Orkneyinga Saga, The Influences of Norway
The Orkneyinga Saga was written around 1230 in Icelandic language and is the origin story of Norwegian Earls of Orkney. The book was influenced heavily by Icelandic and Norweigian sagas and can be depicted as a fictional story as well as a historical document. The Orkneyinga saga narrates about the history of the Orkney Islands. Orkney Islands is an archipelago, north coast of Great Britain, and is often refered to as the Mainland. “I will now declare before the whole people the settlement between the Orkney earls and myself.” Orkney was invaded by Norway in 875 and Norwegian king Harald Harfagre took the Northern Isles, which also consisted of Shetland. Then, Rognvald Eysteinsson received Orkney and Shetland from Harald. The picture that I have given is a picture of Rogaland, Norway and my GPS location gives the latitude and longitude of Strand, Norway, which is a municipal in Rogaland county. I chose this picture because this is where King Harald I Harfagre died in 933 AD. King Harald I Harfagre united Norway into one kingdom. Therefore, without King Harald I Harfagre, Norway would not exist and would not have been able to conquer and fight over Orkney Islands against Scotland. Norway also helps us readers understand the epic better. In fact, Norway and Scotland would constantly fight over who has control of Orkney. For example, from 875-1231, Earls was ruled under Norway. Then, it was taken over by the Earl of Angus in Scotland during 1231. After, Henry Sinclair took over by King of Norway in 1379. Then, in 1468, Orkney was given to James III of Scotland as dowry for Margaret. Finally, in 1471, James III of Scotland ties Orkney to Scottish crown. “Attention must always be paid to variant readings and to the status of the different manuscripts in any study of Orkneyinga saga, but when textual criticism can go no further, other approaches can be brought into play.”
Anonymous. "Orkneyinga Saga." Sacred Texts. Evinity Publishing INC, n.d. Web. 31 Oct. 2016.
Huxley, George. "Imbros and the Hellespont in the "Orkneyinga Saga"" Hermathena 158 (1995): 37-40. Web.
