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Birth:          ABT  890 of Orkney Islands
Death:          AFT  977 
Burial:         Burial Mound, Hoxa, Ronaldsay, Scotland

Notes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thorfinn_Torf-Einarsson
Thorfinn Torf-Einarsson[1] also known as Thorfinn Skull-splitter[2] (from the Old Norse 
Þorfinnr hausakljúfr)[3] was a 10th-century Earl of Orkney. He appears in the 
Orkneyinga saga and briefly in St Olaf's Saga, as incorporated into the Heimskringla. 
These compelling stories were first written down in Iceland in the early 13th century 
and much of the information they contain is "hard to corroborate".[4]
Family[edit]
Thorfinn was the youngest son of Torf-Einarr, himself the son of Rognvald 
Eysteinsson, the first Earl of Orkney. Torf-Einarr had two other sons, Arnkel and 
Erlend who "fell in a war expedition"[5] at an unspecified location in England along 
with Erik Bloodaxe.[6] Erik's widow, Gunnhildr then fled north to Orkney with her sons 
who used the islands as a base for summer raiding expeditions.[6]

Thorfinn had five sons: Arnfinn, Havard, Hlodvir, Ljot, and Skuli. Their mother was 
Grelad, a daughter of "Earl Dungad of Caithness" and Groa, herself a daughter of 
Thorstein the Red.[5] Grelad's Norse credentials were thus impressive, but it has been 
suggested that her connection to this "earl" of Caithness may have been more 
important for the Orkney earldom. It is likely that Dungad was a member of a pre-Norse 
era ruling family and that the marriage brought Groa's descendents within the Celtic 
derbfine and helped to legitimise their ambitions on the north mainland of Scotland.[2] 
Thorfinn and Grelod also had two daughters whose names are not known,[7] each of 
whom had a son called Einar - Einar kliningr ("Buttered-bread") and Einar harðkjotr 
("Hard-mouth").[1]

Gunnhildr and her family later set out for Norway, but before they left they "gave" their 
daughter Ragnhild Eriksdotter to Arnfinn Thorfinnsson in marriage.[6] In the later days 
of Thorfinn's rule, the sons of Eric Bloodaxe fled Norway and returned to Orkney 
where they "committed great excesses".[5]

Death and legacy[edit]
Thorfinn Torf-Einarsson lived to be an old man[5] and may have died c. 963[7] "on a 
bed of sickness".[5] He is said to have been buried at the broch site at Howe of Hoxa 
on South Ronaldsay.[8] According to St Olaf's Saga his sons became Earls after him
[5] but the earldom was then beset by dynastic strife.

Ragnhild had her husband Arnfinn killed at Murkle in Caithness and married his brother 
Havard "Harvest-happy"[9] who then ruled as earl for a time. Not content with this 
new arrangement Ragnhild then conspired with her nephew Einar kliningr, who killed 
Havard at the battle of Havarðsteiger near Stenness. Einar and Ragnhild then fell out 
and the latter persuaded Einar harðkjotr to attack and kill his cousin Einar kliningr in 
turn. Ragnhild's ambitions were still not assuaged and this "female spider" then 
colluded with Ljot Thorfinnson whom she married and then he had the second Einar 
killed.[9] Having now married three of Thorfinn's sons in succession no more is told of 
Ragnhild and Ljot became earl and an "excellent leader".[10]

Skuli gave allegiance to the Scots king who gave him the title Earl of Orkney but he 
never gained control of the islands, being killed in battle against Ljot in the Dales of 
Caithness at which Ljot "fought like a hero". Ljot then took control of Caithness but 
this angered the Scots and MacBeth, the Mormaer of Moray, brought a large army 
north. They engaged in battle at Skitten Mire (now called the Moss of Killimister) near 
Wick[11] and although outnumbered Ljot had the victory. However he later died of 
wounds suffered there and "people thought it a great loss".[10][Note 1] Hlodvir then 
became earl and "ruled alone over this country".[5] Hlodvir ruled well and married 
Eithne, daughter of Kjarvalr, King of Ireland. Hlodvir died in his bed and was buried at 
Ham in Caithness. He was succeeded as earl by his son Sigurd.[10]

The modern Orcadian beer Skull Splitter is named after Thorfinn.[13]

Interpretations[edit]
Kjarvalr Írakonungr appears in the Landnámabók and has been identified as Cerball 
mac Dúnlainge, King of Osraige who died in 888. There is clearly a chronological 
problem with Earl Hlodvir, whose son Sigurd was killed at Clontarf in 1014, marrying 
the daughter of a king who died more than 120 years before that. Furthermore, 
Thorstein "the Red" Olafsson (fl. late 9th century and Hlodvir's great grandfather) was 
apparently married to a granddaughter of Kjarvalr. Woolf (2007) concludes that the 
saga writers may have confused this story about the provenance of Sigurd Hlodvirsson 
with one about Thorstein, a close ally of Sigurd Eysteinsson.[14]

Thomson (2008) concludes that there is "no real reason to trust the details of this 
bloodthirsty story" about Thorfinn's children, and speculates about the saga writer's 
intentions.[9] The joint rulership of earls was a recurring theme in the period up to 
1214 and was "inherently unstable and usually ended in violence".[9] He identifies 
these family feuds as being the main theme of the Orkneyinga saga, culminating in the 
martyrdom of St Magnus c.1115, and that the writer is emphasising the doom of "kin-
slaying". The connection with Erik Bloodaxe may also have been made to illustrate the 
continuing influence of the Norwegian ruling families in Orcadian affairs, which 
lessened in the late 10th century when Scandinavian expeditions tended to be 
directed towards England "by-passing Orkney and allowing the earls greater scope for 
independent action".[9] In this context Ragnhild may have been not so much the 
cause of the Thorfinsson's troubles as the "prize for the winner".[9]

Although he never became de facto earl, Skuli Thorfinsson's relationship with the 
Scots offers some insight into the politics of the north of Scotland in the late tenth 
century. In the Orkneyinga saga it is claimed that he requested the support of the 
"king of Scots" for his claim to Caithness.[10] However it is far from certain that the 
kings of Scots were in a position to offer any authority so far north at this time. The 
Irish annalists referred to the rulers of Moray by the title Ri Alban and it is possible 
that the saga writer meant the former by this term. Crawford (1987) suggests that "if 
the late ninth-century conquest of northern Scotland by Thorstein the Red and Sigurd 
the Mighty had indeed led to permanent colonies in Caithness and along the coastal 
areas of Sutherland, then the late tenth century struggle may have been a result of 
aggression from the Scottish side in an attempt to regain control of the northernmost 
province of the Scottish mainland".[15]

Parents
ROGNVALDSSON Einar (ABT  870 -  910)
----- ----- ()

Siblings
EINARSSON Thorfinn I Rollo "Brico" "Hausakliffer" (ABT  890 - AFT  977)

Marriage To DUNCANSDOTTIR Gerlod (Gerlaf) (Gerlauga) (ABT  895 - )
    m.  

Notes

Parents
____ Duncan (Dungad) (ABT  871 - )
TORSTEINSDOTTIR Groa (ABT  878 - )

Children by DUNCANSDOTTIR Gerlod (Gerlaf) (Gerlauga) ABT  895 - 
THORFINNSSON Hlodver (Lodver) (ABT  924 - ABT  980)

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