr</i>, -equivalent to <i>strá-dauðr</i>, straw-dead, died in -bed, an ignominious death for a víkingr.</p> - -<p>Nothing is known of his wife, but, as he had children -before he left Norway, she was, probably, a Norwegian.</p> - -<p>His children were earls Þorfinnr, Arnkell and -Erlendr, and two daughters, Þórdís, born in his youth, -in Norway (she was brought up by her grandfather, -earl Rögnvaldr, and married Þórgeirr klaufi, whose -son Einarr went to Orkney to his kinsmen, and as they -would not receive him, he bought a ship and went to -Iceland), and Hlíf, who had descendants in Iceland.</p> - -<p>Earl Þorfinnr hausakljúfr (skull-cleaver), 910–963, -was the son of earl Torf-Einarr and an unknown -mother, probably Norwegian, so that he would be -three-fourths Norse and one-fourth thrall in descent. -He married Grelöð, a daughter of Dungað (Gaelic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span> -<i>Donnchadh</i>, Duncan), Gaelic earl of Caithness, and -Gróa, daughter of Þorsteinn rauðr.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> - -<p>He is described as a great chief and warrior, <i>mikill -höfðingi ok herskár</i>, and died of sickness, <i>sótt-dauðr</i>, -and was buried in a mound, <i>heygðr</i>, in Rögnvaldsey -<i>á Haugs-eiði</i>, at Hoxa. The Saga reads <i>á Hauga-heiði</i>, -wrongly; this isthmus would have been called -<i>Haugs-eið</i>, how’s isthmus, because the Norse found -on it a large mound, which covered the ruins of a pre-Norse -round tower, in which the earl may have been -buried.</p> - -<p>His children were earls Arnfinnr, Hávarðr ár-sæli -(of prosperous years), Hlöðver, Ljótr or Arnljótr, and -Skúli, and two daughters. Three of his five sons -married, in turn, the murdress Ragnhildr, daughter of -king Eiríkr blóðöx and the notorious Gunnhildr. She -killed her first husband herself. The second husband -was killed by his nephew Einarr klíningr (butter), -at the instigation of his aunt, who promised to marry -him, and for which deed he was thought to be a -<i>níðingr</i>, dastard. Preparatory to marrying the third -brother, she got rid of Einarr at the hands of his cousin -Einarr harðkjöptr (hard-jawed), who was in turn -slain by the third and last husband.</p> - -<p>One cannot wonder at the character of Ragnhildr, -considering the antecedents of her mother Gunnhildr, -the reputed daughter of Özurr toti, a lord in Hálogaland. -She, probably a Finn, was found in a Finmark -cot, studying wizardry, and was brought to Eiríkr -blóðöx, who, struck with her great beauty, obtained -her in marriage. She was held guilty of having -poisoned king Hálfdán svarti. Her life was spent in -plotting and mischief. She is described in <i>Heimskringla</i>: -the fairest of women, wise and cunning in -witchcraft; glad of speech and guileful of heart, and the -grimmest of all folk. Fortunately, her daughter left -no descendants in Orkney.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span></p> -<p>Earl Hlöðver (Ludovick or Lewis), 963–980, was the -son of earl Þorfinnr hausakljúfr, and Grelöð, who was -half a Gael, and so he was five-eighths Norse, one-eighth -thrall and two-eighths Gael. He is described as -a mighty chief, <i>mikill höfðingi</i>, and died of sickness, -<i>sótt-dauðr</i>. He married Eðna (Eithne), daughter of -the Irish king, Kjarvalr (Cearbhall). She was learned -in witchcraft, <i>margkunnig</i>, and wove a magic banner, -<i>merki</i>, in raven form, <i>hrafns-mynd</i>, for her son; and -predicted that those before whom it was borne should -be victorious, <i>sigrsæll</i>, but it would be deadly, <i>banvænt</i>, -to the bearer.</p> - -<p>Their children were earl Sigurðr hinn digri, and a -daughter, Nereiðr or Svanlaug, who married earl Gilli -of Kola (Coll).</p> - -<p>Earl Sigurðr hinn digri, 980–1014, was the son of earl -Hlöðver and an Irish Gael, and was 5/16 Norse, 1/16 thrall, -and 10/16 Gael. He was a mighty chief, <i>höfðingi mikill</i>, -and a great warrior.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> He was killed in the battle of Clontarf, -<i>Brjáns-bardagi</i>, in Ireland in 1014, with the fatal -<i>hrafns-merki</i> wound around him, as no one else would -bear his <i>fjándi</i>, fiend. He was converted to Christianity -by the sword-baptism of king Ólafr Tryggvason, -although he expressed his preference for the religion -and carved gods of his Norse forefathers, notwithstanding -any Christian teaching he may have received -from his Irish mother beyond witchcraft. He gave up -the confiscated óðul to the Orkney bœndr (for one -generation) in return for military services rendered -against the Scots. The name of his first wife is -unknown, and his second one was a daughter of Malcolm, -the Scot king. His children by his first wife -were Hundi or Hvelpr (Gaelic, <i>Cuilen</i>, who was baptised -with the name of his grandfather, earl Hlöðver), -Einarr rang-muðr, stern, grasping, unfriendly, and a -great warrior, Brúsi, meek, kept his feelings well in -hand, humble and ready-tongued, and Sumarliði.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span></p> -<p>Earl Þorfinnr hinn ríki, 1014–1064, was the son of -earl Sigurðr digri and his second wife, a Gael, and was -5/32 Norse, 1/32 thrall, and 26/32 Gael in descent. He was -<i>bráðgjörr í vexti, manna mestr ok sterkastr</i>, early in -reaching full growth, tallest and strongest of men; -<i>svartr á hár</i>, black hair; <i>skarpleitr ok skolbrúnn</i>, sharp -features and swarthy complexion; <i>ljótr</i>, ugly; <i>nefmikill</i>, -big nose; <i>kappsmaðr</i>, an energetic man; <i>ágjarn bæði -til fjár ok metnaðar</i>, greedy of wealth and honour; -<i>sigrsæll</i>, lucky in battle; <i>kænn í orrostum</i>, skilful in -war; <i>góðr áræðis</i>, of good courage. King Ólafr found -that Þorfinnr was <i>miklu skapstærri en Brúsi</i>, much -more proud of spirit than his brother, Brúsi. Þorfinnr -gladly agreed with all the king’s proposals, but the -king doubted that he meant to go back on them, -whereas he thought that Brúsi, who drove a hard bargain, -would keep his word, and would be a <i>trúnaðar-maðr</i>, -faithful liegeman. The earl married Ingibjörg, -jarla-móðir, daughter of Finnr Árnason. He made a -pilgrimage to Rome, got absolution from the Pope, and -built the first cathedral in Birsa, Orkney, where he died.</p> - -<p>He was liberal, in that he did that <i>frama-verk</i>, -honourable deed, by which he provided his <i>hirð</i>, bodyguard, -and many other <i>ríkis-menn</i>, mighty men, all -winter through, with both <i>matr ok mun-gát</i>, food and -ale, so that no man required to put up at a <i>skytningr</i>, -inn; whereas, kings and earls in other lands, merely -made a like provision only during Yule. Arnórr jarlaskáld -sang to his praise in his <i>Þorfinns drápa</i>, and -noted his liberal fare.</p> - -<p>His children were earls Páll and Erlendr, who were -<i>miklir menn ok fríðir</i>, mickle men and handsome, and -so took after their Norwegian <i>móðurætt</i>, mother’s kin, -and were <i>vitrir ok hógværir</i>, wise and modest; taking -after their mother, a Norwegian, is in contrast to their -father, who was almost a pure-bred, black-haired, -swarthy Gael.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span></p> - -<p>Earl Rögnvaldr Brúsason, 1036–1046, was the son of -earl Brúsi Sigurðarson and an unknown mother, and -the nephew of earl Þorfinnr hinn ríki. The <i>fríðastr</i>, -most handsome of all men; <i>hárit mikit ok gult sem -silki</i>, much hair, yellow as silk; <i>snimma mikill ok -sterkr, manna var hann gjörfiligastr bæði fyrir vits -saker ok svá kurteisi</i>, tall and strong, the most perfect -man was he both in wits and courtesy; <i>fríðastr sjónum</i>, -most handsome in face; <i>atgervi-maðr mikill svá at -eigi fanst hans jafningi</i>, an accomplished man without -an equal. Arnórr jarlaskáld said that he was the <i>bezt -menntr af Orkneyja-jörlum</i>, the most accomplished and -best bred of the earls of Orkney. From this description -one would imagine that his unknown mother and -grandmother had both been Norwegians. It is not -stated whether he was married or had any children.