The The Orkneyinga Saga on Olaf Haraldson

The Orkneyinga Saga > For > Iv. The Earldom In The Norse Line, 872-1231.

• attestation: King Olaf Haraldson declared Earl Einar's third of the Orkney Earldom forfeited to himself for the murder of his friend Eyvind Urarhorn, whom Einar had killed in revenge for Eyvind's helping an Irish king against him.

  "the king was more than a match for them both, and the result was that he gave each a third of the Islands, declaring the third which had belonged to Earl Einar to be forfeited to himself for the murder of his friend and henchman Eyvind Urarhorn, whom Einar had slain in revenge for Eyvind's helping the Irish king Conchobhar against him at Ulfreksfiord."

The Orkneyinga Saga > Chapter Iii > Thorkel Slays Earl Einar.

• attestation: King Olaf gave Earl Thorfinn a large war-ship when Thorfinn departed Norway; Thorkel Fóstri accompanied the Earl, who gave him the ship he had come in, and the King and Earl parted as great friends.

  "King Olaf gave him a large and excellent war-ship, fully equipped. Thorkel Fóstri went with the Earl, who gave him the ship in which he had come from the west in the summer. The King and the Earl parted great friends."

The Orkneyinga Saga > Chapter Iv > Of Earl BrúSi.

• attribution: King Olaf told Brúsi that Harald the Fairhaired had reserved odal rights in the Orkneys and that the earls had always held those lands as fiefs; he offered to grant them as a fief in exchange for Brúsi becoming his man, threatening otherwise to assert his claim by placing his own man over the islands.

  "The King replied by stating that Harald the Fairhaired had reserved to himself all odal rights in the Orkneys, and that the Earls since that time always held those lands as fiefs, and never as their own."

The Orkneyinga Saga > Chapter V > Of The Earls BrúSi And Thorfinn.

• attribution: King Olaf publicly declared that both earls had acknowledged his suzerainty over the Orkneys and Hjaltland (Shetland), that he granted Brúsi and Thorfinn each their previous third, but the third that belonged to Einar was forfeited to him because Einar had killed Eyvind Urarhorn, the King's beloved henchman.

  "The King said: "I will now make publicly known the treaty between me and the Earls of the Orkneys. They have acknowledged my suzerainty over all the Orkneys and Hjaltland (Shetland), promising to become my men, and confirming these their promises with oaths. In return, I will give to Brúsi one-third of the land, and to Thorfinn another third, which they had before; but the last third, which belonged to Earl Einar, I adjudge to be forfeited to me, because he slew Eyvind Urarhorn, my henchman and beloved comrade."

• attestation: King Olaf awarded a weregild for Earl Einar equal to three Lendermen, with one-third remitted in consideration of the Earl's guilt, and the Earls were reconciled to Thorkel Amundi's son for Einar's slaying.

  "King Olaf awarded a weregild for Earl Einar as for three Lendermen; one-third, however, should be remitted in consideration of the Earl's guilt."

• attribution: King Olaf gave Brúsi two-thirds of the Orkneys as his confidential agent in the western parts, kept Brúsi's son Rögnvald with him as a pledge, and Brúsi returned west to the islands in the autumn.

  "Before he left, King Olaf had an interview with him, and said: "I think it advisable to make you my confidential agent in the western parts. I intend to give you two-thirds of the islands, which you had before, because I do not wish you to have less power, now that you are my man, than you had before; and as a pledge of my good faith, I will keep your son Rögnvald with me."