The Dominions of King Harald and Earl Rögnvald.
179. Earl Rögnvald assisted Harald Harfagri (fair-haired) to conquer the country (Norway), and he gave him the revenues of both Mœri and Raumsdal. Rögnvald had married Ragnhild, the daughter of Hrólf Nefia (nose). They had a son named Hrólf, who conquered Normandy. Hrólf was so big that no horse could carry him, and he was therefore called Gönguhrólf (Hrólf the walker). From him the Earls of Rúda (Rouen) and the Kings of England are descended. They had two other sons, Ivar and Earl Thórir Thegiandi (the silent). Rögnvald had also sons by his concubines. They were Hallad, Hrollaug, and Einar, who was the youngest. One summer Harald Harfagri went to the west across the sea to punish the Vikings, as he was weary of their devastations. They plundered in Norway during the summer, and spent the winters in Hjaltland or the Orkneys. Harald subdued Hjaltland, the Orkneys, and the Sudreyar (Hebrides). He went west as far as the Isle of Man, and destroyed all the dwellings in Man. He fought many battles there, and extended his dominion so far to the west that none of the Kings of Norway since his time has had wider dominions. In one of these battles, Ivar, the son of Earl Rögnvald, fell. So when King Harald sailed from the west he gave Hjaltland and the Orkneys to Earl Rögnvald as a compensation for [the loss of] his son; but Earl Rögnvald gave the Islands to his brother Sigurd, who was King Harald’s forecastleman; and the King gave him the title of Earl before he left the west. Sigurd remained out in the west.