</p> - -<p>Earl Páll Þorfinnsson, 1064–1098, was the son of -earl Þorfinn hinn ríki and Ingibjörg, a Norwegian, -after whom he took—handsome and modest. He was -thus 19/32 Norse and 13/32 Gael in descent.</p> - -<p>He married a daughter of earl Hákon Ívarsson and -Ragnhildr, daughter of king Magnús hinn góði. Their -children were earl Hákon, and four daughters, Herbjörg -(ancestress of bishop Biarni), Ingiriðr, Ragnhildr -(ancestress of Hákon kló), and Þóra.</p> - -<p>He was banished to Norway, in 1098, where he died.</p> - -<p>From 1098 to 1103, Sigurðr (afterwards king Sigurðr -Jórsalafari), the eighty-year-old son of king Magnús -berfœttr, was earl of Orkney.</p> - -<p>Earl Erlendr Þorfinnsson, 1064–1098, was the son of -earl Þorfinnr hinn ríki and Ingibiörg, a Norwegian, -and so was 19/32 Norse and 13/32 Gael in descent. He -married Þóra Sumarliðadóttir, whose mother and -grandmother are not mentioned, but her father was the -son of an Icelander. The earl was banished to Norway, -in 1098, where he died.</p> - -<p>His children were, earl St. Magnús, Gunnhildr, who<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span> -married Kolr Kalason, whose son Kali became earl -Rögnvaldr, and Cecilia who married Ísak, a Norwegian, -whose sons were Kolr and Eindriði. He had a thrall-born -illegitimate daughter called Játvör (fem. of -Játvarðr, the Norse form of Edward), who had a son -called Borgar,—the earliest record of this name, which, -however, occurs in Norwegian place-names; they were -both, mother and son, rather disliked, <i>úvinsæl</i>.</p> - -<p>Earl Hákon Pálsson, 1103–1122, was the son of earl -Páll Þorfinnsson and a Norwegian mother, and was 51/64 -Norse and 13/64 Gael in descent.</p> - -<p>He was <i>ofstopamaðr mikill</i>, a very overbearing man, -<i>mikill ok sterkr</i>, great and strong; and <i>vel menntr um -alla hluti</i>, well-bred, accomplished in every way. He -would be the <i>fyrirmaðr</i>, leader, over his cousins, and -thought himself better born, being the great grandson -of king Magnús hinn góði. He always wanted the -largest share for himself and his friends, and was <i>öfund</i>, -jealous, of his cousins. When abroad he suffered from -<i>landmunr</i>, home-sickness, and wanted <i>at sækja vestr til -Eyja</i>, to seek west to the <i>Isles</i> (Orkney). He consulted -a wizard as to his future. He murdered his cousin, -St. Magnús, in order to get the whole earldom, and then -made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. He ended by -being a good ruler, and died in the Isles.</p> - -<p>It is not known whom he married, if he was wedded -at all; but his son, earl Páll, appears to have had a -mother other than his father’s known <i>frilla</i> or concubine. -She was a Gael, Helga, daughter of Moddan, a nobleman -rolling in wealth, <i>göfugr maðr ok vell-auðigr</i>, who -lived in Dalir, or Dalr, in Katanes. The Gaelic name -<i>Moddan</i> may be connected with the Irish <i>O’Madadhain</i>. -This man’s family of daughters was a disgrace even to -the morals of the twelfth century. After earl Hákon’s -death, Helga, aided by her sister Frakök, attempted to -murder her step-son, earl Páll, by means of a bewitched -garment, white as snow, <i>línklœði hvitt sem fönn</i>, which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> -they had sewn and embroidered with gold, but which -her own jealous son donned and paid the penalty. Earl -Páll, who naturally deemed that this precious article, -<i>gersemi</i>, had been intended for him, promptly cleared -them, and their family and dependents, <i>skulda-lið</i>, out -of the islands.</p> - -<p>It was the opinion of earl Rögnvaldr that Frakök was -an old hag who would not do anybody good, <i>kerling -er til einkis er fær</i>. She was burnt alive in her -house by Sveinn Ásleifarson, for having instigated her -grandson Ölver rósta to burn Svein’s father in his -house. Moddan’s carlines and their offspring wormed -themselves into Orkney society. Frakök (a Gaelic -name?) married Ljótr níðingr (the dastard) of Sutherland, -and their daughter married Þorljótr of Rekavík -(in Orkney). Another daughter married Þorsteinn -fjaranz-muðr (dreadful mouth). Þorleif Moddansdöttir -was the mother of Auðhildr, the frilla of Sigurðr -slembi-djákn (the slim or tricky deacon), by whom he -had an illegitimate daughter, who married Hákon kló. -Sigurðr himself, was the illegitimate son of a priest, -Aðalbrigð. When he and Frakök came to Orkney a -great faction, <i>sveitar-dráttr mikill</i>, took place. He took -part in the slaughter of Þorkell fóstri, a man much -beloved in Orkney, for which the deacon was promptly -deported as an undesirable alien. As the pretended son -of king Magnús berfœttr, he, however, met a terrible -death with remarkable fortitude. Earl Hákon’s -children were: earls Haraldr slétt-máli (smooth-speaking) -and Páll úmálgi (the silent), Margrét, who married -Maddadh, the Gaelic earl of Atholl, and Ingibjörg, who -married Ólafr bitlingr (the morsel), king of Suðreyjar.</p> - -<p>Earl St. Magnús Erlendsson, 1108–1116, was the son -of earl Erlendr Þorfinnsson and Þóra Sumarliðadóttir. -In descent, 51/64 Norse 13/64 Gael. In personal appearance -he was, great of growth, <i>mikill at vexti</i>; manly, <i>drengiligr</i>; -intellectual in appearance, <i>skýligr at yfirlitum</i>.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> -The saga is voluminous in a description of his good -qualities, etc., <i>e.g.</i>, he was a most noble man, <i>ágætastr</i>; -of good morals in life, <i>siðgóðr í háttum</i>; fortunate in -battle, <i>sigrsæll í orrostum</i>; a sage in wit, <i>spekingr at -viti</i>; eloquent and high-spirited and generous, <i>málsnjallr -ok ríklundaðr</i>; liberal of wealth and magnanimous, -<i>örr af fé ok stórlyndr</i>; wise in counsel and more -beloved than any other man, <i>ráðsvinnr ok hverjum -manni vinsælli</i>; gentle and of good speech, with kind -and good men, <i>blíðr ok góðr viðmælis við spaka menn -ok góða</i>; hard and unforbearing with robbers and -víkingar, <i>harðr, ok úeirinn við ránsmenn ok víkinga</i>; -he let murderers and thieves be taken and punished, -high and low, for robbery and theft and all bad deeds, -<i>lét hann taka morðingja ok þjófa, ok refsaði svá ríkum -sem úríkum rán ok þyfsku ok öll úknytti</i>; impartial in -judgment, <i>eigi vinhallr í dómum</i>; he valued godly justice, -<i>guðligan rétt</i>, more than rank, <i>mann-virðingar</i>; -munificent, <i>stórgjöfull</i>, with <i>höfðingjar ok ríkis-menn</i>; -but ever showed great solicitude and comfort, -<i>huggan</i>, for poor men, <i>fátækir menn</i>. Along with his -cousin, earl Hákon, he burnt a Shetlander, Þorbjörn í -Borgarfirði, in his house, and they slew their cousin -Dufnjáll, without any reason being assigned in either -case.</p> - -<p>St. Magnús, as a youth, accompanied king Magnús -on his expedition in 1098, but refused to fight, because -he said he had no quarrel against any man there, and -he took a psalter, <i>saltari</i>, and sung during the battle. -He married an unknown Scotswoman of noble family, -he had no children, and was murdered by his cousin, -earl Hákon, on April 16th, 798 years ago.