Part #2

Note on the voyages and settlements of Queen Aud.

        The history of Queen Aud and her settlements end with the passage given above. It may be well, therefore, to note in this immediate connexion how close seems to have been her relationship to the early Norse settlers of Iceland on the one hand, and to the Norsemen who settled the British Islands on the other. Descended from one of the most distinguished families in Norway, she was the widow of Oleif, the White King of Dublin, the founder of a dynasty which long ruled there. (64)
        After the death of her husband, Oleif (see Book of Settlement, II, 15), slain possibly in a rising of the Irish against their conquerers, she left Ireland, taking with her one grandson and six granddaughters. She was followed by a large company of her kinsfolk and dependents, Irish and Norse. They took with them their families, their cattle, and such means of cultivation as at that time they possessed. It may be noted here that Christianity was the form of religion she had adopted when she left the British Islands. Whether she was a baptized Christian when she left Ireland, or whether in Scotland she embraced the faith first preached there by St. Columba, the monk of Iona, does not appear. She held this belief, however, firmly to the last, and it is worthy of note, as appears from the Landnama, that Ingolf, Kveldulf and other settlers who came directly from Norway, were all devoted worshippers of Thor, while those who came from the British Islands were mostly professors of the Christian faith. She went first to the Hebrides, called also Sodor, which is the Latin translation of Sudreyjar, (65) = the Southern Islands of the Landnama.
        Thence she went to Scotland, where her son Thorstein in partnership with Sigurd the Mighty, subdued Caithness, Sutherland, (66) Ross and Murray, and in all, more than half of that kingdom, of which he was made King. The Scots, however, betrayed him, and he fell in battle. Again, then, Aud set forth on her voyage of settlement, and stayed and left some of her descendants in the Orkneys and some also in the Faroe Islands. Afterwards she went to seek Iceland and (A.D. 892) she settled the Dale lands, being the dales that shed their waters into the innermost part of Hvamm firth (on the map Hvammsfjördr), all round the head of the Bay, and out to Daymeal water running from the North into the bay a few miles of west Hvamm or Hvammr.
        This Bay, it will be seen, opens inland from the Southern portion of Broadfirth (Breidifjordr). The islands which almost block up the entrance will sufficiently account for the name, Eyjasund or Island Sound. Her brother-in-law, Helgi the Lean, went to the North of Iceland and occupied large claims in Eyjafirth, while Ketil Fiflski, her sister's son, settled in the East, her brother Helgi Biolan in the South; Bjorn, another brother, in the West. From this powerful kindred of Queen Aud sprung the most distinguished Icelandic families. All that is great and noble in its early history seems closely connected with her by marriage or by birth.

Settlement of Kjallak. His blood-feud. Births of Hamund and Geirmund, sons of King Hjor. Bragi's prophecy concerning them. Battle in Hafursfirth, A.D. 885. Settlement of Geirmund in Broadfirth.

        Kjallak was the name of a man, the son of Bjorn the Strong, who was the brother of Gjaflang, that Bjorn the Easterner had for wife. Kjallak went to Iceland and settled land from Daymeal river to 'Klofningar,' and abode at Kjallakstead; his sons were: Helgi Roe and Thorgrim Tanglestalk 'under Fell' (= of Fell), Eilif the Proud, Asbjorn Muscle of Orristead, Bjorn Whalemaw at Towngarth, Thorstein Thinning, Gizur the Glad, of Score-wick, Thorbjorn Scurvy at Ketilstead. A daughter of Kjallak was Æsa, in Swiney, who was the mother of Tinforni. There was a man, Ljotolf by name, to whom Kjallak alloted an abode at Ljotolf-stead, up from 'Kaldakinn' (Coldcheek); his sons were Thorstein and Bjorn andHrafsi. Ljotolf was of giant blood by his mother's kindred; he was a smith in iron; he and his sons betook themselves to Ljotolfstead, out in Fell-woods. Thorun, of Thorun's Tofts, ws mother of Oddmar, and foster-mother of Kjallak, the son of Bjorn Whalemaw. Alof, the daughter of Thorgrim 'under Fell,' was seized with frenzy, and folk would have it that Hrafsi was the cause thereof; he laid hands on Oddmar beside her bed and said that he himself was indeed the cause of the disorder; then Thorgrim gave to him Deild-isle. Hrafsi vowed he would cut down Oddmar in the very face of Bjorn unless he atoned for him. Kjallak was not willing to let go the island. Hrafsi took some live-stock of theirs out of a boat-shed built of turf, and the sons of Kjallak gave chase, but failed to catch him. After this Eilif and Hrafsi made a rush off for the island; an arrow struck the intestine of Eilif Grisly, and he became a shape-changer (67); Bjorn Whalemaw took the life of Bjorn, the son of Ljotolf at sports, and Ljotolf and his made a bargain with Oddmar that he should bring Bjorn where they might have a chance of him; Kjallak the Young ran after him, but before they could overcome him they (Bjorn and his) took the lad and slaughtered him at Kjallaks-knoll, he being then seven winters old. After this the sons of Kjallak set upon Ljotolf and Thorstein in a certain under-ground chamber at Fellwoods, and Eilif found the other outlet of it and got in at the back of them and slew them both. Hrafsi walked into the house of Orristead, when there was an entertainment forward, and was dressed in woman's clothes; Kjallak sat on the dais with a shield; Hrafsi dealt a deathwound at Asbjorn and walked out through the wall; Thord Vivil's son told Hrafsi that his oxen were lying in a ditch; he bore his shield; he, Hrafsi, hurled it over a cliff, when he saw the sons of Kjallak, and they could not overcome him until they felled timbers about him. Eilif sat by while they made the onset on him.
        Hjorleif, the king of the Hordlanders, had for wife Asa the Light; their son was Otrygg, the father of Oblaud, the father of Hogni the White, the father of Ulf the Squinter. Another son of Hjorleif was Half, who was the captain of 'Halfsrekkar'; his mother was Hild the Slender, the daughter of Hogni, of Niord-isle. King Half was father of King Hjor, him who avenged his father in company with Solvi, the son of Hogni. Hjor made a harrying raid on Bjarmland, (68) and took captive there in war Ljufvina, the daughter of the King of the Bjarms; she was left behind in Rogaland when King Hjor went out to the wars, and then she gave birth to two sons, one was named Geirmund, the other Hamund, and very swarthy of hue they were; at that time her bondmaid also gave birth to a son, and he was called Leif, being the son of Lodhott, a thrall. Leif was light of hue, and therefore the queen exchanged her boys with the bondmaid, and took Leif to her as her own son. But when the King came home, he took a dislike to Leif, saying that he looked like to be a manikin. Next time when the King went out on viking raids, the Queen asked to her house Bragi the Bard, and bade him look heedfully at the boys, being then three winters old; she shut the lads up with Bragi in one chamber and hid herself under the dais. Bragi then sang this:

