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Download Download 334 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, APRIL 12, 1937. II. KARL HUNDASON, "KING OF SCOTS." BY A. B. TAYLOR, D.LiTT., F.S.A.ScoT. The extencontributioe Icelandith d f Ol o t e th cf no Saga Scottiso st h histor s beeha y n fully . AndersodemonstratedO . s A hi r n ni M y b monumental Early Sources of Scottish History, published in. 1922. The historical value of these contributions is often difficult to assess, but they are always of interest; and they cannot be dismissed lightly when t varianca the e yar e with Scottish sources therr fo , s everei y reasoo nt believe that most oral sagas were composed soon afte evente th r s they describe, and that the commemorative verses they contain were often mad thn eo e scen f actioneo . Such difficultie partle s occudu a s ye ar r e lengtth f timo o ht e during whic e sagath h s were handed dowy b n \vord of mouth before being committed to writing, and partly to the Norseman's notion of Scotland as a remote country, usually worth f firsy o mean an te importancey on splunderingb e t th no n t I bu ., following e identitstudth f o f yKarlo y Hundason, "Kin f Scots,o g " these considerations have been kept in mind. I. Karl Hundason—Karl, son of Hundi—is mentioned as a " King of Scots" in chap. 20 of the Orkneyinga Saga, but is quite unknown to any other historical source—Scottish, Irish, English, or Scandinavian. Yet his name Karl and the fact that he led an army of Scots and Irish agains e Orkneth t y Earl Thorfin t a Torfnesn r Tarbatneso e welar s l attested by the verses of the contemporary court poet Arnor which are quotee Saga.e controversth Th n di y regardin s identitghi o n s yi ne . wMuncA one . P h. identifie witm hi dh Malcolm II., Kenneth's son (1005—34); W. F Sken. e -wite latter'th h s successor, Duncan Crinan's son, -who was murdered by Macbeth in 1040.1 1 See W. F. Skene, Highlanders of Scotland, chap. 5, and Celtic Scotland, vol. i. pp. 400 ff.; W. Robertson, Scotland under her Early Kings, vol. ii. p. 477; P. A. Munch, NorsJee Folks Historic, vol . 854pari p . , BhysB 2 t; , Celtic Britain, . 260 p . Henderson G ; , Norse Influence Celticn o Scotland, p. 28; J. Storer Clouston, History of Orkney, pp. 40-44; J. Auderson, Orkneyinga Saga, . 17-18Anderson. O pp . A ; , Early Sources of Scottish History, . 577-8volpp . .i ; etc., etc. KARL HUNDASON, 5 "KIN33 F SCOTS.GO " My excuse for the following study is that there is additional evidence e consideredb o t thad an fresa ,t h solution seems possible I shoul. d add that the lines along which inquiry has been made were suggested to me by the brief note on Karl in Mr Andersen's Early Sources to which I have referred. II. We may profitably study first Karl's dates, and thereafter examine maie th n careers facthi f o s . According to the Orkneyinga Saga, a certain Melkolmr Skotakonungr or "Malcolm Kin f Scotso g " die de reconciliatio "ie th yea nth f o r n of Thorfin Brusi,d nan e Orkne"th s succeedey wa earls d Karly an , db Hundason. e previouth n I s chaptee Saga leare th w f o nr that this reconciliation took place "when Knut became Kin f Norwao g d an y Olaf "went into exile," an event which from Norwegian sources we know to have occurred in 1029. s deathhi Ae Sagao t sth , uncertai s i n t tooi whethe t kno placr o r e e battlth f Tarbatnest o ea e eventth st sreferre Bu narrate . to d n i d the chapter do not cover more than a year or two, for—as the last sentenc e chapteth f o e r shows—they occurred befor e deatth e f o h Earl Brusi at some date not later than 1035. If this "Malcolm Kin f Scotso g s Malcoli " m II., Kenneth's son, then Karl Hundason s successohi e oughb f o o rt t Duncann so e th , Crinan, lay abbot of Dunkeld. And an attempt to equate his curious Old Icelandic name with that of this well-known Scottish king was . MacBaimadA Northerne y articln eb a Th n ni n ei Chronicle quoten di Henderson's Norse Influence Celticn o Scotland, . Karl,28 . a man,p " " he argued, is a literal translation of the first element dune in Celtic