The Laxdæla Saga on Ketill Flatnose

Laxdaela > Saga > Ii. Ketill And His Sons Prepare To Leave Norway.

• attestation: Ketill's sons migrated to Iceland

  "KETILL's SONS GO TO ICELAND."

Laxdaela > Saga > Chap. I

• relationship: Ketill Flatnose's father was Bjorn the Ungartered

  "He was the son of Bjorn the Ungartered."

• attestation: Ketill Flatnose held the rank of hersir, a mighty chieftain in Norway

  "Ketill was a mighty and high-born chieftain (hersir) in Norway."

• attestation: Ketill Flatnose resided in Raumsdale, located between Southmere and Northmere

  "He abode in Raumsdale, within the folkland of the Raumsdale people, which lies between Southmere and Northmere."

• relationship: Ketill Flatnose married Yngvild, who was the daughter of Ketill Wether

  "Ketill Flatnose had for wife Yngvild, daughter of Ketill Wether, who was a man of exceeding great worth."

• attestation: Ketill Flatnose and Yngvild had five children together

  "They had five children"

Laxdaela > Saga > Chap. Ii

• attestation: King Harald the Fairhaired's consolidation of power threatened Ketill's independence

  "In the latter days of Ketill arose the power of King Harald the Fairhaired, in such a way that no folkland king or other great men could thrive in the land unless he alone ruled what title should be theirs."

• attestation: Ketill convened a family council to discuss their response to King Harald's threat

  "he calls together a meeting of his kinsmen, and began his speech in this wise"

• attestation: Ketill declared that King Harald bore enmity toward his family

  "I have true news of King Harald's enmity towards us, and to me it seems that we may abide no trust from that quarter."

• attestation: Ketill presented two options: flee Norway or face death at home

  "It seems to me that there are two choices left us, either to fly the land or to be slaughtered each in his own seat."

• attestation: Ketill expressed willingness to share whatever fate befell his kinsmen

  "as for me, my will is rather to abide the same death that my kinsmen suffer, but I would not lead you by my wilfulness into so great a trouble"

• attestation: The family unanimously agreed to leave Norway

  "This counsel then was settled, that they should leave the country, for the sons of Ketill urged it much, and no one spoke against it."

• attestation: Ketill refused to go to Iceland, dismissing it as a mere fishing place unfit for his old age

  "Ketill said, "Into that fishing place I shall never come in my old age.""

• attestation: Ketill preferred to go west over the sea because he had previously raided those lands and knew them well

  "Ketill then told his mind, saying his desire was rather to go west over the sea, for there was a chance of getting a good livelihood. He knew lands there wide about, for there he had harried far and wide."

• relationship: Ketill hosted a feast at which he married his daughter Thorunn the Horned to Helgi the Lean

  "Ketill made a great feast, and at it he married his daughter Thorunn the Horned to Helgi the Lean"

• attestation: Ketill traveled west over the sea, accompanied by his daughter Unn and many relations

  "Ketill arrayed his journey west over the sea. Unn, his daughter, and many others of his relations went with him."

• attestation: Ketill's sons sailed to Iceland the same summer, accompanied by Helgi their brother-in-law

  "That same summer Ketill's sons went to Iceland with Helgi, their brother-in-law."

Laxdaela > Saga > Chap. Iv

• attestation: Ketill Flatnose sailed to Scotland around 890 AD and was warmly received due to his renown and high birth

  "Ketill Flatnose brought his ship to Scotland, and was well received by the great men there; for he was a renowned man, and of high birth."

• attestation: Ketill and his kinsfolk settled in Scotland, except for Thorstein his grandson

  "Ketill and his company of kinsfolk settled down there--all except Thorstein, his daughter's son"