17/12/2024, by aezcr

Christmas in Orkney: the most wonderful time of the year (for killing someone)

Christmas (ON jól) is perhaps not the first thing that springs to mind when we think of the Saga of the Earls of Orkney (Orkneyinga Saga) and yet it is referenced fifty times within the text(s). Over the next few days we will take a look at some of those instances…

1. The host with most

Perhaps one of the most well known entries concerning the festive period is to be found in chapter 20 when we hear of the hosting skills of Earl Þorfinnr who:

‘did that admirable deed in the Orkneys that he gave hospitality, both food and home brew, to all his court and to many other powerful men all through the winter, so that they did not need to go to the tavern, just as it is the custom for kings and earls in other countries to entertain their court throughout Christmas’.

Drinking scene from the 1899 edition of the J.M. Stenersen & Co. Heimskringla (Public Domain).

Here the Earl is praised for his generosity. Both food and home brew were provided ‘throughout Christmas’, but this is not a one or two-day affair, a lord needed to keep his followers entertained. The Earl, we are told, behaved in a manner that befitted a man of his status, just as it was the fashion ‘for kings and earls in other countries’. Given the title of this blog we might begin to wonder if there were any associated risks with having a large group of men come together to drink all day over many days… men who were very comfortable with acts of violence. Indeed, Jesch emphasises the phrase ‘so that they did not need to go to the tavern’ noting that keeping his men out of the ale houses meant that they were less likely to fall into or create trouble there.

Tune in tomorrow for episode 2! ‘Christmas, a time for family …and killing’.

Matthew Blake

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