532 THE ORKNEYS AND HEBRIDES. 



ravages he had before made there, and they fled into Scotland ; 

 the country was deserted, and all movable property had been 

 removed, so that the king and his men got no booty there. 



" In these battles fell Ivar, son of Rognvald Jarl of Mceri ; as 

 indemnity, King Harald gave to Kognvald Jarl, when he 

 sailed home, the Orkneys and Shetlands ; but Kognvald gave 

 his brother Sigurd both, and remained behind in the west. 

 When the king sailed eastward he created Sigurd a Jarl. 

 Then joined in companionship with him Thorstein the Red, 1 

 son of Olaf the White and Aud the Wise. They ravaged in 

 Scotland, and took possession of Katanes (Caithness) and 

 Sudrland (Sutherland) as far as Ekkjalsbakki. Sigurd slew 

 the Scotch Jarl, Melbrigdi, and tied his head to his saddle- 

 straps ; the tooth which projected from the Jarl's head 

 wounded the calf of Sigurd's leg, which swelled, and he died 

 therefrom ; he is mounded at Ekkjalsbakki. After this ruled 

 his son, Guthorm, one winter ; he died childless ; and there 

 settled in the country many Vikings, Danes, and Northmen " 

 (Harald Fairhair's Saga, c. 22). 



In the following extract we find Irish and Norwegians 

 fighting against Einar Jarl of the Orkneys :- 



" The same summer (1018) Eyviucl Urarborn went westward 

 on a Viking expedition, and in the autumn came to Konofogor, 

 a king in Ireland. In the autumn the Irish king and Einar 

 Jarl of the Orkneys met in Ulfreksfjord, and there ensued a 

 great battle. King Konofogor had many more warriors and 

 obtained the victory. Einar Jarl fled with one ship, and in 

 the autumn returned to the Orkneys, after having lost most of 

 his men and all their booty. The Jarl liked this journey 

 little, and laid the blame of his defeat on the Northmen, who 

 were with the Irish king " (St. Olaf's Saga, c. 87). 



The following extract shows, among other things, the rela- 

 tions which existed between the Vikings and the old kings of 

 Scotland : 



" Thorfinn now became a great chief, and got much land from 

 his grandfather, King Malcolm of Scotland. The latter, how- 

 ever, died, and Karl Hundason became king. He thought 

 himself entitled also to possession of Caithness, and demanded 

 taxes from it as from other parts of his realm ; but Thorfinn 

 thought his was the least inheritance he ought to get after his 



1 Thorstein the Red was slain by the Scots about 888. 





