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The Shorter Orkneyinga Saga
 | Price: £10.50 Supplier: Orkney Museum Publications |
The Orkeyinga Saga has many vivid incidents and characters and this book provides a good, straightforward account of the best of these. The book is designed for children but anyone can enjoy the stories of the Raven Banner or the poisoned shirt. Who wouldn’t want to know more about Thorfinn the Mighty, Einar Wry-Mouth, Halfdan High-Leg or Harald Smooth-Tongue? This book is a good introduction to them all before you go on to read the saga.
Softback, 61 pages
Published 2006
ISBN 954032071
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The first story in the book is about Sigurd the Powerful, the first Earl of Orkney.
“There was a Scottish earl called Maelbrigte Tusk who refused to have his land taken from him by this army of Vikings. People called him Tusk because he had a large tooth that stuck out of his mouth. He sent messengers to Sigurd and arranged to have a meeting to try to make peace. They agreed to take forty men each to the meeting. Sigurd didn’t trust the Scottish earl, and he told his men to take forty horses but for two men to sit on each horse. When the riders got closer Tusk saw that there were two sets of legs on either side of the horses, and he knew that he had been tricked. He ordered his men to get ready to fight, saying that they should try to kill at least one man before they died. When Sigurd saw that the Scots would fight he ordered his men to prepare for battle. The extra warriors got off their horses and crept around to the back of the Scots. The warriors on horseback rode at the Scottish men, swords slashing down on them. The Scots started to fall back, and then Sigurd’s other men who were on foot attacked from behind. The Scots were surrounded, and after a hard fought battle Tusk and all of his men were killed.
Sigurd was happy with his victory, and he decided to make a show of his success in battle. He ordered his men to cut off the heads of the dead Scots and to tie them to their saddles as a warning to others. Sigurd cut Tusk’s head off and tied it to his own saddle. As he spurred his horse to gallop off, the head swung against his leg and the tooth that stuck out of Tusk’s mouth scratched him. After a while the scratch became painful and it swelled up. Blood poisoning had set in, and this led to the death of Sigurd the Powerful. Maelbrigte Tusk had got his revenge on his killer. They buried Sigurd by the banks of the River Oykel on the Dornoch Firth, and raised a great mound over his grave.”
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