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Rognvald "The Wise" Eysteinsson (son of Eystein Ivarsson) is the founder of the Earldom of Orkney in the Norse Sagas. Eystein Glumra also called Eystein Ivarsson (dead ca 830 in Nord-Trøndelag, Norway) was Jarl (Earl of Oplande and Hedmark in Norway the son The Earldom of Orkney was a Norwegian dignity in Scotland which had its origins in the Viking period The sagas (from Icelandic saga, plural sögur) are stories about ancient Scandinavian and Germanic history about early Viking voyages Three quite different accounts of the creation of the Norse earldom on Orkney and Shetland exist. Norsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who speak one of the North Germanic languages as their native language Orkney (also known as the Orkney Islands or incorrectly the Orkneys) is an Archipelago in northern Scotland, situated 10 miles (16 km north Shetland (formerly spelled Zetland, from etland; Old Norse non Hjaltland; Sealtainn is an Archipelago off the northeast coast of The best known is that found in the Heimskringla, but other older traditions are found in the Historia Norvegiae and the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland. Heimskringla is the best known of the Old Norse Kings' sagas. Historia Norwegiæ is a short history of the Norwegian past written by a Monk around the second half of the 12th century The Fragmentary Annals of Ireland are a Middle Irish combination of chronicle from various Irish annals and narrative history

Contents

Sagas

The saga accounts are the best known, and the latest, of the three surviving traditions concerning Rognvald and the foundation of the Earldom of Orkney. Recorded in the 13th century, their views are informed by Norwegian politics of the day. Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional Once, historians could write that no-one denied the reality of Harald Fairhair's expeditions to the west recounted in Heimskringla, but this is no longer the case. Harald Fairhair or Harald Finehair ( Old Norse: Haraldr hárfagri, Norwegian: Harald Hårfagre) (c The Norwegian contest with the Kings of Scots over the Hebrides and the Isle of Man in the middle 13th century underlies the sagas. The monarch of Scotland was the Head of state of the Kingdom of Scotland. See also Hebrides (disambiguation The Hebrides (ˈhɛbrɨˌdiːz "HEB-ri-deez" Gaelic: Innse Gall) comprise a widespread and diverse The Isle of Man (Ellan Vannin ˈɛlʲən ˈvanɪn or Mann (Mannin) is a self-governing Crown dependency, located in the Irish Sea at the geographical [1]

In the Heimskringla, Rognvald is Earl of Møre. is a county in the northernmost part of Western Norway. It borders the counties of Sør-Trøndelag, Oppland and Sogn og Fjordane. He accompanies Harald Fairhair on his great expeditions to the west, to Ireland and to Scotland. Ireland (pronounced /ˈaɾlənd/ Éire) is the third largest island in Europe, and the twentieth-largest island in the world Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Here, Rognvald's son Ivarr is killed. In compensation King Harald grants Rognvald the Orkneys and Shetlands. Rognvald himself returns to Norway, giving the northern isles to his brother Sigurd Eysteinsson[2]

The Heimskringla recounts other tales of Rognvald. Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional Earldom of Orkney The Earl of Orkney was originally a Norse jarl ruling Orkney, Shetland and parts of Caithness and Sutherland It tells how he causes Harald Finehair to be given his byname Fairhair by cutting and dressing his hair, which had been uncut for ten years on account of Harald's vow never to cut it until he was ruler of all Norway,[3] and it makes him the father of Ganger-Hrólf, identified by saga writers with the Rollo (Hrólfr), ancestor of the Dukes of Normandy, who was said to have been established as Count of Rouen by King Charles the Simple in 931. Rollo, occasionally known as Rollo the Viking, (c 860 - c 932 was the founder and first ruler of the Viking principality in what soon became known as Duke of Normandy is a Title held or claimed by various Norman, French, English and British rulers from the 10th century until the Rouen (ʁwɑ̃ in French) is the historical capital city of Normandy, in northwestern France on the River Seine, and currently the capital Charles III ( September 17, 879 – October 7, 929) called the Simple or the Straightforward (from the contemporary [4]

Earl Rognvald is killed by Harald's son Halfdan Hålegg. Rognvald's death is avenged by his son, Earl Turf-Einar, from whom later Orkney earls claimed descent, who kills Halfdan on North Ronaldsay. Einarr Rögnvaldsson, Torf-Einarr or Turf-Einar (d 910 was one of the Norse Earls of Orkney. North Ronaldsay is the northernmost of the Orkney Islands, Scotland and with an area of 2 [5]