</p> - -<p>Earl Rögnvaldr Kali hinn helgi, 1136–1158, was the -son of Gunnhildr, earl Erlends dóttir and Kolr Kalason, -a Norwegian, and thus 115/128 Norse and 13/128 Gael -in descent. He is described as a most promising man, -<i>efniligasti maðr</i>; of average growth, <i>meðal-maðr á<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> -vöxt</i>; well set, <i>kominn vel á sik</i>; best limbed man, -<i>limaðr manna bezt</i>; light chestnut hair, <i>ljósjarpr á hár</i>; -a most accomplished man, <i>atgervi-maðr</i>. He numbered -nine accomplishments, <i>iþróttir</i>, viz., <i>tafl</i>, chess, <i>rúnar</i>, -runes, <i>bók</i>, book (reading and writing), <i>smíð</i>, smith -work, <i>skríða</i>, <i>á skíðum</i>, sliding on snow-shoes, <i>róðr</i>, -rowing, <i>hörpu-sláttr</i>, harp-playing, <i>brag-þáttr</i>, versification, -to which may be added a tenth, <i>sund</i>, swimming, -as he frequently <i>lagðist yfir vatnit</i>, in dangerous -places. The king gave him the name of earl Rögnvaldr -Brúsason, because his mother said that he had -been the most accomplished, <i>görviligasti</i>, of all the -earls of Orkney, and that was thought to bring good -luck, <i>heilla-vænligr</i>.</p> - -<p>In 1134, he plotted with his disreputable Gaelic -relative, Ölver rósta, to oust earl Páll, but was not successful. -Like a good víkingr he was slain in 1158, -and was briefly described as <i>íþrótta-maðr mikill ok -skáld gott</i>, a very accomplished man and a good skáld.</p> - -<p>The name and race of his wife are unknown. He -had a daughter, Ingigerð, who married Eiríkr stagbrellr, -in Sutherland (a grandson of one of Moddan’s -carlines, and whose mother had been the frilla of the -slim deacon), and their children were, earl Haraldr -ungi, who was slain in 1198, Magnús mangi (nobody; -<i>Mangi</i> is also a contracted form of <i>Magnús</i>, which is -sometimes spelt <i>Mangus</i> in Orkney documents), Rögnvaldr, -Ingibiörg, Elin, and Ragnhildr.</p> - -<p>Margrét, daughter of earl Hákon Pálsson and Helga -Moddansdóttir, was 51/128 Norse, 77/128 Gael, and is -described as <i>fríð kona ok svarri mikill</i>, a beautiful -woman and very proud. She married Maddadh, the -Gaelic earl of Atholl, as his second wife, and was the -mother of Haraldr Maddaðarson, who became earl of -Orkney. After her husband’s death she returned to -Orkney and had an illegitimate son by Gunni, Svein’s -brother, for which he was outlawed. After that she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> -eloped with Erlendr ungi, of whom nothing is -known.<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a></p> - - -<h3 class="nobreak"><span class="smcap">The Gaelic Earls.</span></h3> - -<p>Earl Haraldr Maddaðarson, 1139–1206, was the son -of Margrét Hákons-dóttir and Maddadh, Gaelic earl of -Athole (Gaelic, <i>maddadh</i>, a dog), and was 51/256 Norse, -205/256 Gael. When about twenty years of age, he was -<i>mikill maðr vexti ok sterkr, ljótr maðr ok vel vitr</i>, a -big man in growth and strong, an ugly man and well-witted. -He was a <i>mikill höfðingi</i>, great chief; <i>manna -mestr ok sterkastr</i>, the tallest and strongest of men; -<i>ódæll ok skap-harðr</i>, overbearing and harsh.</p> - -<p>He was twice married, viz., (1) Afreka, daughter of -Duncan, Gaelic earl of Fife, whom he repudiated, and -(2) Hvarflöð (Gaelic, <i>Gormflaith</i>), daughter of Malcolm, -earl of Morhæfi (Moray). The names of the children -of the first were, Heinrekr (Henry), Hákon, Helena, -Margrét, and by the second, Þorfinnr, Davið, Jón, -Gunnhildr, Herborg, and Langlíf. He allowed a rebellion, -against king Sverrir, to be hatched in Orkney, -for which he had Shetland taken from him in 1194, -when it was placed under the government of Norway,<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> -and was not restored to the earls till 1379.</p> - -<p>Here the <i>Orkneyinga Saga</i> ends, and information -about the succeeding earls is derived from documents -few and far between.</p> - -<p>Earl Haraldr Maddaðarson was succeeded by his -sons, earls Davið Haraldsson, d.s.p. 1214, and Jón -Haraldsson, slain, 1231, the latter having been predeceased -by his son, Haraldr Jónsson, who was -drowned in 1226.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a><a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> Earl Jón Haraldsson was succeeded -by Malcolm, the Gaelic earl of Angus, from whom the -title was transferred to his kinsman (uncle or cousin),<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span> -earl Magnús, who was succeeded by his son or brother, -earl Gilbert (Gaelic, <i>Gilleabart</i>), who was succeeded by -his son, earl Magnús Gilbertsson, who was succeeded -by his sons, earls Magnús and John and another earl -Magnús, after which the earldom passed to Malise, -(Gaelic, <i>Maoliosa</i>), Gaelic earl of Strathearn, through -his great grandmother, a daughter of earl Gilbert. -After Malise, the earldom, after an interregnum, passed -to his daughter’s son, Henry St. Clair, in whom the -earldom was vested in 1379. His grandson, earl -William, after the wadset of Orkney and Shetland to -Scotland in 1468–9, resigned his right to the earldom -to the crown of Scotland in 1472, when it was annexed -to the crown as a royal title.<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a><a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a></p> - - -<h3 class="nobreak"><span class="smcap">The Gœðingar: Earl’s men.</span></h3> - -<p>The suggestion of Vigfússon in the Oxford <i>Dictionary</i> -that the <i>gœðingar</i> of the earls of Orkney were -synonymous with the <i>lendir-menn</i> of the kings of -Norway can be amply proved by the Saga. One -explicit instance gives a clue to the whole mystery, viz., -that of Kúgi, a gœðingr (of earl Páll), whom we find -living in Hreppisnes, now Rapnes, in Westrey. The -bú of Rapnes, Swartmeill, and Wasbuster, were, in -1503, described as <i>boardlands</i> or <i>borlands</i> of the old -earldom, paying no skattr. <i>Bordland</i> or <i>borland</i> is a -Scottish loanword, meaning, “land kept for the board -of the laird’s house.”<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a><a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> The Oxford <i>New English Dictionary</i> -states that the form <i>bordland</i> is first found in -Bracton, c. 1250, by whom it is wrongly derived from -<i>bord</i>, a table, whereas it is from M. Lat. <i>borda</i>, a hut, -cot, and was applied to land held in <i>bordage</i> tenure -by a <i>bordar</i>, a villein of the lowest rank, a cottier. The -Gaelic <i>bòrlum</i>, royal castle lands, <i>borlanachd</i>, compul<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span>sory -labour for a landlord, must also come from the -same source.</p> - -<p><i>Boardland</i> in Orkney is, therefore, a translation of -Old Norse <i>veizlu-jörð</i>, land granted in fief for military -service and for the entertainment of the superior when -on circuit. In accordance with the <i>Hirðskrá</i> of king -Magnús Hákonsson, the earl, while prohibited from -disposing of the earldom lands, was permitted to grant -earldom lands <i>at veita</i> or <i>at veizlu</i>, <i>i.e.</i>, in return for -military service and entertainment. It seems certain -that the same privilege was allowed by the older -<i>Hirðskrá</i>, which is now lost.</p> - -<p>To return to Kúgi, he had the <i>upp-kvöð or útboð</i>, -the calling out of the levy, of ships and men, <i>leiðangr</i>, -in Westrey. As he was the instigator, <i>upphafsmaðr</i>, -of a secret þing, <i>laun-þing</i>, in Westrey, he probably -acted as the representative of the earl in the district -assembly, <i>héraðs þing</i>. The localities of the other -gœðingar support the above conclusion.