A.D.

795. First appearance of the Norse Vikings in the Western Seas. They plunder the Isle of Rachrin.

798. Invasion of the Isle of Man by the Norsemen. Inispatrick burned.

802. I Columbkill burned by the Norsemen.

806. I Columbkill again plundered by the Norsemen, and sixty-eight men of the monastery slain.

807. First invasion of the mainland of Ireland by the Norsemen.

815. Turgesius (Thorkel?), chief of the invading Northmen, establishes himself as king of the foreigners in Ireland, making Armagh the capital of the kingdom.

824. Bangor, in the north of Ireland, the seat of the monastery of St. Comhgall, burned, and the bishop and clergy slain by the Northmen.

843. Union of the Picts and Scots under Kenneth M’Alpin, founder of the Scottish dynasty.

853. Arrival of Olaf the White in Ireland. He seizes Dublin, establishes himself there as king, makes an expedition to Scotland, and besieges and takes Dumbarton.

872. Harald Harfagri becomes sole King of Norway; makes an expedition against the western Vikings, who have established their viking station in Orkney, drives them from their haunts, and subdues Shetland, Orkney, the Hebrides, and Man. He gives Orkney and Shetland, as an earldom of Norway, to RÖgnvald, Earl of Moeri, father of HrÓlf (Rollo), the conqueror of Normandy.

875. Earl Sigurd Eysteinson, who had received the earldom of Orkney from his brother RÖgnvald, Earl of Moeri, forms an alliance with Thorstein the Red, son of Olaf the White, King of Dublin. They invade the northern mainland of Scotland, and subdue Caithness and Sutherland as far as Ekkialsbakki. Thorstein the Red is shortly afterwards killed in Caithness; and Earl Sigurd dies, and is buried under a cairn at Ekkialsbakki.

893. Einar (Torf Einar) slays Halfdan HÁlegg, one of the sons of Harald Harfagri, and buries him under a cairn in North Ronaldsay.

933. Death of Harald Harfagri. Eirik Bloodyaxe, his son, becomes King of Norway. About this time the name “Scotia” and “Scotland,” previously applied to Ireland, is first given to North Britain, which had formerly been called Caledonia, Pictavia, or Alban.

950. Fall of King Eirik Bloodyaxe, and of Arnkell and Erlend, sons of Torf Einar, and Earls of Orkney, in battle in England.

963. Thorfinn Hausakliuf Earl of Orkney. The sons of Eirik Bloodyaxe arrive in Orkney.

980. Sigurd HlÖdverson becomes Earl of Orkney.

986. I Columbkill plundered by the Norsemen, and the abbot and fifteen of the clerics slain.

992. Olaf Tryggvi’s son, while on a roving expedition, is baptized by a hermit in the Scilly Isles.

995. Olaf Tryggvi’s son becomes King of Norway, and immediately establishes Christianity by the strong hand. Returning from a western cruise, on his way to Norway he finds Earl Sigurd HlÖdverson by chance at Osmondwall in the Orkneys, and obliges him to profess Christianity, and to promise to establish the true faith in the Orkneys.

1000. Fall of King Olaf Tryggvi’s son at the battle of Swalder in Norway.

1014. Battle of Clontarf, near Dublin, in which Sigurd HlÖdverson, Earl of Orkney, fell. Thorfinn, his son, is made Earl of Caithness and Sutherland by Malcolm II., King of Scots, his maternal grandfather.

1015. Olaf Haraldson (afterwards St. Olaf) becomes King of Norway.

1018. Battle of Ulfreksfiord, in which Earl Einar is vanquished by Eyvind Urarhorn and King Conchobhar.

1019. Einar (Wrymouth), Earl of Orkney, slain by Thorkel FÓstri at Sandwick, in Deerness, Orkney.

1020. The Earls Thorfinn and BrÚsi acknowledge the suzerainty of King Olaf the Holy over the Orkneys.

1028. Olaf the Holy driven from Norway by Canute the Great, King of England and Denmark.

1030. Fall of King Olaf the Holy at the battle of Stiklestad.

1034. Death of Malcolm II., King of Scots. According to the Saga, “Kali Hundason takes the kingdom,” and according to the Scottish historians Duncan I. succeeds to the throne in Scotland. Mission of Einar Thambarskelfir and Kalf Arneson to Russia to offer their aid to Magnus, son of King Olaf the Holy, to obtain the throne of Norway.

1035. Magnus the Good, son of Olaf Haraldson (the Holy), succeeds to the throne of Norway, and RÖgnvald Brusison becomes Earl of Orkney.

