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Einarr Rognvaldarson ( early 890s–c. 910), often referred to by his
byname An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...
Torf-Einarr (sometimes
anglicised Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...
as Turf-Einar), was one of the Norse
earls of Orkney Earl of Orkney, historically Jarl of Orkney, is a title of nobility encompassing the archipelagoes of Orkney and Shetland, which comprise the Northern Isles of Scotland. Originally founded by Norse invaders, the status of the rulers of the Nort ...
. The son of the Norse ''
jarl Jarl is a rank of the nobility in Scandinavia. In Old Norse, it meant "chieftain", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. ''Jarl'' could also mean a sovereign prince. For example, the rulers of several of the pet ...
''
Rognvald Eysteinsson Rognvald Eysteinsson (''fl.'' 865) was the founding Jarl (or Earl) of Møre in Norway, and a close relative and ally of Harald Fairhair, the earliest known King of Norway. In the Norse language he is known as Rǫgnvaldr Eysteinsson (''Mǿrajarl ...
and a concubine, his rise to power is related in sagas which apparently draw on verses of Einarr's own composition for inspiration. After battling for control of the Northern Isles of Scotland and a struggle with Norwegian royalty, Einarr founded a dynasty which retained control of the islands for centuries after his death. He is portrayed as a successful warrior and has various characteristics in common with the Norse God Odin but his historicity is not in doubt. The reasons for his nickname of "Turf" are not certain.


Sources

The sources for Einarr's life are exclusively the Norse
sagas is a series of science fantasy role-playing video games by Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the creation of Akitoshi Kawazu at Square. It has since continued across multiple platforms, from the Super NES to the Play ...
, none of which were written down during his lifetime. The '' Orkneyinga saga'' was first compiled in Iceland in the early 13th century and much of the information it contains is "hard to corroborate" according to scholars.Woolf (2007) p. 242 Einarr is also referred to in the ''
Heimskringla ''Heimskringla'' () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorre Sturlason (1178/79–1241) 1230. The name ''Heimskringla'' was first used in the 17th century, derived ...
'', which is of a similar vintage to the ''Orkneyinga saga''. ''Torf-Einarr's Saga'' itself is now lost and a short passage is recorded in the '' Landnámabók''.Johnston, A.W. (July 1916
"Orkneyinga Saga"
JSTOR/''The Scottish Historical Review''. Vol. 13, No. 52. p. 393. Retrieved 27 January 2014.
These verses, penned by Einarr himself about his feud with
Hálfdan Long-Legs Halfdan Long-Leg (Old Norse: ''Hálfdan háleggur'', Norwegian: ''Halvdan Hålegg'') was a Viking-Age warrior who lived in the latter half of the 9th century. He was the son of King Harald Fairhair and a Sami woman named Snæfrithr Svásadottir. ...
, were the source of most of the saga writer's information about him.


