Thorstein the Red or Thorstein Olafsson was a viking chieftain who flourished in late ninth-century Scotland. He was born around 850 AD and was the son of Olaf the White, King of Dublin, and Aud the Deep-minded, who was the daughter of Ketil Flatnose.^[1] After the death of Olaf, Aud and Thorstein went to live in the Hebrides, then under Ketil's rule.^[2] Thorstein eventually became a warlord and allied with the Jarl of Orkney, Sigurd Eysteinsson.^[3] Together Thorstein and Sigurd waged a series of campaigns in Caithness, Sutherland, Ross, Moray, and a number of other regions, eventually receiving tribute from half of Scotland.^[4] However, the Scottish chieftains plotted against Thorstein, and he was killed; the exact nature of his death is unknown but it probably took place around 880 or 890. After Thorstein's death Aud left Caithness, sojourning for a while in Orkney before settling with other members of her clan in Iceland.^[5]

Thorstein married Thurid, the daughter of Eyvind the Easterner. Thorstein and Thurid had a son, Olaf Feilan, and a number of daughters, including Groa, Thorgerd, Olof, Osk, Thorhild, and Vigdis.^[6] A woman named Unn, wife of Thorolf Mostur-beard, claimed to be the daughter of Thorstein, but this claim was viewed by other Icelanders with skepticism.^[7]

Ancestry [edit]

Notes [edit]

1. ^ Eirik the Red's Saga § 1 (Jones 126); Laxdaela Saga § 4 (Magnusson 51).
2. ^ According to some, Olaf repudiated Aud and sent her back to her father's court c. 857. Forte 86.
3. ^ Eirik the Red's Saga § 1 (Jones 126); Laxdaela Saga § 4 (Magnusson 51).
4. ^ Id.; Harald Finehair's Saga § 22 (Snorri 22); Orkneyinga Saga § 9 (Palsson 27).
5. ^ Laxdaela Saga § 4 (Magnusson 51-52).
6. ^ Eirik the Red's Saga § 1 (Jones 127); Laxdaela Saga § 4 (Magnusson 52); Njal's Saga § 1 (Cook 3); Grettir's Saga § 26 (Thorsson 62); Landnámabók passim.
7. ^ Eyrbyggja Saga § 7 (Palsson 32).

References [edit]

• Ari the Learned. The Book of the Settlement of Iceland (Landnámabók). Ellwood, T., transl. Kendal: T. Wilson, Printer and Publisher, 1898.
• Cook, Robert, transl. Njal's Saga. Penguin Classics, 2002.
• Forte, Angelo, Richard Oram and Frederik Pedersen. Viking Empires. Cambridge University Press, 2005 ISBN 0-521-82992-5.
• Jones, Gwyn, transl. Eirik the Red and other Icelandic Sagas. Oxford Univ. Press, USA, 1999.
• Magnusson, Magnus and Hermann Palsson, transl. Laxdaela Saga. Penguin Classics, 1969.
• Palsson, Hermann, et al., transl. Eyrbyggja Saga. Penguin Classics, 1989.
• Palsson, Hermann, et al., transl. Orkneyinga Saga: The History of the Earls of Orkney. Penguin Classics, 1981.
• Snorri Sturluson. Heimskringla, or the Chronicle of the Kings of Norway. Hard Press, 2006.
• Thorsson, Ornolfur, et al., transl. The Saga of Grettir the Strong. Penguin Classics, 2005.

External links [edit]

• Stirnet: Viking03(subscription required) (mentions Thorstein (as "Thorstun 'the Red'"))

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