</p> - -<p>Þorkell flatr was also in Westrey; Þorsteinn Hávarðarson -Gunnason had the calling out of the levy in -Rinansey, and his brother Magnús that of the adjoining -island, Sandey, where there were the boardlands -of Brugh, Halkisnes, Tofts, Lopnes and Tresnes; -Valþjófr Ólafsson was in Stronsey, where there were -skatt-fré lands; Sigurðr á Vestnesi in Rousey, where -part of Westnes was old earldom land; and this leads -to the conclusion that the gœðingar also held skatt-land -as well as skatt-fré land of the earldom <i>at veita</i>; -Jón vængr abode in Háey, where there is boardland. -The earls also gave gifts, <i>veita gjafir</i>, to their friends, -the gœðingar.</p> - -<p><i>Gœði</i> means, among other things, profits, emoluments, -etc. It seems certain that the <i>gœði</i> in Caithness, -which the king of Scotland restored to Sveinn Ásleifarson, -in 1152, were the <i>gœði</i> of the earldom, which he -had formerly held as gœðingr.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span></p> - -<p>The gœðingar of Orkney (and Shetland?) were thus -the feoffees of the earl of Orkney, from whom they -received grants of earldom land, <i>veizlu-jörð</i>, <i>at veita</i> or -<i>at veizlu</i>, in consideration of military service and the -entertainment of the earl, when on circuit. As the -feoffees of the earl’s <i>gœði</i>, or emoluments, they received -the name of <i>gœðingar</i>, corresponding to the <i>lendir-menn</i>, -landed men, of Norway, who were so-called -because they held land or emoluments from the king -for similar duties. A distinction in nomenclature had -to be drawn between the king’s and the earl’s feoffees.</p> - -<p>As was to be expected, some of the gœðingar were -related to the earls—remunerative government offices -were then, as now, conferred on the relatives and -favourites of the rulers. Their military service included -the <i>upp-kvöð or útboð</i>, calling out of the <i>leiðangr</i>, -levy, the superintendence of the <i>vitar</i>, beacons, -etc.</p> - -<p>Their civil functions probably included attendance at -the local assembly, <i>héraðs Þing</i>, the nomination of delegates, -<i>lögréttumenn</i>, to the jury, <i>lögrétta</i>, of the law-thing, -and generally the representation of the executive -in their respective districts.</p> - -<p>As the callers out of the levy of ships and men, the -gœðingar were necessarily located at strategical points, -with easy access to the sea and in close touch with the -beacons.</p> - -<p>Mr. J. Storer Clouston has suggested with regard to -the Orkney place-name, <i>Clouston</i>, older forms, <i>Cloustath</i> -and <i>Clouchstath</i>, which probably represent an -original *<i>kló-staðr</i>, claw-stead, that <i>kló</i> is “the original -proprietor’s name—possibly Hákon kló of the Saga.”<a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a><a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p> - -<p>Now Hákon kló, who flourished <i>circa</i> 1150, was a -gœðingr, and was presumably connected with the -islands of Sandey and Rinansey, over which his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span> -brothers were gœðingar, and there is no historical or -traditional evidence associating him or his family with -Clouston, in any way.</p> - -<p>Dr. Jakob Jakobsen has pointed out that <i>kló</i>, f., a -claw, denotes, in Norse place-names, something projecting, -curved or pointed. It occurs in a large number -of place-names in Shetland, including an identical -name to that in Orkney, viz., Klusta, *<i>Kló-staðr</i>, <i>-staðir</i>, -a district situated on a headland between two -bights. Now the bú, or principal farm, of Clouston, -from which the whole township takes its name, is also -situated on a ness; and directly opposite to the -house is a claw-formed or curved tongue of land which -projects into the Loch of Stennes, which leaves no -possibility of a doubt as to the true origin of the name.</p> - -<p>With regard to nicknames, those which are person -forenames in themselves, such as <i>brúsi</i>, buck, and -personifications such as <i>hlaupandi</i>, landlouper, etc., are -used in place-name formation; while nicknames which -merely point to an eccentricity in personal detail and are -attached to forenames, such as <i>kló</i>, finger-nail, <i>flat-nefr</i>, -flat nose, <i>rang-beinn</i>, <i>-eygr</i>, <i>-muðr</i>, wry-legged, squint-eyed, -wry-mouth, etc., do not lend themselves for place-names, -<i>quasi</i>, “flat-nose’s farm.” But even if such -nicknames were detached from their forenames and -applied to places, they would be in the genitive case, -<i>e.g.</i>, if Hákon kló had been known as kló (of which -there is no evidence) then his farm would have been -called *<i>Klóar-staðr</i>, Claw’s farm, not *<i>kló-staðr</i>, claw-farm, -which could only point to a claw-formation in -the place, such as we actually find in Clouston itself, -and hence the name.</p> - -<p>Circumstantial evidence is against Hákon kló, -a gœðingr, with the <i>uppkvöð</i> of the <i>leiðangr</i>, levy of -ships and men, being landlocked in one of the very few -inland townships in Orkney, situated from two to -three miles from the nearest easy landing place. Earl<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span> -Haraldr Maddaðarson in going from Grímsey to Fjörðr -(Firth) by way of (Clouston and) Orkahaugr (Maes-howe), -chose Hafnarvágr (Stromness harbour) as his -landing place, and the same choice would be made now.</p> - -<p>The nearest coast to Clouston is that of Ireland, -which is quite unsuited for shipping, owing to its -exposed position, shallow water, extensive beach at low -water—a place to be avoided by sea-going craft. Moreover, -it has been shown that the gœðingar were in the -occupation of earldom lands, of which there were absolutely -not a penn’orth in Stennes, and next to none in -the adjoining inland parish of Hara. This lack of earldom -land in these inland districts, corroborates the supposition -(p. xx), viz., that the earldom estate was -formed of the confiscated estates of the leading víkingar -of 872, which would naturally be situated on the -seaboard with easy landing places, which is a -characteristic of the earldom estate; while the two inland -and inaccessible districts of Stennes and Hara are -remarkable for their wealth of Pictish remains and -dearth of earldom lands.</p> - -<p>The last notice we have of the gœðingar is in 1232, -when a shipload of them, <i>gœðinga-skip</i>, were drowned. -Possibly the eighteen men of Haraldr Jónsson, son of -earl Jón Haraldsson, who were drowned, along with -him, on June 15th, 1226, were also gœðingar.<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a><a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p> - - -<h3 class="nobreak"><span class="smcap">Individuals and Families.</span></h3> - -<p>In 1106, Dufnjáll (Gaelic, <i>Domhnall</i>, Donald), son -of earl Dungaðr (Gaelic, <i>Donnchadh</i>, Duncan) was a -first cousin once removed on the father’s side, <i>firnari en -bræðrungr</i>, of earls Hákon and Magnús, by whom he -was slain. Dufnjáll’s grandfather must have been an -illegitimate son of earl Þorfinnr hinn ríki, who lived -mostly in Caithness, and was almost a pure Gael.</p> - -<p>In 1159, Jómarr, a kinsman of earl Rögnvaldr, is<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span> -mentioned in Caithness, and his name may be the -Norse form of some Gaelic name.</p> - -<p>In 1116, Gilli (Gaelic, <i>gille</i>, servant) was a <i>dugandi-maðr</i>, -a doughty or good man, with St. Magnús, and -probably a relative of the earl’s Gaelic wife.