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The Orkneyinga saga is a narrative of the history of the Orkney and Shetland islands and their relationship with other local polities, particularly Norway and Scotland. The saga has "no parallel in the social and literary record of Scotland" and is "the only medieval chronicle to have Orkney as the central place of action". The main focus of the work is the line of jarls who ruled the Earldom of Orkney, which constituted the Norðreyjar or Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland and there are frequent references to both archipelagoes throughout.
Saint Magnus Erlendsson, Earl of Orkney, sometimes known as Magnus the Martyr, was Earl of Orkney from 1106 to about 1117.
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Earl of Orkney, historically Jarl of Orkney, is a title of nobility encompassing the archipelagoes of Orkney and Shetland, which comprise the Northern Isles of Scotland. Originally founded by Norse invaders, the status of the rulers of the Northern Isles as Norwegian vassals was formalised in 1195. Although the Old Norse term jarl is etymologically related to "earl", and the jarls were succeeded by earls in the late 15th century, a Norwegian jarl is not the same thing. In the Norse context the distinction between jarls and kings did not become significant until the late 11th century and the early jarls would therefore have had considerable independence of action until that time. The position of Jarl of Orkney was eventually the most senior rank in medieval Norway except for the king himself.
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Rögnvald Kali Kolsson, also known as Saint Ronald of Orkney, was a Norwegian earl of Orkney who came to be regarded as a Christian saint. Two of the Orkney Islands are named after Rögnvald, namely North Ronaldsay and South Ronaldsay.
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Erlend Haraldsson was joint Earl of Orkney from 1151 to 1154. The son of Earl Harald Haakonsson, he ruled with Harald Maddadsson and Rögnvald Kali Kolsson.
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Sweyn Asleifsson or Sveinn Ásleifarson was a twelfth-century Viking who appears in the Orkneyinga Saga.
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William the Old was a 12th-century prelate who became one of the most famous bishops of Orkney. Although his origins are obscure in detail, William was said to have been a "clerk of Paris". Saga tradition had it that William had been bishop for 66 years when he died in 1168, meaning that his accession to the bishopric would have been around 1102. There is no contemporary evidence of his episcopate until a letter of Pope Honorius II in 1128, which even then does not name William specifically, but rather only mentions a bishop holding office at the same time as Radulf Novell. He was however definitively in charge by December 1135 during the earldom of Earl Paul Haakonsson.
Damsay is an islet in the Orkney archipelago in Scotland. It is approximately 18 hectares (0.07 sq mi) in extent and rises to only 11 metres (36 ft) above sea level. It is situated in the Bay of Firth north of the Orkney Mainland near Finstown. Nearby is the smaller islet of Holm of Grimbister.
Kristin Sigurdsdatter was a Norwegian princess and mother of King Magnus V of Norway.
Helga Moddansdóttir was the mistress of Haakon Paulsson who was Earl of Orkney from 1105 to 1123.
References
- ↑ Orkneyinga Saga: The History of the Earls of Orkney(tr. Hermann Pálsson and Paul Edwards. Penguin, London, 1978)
Norse earls of Orkney | ||
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Dates are approximate. Joint earldoms were frequent. | ||
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