Book set aims to breathe new
life into Orkneyinga saga
Story dated: February 16, 2005

An important source for understanding the history of Norse Earldom of Orkney lies in the Icelandic sagas.

Of these, the Orkneyinga saga is one of the best known and certainly the most specific to the islands of Orkney.

But despite its importance to Orkney, it could be argued that the saga has been neglected in recent years. Thankfully, this looks set to change with the launch of three new books from the OIC’s heritage service looking at various aspects of the medieval document.

For those unfamiliar with the Orkneyinga saga, it was compiled sometime between 1192 and 1206 by an unknown Icelandic scribe, or scribes, and presents an interpretation of the first conquest of Orkney by Norway and the subsequent history of the Earldom.

Within its pages, the reader is drawn into the semi-legendary world of Earldom Orkney.

The saga is thought to have been compiled, over the years, from a number of sources, combining oral tradition, artistic licence and historical fact.

Although it is without a doubt a valuable document, without which much of our understanding of Orkney’s Viking past would be lost, readers often forget that it is not strictly a reliable historical account.

The Orkneyinga saga is as much a piece of medieval literature as historical documentation and, written some three centuries after some of the events it records, presents the various authors’ interpretation of the history of the Orkney Earldom.

In among the more plausible historical elements, we find examples of what are obviously legendary or fictional elements - such as the poisoned shirt of Earl Harald and Earl Sigurd’s infamous raven banner.

These episodes, however, are generally found early in the saga and as the timeline progresses so does the historical veracity of the account.

But regardless of its value as a historical source, the Orkneyinga saga, as indeed are all the Icelandic sagas, is a rip-roaring story of action and adventure.

I was a young boy when I first encountered the saga. Eventually I bought a copy and this book, which is now beaten and tattered, with yellowing pages held together with tape, opened up a new world to me.

But reading it took perseverance, simply because it is not a particularly easy read.

It is this “problem” that the first of the new titles hopes to redress.

The Shorter Orkneyinga Saga, by Tom Muir, aims to introduce the saga to a younger audience, although it is actually a book that will appeal to all readers.

The book, says the author, is a first step towards reading the full saga, but is not meant to replace it.

As such, The Shorter Orkneyinga Saga is a distillation of the primary stories dealt with in the full saga – but written in an accessible style with chapters dealing with each of the major episodes. These include, for example, Earl Sigurd and the Poisoned Tooth, The Magic Banner, A Killing at Orphir, The Murder of Saint Magnus and The War of the Three Earls.

Each of the book’s tales features coloured illustrations by Morag Ewing.

Complementing his abbreviated version of the saga, is Tom Muir’s second offering, Orkney in the Sagas.

Subtitled “The Story of the Earldom of Orkney in the Icelandic Sagas”, although the book deals primarily with the Orkneyinga Saga, it recounts a number of episodes from 17 of the Icelandic Sagas as they relate to Orkney. These include the Laxdaela Saga, Egil’s Saga, Heimskringla and Njal’s Saga, all of which played their part in bringing to life the Norse period in Orkney’s history.

Many would-be readers of the Orkneyinga Saga are put off by the first few chapters, which outline a mythical, and heavily symbolic ancestry, of the Earls of Orkney.

Thankfully, the reasoning behind this literary device is fully explained, allowing the reader to get on with the good stuff! The purpose of these opening chapters, it is explained, is to “create” a supernatural pedigree for the Orkney earls that not only makes them equal to the Kings of Norway, but also emphasises their Norwegian origins over the kings’ supposed Asian descent.

After a chapter dealing with this mythical ancestry, the saga’s adventurous account begins with the semi-mythical tales of the conquest of Orkney by Harold Fairhair, the King of Norway. This event, says the saga, resulted in the founding of the Orkney Earldom, which it then goes on to document.

Tom Muir’s retelling of the sagas goes on to paint a vivid picture of battles, murders, sorcery, political intrigue and dirty dealings - all events occurring at locations that have generally changed little over the centuries and remain familiar to Orcadians today.

With each page, the reader is introduced to some of the most powerful figures of Viking Orkney, using other Icelandic sources where possible to flesh out their stories. These include Sigurd the Mighty, the first Earl of Orkney; Haakon Paulsson, Svein Asleifarson, Sigurd the Stout, Earl Rognvald and in particular the Earl Magnus the Martyr, the saint still revered in Orkney today.

All these characters remain firmly in the minds of Orcadians and form the backbone of the county’s Viking heritage.