Family background

Einarr was the youngest son of
Rognvald Eysteinsson Rognvald Eysteinsson (''fl.'' 865) was the founding Jarl (or Earl) of Møre in Norway, and a close relative and ally of Harald Fairhair, the earliest known King of Norway. In the Norse language he is known as Rǫgnvaldr Eysteinsson (''Mǿrajarl ...
,
Jarl of Møre Jarl is a rank of the nobility in Scandinavia. In Old Norse, it meant "chieftain", particularly a chieftain set to rule a territory in a king's stead. ''Jarl'' could also mean a sovereign prince. For example, the rulers of several of the petty k ...
, by a concubine. According to the sagas and the ''
Historia Norvegiae Historia may refer to: * Historia, the local version of the History channel in Spain and Portugal * Historia (TV channel), a Canadian French language specialty channel * Historia (newspaper), a French monthly newspaper devoted to History topics ...
'' Rognvald's family conquered the
Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) nort ...
and Shetland islands in the late ninth century. Rognvald's brother,
Sigurd Eysteinsson Sigurd Eysteinsson, or Sigurd the Mighty (reigned 875–892Ashley, pp. 440–441), was the second Earl of Orkney—a title bequeathed to Sigurd by his brother Rognvald Eysteinsson. A son of Eystein Glumra, Sigurd was a leader in the Viking co ...
, was made Jarl of Orkney and after his death on campaign he was succeeded by his son, Guthorm, who died shortly afterward. Rognvald then sent one of his own sons, Hallad, to govern the islands.Thomson (2008) p. 30 quoting chapter 5 of the ''Orkneyinga saga''. The ''Orkneyinga saga'' states that Einarr was one of six brothers, the others being: Hallad, Hrollaug, Ivar, Hrólfr, and Thorir the Silent. The three eldest, Hallad, Einarr and Hrollaug, were
natural son Legitimacy, in traditional Western common law, is the status of a child born to parents who are legally married to each other, and of a child conceived before the parents obtain a legal divorce. Conversely, ''illegitimacy'', also known as '' ...
s of Rognvald, and were "grown men when their brothers born in marriage were still children".''Orkneyinga saga'' (1981) Chapter 4 - " To Shetland and Orkney" pp. 26–27''Saga of Harald Fairhair'' Chapter 24 - Rolf Ganger Driven Into Banishment. Ivar was killed on an campaign with King
Harald Finehair Harald Fairhair no, Harald hårfagre Modern Icelandic: ( – ) was a Norwegian king. According to traditions current in Norway and Iceland in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, he reigned from  872 to 930 and was the first King of Nor ...
, which resulted in the ''Norðreyar'' being gifted to his family as compensation. Hrólfr "was so big that no horse could carry him", hence his byname of "Göngu-Hrólf" ("Hrólf the Walker"), and he is identified by the saga writers with Rollo, ancestor of the Dukes of Normandy. Thorir the Silent was Rognvald's third son by his marriage to Ragnhild. Ari Þorgilsson quotes a short section from the lost ''Torf-Einarr’s Saga'' in the ''Landnámabók''. It begins: "Earl Turf-Einarr (of Orkney) had a daughter in his youth, she was called Thordis. Earl Rognvald brought her up and gave her in marriage to Thorgeir Klaufi, their son was Einar, he went to Orkney to see his kinsmen; they would not own him for a kinsman; then Einar bought a ship in partnership with two brothers, Vestman and Vemund, and they went to Iceland." The ''Landnámabók'' goes on to make brief reference to Einar's travels there. It also lists his two sons, Eyjolf and Ljot, and some details about them and their descendants. The sagas describe Einarr as tall, ugly and blind in one eye, but sharp-sighted nonetheless.


Rise to power

Einarr's brother Hallad was unable to maintain control in
Orkney Orkney (; sco, Orkney; on, Orkneyjar; nrn, Orknøjar), also known as the Orkney Islands, is an archipelago in the Northern Isles of Scotland, situated off the north coast of the island of Great Britain. Orkney is 10 miles (16 km) nort ...
due to the predations of Danish pirates. He resigned his earldom and returned to Norway as a common landholder, which "everyone thought was a huge joke." Hallad's failure led to Rognvald flying into a rage and summoning his sons Thorir and Hrolluag. He asked which of them wanted the islands but Thorir said the decision was up to the earl himself. Rognvald predicted that Thorir's path would keep him in Norway and that Hrolluag was destined seek his fortune in Iceland. Einarr, the youngest of the natural sons, then came forward and offered to go to the islands. Rognvald said: "Considering the kind of mother you have, slave-born on each side of her family, you are not likely to make much of a ruler. But I agree, the sooner you leave and the later you return the happier I'll be."''Orkneyinga saga'' (1981) Chapter 6 - "Forecasts" pp. 28–29. Rognvald agreed to provide Einarr with a ship and crew in the hope that he would sail away and never return. Despite his father's misgivings, on arrival in the Scottish islands, Einarr fought and defeated two Danish warlords, Þórir Tréskegg (Thorir Treebeard) and Kálf Skurfa (Kalf the Scurvy), who had taken residence there. Einarr then established himself as earl of a territory that comprised the two archipelagoes of Orkney and Shetland.


