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.
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.