EFL - Enciclopedia delle Famiglie Lombarde

http://www.carsonjohnson.com/chapter09-plantagenet.htm Ragnvald of Mo re (also known as Ragnvald “the Wise” of Eysteinsson, Earl of Ork ney), son of Eystein “the Noisy” Glumra Ivarsson and Aseda (Aserid a), was born in Denmark or Norway about 837. He had four wives, firs t Ragnhild (Hildr, daughter of Hrolf “Nefja”)( 848-892), second(? ) Ermina , third, an unknown wife, and fourth, Groa . Ragnvald of Mor e died about 892 in Orkney. '''From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ''' Rognvald "The Wise" Eysteinsson (son of Eystein Ivarsson) is th e founder of the Earldom of Orkney in the Norse Sagas. Three quite dif ferent accounts of the creation of the Norse earldom on Orkney and She tland exist. The best known is that found in the Heimskringla, but oth er older traditions are found in the Historia Norvegiae and the Fragme ntary Annals of Ireland. '''Sagas''' The saga accounts are the bes t known, and the latest, of the three surviving traditions concernin g Rognvald and the foundation of the Earldom of Orkney. Recorded in th e 13th century, their views are informed by Norwegian politics of th e day. Once, historians could write that no-one denied the reality o f Harald Fairhair's expeditions to the west recounted in Heimskringla , but this is no longer the case. The Norwegian contest with the King s of Scots over the Hebrides and the Isle of Man in the middle 13th ce ntury underlies the sagas.[1] In the Heimskringla, Rognvald is Earl o f Møre. He accompanies Harald Fairhair on his great expeditions to th e west, to Ireland and to Scotland. Here, Rognvald's son Ivarr is kill ed. In compensation King Harald grants Rognvald Orkney and Shetland. R ognvald himself returns to Norway, giving the northern isles to his br other Sigurd Eysteinsson.[2] The Heimskringla recounts other tales o f Rognvald. It tells how he causes Harald Finehair to be given his byn ame Fairhair by cutting and dressing his hair, which had been uncut fo r ten years on account of Harald's vow never to cut it until he was ru ler of all Norway,[3] and it makes him the father of Ganger-Hrólf, id entified by saga writers with the Rollo (Hrólfr), ancestor of the Duk es of Normandy, who was said to have been established as Count of Roue n by King Charles the Simple in 931.[4] Earl Rognvald is killed by Ha rald's son Halfdan Hålegg. Rognvald's death is avenged by his son, Ea rl Turf-Einar, from whom later Orkney earls claimed descent, who kill s Halfdan on North Ronaldsay.[5] '''Historia Norvegiae''' The Histor ia Norvegiae's account of Rognvald and the foundation of the Orkney ea rldom is the next oldest, probably dating from the 12th century. Thi s account contains much curious detail on Orkney, including the earlie st account of the Picts as small people who hid in the daytime, but i t has little to say about Rognvald. In the days of Harald Fairhair, k ing of Norway, certain pirates, of the family of the most vigorous pri nce Ronald [Rognvald], set out with a great fleet, and crossed the Sol undic sea..., and subdued the islands to themselves. And being there p rovided with safe winter seats, they went in summer-time working tyran ny upon the English, and the Scots, and sometimes also upon the Irish , so that they took under their rule, from England, Northumbria; fro m Scotland, Caithness; from Ireland, Dublin, and the other sea-side to wns.[6] This account does not associate Rognvald with the earldom, bu t instead attributes it to his anonymous kinfolk. '''Fragmentary Anna ls of Ireland''' ...for it was not long before this that there had be en every war and every trouble in Norway, and this was the source of t hat war in Norway: two younger sons of Albdan, king of Norway, drove o ut the eldest son, i.e. Ragnall son of Albdan, for fear that he woul d seize the kingship of Norway after their father. So Ragnall came wit h his three sons to the Orkneys. Ragnall stayed there then, with his y oungest son. Fragmentary Annals of Ireland , FA 330. Edited and transl ated by Joan N. Radnor. The oldest account of the Rognvald and the ea rldom of Orkney is that found in the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland. Th e annals survive only in incomplete copies made by Dubhaltach Mac Fhir bhisigh in the 17th century, but the original annals are believed to d ate from the lifetime of Donnchad mac Gilla Pátraic (died 1039). Th e annals are known to have had an influence on later writings in Icela nd. The annals make Rognvald the son of "Halfdan, King of Lochlann. " This is generally understood to mean Halfdan the Black, which woul d make the Rognvald of the annals the brother of Harald Finehair. Howe ver, the sagas claim that Rognvald's grandfather was named Halfdan.[7 ] These events are placed after an account of the devastation of Fort riu, dated to around 866,[8] and the fall of York, reliably dated to l ate 867. However, such an early date makes it difficult to reconcile t he saga claims that Harald Fairhair was involved in Rognvald's conques t of the northern isles. Harald Finehair's victory in the Battle of H afrsfjord, which gave him dominion over parts of Norway, is traditiona lly dated to 872, but was probably later, perhaps as late as 900.