Relations with Norway

After Einarr had settled in Orkney two of Harald Finehair's unruly sons, Halvdan Hålegg (English: Hálfdan Longlegs) and Gudrød Ljome (English: Gudrod the Gleaming), killed Einarr's father Rognvald by trapping him in his house and setting it alight. Gudrød took possession of Rognvald's lands while Hálfdan sailed westwards to Orkney and then displaced Einarr. The sagas say that King Harald, apparently appalled by his sons' actions, overthrew Gudrød and restored Rognvald's lands to his son, Thorir. From a base in
Caithness Caithness ( gd, Gallaibh ; sco, Caitnes; non, Katanes) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area of Scotland. Caithness has a land boundary with the historic county of Sutherland to the west and is otherwise bounded by ...
on the Scottish mainland Einarr resisted Hálfdan's occupation of the islands. After winning a battle at sea, and a ruthless campaign on land, Einarr spied Hálfdan hiding on
North Ronaldsay North Ronaldsay (, also , sco, North Ronalshee) is the northernmost island in the Orkney archipelago of Scotland. With an area of , it is the fourteenth-largest.Haswell-Smith (2004) p. 334 It is mentioned in the '' Orkneyinga saga''; in modern ...
. The sagas claim that Hálfdan was captured, and sacrificed to Odin as a
blood eagle The blood eagle was a method of ritually executing a chosen member as detailed in late skaldic poetry. According to the two instances mentioned in the Sagas, the victims (in both cases members of royal families) were placed in a prone position, ...
. While the killing of Hálfdan by the Orkney islanders is recorded independently in the ''Historia Norvegiæ'', the manner of his death is unspecified. The blood eagle sacrifice may be a misunderstanding or an invention of the sagawriters as it does not feature directly in the earlier skaldic verses, which instead indicate that Hálfdan was killed by a volley of spears. The verses do mention the eagle as a carrion bird, and this may have influenced the saga writers to introduce the blood eagle element. The sagas then relate that Harald sought vengeance for his son's ignoble death, and set out on campaign against Einarr, but was unable to dislodge him. Eventually, Harald agreed to end the fight in exchange for a fine of 60 gold marks levied on Einarr and the allodial owners of the islands. Einarr offered to pay the whole fine if the allodial landowners passed their lands to him, to which they agreed. Einarr's assumption of control over the islands appears well-attested and was considered by later commentators to be the moment at which the Earls of Orkney came to own the entire island group in fee to the King of Norway. Others have interpreted the payment of 60 gold marks as wergild or
blood money Blood money may refer to: * Blood money (restitution), money paid to the family of a murder victim Films * Blood Money (1917 film), ''Blood Money'' (1917 film), a film starring Harry Carey * Blood Money (1921 film), ''Blood Money'' (1921 film ...
. The sagas incorrectly claim that the Earl of Orkney was called "Turf-Einarr" because he introduced the practice of burning turf or peat to the islands since wood was so scarce. This practice long pre-dates the Norse and the real reason for the nickname is unknown. The ''Orkneyinga saga'' has him organising peat cutting at
Tarbat Ness Tarbat Ness (Scottish Gaelic: ''Rubha Thairbeirt'') is headland that lies at the end of the Tarbat peninsula in Easter Ross, Scotland. The name is from the Gaelic ''tairbeart'' meaning "isthmus" and the Old Norse ''ness'', meaning "headland". It l ...
far to the south of the Orkney heartland. While depletion of woodland could have caused a cultural shift from burning timber to peat, potentially the name arose because the sequestration of the common or allodial rights of the islanders by Einarr forced them away from
coppicing Coppicing is a traditional method of woodland management which exploits the capacity of many species of trees to put out new shoots from their stump or roots if cut down. In a coppiced wood, which is called a copse, young tree stems are repeate ...
towards cutting turves.


Legacy

The remainder of Einarr's long reign was apparently unchallenged, and he died in his bed of a sickness, leaving three sons, Arnkel, Erlend and Thorfinn who became ''jarls'' of Orkney after him. Despite his apparent physical shortcomings, as well as his low-born mother, Einarr established a dynasty which ruled the Orkney islands until 1470. At this early period, many of the dates relating to the Orkney earldom are uncertain. Einarr's death is stated as being circa 910 in several sources. Crawford (2004) suggests he lived until the 930s and Ashley (1998) states that "allowing for the ages of his sons to succeed him he must have ruled to at least the year 920 or later." There are five verses recorded in the ''Landnámabók'' attributed to Einarr that describe a feud between the families of Rognvald Eysteinsson and that of Harald Finehair. Apart from these verses, no other examples of Torf-Einarr's poetry are known to survive, though they appear to be part of a larger body of work. A couplet that commemorates Einarr's defeat of the two pirate Vikings, Thorir Treebeard and Kalf the Scurvy, has a matching metre and alliterative similarities to the attributed verses. Einarr must have had some fame as a poet, as his name is used in the ''
Háttatal The Háttatal (Old Norse: 'Tally of Metres'; c. 20,000 words; Old Norse: , Modern Icelandic: ) is the last section of the ''Prose Edda'' composed by the Icelandic poet, politician, and historian Snorri Sturluson. Using, for the most part, his ow ...
'', an examination of Old Norse poetry written in the thirteenth-century, to refer to a specific type of metre, ''Torf-Einarsháttr''.Poole (1991) pp. 169–170