</p> - -<p>Kúgi (G., Cogadh), 1128–1137, was a wealthy bóndi -and a gœðingr of earl Páll, and lived in Hreppisnes, -now Rapnes, in Westrey, which he would have held as -<i>veizlu-jörð</i>. Nothing is told of his family or relations. -He is described as a <i>vitr</i>, wise man, and had the -<i>uppkvöð</i>, calling out of the levy, in Westrey. As a -schemer himself, he smelt a rat when the invading earl -Rögnvaldr played a clever trick in getting the Fair Isle -beacon lit; and his pawky <i>eyrendi</i>, speech, thwarted -the internecine complications which that deed was -designed to arouse. Earl Rögnvaldr, however, unexpectedly, -landed in Westrey, whereupon the <i>eyjarskeggjar</i>, -the “island beards,” <i>hljópu saman</i>, louped -together, to get Kúgi’s <i>ráð</i>, advice, which was that they -should at once get <i>grið</i>, peace, from the earl; and he -and the Vestreyingar submitted to the earl and swore -oaths to him. One night, however, the earl’s men -caught Kúgi napping at a secret meeting for <i>svíkræði</i>, -treachery, against the earl. He was promptly put -<i>í fjötra</i>, in fetters. When the earl arrived on the scene, -Kúgi fell at his feet and <i>bauð</i>, offered or left, all his -case in God’s hands and the earl’s. He then tried to -shift the blame on to others, and asserted that he had -been brought to the þing, <i>nauðigr</i>, unwilling, and that -all the bœndr had wanted him to be the <i>upphafsmaðr</i>, -instigator, of the <i>ráð</i>, plot. The Saga states that Kúgi -pleaded his own cause <i>orðfærliga</i>, with great elocution -or glibly. Fortunately for Kúgi’s life, the humour of -the situation tickled the earl’s poetic fancy to such a -degree that he could not resist the temptation of letting -off steam in one of his habitual improvisations, stuffed -with scathing ridicule; a lasting punishment, more<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span> -severe than the decapitation, or sound drubbing, which -the object of his poetic flight so richly deserved.</p> - -<p>The earl referred to the fettered man before him as -a <i>kveld-förlestr karl</i>, a night-journey-hampered carl -or old duffer, and advised him, in future, never to hold -<i>nátt-þing</i>, night meetings—which Vigfússon says were -not considered proper. The earl, further, admonished -him that it was needful to keep one’s oath and covenant. -<i>Grið</i>, peace, was given to all, and they bound their -fellowship anew. Exit Kúgi, of whom nothing further -is related, beyond the one line which is preserved of -<i>Kúga drápa</i>, in praise of Kúgi, and which runs:</p> - -<div class="blockquot"> -<i>Megin-hræddir ro menn við Kúga, meiri ertu hverjom þeira.</i><a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a><a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a><br /> -All are afraid of Kúgi, thou outdoest them all. -</div> - -<p>This can only have been intended as biting sarcasm. -His name and character indicate that he was a typical -bad Gael of his class.</p> - - -<h3 class="nobreak"><span class="smcap">Sveinn Group.</span></h3> - -<p>The next persons to be described are the family, -relatives and companions of Sveinn Ásleifarson.</p> - -<p>Ólafr Hrólfsson was a gœðingr of earl Páll, and -owned Gareksey (Gairsey) in Orkney, and another bú -in Dungalsbœr á Katanesi. He was a most masterful -man, <i>mesta afarmenni</i>, and his wife, Ásleif, was wise -and of great family, <i>vitr ok ættstór</i>, and most imperious, -<i>ok hin mesta fyrir sér</i>. In 1135, Ólafr had a great suite, -<i>sveit mikla</i>, á Katanesi, which included his sons Sveinn -and Gunni, and Ásbjörn and Murgaðr, sons of his -friend Grímr of Svíney. His wife also lived in Caithness -at this time. Their children were Valþjófr (an -English name), Sveinn, Gunni, all well-bred men, <i>vel-menntir</i>, -and a daughter, Ingigerðr. Ólafr had a -brother Helgi, who lived Þingvöllr in Hrossey, now -Tingwall in Mainland of Orkney, where the þing was -held.</p> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span></p> -<p>Sveinn Ólafsson, after his father’s burning, was -called Ásleifarson, after his mother. He married -Ingirið Þorkelsdóttir, a kinswoman of earl Haraldr -Maddaðarson, and the widow of Andrés of Suðreyjar -or Man. Their children were, Ólafr, and Andrés, who -married bishop Biarni’s sister, Fríða, and was the -father of Gunni, whose son, Andreas, was in Iceland -in 1235 (SS). Sveinn was a wise man and prophetic, -<i>forspár</i>, about many things, unfair and reckless, -<i>újafnaðarmaðr ok úfyrirleitinn</i>. When drinking with -his karlar he took to speaking, <i>hann tók til orða</i>, and -rubbed his nose, <i>ok gneri nefit</i>, and remarked, “it is -my thought” about so and so, and then mentioned his -foreboding, <i>hugboð</i>.</p> - -<p>As an illustration of Svein’s masterful unfairness -may be mentioned his expedition against Holdboði. He -asked the earl for <i>lið</i>, assistance, and got five ships, -of which the captains were Þorbjörn klerkr (a grandson -of Frakök and a brother-in-law of Sveinn), Hafliði son -Þorkels flettis, Dufnjáll son Hávarðs Gunnasonar, -Ríkgarðr (Richard) Þorleifsson and Sveinn himself. -However, Holdboði judiciously fled, but they slew -many men in Suðreyjar and plundered wide and burnt -and got much booty, <i>fé</i>. On their return, when they -were to share their <i>herfang</i>, war spoil, Sveinn said that -they should all share equally except himself, who -should have a chief’s share, <i>höfðingja-hlutr</i>, because, -he said, he alone had led them, and the earl had given -them to him for help, <i>til liðs</i>, and he alone had a -quarrel with the Suðreyingar, and they none. Þorbjörn -thought that he had worked as much and had -been as much a leader, <i>fyrirmaðr</i>, as Sveinn. They also -wished all the ship-captains, <i>skipstjórnar-menn</i>, to have -equal shares, <i>jafnir hlutir</i>. But Sveinn would have his -own way, <i>vildi þó ráða</i>, and he had more men in the -Nes than they had. Þorbjörn complained to earl -Rögnvaldr about Sveinn robbing them of their shares,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span> -<i>göra hlut ræningja</i>. The earl said it was not the only -time that Sveinn was an unfair man, <i>engi jafnaðarmaðr</i>, -and the day of retribution would come for his -wrong-doing, <i>ranglæti</i>. Although the earl made good -what Sveinn had cheated him of, Þorbjörn declared -himself divorced from Svein’s sister. The declaration -made by him, <i>segir skilit við</i>, corresponds with old -Gulathinglaw, “ef maðr vill skiliast við kono sína þa -scal hann sva skilit segia at hvartveggia þeirra mege -heyra mal annars oc have við þat vatta.” The consequence -of this was hostility, <i>fjándskapr</i>, between -them, which had its advantage, as it was now a case -of “Foruðin sjást bezt við”—the wrongdoer can best -detect his fellow. In contrast with the above is Svein’s -sportsmanlike treatment of earl Rögnvaldr. When -earl Erlendr and Sveinn were at feud with earl Rögnvaldr, -on the latter’s return from his crusade, they -captured his ships and treasures. Sveinn claimed earl -Rögnvald’s treasures as his share of the spoil, which -he promptly sent back to the earl. Being a keen-sighted -man, he probably anticipated that his drunken ally, earl -Erlendr, would ultimately be defeated by earl Rögnvaldr, -whose treasures from the Holy Land may have -been curios and relics of no great market value in the -eyes of a víkingr.