Interspersed throughout the book’s narrative is a series of articles on historical and archaeological topics that are directly related to the saga. County archaeologist, Julie Gibson, has penned a number of these, dealing with subjects such as Birsay: The Brough and Village, Orphir and Westness, Rousay.

Anne Brundle, the curator of archaeology at The Orkney Museum, covers the Scar Boat Burial in Sanday, Viking Graves and Viking Hoards among others.

The other three contributors are Barbara E. Crawford (Earl Rognvald’s Pilgrimage), Steven Ashby (Combs) and Steve Callaghan (Runes).

Continuing in this scholarly vein, the third book, The World of Orkneyinga Saga – A Broad-Cloth Viking Trip, is a collection of historical papers on various aspects of Earldom Orkney and the saga.

Edited by Olwyn Owen, a senior inspector of Ancient Monuments, with Historic Scotland, the book brings together a collection of wide-ranging, very readable essays by eminent scholars centred on the theme of the Orkneyinga saga.

The 14 articles come from a group of scholars and historians that reads like a who’s who in Viking studies - William P. L. Thomson, Raymond Lamb, Bo Almqvist, Theya Mollison, Judith Jesch, Olwyn Owen, Anne Brundle, Amanda Forster, Barbara E. Crawford, Haki Antonsson, Judith Robertson and James Barrett.

Some of the articles were delivered at the Sagalands conference held in Kirkwall in January 2004, while others have been written especially for the book.

According to the editor: “Between them the papers tackle a range of thorny subjects. To name but a few: how did the early Vikings navigate round and land in Orkney? Just where in Birsay was Thorfinn’s Christchurch? Were the skulls found in two pillars in the cathedral those of St Magnus and Earl Rognvald? What are the origins of Kirkwall (and should urban archaeologists pay more attention to pubs)? What was everyday life and death like for Scandinavians in Norse Orkney? What light can archaeology shed on events in the saga? What was Svein Asleifarson’s life story?”

William Thomson, the author of the excellent New History of Orkney, kicks off proceedings with his paper Harald Fairhair, Torf Einar and Orkneyinga saga.

This is followed by Judith Jesch’s Literature in Medieval Orkney, What’s in a Word? and Folklore contacts between Norsemen and Gaels as reflected in Orkneyinga Saga by Bo Almqvist.

Former county archaeologist, Raymond Lamb, has two papers in the collection – Where local knowledge is so valuable: Nautical practicalities and the earliest Viking Age in Orkney and Kirkwall, and Saga, History and Archaeology, co-written with Judith Robertson.

Anne Brundle focuses on the role of Birsay in The Unimportance of Early Birsay, while steatite – soapstone – is the subject of Amanda Forster’s Steatite, resource control and the Orkney earldom.

Barbara Crawford concentrates on Thorfinn, Christianity and Birsay: What the saga tells us and archaeology reveals.

Theya Molleson’s Life and death in Orkney during the times of the sagas looks at what human remains, such as those recovered from Newark in Deerness, can tell us about life in Orkney. Then, along with Judith Jesch, she turns her attention to the death of Magnus Erlendsson and the relics of St Magnus.

On the subject of St Magnus, the cult that grew up around the murdered earl is dealt with by Haki Antonsson in St Magnús of Orkney: aspects of his cult from a European perspective.

Kirkwall: saga, history, archaeology by Raymond Lamb and Judith Robertson outlines the role of Kirkwall in the saga texts, together with archaeological evidence outlining the town’s development over the centuries - from the 12th century pub in which Thorarin was surprised and killed by Thorbjorn Clerk, to the Bishop’s Palace – where King Hakon of Norway died in 1263.

Archaeology and Orkneyinga saga: the case of Tuquoy by Olwyn Owen and Svein Asleifarson and 12th-century Orcadian society by James H. Barrett completes the collection.

The book concludes with a brief guide to saga sites to visit in Orkney and an outline of the genealogy of the Earls of Orkney.

All three books, which were designed and printed by The Orcadian, were brought about by a European Union funded project on the theme of Destination Viking : Sagalands. The partners in this project include most of the countries and regions in the North Atlantic that share a common Viking heritage. As well as creating a tourist trail based on this common Norse heritage, the project aims to build a network of organisations and specialists in the field.

The Sagalands funding allowed the production of these three books, which will be officially launched in Kirkwall today, Thursday.

Anyone with an interest in the Orkneyinga saga, or Viking Orkney, can look forward to a treat now the new titles are available from local outlets. They are, quite simply, a must for any Orkney bookshelf.