Interpretations

Much of Einarr's story in the sagas appears to be derived from the five skaldic verses attributed to Einarr himselfCrawford (2004) and it is not certain that this account Einarr's conquest is historically accurate. Though the ''
Historia Norvegiæ Historia may refer to: * Historia, the local version of the History channel in Spain and Portugal * Historia (TV channel), a Canadian French language specialty channel * Historia (newspaper), a French monthly newspaper devoted to History topics * ...
'', written at the same time as the sagas but from a different source, confirms that Rognvald's family conquered the islands, it gives few details. The scene in the sagas where Einarr's father scorns him is a literary device which often figures in
Old Norse literature Old Norse literature refers to the vernacular literature of the Scandinavian peoples up to c. 1350. It chiefly consists of Icelandic writings. In Britain From the 8th to the 15th centuries, Vikings and Norse settlers and their descendants colon ...
. After Hallad's failure in Orkney the dialogue between the father and his sons has been interpreted as being about Rognvald's desire to cement his own position as Earl of Møre and an allusion to the early history of Iceland, where the sagas were written. Thorir is a compliant son who Rognvald is happy to keep at home. Hrolluag is portrayed as a man of peace who will go to Iceland. Einarr is aggressive and a threat to his father's position so can be spared for the dangers of Orkney. In the '' Landnámabók'' version the equally aggressive Hrolfr is also present, and his destiny is anticipated to be in conveniently far-away Normandy. The writer of the ''Orkneyinga saga'' established Einarr's status in two contradictory ways. Although in the ''Historia'' Rognvald's family are described as "pirates" the saga provides them with a legally established earldom instated by the king. Einarr's success is however largely down to his own efforts and he negotiates with King Harald rather than offers blind obedience. The author is thus able to emphasise both the legitimacy and independence of his house. Einarr is also provided with various characteristics associated with Odin. Both have but one eye and Halfdan's hideous death at Einarr's hands is offered to the god—an act that contains a hint of Odin's own sacrifice to himself in the Hávamál.Thomson (2008) pp. 35–36 Einarr is a man of action who is self-made, and he is a successful warrior who (unlike his brothers) avenges his father's death. He leads a dramatic and memorable life and emerges as "ancient, powerful and mysterious—but as a literary figure rather than a real person".Thomson (2008) p. 38 He is also a whose appearance at the commencement of the saga contrasts with the later martyrdom of his descendant St Magnus which marks a "moral high-point" of the story.


References


Notes


Footnotes


General references

* Ashley, Michael (1998) ''The British Monarchs''. Robinson Publishing. * Crawford, Barbara E. (1987) ''Scandinavian Scotland''. Leicester University Press. *Crawford, Barbara E. (2004)
"Einarr, earl of Orkney (''fl.'' early 890s–930s)"
''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, retrieved 20 July 2009 (Subscription required) * Muir, Tom (2005) ''Orkney in the Sagas: The Story of the Earldom of Orkney as told in the Icelandic Sagas''. The Orcadian. Kirkwall. . * Phelpstead, Karl (ed) (2001)
A History of Norway and The Passion and Miracles of the Blessed Óláfr
'. (pdf) Translated by Devar Kunin. Viking Society for Northern Research Text Series. XIII. University of London. *Poole, Russell Gilbert (1991).
Viking Poems on War and Peace: A Study in Skaldic Narrative
'.
University of Toronto Press The University of Toronto Press is a Canadian university press founded in 1901. Although it was founded in 1901, the press did not actually publish any books until 1911. The press originally printed only examination books and the university cale ...
. * Smyth, Alfred P. (1984) ''Warlords and Holy Men: Scotland AD 80–1000.'' Edinburgh University Press. Edinburgh. * Thomson, William P. L. (2008) ''The New History of Orkney''. Edinburgh. Birlinn. * Woolf, Alex (2007) ''From Pictland to Alba, 789–1070''. Edinburgh. Edinburgh University Press.


External links


Torf-Einarr jarl
Poetry attributed to Einarr ( Old Norse)
''The Orkneyingers' Saga''
– 1894 translation by George Webbe Dasent {{DEFAULTSORT:Torf-Einarr 10th-century rulers in Europe Earls of Orkney Skalds Orkneyinga saga characters Royalty and nobility with disabilities