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Jarla So̧gur Orkneyja. Status and Power Of CHAPTER THREE JARLA SO̧ GUR ORKNEYJA. STATUS AND POWER OF THE EARLS OF ORKNEY ACCORDING TO THEIR SAGAS Ian Beuermann In 1195 the Norwegian crown put an end to the special status which the Earldom of Orkney had enjoyed until then.1 Jarla so̧gur, now better known as Orkneyinga saga,2 and Sverris saga report that Earl Haraldr Maddaðarson of Orkney (c. 1138–1206) had backed a competitor for the Norwegian crown in opposition to King Sverrir (1177–1202). However, Earl Haraldr’s Eyarskjeggjar (“Island-Beards”) were beaten in the battle of Florevág in 1194, and Haraldr had to surrender uncon- ditionally to Sverrir. Sverrir used the opportunity to bring earldom and ruler to heel. Shetland was detached and taken under direct control by the Norwegian crown; Orkney itself was restored to Haraldr, but only as a fief, and after Haraldr had sworn a vassal’s oath of allegiance to Sverrir. Haraldr’s personal status was thus equally affected. He and his successors stopped being semi-independent rulers. Instead, the earls became members of the Norwegian royal hirð, the king’s retainers, and with that, members of the Norwegian aristocracy. In 1195 therefore, the Norwegian king established his overlordship of Orkney.3 However, Norway’s crown was not the only one whose power inched ever closer to the earls of Orkney. From the twelfth century on, Scottish kings showed growing interest in the northern areas of the British mainland, eventually claiming overlordship of Caithness.4 1 The Earldom of Orkney comprised the Shetland and Orkney Isles, and Caithness. This area is denoted as “Orkney”. 2 On the names Sigurður Nordal 1913: 36–7, cf. below n. 7. 3 Earl Haraldr’s son-in-law Óláfr Jarlsmágr had brought the pretender, Sigurðr son of the late King Magnús Erlingsson, to Orkney, where he was proclaimed king. Orkneyinga saga (OS) ch. 112; Sverris saga chs. 124, 125; Early Sources of Scottish History ii: 331–341. Thomson 2008: 120–2, Chesnutt 1981: 33–54, Imsen 2000, Crawford 1976–77: 97–117. 4 The wording “northern Scotland” has been avoided since these areas were only gradually incorporated into the medieval kingdom of Scotland. At the earliest, the 110 ian beuermann Matters came to a head during the reign of the just mentioned Earl Haraldr Maddaðarson, who was also fighting King William of Scotland (1165–1214). Haraldr had employed the same technique against the Scottish as against the Norwegian crown: throwing in his lot with dynastic rivals, the Uí Uilleim, who posed a dangerous threat to the Scottish crown.5 In 1196–1202, William campaigned against Haraldr, who submitted twice and was imprisoned in Edinburgh until his son Þorfinnr replaced him as a hostage. Haraldr only eventually managed to make peace with William by appealing to King John of England, whose diplomatic pressure made William call off his army in return for a hefty fine from Orkney.6 At precisely this time, probably after 1192 and not long after 1200, the decision was made to bring together a collection of different stories about the Orkney earls and some other notable Orcadians: the Jarla so̧gur, now known as Orkneyinga saga. This first collection of sagas, extant in a Danish translation made before 1570, recounts the period from pre-history to 1171 (chs. 1–108).7 northern British mainland was de lege defined as Scottish in 1098 by Kings Magnús berfœttr and Edgar; de facto Scottish control was not established there before the 13th c. 5 The Uí Uilleim (also: Mac Williams), descend from Uilliam son of Donnchad, King Máel Coluim III’s eldest son with his Orcadian wife Ingibjo̧rgr. The Scottish crown, however, passed to King Máel Coluim’s younger sons by his English wife Margaret: Edgar, Alexander I, and David I. King William was a grandson of David’s. How dangerous the Uí Uilleim were for the ruling segment can be seen in the fact that William’s son Alexander II ordered the last Ua Uilliam, a baby girl, killed in 1230, and in the consistent attempts to bastardise Donnchad. Discussion within the Orcadian context Beuermann 2007: 199–202. 6 OS chs. 109–112; Fordun, Chronica: 256–257, 270; Howden Chronica iv: 10–12; Early Sources of Scottish History ii: 331–341. Beuermann 2007: 199–211; Thomson 2008: 117–127; Clouston 1932: 130–140; Crawford 1976–7: 97–117; Topping 1983: 105–120; Oram 2004: 89–110, esp. 100–102; Duncan 1975/1996: 191–198, Jesch 1995: 222–239. 7 Cf. introductions in the editions by Sigurður Nordal (SN); Finnbogi Guðmundsson (FG); Alexander Taylor (AT); Hermann Pálsson and Paul Edwards (HP/PE); KLNM 12: 699–702 and Medieval Scandinavia: 456–7. The Saga was definitely written after 1171 (ch. 108, when the first version ends, cf. below 5.), probably after 1192 (Earl Ro̧gnvaldr mentioned as a saint), and certainly before 1241 (Snorri’s death, cf. in his Óláfs saga helga ch. 103 “þá er þó sagt í Jarlaso̧gunum”, FG: v). The Danish translation made before 1570 is extant in one manuscript from 1615, overview Sigurður Nordal 1913: 31–2. Jarla So̧gur was the name under which Snorri knew the text, and also the name Finnur Jónsson proposed. The original name may have been Orkneyinga or Orkneyja jarla so̧gur. We owe the modern title OS, and the present shape of the text which includes later revisions, to Sigurður Nordal 1913: 36–7; cf. FG: vi-vii. Although .
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