‘I thought of giving your son Rupert a tide. How would an earldom suit, do you think?’
“impignorate”
― The Orkneyinga Saga
― The Orkneyinga Saga
“King Erik Bloodyaxe in England”
― The Orkneyinga Saga
― The Orkneyinga Saga
“But the most notable event in the life of Earl Sigurd was that which befel him as he lay in the harbour of Osmondwall shortly after his accession to the earldom. Olaf Tryggvason, King of Norway, returning from a western cruise, happened to run his vessels into the same harbour, as the Pentland Firth was not to be passed that day. On hearing that the earl was there he sent for him on board his ship, and told him, without much parley, that he must allow himself to be baptized, and make all his people profess the Christian faith. The Flateyjarbók says that the king took hold of Sigurd’s boy, who chanced to be with him, and drawing his sword, gave the earl the choice of renouncing for ever the faith of his fathers, or of seeing his boy slain on the spot. In the position in which he found himself placed, Sigurd became a nominal convert, but there is every reason to believe that the Christianity which was thus forced upon the Islanders was for a long time more a name than a reality. Nearly twenty years afterwards we find Earl Sigurd bearing his own raven-banner “woven with mighty spells,” at the battle of Clontarf, against the Christian king Brian; and Sigurd’s fall was made known in Caithness by the twelve weird sisters (the Valkyriar of the ancient mythology) weaving the woof of war:—[27] “The woof y-woven With entrails of men, The warp hardweighted With heads of the slain.”
― The Orkneyinga Saga
― The Orkneyinga Saga
“The Bishopric of Caithness appears to have been co-extensive with the older earldom, comprehending Caithness and Sutherland as far south as Ekkialsbakki or the Kyle of Sutherland. In”
― The Orkneyinga Saga
― The Orkneyinga Saga
“Elizabeth nods. ‘I’m glad you see him too. How ridiculous”
― The Impossible Fortune
― The Impossible Fortune
Margaret’s 2025 Year in Books
Take a look at Margaret’s Year in Books, including some fun facts about their reading.
More friends…
Favorite Genres
Polls voted on by Margaret
Lists liked by Margaret










