Duncadh (Duncan). Hundi, "a dog, s obviousli " a ytranslatio f o n Celtic Cuilean, the name of several Scottish chiefs or mormaers in the tent eleventd han h centuries Scote th ; s Earl Hund fougho wh i t against Earl Sigur e Stouth d n Njdlsi t Saga, s probabl wa chap , 86 .y called Cuilean n Celtici . Confusion between Crinan d Cuilean,an MacBain suggested, possibly gave Kar erroneoue th l s surnam Hundason.f eo The chief objection to MacBain's theory is that there is already an Old Icelandic for f Duncadhmo Dungadr,n i which occur Orkn.n si Saga, . little Therb 46 en d chapsdoubteca an 3 3 . , however, tha namee th t s Cuilean and Hundi are identical. But, etymology apart, ther e seriouar e s chronological difficulties •which make it impossible to identify Malcolm and Karl with Malcolm II. Duncand an . assumEvee w f ni e tha e date Sagaerron th i th te s n i i r 336 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, APRIL 12, 1937. of Karl's accession (givine yeath rs gu 102 9 instea f 1034)do , thers ei insufficient time between 1034 and 1035 for the lengthy campaigns of r e witOrkneys "hie Earth wa shth f o l chronologicaA . le erroth t a r othe seemd en r s equally unlikely r thesfo , e campaigns appea havo t r e been concluded some time befor arrivae e Orkneyeth th n i l Rognvalf so d Brusi's son to claim his inheritance. This is described in chaps. 21 Sagae occurred th f an o 2 2 dd fairlan y certainl 103n yi 1038r 7o . Further, vere th y careful chronolog e Orkneyingath f yo Saga upses evente i th f i t s of e pushechapar 0 2 .d forward fro e periomth d 1029—3 e perioth o t 5d 1034—38. We are driven to the conclusion that these two Saga "Kings of Scots" were not "Kings of Scots" at all, but were mere chiefs oe r norther r otheth o mormaers f e o r on n f o province f Scotlando s . saga-man'e th t no s i s t I chronolog knowledgs y t hi faultthaa t s i tbu , e e geographoth f politicad yan remota l s divisionwa e m f whahi o s o t t country. III. proceew briea no I o dt f accoun e careeth f f Karo o rt s givea l n ni Orkn. Saga, very largely to show how, except in one or two particulars, consistens i t i t with his-bein f theso e egrulea on northerf o r n provinces —Moray r Rosso , r Argyllo , r examplefo , n particularI . t i wil,e b l noted that the journeys made would be much too great if it is assumed that Karl was a King of Scots having his headquarters in Lothian or Lowlandse th n i Scotlandf o . Oaccessios nhi 1029n ni , accordin Orkn.o gt Saga, Karl immediately laid claim to Caithness. Caithness was then part of the Orkney earldom, having been grante n 101i d o Eart 4 l Thorfm Karl'y b n s predecessor, e so-calleth d "Malcolm Kin Thorfinn's f Scots,go wa o "wh s grandfather s mother'o mentionee nhi b y sma sidet d(I tha. t Caithnes beed ha sn the buffer state between the northern provinces of Scotland and the Orkney earldom ever sinc establishmene th e ninte lattee th th hn f i ro t century e Orkn.se ; Saga, d 11.an ) , chapsKar10 , 5 .l too e steth kp of sending a nephew of his called Muddan 1 to conquer Caithness. We t tolno d e Karl'f anythino ar t sye headquarterss ga leare w nt thabu , t Muddan raise forca d Sutherlann i e d invadedan d Caithness according 1 The name seems to be related to that of Matdin mac Caerill mormaer of (?) Buchan, Book of . VarianDeer,92 . p t reading e nam th e Mumtan f ar eo s d Mutatan.an e latteTh r form lends support to Sir W. A. Craigie's derivation of the name—from Old Irish Modudhan (Zeitschrift fur Celtische Philologie, e nam ff.)9 Th 43 e. als pp volo . i .occur s thaa sf a-wealtho t y Caithness chieftain of the twelfth century (Orkn. Saga, chap. 53), the spellings in this instance being Moddan Muddan, d Maddan.an Muddan e forth ms i occurrin g most frequently s acceptei e d th an ,s da right one in both cases by the present writer. KARL HUNDASON, "KING OF SCOTS." 337 to plan. What followed is so typically described in the Saga that I fee I musl t quot fulln i t e:i "Thorfinn then marched against Muddan, and he had the larger force.
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