The cover image was created by the transcriber and is placed in the public domain.
THE ORKNEYINGA SAGA
ST. MAGNUS CATHEDRAL
(South Transept and part of Choir)
PREFACE.
The Orkneyinga Saga is the history of the Orkneymen, Earlsand Odallers of Norwegian extraction, who established anEarldom of Norway in the Northern Scottish Isles a thousandyears ago, and whose descendants for several centuries heldsway over the Hebrides and Northern Mainland of Scotland.Commencing with the conquest of the Isles by Harald Harfagri,the Saga relates the subsequent history of the Earldomof Orkney under the long line of its Norse Jarls, and is,for a period of three centuries and a half, the principalauthority for the history of Northern Scotland. The narrativeis mainly personal, and therefore picturesque, pourtrayingthe men in person and character, impartially recording theirdeeds, and mentioning what was thought of them and theiractions at the time. Occasionally the Saga-writer is enabledto do this in the words of a contemporary Skald. Theskaldic songs, so often quoted, were the materials from whichthe Sagas were subsequently elaborated. In estimating theirvalue as historical materials, it must be borne in mind thatall history has begun in song. When great events and mightydeeds were preserved for posterity by oral recitation alone, itwas necessary that the memory should be enabled to retainits hold of the elements of the story by some extraneousartistic aid, and therefore they were welded by the word-smith’srhymes into a compact and homogeneous “lay.”Thus, worked into a poetical setting (as the jeweller mountsivhis gems to enhance their value and ensure their preserva