</p> - -<p>Sveinn is further described as of all men the sharpest-sighted, -<i>skygnastr</i>, and saw things which others could -not see. It was the opinion of Jón vængr, junior, that -Sveinn was a truce breaker, <i>grið-níðingr</i>, and was true -to no man. When earl Haraldr advised him to give -up roving and twitted him with being an unfair man, -<i>újafnaðarmaðr</i>, Svein’s answer was <i>tu quoque</i>, and -there the discussion ended. The Saga sums him up -as “mestr maðr fyrir sér í Vestrlöndum,” the most -masterful man in the West, both of old and now, of -those men who had no higher <i>tignar-nafn</i>, rank, -than he.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span></p> - -<p>Of Svein’s relatives may be mentioned Eyvind -Melbrigðason (Gael., <i>Maelbrighde</i>, servant of St. -Bride or Bridgit). He was one of the <i>göfugir-menn</i>, -great men, with earl Páll, and superintended the earl’s -famous <i>Jóla-boð mikit</i>, great Yule feast, at which -Sveinn killed Sveinn.</p> - -<p>Eyvind schemed to make his kinsman Sveinn -Ásleifarson quarrel with his namesake, Sveinn brjóstreip, -and having succeeded in this, he then plotted -with Sveinn to kill Sveinn, and arranged an artful -manœuvre, by which the second Sveinn, before he died, -killed his own relative, Jón, the only other witness of -the murder. Magnús Eyvindsson, by Eyvind’s arrangement, -took Sveinn by horse and boat to Damsey, where -Blánn sheltered him, and took him afterwards secretly -to the bishop. Blánn (Gael., <i>flann</i>, red), took charge -of the castle in Damsey. His father, Þorsteinn of -Flyðrunes, his brother Ásbjörn krók-auga (squint-eye), -and himself were all <i>údœlir</i>, overbearing, men.</p> - -<p>Jón vængr, senior, a relative of Sveinn, abode in -Háey á upplandi. He was a gœðingr. His brother -Ríkarðr (Richard), abode in Brekka í Strjonsey; they -were notable men, <i>gildir-menn</i>. They burned Þorkell -flatr, a gœðingr, in the house which their kinsman, -Valþjófr, had owned. The earl had given Þorkell the -house for finding out where Sveinn (the brother of -Valþjófr) had fled to, after the murder for which he had -been outlawed.</p> - -<p>Jón vængr, junior, was a systur-son of Jón vængr, -senior, and became earl Harald’s <i>ármaðr</i>, or steward. -He had two brothers, Blánn (Gaelic, <i>Flann</i>) and Bunu-, -or Hvínu-Pétr; (<i>buna</i>, a purling stream, and <i>hvína</i>, to -whistle or whine). These two were ignominiously disgraced -by Sveinn in a mock execution, to shame their -brother Jón, who had given Sveinn a bad character.</p> - -<p>Of Svein’s companions may be mentioned Grímr, -in Svíney, a <i>félitill</i>, poor, man, and his Sons Asbjörn<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> -and Murgaðr (Gael., <i>Murchadh</i>, Murdock). Sveinn, -who was sýslumaðr for the earl in Caithness, on one -occasion, in his absence, deputed his office to Murgaðr, -who turned out <i>sakgæfinn</i>, quarrelsome, and <i>áleitinn</i>, -provocative, and was <i>úvinsæll</i>, unpopular, for his -<i>újafnaðr</i>, tyranny. Along with Sveinn, he did much -<i>úspektir</i>, uproars, <i>í ránum</i>, in plunder, in Katanes.</p> - -<p>As has already been mentioned, Ólafr Svein’s father -was burnt in his house in Caithness at the instigation -of the hag, Frakök, whom Sveinn, in turn, burnt in -her house.</p> - -<p>Svein’s father had estates both in Orkney and Caithness, -and as he resided in Caithness, where he had the -<i>yfirsókn</i>, the stewardship, of the earldom, and where -Sveinn was afterwards sýslumaðr, the family appears -to have been a Caithness one, and the Caithness Clan -Gunn claim to be descended from Gunni Sveinsson. -This, taken in conjunction with the personal characteristics -and the numerous Gaelic names of members -of the family, relations and friends, makes it probable -that these families were all of Gaelic descent in the male -line.</p> - -<p>Sveinn brjóstreip, <i>circa</i> 1136, had a kinsman Jón, -of whose family nothing more is known. He was a -hirðmaðr of earl Páll, by whom he was well esteemed, -<i>metinn vel af honum</i>. He spent the summer in víking -and the winter with the earl. He was a <i>mikill</i> man and -<i>sterkr</i>, strong, <i>svartr</i>, of dark complexion, and rather -evil-looking, <i>úhamingju-samligr</i>, he was a great wizard, -<i>forn mjök</i>, and had always sat out at night (as a wizard), -<i>úti setið</i>, in order to raise <i>troll</i>, ghosts, which, in -accordance with Old Gulathinglaw, was <i>úbótaverk</i>, an -unfinable crime punished by outlawry. He was one -of the earl’s forecastle men, <i>stafnbúi</i>, and was the foremost -of all the earl’s men in battle, and fought bravely, -<i>barðist all-hraustliga</i>. Sveinn preferred “sitting out” -to attending midnight mass on Yule. The bishop<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> -hailed his slaughter as a cleansing of the land of miscreants, -<i>land-hreinsan</i>. It was the opinion of Ragna -of Rinansey, that the earl had little scathe in Sveinn, -even though he were a great warrior or bravo, <i>garpr -mikill</i>, and that the earl had suffered much unpopularity, -<i>úvinsældir miklar</i>, through him.</p> - -<p>There can be little doubt as to the race of the swarthy -wizard Sveinn, notwithstanding his Norse name. With -him compare the Icelandic-named Gaelic witch, Þórgunna, -in <i>Eyrbyggja Saga</i>.</p> - -<p>Hávarðr Gunnason, <i>circa</i> 1090, was a gœðingr, who -married Bergljót, daughter of Ragnhildr, daughter of -earl Páll. Their children were Magnús, Hákon kló, -Dufnjáll (Gael., <i>Domhnall</i>, Donald) and Þorsteinn. -Hávarðr was on board earl Hákon’s ship, on the way -to the last meeting with earl St. Magnús; and when he -was informed that Magnús was to be killed, he jumped -overboard and swam to a desert isle, rather than be -party to the martyrdom.</p> - -<p>Dufnjáll Hávarðsson and one Ríkarðr (Richard), -were worst in their counsel against Sveinn, when he -was in trouble with the earl about Murgað’s goings on. -His brother, Hákon kló, married the illegitimate -daughter of Sigurðr slembidjákn, by a daughter of one -of Moddan’s carlines. The names Gunni and Dufnjáll -appear to point to the Caithness origin of this family, -as well as does the Caithness marriage of Hákon kló.</p> - -<p>Þorljótr í Rekavík, 1116–26, married Steinvör digra, -(the stout), daughter of Frakök Moddansdóttir and -Ljótr níðingr (the dastard), in Suðrland. Their son was -Ölvir rósta (the unruly); a great and powerful man, -<i>manna mestr ok ramr at afli</i>, turbulent, <i>uppivöðslumaðr -mikill</i>, and a great manslayer, <i>vígamaðr mikill</i>. -He, at the instigation of his grandmother, Frakök, -burnt Ólafr, Svein’s father, in his house. Their other -children were Magnús, Ormr, Moddan (Gaelic), Eindriði, -and a daughter, Auðhildr. The whole of this nest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span> -left Orkney with Frakök, in her repatriation, under -whose evil influence they were reared.</p> - -<p>Notices of Shetland, in the Saga, are to all intents -and purposes nil. We find among the Shetlanders who -were taken to be healed at St. Magnús’ shrine two -bœndr, viz., Þorbjörn, son of Gyrð (O.E. Gurth), and -Sigurðr Tandarson, who abode in Dalr, in north Shetland, -and who was <i>djöful-óðr</i> or <i>ærr</i>, possessed or mad. -Tandr, or Taðkr, is E.Ir. <i>Tadg</i>, and the Shetland -Tandarson = Gaelic <i>M’Caog</i>, Ir., <i>Mac Taidhg</i>, MacCaig, -son of Teague.</p> - -<p>The Irish Gaels, who settled in Iceland in the ninth -century, proved to be desirable and enterprising -colonists, the admixture of whose blood helped to form -the Icelandic genius in saga and song. They readily -adopted Icelandic patronymics and names, and gave up -their Christianity for the Norse religion. Their presence -is commemorated there to this day in Irish place-names -and in the continued use of Irish person-names.