| SNORRI, who was surnamed the Priest dwelt at Helgafell, or holy mountain, is also the name of a small mountain in the Snæfellsnes Peninsula of Iceland, before Gudruna (Oswif's daughter) bought the land of him, and dwelt there till she died of old age; but Snorri then went and dwelt at Hvamsfirth on Saelingdale's tongue. Thorgrim was the name of Snorri's father, and he was a son of Thorstein codcatcher. Snorri was a great friend of Asgrim Ellidagrim's son, and he looked for help there also. Snorri was the wisest and shrewdest of all these men in Iceland who had not the gift of foresight. He was good to his friends, but grim to his foes. |  |
Olaf was the name of a warrior-king, who was called Olaf the White. He was the son of King Ingiald, Helgi's son, the son of Olaf, Gudraud's son, son of Halfdan Whiteleg, king of the Uplands-men. Olaf engaged in a Western freebooting expedition and captured Dublin in Ireland and the Shire of Dublin, over which he became king . He married Aude of Dublin the Wealthy, daughter of Ketil Flatnose, soil of Biorn Buna, a famous man of Norway. Their son was called Thorstein the Red. Olaf the White was killed in battle in Ireland, and Aude of Dublin and Thorstein went then to the Hebrides. Both of Ketil's sons settled finally in Iceland.
Thorstein Codcatcher was the son of Thorolf Mostrarskegg, the son of Ornolf Fish-driver, but Ari the Wise ways he was the son of Thorgil Reydarside. Ari was a part of the Haukdælir family clan. Thorolf Mostrarskegg had to wife Oska, the daughter of Thorstein the Red. The mother of Thorgrim was named Thora, a daughter of Oleif the Shy, the son of Thorstein the Red, the son of Olaf the White, the son of Ingialld, the son of Helgi; but the mother of Ingialld was Thora, a daughter of Sigurd Snake-eye, son of Ragnar Hairybreeks; but the mother of Snorri the Priest was Thordisa, the daughter of Sur, and the sister of Gisli. In Dalriada, The Heimskringla tells us that, somewhere between 889 and 892, Thorstein the Red, allied with Sigurd, conquered Caithness and Sutherland, and killed a Scottish Jarl named Mael Brigte. This is confirmed by both the Orkneyinga Saga and Landna¡mabak. The latter names another Scottish Jarl, called Mael Duin. Olaf's and Aude's son, Thorstein the Red, even conquered a part of Scotland, as the Landnama tells us. We can, namely, trace the power and influence of these kings beyond the sea to the coasts of Cumberland, and across the country to Northumberland
Sigurd Snake-eye was one of the sons of Ragnar Lodbrok and Kraka, but what set him apart from the others was that he was born with the image of the ouroborous, a snake or dragon biting its own tail, encircling the pupil of his left eye. When his father died, he inherited Skåne, Halland, the Danish islands, and Viken. He was considered to be the (great?) grand-father of Gorm the Old, King of Denmark; the son of Danish king Harthacnut, Gorm is one of the most misinterpreted figures in Danish history. His ancestry may lie with the Danish rulers in East Anglia, one of which was named Guthrum, a form of the name Gorm. His father came to Denmark around 916 or 917 and deposed the young king Sigtrygg Gnupasson, and when Harthaknut died, Gorm ascended to the throne.
Gorm's great-great-grandson king Sweyn Estridsson or Sweyn II Estridsson Ulfsson. (c. 1018 – 1076) referred to both Gorm and his father as kings of (all of) Denmark, not just parts of the country. Sweyn is often considered to be Denmark's first medieval King. Because of his relationship to Canute the Great he appeared a pretender already from his early years. He rebelled against Norway's King Magnus who had made him a viceroy of Denmark but was defeated. He fought Harald Hardråde who was now King of Norway in a long war until 1064 when Harald relinquished his claims to Denmark. After that Sweyn began to build a strong foundation for royal power through cooperation with the church. He completed the final partition of Denmark into dioceses, and corresponded with the Pope.
Sweyn Estridsson joined forces with Edgar Atheling when he attempted to regain the English throne from William the Conqueror. However after capturing York Sweyn accepted a payment from William to desert Edgar, who returned into exile in Scotland. Sweyn's first marriage was to a girl to whom he was distantly related, and it was ordered by the Pope to dissolve the union, which he did, only to take one mistress after another during the rest of his life. Sweyn Estridsson fathered at least 19 children, probably more, and while none of them were born in wedlock, and none of their mothers are known, five of his numerous sons became kings after their father, beginning with Harald III Hen in 1076 and ending with King Niels of Denmark, (c. 1064 – June 25, 1134), who was murdered in 1134 following his brother Eric I the Evergood. Niels was the youngest son of king Sweyn Estridson and married Margaret, princess of Sweden, with whom he had Magnus the Strong. He was born in the town of Slangerup in North Zealand. During the rule of his half-brother Canute IV of Denmark he was an eager supporter of the king but he was spared during the rebellion against Canute and lived in exile until the change of public feeling which made him elected as a king.
