Earldom of Orkney

Origins

Norse settlers took over Orkney in the 9th century, displacing or absorbing the Pictish population. According to the Orkneyinga saga, Harald Fairhair granted the islands to Earl Rognvald of Møre, who passed them to his brother Sigurd, the first earl, in the late 9th century.

Rule and society

The earls owed allegiance to the kings of Norway, and later also to the kings of Scotland for Caithness, but often acted independently. Thorfinn the Mighty, in the 11th century, ruled much of northern Scotland and built a minster at Birsay. Earl Magnus, murdered around 1117, was venerated as a saint, and his nephew Rögnvald Kali Kolsson began St Magnus Cathedral in Kirkwall in 1137.

Decline and legacy

After the Norse line died out in 1231, Scottish families held the earldom, ending with the Sinclairs. In 1468 Christian I of Denmark-Norway pledged Orkney to James III of Scotland as security for his daughter Margaret's dowry, and in 1472 the earldom was annexed to the Scottish crown. Norse law and the Norn language lingered for centuries.