Rognvald Brusason

Thorfinn had ruled alone in Orkney until the return in in about 1037 of his nephew Rognvald Brusason.

Rognvald had received the favor of King Magnus the Good, who has granted him Brusi's share of the islands and the third which Olaf Haraldsson had claimed after Einar's death.

Thorfinn agrees to this division, but presents the transfer of the third claimed by the Norwegian king as a gift to Rognvald in return for aid in Thorfinn's wars in the Hebrides and the Irish Sea.

King Sigtrygg Silkbeard had died in 1035 or 1036, and the kingship in Dublin had come to Echmarcach mac Ragnaill, who in 1038 is challenged by Imar mac Arailt and driven out.

This instability in Dublin can only have helped Thorfinn and Rognvald, who raid far and wide and establish their rule over some part of the lands around the Irish Sea.

They are said to have won a major victory beside Vattenfjord, perhaps Loch Vatten on the west coast of the Isle of Skye.

The Earls are said to have raided in England, with mixed success.

The Orkneyinga Saga says that a dispute between Thorfinn the Mighty, Earl of Orkney, and Karl Hundason began when Karl Hundason became "King of Scots" and claimed Caithness.

In the war that ensued, …

…Thorfinn defeated Karl in a sea-battle off Deerness at the east end of the Orkney Mainland.

Then, …

…Karl's nephew Mutatan or Muddan, appointed to rule Caithness for him, was killed at Thurso by Thorkel the Fosterer, who had been Thorfinn’s foster father.

Finally, …

…a great battle at Tarbat Ness on the south side of the Dornoch Firth ended with Karl defeated and fugitive or dead.

Thorfinn, the saga says, then marched south through Scotland as far as Fife, burning and plundering as he passed.

A later note in the saga claims that Thorfinn won nine Scottish earldoms.

The identity of Karl Hundason, unknown to Scots and Irish sources, has long been a matter of dispute, and it is far from clear that the matter is settled.

The most common assumption is that Karl Hundason was an insulting byname ("Churl, son of a Dog") given to Mac Bethad by his enemies.

Skene's suggestion that he was Donnchad mac Crínáin has been revived in recent years.

Lastly, the idea that the whole affair is a poetic invention has been raised.

Whoever Karl son of Hundi may have been, it appears that the saga is reporting a local conflict with a Scots ruler of Moray or …

…Ross.

Thorfinn and Rognvald had fallen out in time.

The vivid account of the war between Thorfinn and Rognvald in the Orkneyinga Saga which survives may well be only a part of a much longer saga now lost.

Their enmity arose with the arrival of Kalf Arnesson and his followers in Orkney.

Kalf is the uncle of Thorfinn's wife Ingibiorg Finnsdottir, and had left Norway to escape King Magnus Olafsson.

Rognvald, with Kalf's brothers, had shared Magnus's exile in Kievan Rus under the protection of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, and the saga says that when Kalf came to Ladoga to invite Magnus back to Norway, Rognvald almost attacked him.

Thorfinn, it is said, found hosting Kalf and his men a burden, and in time asked Rognvald to return the third of the earldom "which had once belonged to Einar Wry-Mouth".

Rognvald refused, saying that it was for King Magnus to settle matters.

Thorfinn began raising an army, and Rognvald's islanders were unwilling to fight Thorfinn, so Rognvald sailed to Norway where King Magnus supplied him with ships and men.

He returned to the islands, facing Thorfinn and Kalf Arnesson in a sea battle which Arnor the skald commemorated in verse.

The battle went Rognvald's way to begin with, but in the end he was defeated and forced again to seek refuge with King Magnus.

King Magnus offers to fit out another expedition for Rognvald, but he decides to take just one ship and a picked crew.

He sails to Shetland in winter, and learning that Thorfinn is staying on a farm on the Orkney Mainland with only a few men, he sets out at once to attack him.

Rognvald's men surprise Thorfinn, and set the farm ablaze.

The saga says that Thorfinn had to break down a wall and escape, carrying his wife in his arms, flying south to Caithness for safety.

Rognvald rules in Kirkwall over the winter, believing Thorfinn dead, but in the spring, while staying on Papa Stronsay, Thorfinn and his men turn the tables, taking Rognvald by surprise, just as he had surprised Thorfinn.

Rognvald escapes the house, but is tracked down, given away by the barking of his lap dog, and killed by Thorkell the Fosterer.

Even with Rognvald dead, Thorfinn is not entirely secure.

The saga recounts an attempt to make peace with Magnus Olafsson, who had sworn vengeance for the death of his men in Thorfinn's attack on Rognvald.

Magnus is at war with the Danish king Sweyn Estridsson, and dies before he can take any action.

Magnus's uncle and successor, Harald Sigurdsson, better known as Harald Hardrada, is more friendly towards Thorfinn, and makes a peace, accepting Thorfinn's gifts.