Caithness
Northern Scottish region central to the Norse Orkney earldom, attested in Heimskringla.
Caithness is a region in northern Scotland that figures prominently in the Norse political landscape of the Orkney earldom. The Heimskringla records that "when Earl Einar heard that King Harald was come, he fled over to Caithness" (Heimskringla, 32. Harald and Einar Reconciled), establishing the territory as a refuge and strategic hinterland for the Orkney earls. The extraordinary density of relational connections -- to earls, kings, and prominent figures including Sigurd, Thorfinn, Brusi, Orkney, Sutherland, and dozens more -- marks Caithness as one of the central territories in the Norse-Scottish saga tradition.
Caithness is closely linked to Orkney and Sutherland as part of the Norse earldom's mainland territories. Prominent figures associated with Caithness include Sigurd, Thorfinn, Brusi, Einar, Thorkel Fostri, Erik Bloodyaxe, Aud the Wealthy, Olaf the White, Thorstein the Red, and Moddan, among many others.