The Gaelic Earls.
Earl Haraldr Maddaðarson, 1139–1206, was the son of Margrét Hákons-dóttir and Maddadh, Gaelic earl of Athole (Gaelic, maddadh, a dog), and was 51/256 Norse, 205/256 Gael. When about twenty years of age, he was mikill maðr vexti ok sterkr, ljótr maðr ok vel vitr, a big man in growth and strong, an ugly man and well-witted. He was a mikill höfðingi, great chief; manna mestr ok sterkastr, the tallest and strongest of men; ódæll ok skap-harðr, overbearing and harsh.
He was twice married, viz., (1) Afreka, daughter of Duncan, Gaelic earl of Fife, whom he repudiated, and (2) Hvarflöð (Gaelic, Gormflaith), daughter of Malcolm, earl of Morhæfi (Moray). The names of the children of the first were, Heinrekr (Henry), Hákon, Helena, Margrét, and by the second, Þorfinnr, Davið, Jón, Gunnhildr, Herborg, and Langlíf. He allowed a rebellion, against king Sverrir, to be hatched in Orkney, for which he had Shetland taken from him in 1194, when it was placed under the government of Norway,[4] and was not restored to the earls till 1379.
Here the Orkneyinga Saga ends, and information about the succeeding earls is derived from documents few and far between.
Earl Haraldr Maddaðarson was succeeded by his sons, earls Davið Haraldsson, d.s.p. 1214, and Jón Haraldsson, slain, 1231, the latter having been predeceased by his son, Haraldr Jónsson, who was drowned in 1226.[5] Earl Jón Haraldsson was succeeded by Malcolm, the Gaelic earl of Angus, from whom the title was transferred to his kinsman (uncle or cousin), earl Magnús, who was succeeded by his son or brother, earl Gilbert (Gaelic, Gilleabart), who was succeeded by his son, earl Magnús Gilbertsson, who was succeeded by his sons, earls Magnús and John and another earl Magnús, after which the earldom passed to Malise, (Gaelic, Maoliosa), Gaelic earl of Strathearn, through his great grandmother, a daughter of earl Gilbert. After Malise, the earldom, after an interregnum, passed to his daughter’s son, Henry St. Clair, in whom the earldom was vested in 1379. His grandson, earl William, after the wadset of Orkney and Shetland to Scotland in 1468–9, resigned his right to the earldom to the crown of Scotland in 1472, when it was annexed to the crown as a royal title.[6]