                Two are inside here,                        But Leif the third,
                I trust well both,                        The son of Lodhott,
                Hamund and Geirmund,                 Rear him not Queen,
                Hjor's own offspring.                Few will prove worse!

And he smote his staff on the dais wherein the Queen hid. So when the king came home, the queen told him of this, and showed him the lads, and he vowed he had never seen such 'hell-skins,' and therefore were both brothers so named ever afterwards. Geirmund Hellskin was a king of war-hosts, and harried in the viking-raids of the west, but had the dominion he ruled over in Rogaland. But when he came back, after having been away for a long time, King Harald had fought in Hafursfirth (69) with Eirek, King of the Hordlanders, and with Sulki, King of Rogaland, and with Kjotvi the Wealthy, and gained the day. By then he had laid under his sway the whole of Rogaland, and bereft many men there of their freehold lands, so Geirmund saw no other choice at hand for him but to betake himself away, for there he could get no beseeming redress. So he made up his mind to seek for Iceland. To this journey there betook themselves with him these: Ulf the Squinter, his kinsman, and Steinolf the Low, who was the son of 'hersir' Hrolf of Adgir, and of Ondott, the sister of Olvir Bairn-carle. Geirmund and his fellow-farers sailed, having inkling of each other (all the way), each steering his own ship until they made Broadfirth, and came to anchor by Ellidis-isle. Then they learnt that the bay was settled on the southern side, but on the western, slightly so, or not at all. So Geirmund made for Middlefell-strand, and took to himself land from Fabeins-river to Clove-stones; he laid his ship into Geirmunds-creek, but spent the first winter in Booth-dale. Steinolf took land east, away from Clove-stones, but Ulf took land on the western side of the firth, as soon will be told. Geirmund found his land-take too narrow, in that he kept a house of state and a household so large that he had eighty freed-men; he dwelt at Geirmund-stead 'under Skard.'
        There was a man called Thrand Spindle-shanks, who went to Iceland with Geirmund Hellskin; he had his kindred about Agdir (in Norway); he took to himself the islands west of 'Bjarneyjaflói' (= the Bjorn-isles-Broads) and abode in Flatey; he had for wife the daughter of Gils 'Skeid' neb (Skeið = fast sailing man of war); their son was Hergils 'Hnapprar,' who dwelt in Hergils-isle; the daughter of Hergils was Thorkatta, whom Mar of Reek-knolls had for wife, but Hergils had for wife Thorarna, the daughter of Ketil Broad-sole. Their son was Ingjald, who dwelt in Hergilsisle, and was a backer-up of Gisli Surson, wherefore Bork the Stout had him bereft of the ownership of the islands; and then he bought Hlid (Slope), in Codfirth; his son was Thorarin, who had for wife Thorgerd, the daughter of Glum, the son of Geiri; their son was 'Helgu'-Steinar; Thorarin was in the company of Kjarton, in Swine-dale, when he fell. Thrand Spindle-shanks abode in Flatey at the time when Odd the Gaudy and his son, Thorir, came out to Iceland; they took up land in Codfirth, Odd abiding at 'Skogar' (The Woods), while Thorir went abroad and took to warring; he came by a great store of gold in Finmark; in fellowship with him were the sons of Hall of Hof- (= Temple-) stead, and when they came to Iceland, Hall laid claim to the gold, which led to great quarrels, out of which sprang the Saga of the Codfirthers. Gold-Thorir dwelt at Thorirs-stead and had for wife Ingibjorg, the daughter of Gils 'Skeid'-neb, and a son of theirs was Gudmund. Thorir was a man most exceedingly mighty of his hands.