</p> - -<p>The Scottish Gaels who settled in Orkney were, in -accordance with the Saga, in some cases undesirable -adventurers, of evil reputation, loose habits, glib, mischief-makers, -oath-breakers, witches and wizards. They -do not appear to have endowed their offspring with -traits other than their own, combined with a personal -appearance which is usually described as unattractive.</p> - -<p>Gaelic names of residents in Orkney first make their -appearance in the late eleventh century in the family of -Hávarðr Gunnason, who was probably a Caithness Gael.</p> - -<p>The differentiation between the Norwegians and the -mixed Gaelic-Norse race in Orkney, is unmistakably -brought into prominence in the middle of the twelfth -century, when the Norwegian contingent of the famous -crusade, which wintered in Orkney, got on so ill with -the islanders that it resulted in murder and bloodshed -about love and mercantile affairs.</p> - -<p>The earls who were of Gaelic descent in the female<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> -line, while exhibiting Gaelic features, were also good -rulers and great warriors, whose exploits provided good -copy for the <i>Orkneyinga-Saga</i>, which was probably -written down by Icelanders. The Gaelic admixture of -blood in Orkney does not appear to have produced any -literary or poetic talent such as it did in Iceland.</p> - -<p>As mentioned in a previous paper,<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a><a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> the <i>Orkneyinga -saga</i> consists of only two complete sagas, viz. (1) <i>Jarlasögur</i>, -earls’ sagas, the history of earl Þorfinnr hinn -ríki and his joint earls—his brothers, and his nephew, -Rögnvaldr Brúsason, 1014–1064, and (2) <i>Rögnvalds -saga hins helga</i>, the story of earl St. Rögnvaldr, 1136–1158, -brought down to the death of Sveinn Ásleifarson, -1171. The first of these sagas is prefaced with a summary -of the sagas of the preceding earls, 872–1014, of -which none have been preserved, while the second is -prefaced with a summary of the sagas of the earls, 1064–1136, -the period between the first and the second sagas, -of which we have preserved St. Magnús’s saga, 1108–1116. -The saga of earl Haraldr Maddaðarson, 1139–1206, -is partly preserved in the second saga, and in -<i>Flateyjarbók</i>.</p> - -<p>As regards Orkney poets, earl Torf-Einarr, the skáld, -was a Norwegian by birth and family, with a thrall -mother, probably Finnish, from which admixture of -Norse and dark races he probably derived his ugly -appearance and poetic genius.</p> - -<p>Earl St. Rögnvaldr, the skáld, was also a Norwegian -by birth, and the son of a Norwegian father, while his -mother was an Orkney woman of Gaelic extraction. -Bishop Biarni, the skáld, was the only Orkney born -poet, but his father was also a Norwegian, and his -mother an Orkney woman of Gaelic extraction. It is -just possible that these two last-named skálds derived -their poetic inspiration from just the right dash of -Gaelic descent.</p> - - - - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span></p> -<p>All the other poets, whose compositions are recorded -in the saga, were Icelanders: Arnórr Jarlaskáld, Hallr, -etc. It goes without saying that Orcadians and Shetlanders -must have been, like their fellow Norsemen of -the period, improvisers, whose verses, although referred -to, have not been preserved.</p> - -<p>There were only two Orkney saints, viz., earls -Magnús and Rögnvaldr, the one was martyred and the -other assassinated, and both of them had very little -Gaelic blood.</p> - -<p>It is a question whether Orkney and Shetland, with -their Christian Picts and heathen Norse, in the seventh, -eighth and ninth centuries, were the birth-place of -some of the Edda lays; and whether any of these lays -were current there, as oral tradition, and taken down -in writing in the twelfth century by earl St. Rögnvaldr -and his Icelandic skálds. The solitary preservation and -use of many Edda poetic words in Shetland is significant. -The first notices we have of writing in the saga -are in 1116, when Kali Kolsson, afterwards (1136), earl -Rögnvaldr Kali, in a verse, numbered among his -accomplishments, <i>bók</i>, reading and writing, and, in -1152, when earl Erlendr produced king Eysteinn’s <i>bréf</i>, -letter, at the þing in Kirkjuvágr.</p> - -<p>With regard to person-names, it will have been noted -that the Norse earls in the male line, although half -Gaels, always gave their children Norse names, while -the Gaelic earls, who were only of slight Norse descent, -gave their children Norse, Gaelic and English names. -So that the gœðingar and other leading families of the -late eleventh and early twelfth centuries, who also gave -their children Norse, Gaelic and English names, were -therefore probably, like the Gaelic earls, also of Gaelic -descent in the male line. This is also in accordance -with the known practice of other Gaelic settlers in -Iceland, etc.</p> - -<p>The non-Norse characteristics of persons of Gaelic<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span> -descent are most pronounced—black hair, swarthy -complexion, quarrelsome, given to witchcraft, pawky -and glib, oath-breakers, etc., which perhaps point to -the Iberian element rather than to the true Gael; and -that in comparison with the Norse—fair-haired, accomplished -and well-bred, generous, makers of hard -bargains, which they, however, kept, true to their -word, etc.</p> - -<p>It must be remembered that these comparative characteristics -are the observations of the Norsemen themselves, -who wrote the saga, probably Icelanders, and -therefore, presumably, exaggerated in their own -favour. They are valuable, however, in placing -beyond doubt the large strain of non-Norse people -who lived in Orkney.</p> - -<p>It has been shown that the Gaelic earls, 1139–1350, -adopted Norse patronymics, and that all persons in -Orkney and Shetland before 1350 used Norse patronymics, -including the numerous Gaelic families, which -must have settled in the islands. There was no other -alternative, just as it was, conversely, the case in the -Hebrides, where the Gaels predominated, and where -their language prevailed, and was adopted by the -Norsemen. Here the Norse <i>Goðormsson</i> became -Gaelic <i>M’Codrum</i>, <i>Þorketilsson</i>: <i>M’Corcodail</i>, <i>Ivarsson</i>: -<i>M’Iamhair</i>, etc., etc. Compare also the case in -Ireland.</p> - -<p>Gaelic names in Orkney and Shetland in their Norse -form have already been dealt with.</p> - -<p>The blending of Norse and Gael in the Hebrides does -not appear to have been more successful than in -Orkney, since we find, in 1139, that earl Rögnvaldr -said that most Suðreyingar were untrue, and even -Sveinn Ásleifarson put little faith in them.</p> - -<p>The use of Norse names and patronymics by the -leading Gaels in Caithness, who are alone mentioned -in the Saga, is accounted for by the fashion set by<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span> -their Norse earls, as well as through the influence of -Norse marriages. While the leading people must have -been bilingual, speaking Norse (the court language), -and Gaelic, the <i>almúgi</i>, or common people, appear to -have maintained their native Gaelic. This is indicated -in two striking instances in the Saga. In 1158, earls -Haraldr and Rögnvaldr went from Þórs-á up Þórs-dalr -and took <i>gisting</i>, night quarters, at some <i>erg</i>, which -“we call <i>setr</i>.” The local Gaelic name of such a shieling -was <i>àiridh</i>, E. Ir. <i>airge</i>, <i>áirge</i>. In 1152, earl -Haraldr, who was living at Víkr, dispersed his men -<i>á veizlur</i>, <i>i.e.