Historia Norvegiae

The Historia Norvegiae's account of Rognvald and the foundation of the Orkney earldom is the next oldest, probably dating from the 12th century. This account contains much curious detail on Orkney, including the earliest account of the Picts as small people who hid in the daytime, but it has little to say about Rognvald. The Picts were a Confederation of tribes in what was later to become eastern and northern Scotland from Roman times until the 10th century

In the days of Harald Fairhair, king of Norway, certain pirates, of the family of the most vigorous prince Ronald [Rognvald], set out with a great fleet, and crossed the Solundic sea. . . , and subdued the islands to themselves. And being there provided with safe winter seats, they went in summer-time working tyranny upon the English, and the Scots, and sometimes also upon the Irish, so that they took under their rule, from England, Northumbria; from Scotland, Caithness; from Ireland, Dublin, and the other sea-side towns. Geography Caithness extends about 40 Miles (64 Kilometres) north-south and about 30 miles (50 km east-west Dublin (ˈdʌblɨn/ /ˈdʊblɨn or /ˈdʊbəlɪn/, bˠalʲə aːha klʲiəh or cliə(ɸ is both the largest city and capital of Ireland. [6]

This account does not associate Rognvald with the earldom, but instead attributes it to his anonymous sons.

Fragmentary Annals of Ireland

. . . for it was not long before this that there had been every war and every trouble in Norway, and this was the source of that war in Norway: two younger sons of Albdan, king of Norway, drove out the eldest son, i. e. Ragnall son of Albdan, for fear that he would seize the kingship of Norway after their father. So Ragnall came with his three sons to the Orkneys. Ragnall stayed there then, with his youngest son.
Fragmentary Annals of Ireland , FA 330. Edited and translated by Joan N. Radnor.

The oldest account of the Rognvald and the earldom of Orkney is that found in the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland. The annals survive only in incomplete copies made by Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh in the 17th century, but the original annals are believed to date from the lifetime of Donnchad mac Gilla Patráic (died 1039). Dubhaltach MacFhirbhisigh, also known as Dubhaltach Óg Giolla Íosa Mór mac Dubhaltach Mór Mac Fhirbhisigh Duald Mac Firbis Dudly Ferbisie, and Dualdus Firbissius The annals are known to have had an influence on later writings in Iceland. Iceland, officially the Republic of Iceland ( ( Ísland or Lýðveldið Ísland (

The annals make Rognvald the son of "Halfdan, King of Lochlann". Lochlann (earlier Laithlind) is an uncertainly located land in Classical Gaelic literature and in the history of Early Medieval Ireland. This is generally understood to mean Halfdan the Black, which would make the Rognvald of the annals the brother of Harald Finehair. Halfdan the Black Gudrødsson (c 810 – c 860) ( Old Norse: Hálfdan svarti, Norwegian Halvdan Svarte) was the father of the first However, the sagas claim that Rognvald's grandfather was named Halfdan. [7]

These events are placed after an account of the devastation of Fortriu, dated to around 866,[8] and the fall of York, reliably dated to late 867. Fortriu or the Kingdom of Fortriu is the name given by historians for an ancient Pictish kingdom and often used synonymously with However, such an early date makes it difficult to reconcile the saga claims that Harald Fairhair was involved in Rognvald's conquest of the northern isles.

Harald Finehair's victory in the Battle of Hafrsfjord, which gave him dominion over parts of Norway, is traditionally dated to 872, but was probably later, perhaps as late as 900. The Battle of Hafrsfjord has traditionally been regarded as the battle in which Norway for the first time was unified under one monarch [9] What little is known of Scottish events in the period from the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba would correspond equally well with Harald's attacks on Scotland in the reign of Domnall mac Causantín (ruled 889–900). The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba, or Scottish Chronicle, is a short written chronicle of the Kings of Alba, covering the period from the time of Domnall mac Causantín ( Modern Gaelic: Dòmhnall mac Chòiseim), anglicised as Donald II (d [10] However, this would not correspond with the sequence in the earliest account of the origins of the Orkney earldom, which places this a generation earlier.

Notes

  1. ^ Crawford, pp. 52–53.
  2. ^ Anderson, pp. 332–334; Saga of Harald Fairhair, c. 22.
  3. ^ Saga of Harald Fairhair, cc. 4 & 23.
  4. ^ Saga of Harald Fairhair, c. 24.
  5. ^ Saga of Harald Fairhair, cc. 29–30.
  6. ^ Anderson, pp. 330–331.
  7. ^ Crawford, pp. 53–54.
  8. ^ Anderson, p. 296; Annals of Ulster, s. a. 865.
  9. ^ Crawford, p. 55–56.
  10. ^ Anderson, pp. 395–396.

References

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