Canute IV is also the patron saint of Denmark. It was the fourth; Malcom IV to be Malcolm Canmore. When Canute tried to force peasants from Jutland to participate in a raid against England (and its current ruler, William the Conqueror), the peasants led an uprising that culminated with his death inside the wooden Church of St. Alban's in Odense, along with his brother Benedict and 17 of their followers. In 1101 he was canonized as a saint, and in 1300 he and his brother were interred in the new Saint Canute's Cathedral. He married Adelaide (Adela) of Flanders, daughter of Robert I, the count of Flanders, and had a son, Charles the Good, who became count of Flanders. The counts of Flanders ruled over the county of Flanders from the 9th century. This alternate title largely fell out of use by the 12th century and the county was absorbed into the duchy of Burgundy in 1405.
SNORRI THE PRIEST
The Kindred Of Snorri The Priest dwelt at Tongue for twenty winters, and at first had a power there somewhat begrudged, while those brawlers were alive, Thorstein Kuggison to wit, and Thorgils the son of Halla, besides other of the greater men who bore him ill-will. His friendships were greatly bettered by his knitting alliances with the greatest chiefs in Broadfirth and wide about elsewhere.
He married his daughter SIGRID to Brand the Bounteous, the son of Vermund the Slender; Kolli, the son of Thormod, the son of Thorlak, the brother of Steinthor of Ere, had her to wife thereafter; and they, Kolli and Sigrid, had house in Bearhaven-on the Beara Peninsula in south-west Ireland near the town of Castletownbere and was built to guard and defend the harbour of Berehaven. The northern part of the peninsula, except near the tip of it, is in County Kerry, while the rest lies in County Cork. It was the traditional seate of power of the O'Sullivan Clan and was one of the last points of Gaelic resistance after the Battle of Kinsale. The name of the town Castletown Berehaven comes from the no longer extant MacCarty Castle. The Bantry bay is a deep and large natural harbor, with one of the longest inlets in southwest Ireland, bordered on the north by Beara Peninsula, which separates Bantry Bay from Kenmare Bay. From East Antrim, the plateau overviews the Mull of Kintyre, Mull of Galloway, and terrain to the Ring of Kerry, further to Ring of Beara.
His daughter UNN he married to Slaying-Bardi; Sigurd, the son of Thorir Hound of Birch-isle in Haloga]and, had her to wife afterwards, and their daughter was RANVEIG, whom Jon, the son of Arni, the son of Arni, the son of Arnmod, had to wife; their son was Vidkunn of Birch-isle, whilome one of the foremost among the barons of Norway.
His daughter THORDIS, Snorri married to Bolli, son of Bolli, and from them is sprung the race of the Gilsbeckings.
His daughter Hallbera, Snorri married to Thord, the son of Sturla Thiodrekson, whose daughter was Thurid, the wife of Haflidi Marson, and from them a mighty kindred has sprung.
THORA his daughter, Snorri married to Keru-Bersi, the son of Haldor, the son of Olaf of Herdholt; Thorgrim the Burner afterwards had her to wife, and from them a great and a noble kin has sprung.
The other daughters of Snorri were married after his death. THURID the Wise, the daughter of Snorri, GUNNLAUG, the son of Steinthor of Ere, had for wife; but Gudrun, the daughter of Snorri the Priest, was wedded to Kalf of Sunhome. Thorgeir of Asgarths-knolls married Haldora, Snorri's daughter. Alof, Snorri's daughter, Jorund Thorfinnson had to wife; he was brother to Gudlaug of Streamfirth.
HALDOR, the son of Snorri the Priest, was the noblest of his sons; he kept house in Herdholt in Laxdale. From him are come the Sturlungs and the Waterfirth folk. The second noblest son of Snorri the Priest was Thorod, who abode at Spaewife's-fell in Skagastrand.
THORSTEIN, the son of Snorri, dwelt at Bathbrent, and from him are sprung the Asbirnings in Skagafiord, and a great stock withal.
THORD KAUSI, Snorri's son, dwelt in Dufgusdale.
EYOLF, the son of Snorri, dwelt at Lambstead on the Mires.
THORLEIF, the son of Snorri the Priest, dwelt on Midfell-strand; from him are sprung the men of Ballara.
SNORRI, the son of Snorri the Priest, dwelt in Tongue after his father.
KLEPP was hight a son of Snorri whose abiding-place men wot nought of, nor know men any tales to tell of him.
Snorri died in Saelings-dale-Tongue one winter after the fall of King Olaf the Holy. He was buried at the church he let rear at Tongue; but at the time the church was moved, his bones were taken up and brought down to the place whereas the church now is; and a witness thereat was Gudny, Bodvar's daughter, the mother of those sons of Sturla: Snorri, Thord, and Sighvat, to wit; and she said that they were bones of a man of middle height, and not right big. At that same time were also taken out of earth the bones of BORK the Thick, the father's brother of Snorri the Priest; and she said that they were mighty big. Then, too, were dug out the bones of the carline Thordis, the daughter of Thorbiorn Sur, the mother of Snorri the Priest; and Gudny said that they were small bones of a woman, and as black as if they had been singed. THE ERE-DWELLERS AND THE SWANFIRTHERS.