</i>, quartered them on various houses, in -accordance with the obligations of the householders, -during Páskar, Easter; then the Katnesingar said that -the earl was on <i>kunn-mið</i>. Vigfússon suggested that -this word was some corrupt form of a local name; -Dasent translated it “visitations,” and Goudie “guest-quarters,” -which is correct, as <i>kunn-mið</i> must be -Gaelic, <i>comaidh</i>, a messing, eating together, E. Ir. -<i>commaid</i>; <i>cf.</i> Gaelic <i>coinne</i>, <i>coinneamh</i>, a supper, a -party, to which everyone brings his own provisions, -E. Ir. <i>coindem</i>, <i>cionmed</i>, quartering. In both these -cases the E. Ir. spelling comes nearer to the Norse than -the Scottish Gaelic does, and corresponds to the Scottish -Gaelic of the twelfth century.</p> - -<p>The fact that the earl had the right to quarter his men -in Orkney and Shetland, is preserved in the tax, <i>wattle</i> -< <i>veizla</i>, which was paid in lieu of actual entertainment. -This tax continues to be paid to this day.</p> - -<p>“The Inhabitants of Orkney and Shetland after -1350,” will be the subject of a future paper; meanwhile -it may be emphasised that the Gaelic earls of Orkney -failed in the male line before the Scots began to assume -permanent surnames. The Gaelic earls were succeeded, -in the female line, by the Lowland-Norman family of -St. Clair, bearing a hereditary surname, about the time -of whose arrival began the Lowland-Scottish settlement<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span> -of Orkney, to the influence of which must be attributed -the assumption of the Lowland Scottish language and -the adoption of place-surnames, and not fixed patronymics, -in Orkney, by the Norse-Gaelic inhabitants. -Shetland, being far removed from the seat of government -and fashion, continued the use of patronymics -until the nineteenth century, when they became fixed.</p> - -<p>The great number of persons in Orkney and Shetland -bearing the names of Tulloch and Sinclair appears to -indicate that the ancestors of some of them may have -been tenants of the bishopric and earldom who, in -accordance with Gaelic custom, assumed the names of -their lords of that ilk. The Tulloch bishops ruled, -1418–1477, and the Sinclair earls and lessees, 1379–1542, -the period during which patronymics were giving place -to hereditary surnames in Orkney. Tulloch and -Sinclair may also have been Christian names which -became stereotyped as patronymics and the “son” -termination afterwards dropped, as in the case of -Omondson, > Omond.</p> - -<p>Shetlanders pride themselves in their geographic -detachment from Orkney with its Scottish people and -customs, and claim to be regarded as purer Norsemen -as compared with the Scots of Orkney. Perhaps it is -owing to this qualified humdrum purity that the -Shetlanders did not achieve any deeds of sufficient -interest to be recorded in the Saga. However, from -an anthropological point of view, the Pictish and small -dark strain is as much in evidence in Shetland as in -Orkney, and perhaps more so.</p> - -<p>In the twelfth century even an ordinary Shetland -<i>bóndi</i>, farmer, had his thrall, and <i>manfrelsi</i>, giving a -thrall his freedom, is mentioned as an ordinary transaction. -The thrall element must therefore have formed -a large proportion of the population, and intermarriage -must have taken place between the Norse and the thralls. -We find the earls had children by thralls, and intermarriage<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> -between the bœndr and thralls, especially the -freed thralls, must also have taken place.</p> - -<p>Persons of mixed racial descent are usually very loud -in an exaggerated appreciation of the heroic line of their -ancestry, especially when it is on the distaff side, -usually coupled with an inverse depreciation of the -other ascent which is represented by an inappropriate -and inconvenient surname.</p> - -<p>There would be no necessity for a genuine Norse -islander to crow himself hoarse on his native rock; and, -to do so, would indicate that there were grave doubts -as to the purity of his strain.</p> - -<p>Hitherto the Norse traditions of Orkney and Shetland -have been solely espoused by outlanders and by natives -bearing surnames which leave no doubt as to their -foreign origin.</p> - -<p>The most voluminous history of Shetland was written -by an English tourist, Dr. Hibbert, afterwards Dr. -Hibbert Ware. But then, the English are noted for -their greater interest in the history and antiquities of -countries other than their own, which may be accounted -for by the exceptional variety of races which they -represent.</p> - -<p>But after all the land makes the man. If it had not -been for these northern islands there would have been -no <i>Orkneyinga Saga</i> with its verses and narratives of -stirring events.</p> - -<p>Dr. John Rae, first honorary president of this Society, -was a Scottish Gael born in Orkney (where his father -had settled), an Orkneyman of Orkneymen; and to his -youthful training, experience in boating, and his -environment in these islands, he attributed his success -in Arctic exploration.</p> - -<p>And, moreover, it is well known that Orkney and -Shetland supply the British Navy and mercantile -marine with a deal more than their due share of -personnel, and have given the British colonies a good -supply of useful pioneers and settlers.</p> - - -<div class="footnotes"> - -<h2 class="nobreak">FOOTNOTES</h2> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> Hkr.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> Hkr.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> He has been unaccountably confused with earl Erlendr, who would -thus have run off with his own aunt.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> Fb.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a><a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> Isl. Annals.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a><a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> <i>Scots Peerage.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a><a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> <i>Scottish Land-Names</i>, by sir Herbert Maxwell, bt., 123, Macbain’s -<i>G. Dict.</i>, s.v. <i>bòrlum</i>.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a><a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> <i>Sandey Church History</i>, by Rev. Alex. Goodfellow, Kirkwall, 1912, -p. 78.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a><a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> Isl. Annals.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a><a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> <i>Skálda.</i></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a><a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> <i>Saga-Book</i>, 1914.</p></div> - - -</div> - -<hr class="full" /> - -<div class="transnote"> - -<h2 class="nobreak">Transcriber's Note</h2> - - -<p>The following apparent errors have been corrected:</p> - -<ul><li>p. 3 "<i>circa</i>," changed to "<i>circa</i>"</li> - -<li>p. 12 "slaugher" changed to "slaughter"</li> -</ul> - - -<p>The following are inconsistently used in the text:</p> - -<ul><li>Atholl and Athole</li> - -<li>Ingibiörg and Ingibjörg</li> - -<li>seaboard and sea-board</li> - -<li>sir and Sir</li> - -<li>slembidjákn and slembi-djákn</li> - -<li>Svein and Sveinn</li> - -<li>uppkvöð and upp-kvöð</li></ul> - -</div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Orkney and Shetland Folk 872-1350, by -A. 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