Thorfinn The Mighty - Joint Rule

Joint Rule

Sumarlidi died some time before 1020, and the disposition of his third share in Orkney and Shetland became a matter of dispute. Thorfinn had grown up fast, and he claimed Sumarlidi's third as his. While Brusi was willing to grant it to him, Einar was not and took it for himself. Einar was an unpopular ruler, and the farmers of the isles objected to his frequent calls for military service and taxes. A certain Thorkel Amundason led the opposition to Einar. Thorkel, in danger of his life, fled to Thorfinn's court in Caithness, and became his foster-father, from which the other name by which he is known, Thorkel the Fosterer. Einar and Thorfinn began raising armies to settle matters by force, but Earl Brusi made peace between them by persuading Einar to give Thorfinn what he asked for.

Thorfinn appointed Thorkel the Fosterer as his tax-gatherer in the islands, but Einar had not forgotten their earlier dispute and Thorkel left the islands in fear of his life, returning to Caithness. Thorkel then travelled to Norway with Thorfinn's support, to meet with King Olaf Haraldsson. He was well received there, for Olaf bore his own grudge against Einar for the killing of his comrade Eyvind Aurochs-Horn some years earlier. Olaf invited Thorfinn to Norway, and he too was welcomed to Olaf's court. Thorfinn and Thorkel returned to Orkney, to find Einar raising an army against them. Brusi again made peace between them, but this ended with Einar planning Thorkel's killing and Thorkel killing Einar first. The killing of Earl Einar is dated to 1020 by the Icelandic Annals.

The death of Einar did not end the dispute over Sumarlidi's third of the islands. Brusi considered that it belonged to him, as he and Einar had agreed when Thorfinn received a third of the islands. Thorfinn thought that the islands should be divided equally. However, Thorfinn could count on the assistance of his grandfather, King Máel Coluim, while Brusi had only the forces he could raise from his share of the islands, making any conflict a very unequal one. Brusi went to Norway, to the court of King Olaf Haraldsson, to have Olaf judge the dispute, and Thorfinn joined him there. Brusi surrendered the earldom to Olaf, who granted a third to each brother, and kept a third for himself. Thorfinn attempted to use his relationship with the King of Scots as a means to avoid acknowledging Olaf as his overlord in Orkney and Shetland, but Olaf threatened to appoint another to rule Thorfinn's share. Following Thorkel the Fosterer's advice, Thorfinn agreed to Olaf's settlement. After Thorfinn left Norway, Olaf gave Brusi the disputed third to rule on his behalf, but kept Brusi's son Rognvald in Norway as a hostage. These events are dated to 1021.

The arrangement with Olaf Haraldsson lasted while Olaf was king. But in 1028 he was overthrown by the Danish king Canute the Great. After this, the islands were raided by Norwegians and Danes. In order to have the islands better defended, Brusi agreed to give King Olaf's third to Thorfinn, in return for Thorfinn seeing to the defence of the islands. This agreement lasted until Brusi's death, some time between 1030 and 1035. After that, Thorfinn was sole ruler of the earldom. This resulted in Thorfinn holding the Earldom of Caithness from the King of Scots and the Jarldom of Orkney from the King of Norway.