1039. Duncan I., King of Scots, slain by Macbeth, who becomes king.

1047. Magnus the Good dies in Denmark, and is succeeded by Harald Sigurdson, surnamed Hardradi.

1050. Einar Thambarskelfir and the sons of Eindridi slain in Norway by Harald Hardradi.

1054. Macbeth defeated by Malcolm (Canmore), son of Duncan.

1057. Malcolm Canmore crowned at Scone.

1064. Death of Thorfinn Sigurdson, Earl of Caithness and Orkney. He is succeeded by his sons Paul and Erlend, and his widow, Ingibiorg (according to the Saga) is married to Malcolm Canmore.

1066. Fall of King Harald Sigurdson (Hardradi) at the battle of Stamford Bridge, near York, in which Harald Godwinson was victor. His son Olaf (Kyrre) and the Orkney Earls, Paul and Erlend, who were with him in the battle, receive peace from the conqueror and liberty to return to Orkney. Olaf Kyrre succeeds to the throne of Norway.

1067. Malcolm Canmore marries Margaret, sister of Edgar Atheling.

1093. Malcolm Canmore killed at Alnwick. Death of King Olaf Kyrre, and accession of Magnus Barelegs to the throne of Norway. He makes an expedition to the west, ravages the Scottish coasts, and assists Muirceartach in the capture of Dublin.

1098. King Magnus makes a second expedition to the west, seizes the Earls of Orkney, Paul and Erlend, and sends them both to Norway (where they died); places his own son, Sigurd, over the Orkneys; and overruns the Hebrides, Kintyre, and Man.

1103. Magnus, King of Norway, slain in Ireland. His son, Sigurd, goes from Orkney to Norway, and succeeds to the kingdom jointly with his brothers Eystein and Olaf. Magnus Erlendson (St. Magnus), and Hakon, Paul’s son, succeed to the earldom of Orkney.

1106. Accession of Alexander I. to the throne of Scotland.

1107. King Sigurd (Magnusson) sets out on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, which occupies him for three years. He is thenceforth called Sigurd, the Jorsala-farer.

1115. Magnus Erlendson (St. Magnus) slain in Egilsey by his cousin Hakon, Paul’s son.

1124. Death of Alexander I., and accession of David I., King of Scots.

1130. Death of King Sigurd, the Jorsala-farer, and accession to the throne of Norway of King Harald Gilli, an illegitimate son of King Magnus Barelegs, from the Hebrides.

1136. Harald Gilli slain by Sigurd Slembidiakn. RÖgnvald (Kali) Kolson obtains the earldom of Orkney from Earl PÁll, son of Hakon, who is carried off to Athole by Swein Asleifson.

1139. Death of Sigurd Slembidiakn. Visit of Bishop John of Athole to Orkney. Harald Maddadson, son of Maddad, Earl of Athole, shares the earldom of Caithness and Orkney with Earl RÖgnvald (Kali).

1151. Earl RÖgnvald and Erling Skakki leave Norway to prepare for their pilgrimage to Jerusalem. The Jorsala-farers winter in Orkney.

1152. Earl RÖgnvald leaves the Orkneys on his pilgrimage to Jerusalem. King Eystein comes to Orkney from Norway, and seizing Earl Harald Maddadson at Thurso obtains from him an acknowledgment of his suzerainty over the Orkneys.

1153. Death of David I., King of Scotland, and accession of Malcolm the Maiden.

1155. Earl RÖgnvald returns from Palestine. Erlend Ungi receives RÖgnvald’s mother, Margaret, in marriage, and is shortly afterwards slain by the Earls RÖgnvald and Harald.

1158. Earl RÖgnvald slain at Calder in Caithness by ThorbiÖrn Klerk. Earl Harald becomes sole ruler of Caithness and Orkney.

1165. Malcolm the Maiden dies at Jedburgh, and is succeeded by King William the Lion.

1168. Death of William the Old, first Bishop of Orkney.

1176. Magnus Erlingson becomes King of Norway. Harald Ungi (son of Eirik Slagbrellir by a daughter of Earl RÖgnvald) receives from King Magnus the title of earl and half of the Orkneys, and from King William the Lion half of Caithness, and is subsequently defeated and slain in Caithness by Earl Harald Maddadson.

1184. Magnus Erlingson, King of Norway, slain by King Sverrir, who succeeds him.

1188. Death of William II., Bishop of Orkney.

1192. Canonisation of RÖgnvald (Kali), Earl of Orkney, who was killed by ThorbiÖrn Klerk.

1194. The Eyjarskeggiar collect forces in Orkney, and attempt to place Sigurd, son of Magnus Erlingson, on the throne of Norway, but are defeated, and nearly all slain, by King Sverrir at Floruvogr, near Bergen.

1195. Earl Harald Maddadson, compromised by this expedition, goes to Norway with Bishop Bjarni, lays his head at the king’s feet, saying that he is now an old man, and entirely in the king’s power. He is pardoned by King Sverrir, but on condition of forfeiting to the crown of Norway the whole of Shetland, which does not again form part of the domain of the Norwegian Earls of Orkney till 1379.

