It was the opinion of earl Rögnvaldr that Frakök was an old hag who would not do anybody good, kerling er til einkis er fær. She was burnt alive in her house by Sveinn Ásleifarson, for having instigated her grandson Ölver rósta to burn Svein’s father in his house. Moddan’s carlines and their offspring wormed themselves into Orkney society. Frakök (a Gaelic name?) married Ljótr níðingr (the dastard) of Sutherland, and their daughter married Þorljótr of Rekavík (in Orkney). Another daughter married Þorsteinn fjaranz-muðr (dreadful mouth). Þorleif Moddansdöttir was the mother of Auðhildr, the frilla of Sigurðr slembi-djákn (the slim or tricky deacon), by whom he had an illegitimate daughter, who married Hákon kló. Sigurðr himself, was the illegitimate son of a priest, Aðalbrigð. When he and Frakök came to Orkney a great faction, sveitar-dráttr mikill, took place. He took part in the slaughter of Þorkell fóstri, a man much beloved in Orkney, for which the deacon was promptly deported as an undesirable alien. As the pretended son of king Magnús berfœttr, he, however, met a terrible death with remarkable fortitude. Earl Hákon’s children were: earls Haraldr slétt-máli (smooth-speaking) and Páll úmálgi (the silent), Margrét, who married Maddadh, the Gaelic earl of Atholl, and Ingibjörg, who married Ólafr bitlingr (the morsel), king of Suðreyjar.
Earl St. Magnús Erlendsson, 1108–1116, was the son of earl Erlendr Þorfinnsson and Þóra Sumarliðadóttir. In descent, 51/64 Norse 13/64 Gael. In personal appearance he was, great of growth, mikill at vexti; manly, drengiligr; intellectual in appearance, skýligr at yfirlitum. The saga is voluminous in a description of his good qualities, etc., e.g., he was a most noble man, ágætastr; of good morals in life, siðgóðr í háttum; fortunate in battle, sigrsæll í orrostum; a sage in wit, spekingr at viti; eloquent and high-spirited and generous, málsnjallr ok ríklundaðr; liberal of wealth and magnanimous, örr af fé ok stórlyndr; wise in counsel and more beloved than any other man, ráðsvinnr ok hverjum manni vinsælli; gentle and of good speech, with kind and good men, blíðr ok góðr viðmælis við spaka menn ok góða; hard and unforbearing with robbers and víkingar, harðr, ok úeirinn við ránsmenn ok víkinga; he let murderers and thieves be taken and punished, high and low, for robbery and theft and all bad deeds, lét hann taka morðingja ok þjófa, ok refsaði svá ríkum sem úríkum rán ok þyfsku ok öll úknytti; impartial in judgment, eigi vinhallr í dómum; he valued godly justice, guðligan rétt, more than rank, mann-virðingar; munificent, stórgjöfull, with höfðingjar ok ríkis-menn; but ever showed great solicitude and comfort, huggan, for poor men, fátækir menn. Along with his cousin, earl Hákon, he burnt a Shetlander, Þorbjörn í Borgarfirði, in his house, and they slew their cousin Dufnjáll, without any reason being assigned in either case.
St. Magnús, as a youth, accompanied king Magnús on his expedition in 1098, but refused to fight, because he said he had no quarrel against any man there, and he took a psalter, saltari, and sung during the battle. He married an unknown Scotswoman of noble family, he had no children, and was murdered by his cousin, earl Hákon, on April 16th, 798 years ago.
Earl Rögnvaldr Kali hinn helgi, 1136–1158, was the son of Gunnhildr, earl Erlends dóttir and Kolr Kalason, a Norwegian, and thus 115/128 Norse and 13/128 Gael in descent. He is described as a most promising man, efniligasti maðr; of average growth, meðal-maðr á vöxt; well set, kominn vel á sik; best limbed man, limaðr manna bezt; light chestnut hair, ljósjarpr á hár; a most accomplished man, atgervi-maðr. He numbered nine accomplishments, iþróttir, viz., tafl, chess, rúnar, runes, bók, book (reading and writing), smíð, smith work, skríða, á skíðum, sliding on snow-shoes, róðr, rowing, hörpu-sláttr, harp-playing, brag-þáttr, versification, to which may be added a tenth, sund, swimming, as he frequently lagðist yfir vatnit, in dangerous places. The king gave him the name of earl Rögnvaldr Brúsason, because his mother said that he had been the most accomplished, görviligasti, of all the earls of Orkney, and that was thought to bring good luck, heilla-vænligr.
In 1134, he plotted with his disreputable Gaelic relative, Ölver rósta, to oust earl Páll, but was not successful. Like a good víkingr he was slain in 1158, and was briefly described as íþrótta-maðr mikill ok skáld gott, a very accomplished man and a good skáld.
The name and race of his wife are unknown. He had a daughter, Ingigerð, who married Eiríkr stagbrellr, in Sutherland (a grandson of one of Moddan’s carlines, and whose mother had been the frilla of the slim deacon), and their children were, earl Haraldr ungi, who was slain in 1198, Magnús mangi (nobody; Mangi is also a contracted form of Magnús, which is sometimes spelt Mangus in Orkney documents), Rögnvaldr, Ingibiörg, Elin, and Ragnhildr.
Margrét, daughter of earl Hákon Pálsson and Helga Moddansdóttir, was 51/128 Norse, 77/128 Gael, and is described as fríð kona ok svarri mikill, a beautiful woman and very proud. She married Maddadh, the Gaelic earl of Atholl, as his second wife, and was the mother of Haraldr Maddaðarson, who became earl of Orkney. After her husband’s death she returned to Orkney and had an illegitimate son by Gunni, Svein’s brother, for which he was outlawed. After that she eloped with Erlendr ungi, of whom nothing is known.[3]
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.