[9] W hat little is known of Scottish events in the period from the Chronicl e of the Kings of Alba would correspond equally well with Harald's att acks on Scotland in the reign of Domnall mac Causantín (ruled 889–9 00).[10] However, this would not correspond with the sequence in the e arliest account of the origins of the Orkney earldom, which places thi s a generation earlier. '''Orkney inheritance''' Rognvald having giv en his earldom to Sigurd, according to the Orkneyinga Saga, the latte r died in a curious fashion after a battle with Máel Brigte of Moray . Sigurd's son Gurthorm ruled for a single winter after this and die d childless.[11][12] In addition to Hrólfr/Rollo and Turf-Einar, Rog nvald had a third son called Hallad who then inherited the title. Howe ver, unable to constrain Danish raids on Orkney, he gave up the earldo m and returned to Norway, which "everyone thought was a huge joke."[13 ] The predations of the Danish pirates led to Rognvald flying into a r age and summoning his sons Thorir and Hrolluag. He predicted that Thor ir's path would keep him in Norway and that Hrolluag was destined see k his fortune in Iceland. Turf-Einar, the youngest, then came forwar d and offered to go to the islands. Rognvald said: "Considering the ki nd of mother you have, slave-born on each side of her family, you ar e not likely to make much of a ruler. But I agree, the sooner you leav e and the later you return the happier I'll be."[14] His father's misg ivings notwithstanding, Torf-Einarr succeeded in defeating the Danes a nd founded a dynasty which retained control of the islands for centuri es after his death.[15] '''Notes''' 1^ Crawford, pp. 52–53. 2^ An derson, pp. 332–334; Saga of Harald Fairhair, c. 22. 3^ Saga of Har ald Fairhair, cc. 4 & 23. 4^ Saga of Harald Fairhair, c. 24. 5^ Sag a of Harald Fairhair, cc. 29–30. 6^ Anderson, pp. 330–331. 7^ Cr awford, pp. 53–54. 8^ Anderson, p. 296; Annals of Ulster, s.a. 865 . 9^ Crawford, p. 55–56. 10^ Anderson, pp. 395–396. 11^ Thomso n (2008) p. 28. 12^ Pálsson and Edwards (1981) "A poisoned tooth". p p. 27-28. 13^ Thomson (2008) p. 30 quoting chapter 5 of the Orkneying a Saga. 14^ Pálsson and Edwards (1981) "Forecasts". pp. 28-29. 15 ^ Thomson (2008) p. 29. '''References''' Anderson, Alan Orr. Early S ources of Scottish History A.D 500–1286, volume 1. Reprinted with co rrections. Paul Watkins, Stamford, 1990. ISBN 1-871615-03-8 Crawford , Barbara. Scandinavian Scotland. Leicester University Press, Leiceste r, 1987. ISBN 0-7185-1282-0 Ó Corrain, Donnchad. "The Vikings in Sco tland and Ireland in the Ninth Century", Peritia, vol 12, pp296–339 . (etext (pdf) Pálsson, Hermann and Edwards, Paul Geoffrey (1981). O rkneyinga Saga: The History of the Earls of Orkney. Penguin Classics . ISBN 0140443835 Radner, Joan N. (editor and translator) (1978). "Fr agmentary Annals of Ireland". CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts. Univer sity College Cork. http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100017/. Retrieve d 2007-03-10. Radner, Joan N. "Writing history: Early Irish historiog raphy and the significance of form", Celtica, volume 23, pp. 312–325 . (etext (pdf)) Smyth, Alfred P. Warlords and Holy Men: Scotland AD 8 0–1000. Reprinted, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 1998. ISB N 0-7486-0100-7 Sturluson, Snorri. Heimskringla: History of the King s of Norway, translated Lee M. Hollander. Reprinted University of Texa s Press, Austin, 1992. ISBN 0-292-73061-6 Thomson, William P. L. (200 8) The New History of Orkney, Edinburgh, Birlinn. ISBN 978184158696 0 Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rognvald_Eysteinsson " http://fmg.ac/Projects/MedLands/NORWEGIAN%20NOBILITY.htm RAGNVAL D "the Wise", son of [EYSTEIN "Glumra/Clatterer" Jarl in Norway & hi s wife ---] (-[894]). Orkneyinga Saga names “Eystein the Clatterer , father of the wise counsellor Earl Rognwald the Powerful…”, addi ng that “Earl Rognwald campaigned with King Harald Fine-Hair who gav e him charge of North More, South More and Romsdale” [1]. Snorre nam es "Ragnvald Earl of More, a son of Eystein Glumra" when recording tha t he had become a supporter of King Harald who had invested him with t he districts of North More and Raumsdal [2]. Snorre records that he wa s created Jarl of North and South Möre and of Raumsdal in Norway by H arald I "Hårfagre" King of Norway after his victory at Solskiel [869 ] against Hunthiof King of Möre and Nokve King of Raumsdal [3]. Orkne yinga Saga and Snorre both record that King Harald granted Shetland an d Orkney to Ragnvald in compensation for the death of his son Ivar [4] . The ''Historia Norwegie'' records that "principi Rogwaldi" crossed t he Solund Sea, destroyed the peoples of the Orkney islands, in the day s of "Haraldi Comati regis… Norwegie" [5]. Orkneyinga Saga records t hat “Halfdan Long-Leg and Gudrod Gleam, King Harald´s sons by Snæf rid” attacked “Earl Rognvald of More, killed him and assumed his a uthority” [6]. Snorre records that Ragnvald was ambushed in his hal l and burned alive by Halfdan Haaleg and Gudred Liomi, two of King Har ald's sons [7]. [1] Orkneyinga Saga 3 and 4, p. 26. [2] Snorre, Hara ld Harfager's Saga, 10. [3] Snorre, Harald Harfager's Saga, 12. [4 ] Orkneyinga Saga 4, p. 27 and Snorre, Harald Harfager's Saga, 22. [5 ] ''Historia Norwegie'' VI, p. 66. [6] Orkneyinga Saga 8, p. 29. [7 ] Snorre, Harald Harfager's Saga, 30.