1202. King William the Lion marches north to Eysteinsdal on the borders of Caithness, with a great army, to take revenge for the mutilation of Bishop John, and the expulsion of the deputies of RÖgnvald Gudrodson from Caithness by Earl Harald. Harald purchases peace by a payment of 2000 marks.

1206. Death of Earl Harald Maddadson. He is succeeded by his surviving sons, John and David. Thorfinn, his eldest son, died in Roxburgh Castle, where he was confined as a hostage, and had been mutilated by King William the Lion.

1214. Death of King William the Lion, and accession of Alexander II. to the throne of Scotland. Death of David, son of Harald Maddadson. His surviving brother John becomes sole Earl of Orkney and Caithness.

1222. Burning of Bishop Adam at Halkirk in Caithness, by the enraged peasantry. The King of Scots caused the hands and feet to be hewed from a number of those who were present at the burning, and many of them died in consequence.

1223. Death of Bishop Bjarni, and consecration of Jofreyr to the see of the Orkneys.

1231. Earl John slain at Thurso. The line of the ancient Norwegian Earls of Orkney having become extinct by his death, King Alexander II. creates Magnus, son of Gilbride, Earl of Angus, Earl of Caithness, and separating Sutherland into another earldom, gives it to William, son of Hugh Freskyn.

1239. Death of Magnus, Earl of Caithness and Orkney.

1243. Death of Gilbert, Bishop of Caithness.

1247. Death of Jofreyr, Bishop of Orkney.

1249. Death of Alexander II., King of Scots, at Kerrera, Argyllshire.

1256. Death of Gilbride II., Earl of Orkney.

1263. Expedition of King Hakon Hakonson, of Norway, to Scotland; he is defeated at Largs, and dies at Kirkwall.

1266. Cession of the Hebrides and Man to Scotland by treaty between Magnus IV., King of Norway, and Alexander III., King of Scotland.

1273. Death of Magnus, son of Gilbride, Earl of Orkney.

1276. Magnus, son of Magnus, made Earl of Orkney by King Magnus Hakonson, at Tunsberg.

1281. Marriage of King Eirik Magnusson to Margaret, daughter of King Alexander II. of Scotland.

1283. Death of Margaret, Queen of Norway.

1284. Margaret, infant daughter of Eirik, King of Norway, recognised as heiress to the Scottish throne. Death of Magnus Magnusson, Earl of Orkney.

1286. Death of King Alexander III. of Scotland.

1289. Betrothal of the Princess Margaret, the Maiden of Norway, to Prince Edward of England.

1290. Death of Margaret, the Maiden of Norway, off the coast of Orkney, on her way to Scotland.

1293. Marriage of King Eirik Magnusson of Norway to Isabella, daughter of Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick.

1300. Appearance at Bergen of the false Margaret, a German woman who gave herself out as the “Maiden of Norway,” daughter of King Eirik and Queen Margaret, stating that she had been “sold” by Ingibiorg Erlingsdatter, and spirited away by parties who had an interest in her disappearance.

1301. The false Margaret is burnt as an impostor at Nordness in Bergen, and her husband beheaded.

1310. Death of John, Earl of Orkney.

1312. Treaty of Perth (1266) renewed at Inverness.

1314. Battle of Bannockburn.

1333. Battle of Halidon Hill. Death of Malise, Earl of Stratherne.

1334. Forfeiture of the earldom of Stratherne, and marriage of Isabella, daughter of Malise, Earl of Stratherne, Caithness and Orkney, to William, Earl of Ross. Malise goes to Norway.

1353. Erngisl Suneson, son-in-law of Malise, Earl of Stratherne, made Earl of Orkney.

1375. King Hakon grants the earldom of Orkney for one year to Alexander de Ard, who resigns all his lands in Caithness to King Robert II.

1379. Henry St. Clair made Earl of Orkney and Shetland by King Hakon Magnusson, at Marstrand.

1382. Bishop William of Orkney slain.

1389. Malise Sperra slain near Scalloway by Henry, Earl of Orkney.

1392. Death of Erngisl Suneson.

1397. Union Treaty of Calmar, by which Denmark, Sweden, and Norway, were made one kingdom.

1400 (circa). Death of Earl Henry St. Clair.

1418 (circa). Death of Earl Henry (II.) St. Clair.

1420. Bishop Thomas Tulloch made commissioner in the Orkneys for the King of Norway.

1423. David Menzies of Wemyss made commissioner in the Orkneys for the King of Norway.

1434. William St. Clair made Earl of Orkney.

1468. Contract of marriage between King James III. of Scotland and Margaret, Princess of Denmark, and impignoration of the islands of Orkney and Shetland for the Princess’s dowry.