Settlements wealth and retainers, of Geirmund "Hellskin."

Chapter XX. Geirmund went west to the Strands and took there land from 'Ryt' or Peak, west of Horn, and thence away east to Stream-ness (Straum-ness); there he set up four manors: one in 'Adal'-wick, under the care of his steward; another in 'Kjarans'-wick, looked after by his thrall, Kjaran; a third on West-Common, under the care of Bjorn, his thrall, who, after Geirmund's days, became of guilty of sheep-lifting; (70) by the money he paid as fine the commons were secured. A fourth manor of Geirmunds was in Bard-wick, and was taken care of by his thrall Atli, who had fourteen thralls serving under him. When Geirmund went from one to the other of his manors he would have a following of eighty men. He was amazingly wealthy of chattels, and had exceeding plenty of live-stock; the tale goes that his swine pastured on Swine-ness, and his sheep on Herdness, while he kept up a pasture-dairy in 'Bitra.' Some say that he also had a manor at Geirmundstead, in 'Sel'-river-dale, off Steingrimsfirth. So wise men say that he was the noblest of all 'land-take-men' (land-náms-menn = original settlers) in Iceland. In quarrels with men here he had but little share, and he came out a man on in years withal. He and Kjallak strove about the piece of land which lay between 'Klofningar' and 'Fabein's-river, and fought on the fields west of 'Klofningar, where both wanted to sow the land; in that strife Geirmund got the better of it. Bjorn the Easterner and Vestar of Eyri brought about peace between them; on going to this peace-meeting Vestar landed at Vestarsness. Geirmund hid a great treasure of his own in Duck-Ditch (Andar kelda), beneath Skard; he had for wife Herrid, the daughter of Gaut, son of Gautrek; their daughter was Ufri; later he had for wife Thorkatla, the daughter of Ofeig, the son of Thorolf, and their children were Geirrid and ______ . Geirmund died at Geirmundstead, and he is laid in a ship there in the wood away from the fence-wall.

Notes:
64. As we approach Dublin the numerous Norse names along the coast --- Lambay Island, Ireland's eye (Norse ey or eyja = Island), the Skerries, the Hill of Howth, Leixlip = Salmon Leap on the Liffy --- prepare us to learn that the Scandinavians in Dublin were governed by their own laws till the thirteenth century, and that in Oxmanton (=Eastmanstown) they had their own separate quarter of the city, guarded by walls and gates. [Back]
65. These islands include, under the name Hebrides, all the islands, about five hundred in number, on the West coast of Scotland, including Bute and Arran, and to the same group were anciently assigned the peninsula of Cantyre, the Island of Rathlin, and the Isle of Man. [Back]
66. Sutherland is Norse, meaning land to the south of the Orkney earldom. Here as well as in Caithness we find numerous Norwegian names, such as Brora, Thurso, Wick, Skeroar, Loch Skerrow, and Sandwick Bay, Loch Laxford. [Back]
67. Hamadist = to change the shape, and so to become subject to fits of fury. See note on Berserks, page 19. [Back]
68. Bjarm is the "beaming or radiance of light." Bjarm was the name of a people or tribe of the Russian Empire, the Perms of the present day. [Back]
69. Battle of Hafursfirth, A.D. 885. This great sea fight affected the Settlement of Iceland more perhaps than any other event. It was the great crisis of the resistance of the Jarls or Kinglets of Norway to their conquest by Harald Fairhair. The song of Hornklofi says "The high born King fought with Kjotvi the wealthy; ships came from the west with gaping dragon's heads and curved beaks. They were laden with warriors and white shields, Western spears and Welsh swords. The Bearserks yelled with war in their hearts. They joined battle with valiant king of the Eastmen who put them to flight." At last the Vikings turned their warships and fled across the North Sea. The king Harald, not content with this crushing blow, followed it up relentlessly, and made a great expedition to the Orkneys, then the focus of the Viking movement, to strike at the root of the influence which he dreaded. There was now no further choice; the Norsemen in the western (British) Islands were forced to bow to the King, or to fly to lands beyond his sway. These lands were generally in Iceland, and in the Landnama many a man is recorded as having fought at Hafursfirth and having fled hence to Iceland. --- Preface to Sturlunga Saga. Reference to Hafursfirth in Book of Settlement at I, 6; II, 19. 29, 32 twice; III, 2; V, 11, 13. [Back]
70. The question of sheep-marking and their ownership generally is dealt with under Part V., 5. [Back]