Among the more unusual and debated of the Old Norse sagas is the one concerning the earldom of Orkney, a historical polity which comprised the Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland, and, at least at times, Caithness in the northernmost tip of the Scottish mainland. The earls’ influence appears to have extended southwards into Moray and Ross, particularly under Haraldr Maddaðarson (d. 1206), and into the Irish Sea. The text(s) now commonly known as
Orkneyinga saga[“the saga of the Orkney islanders”], a title given by Sigurður Nordal early in the twentieth century to his assembled and reconstructed text, seems to have been known in the medieval period as
Jarla So̧
gur[Sagas of Earls]. This, at least, was how Snorri Sturluson knew the work and it was the title put forward by…
1814 words
Citation: Ellis, Caitlin. "Orkneyinga saga". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 18 December 2024 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=41338, accessed 30 December 2024.]
