This man, who like the rest, was one of
King Magnus' bodyguard, he bade go to his king and tell the tale, and
he seized Kirkwall by stratagem. Jarl Ragnvald is said to have been
a man of large stature and great strength, and to have been buried in
Papa Westray, but a grave nearly eight feet long, that would fit him,
has been found where he fell in Papa Stronsay.
All this left Thorfinn with his great aim achieved. He was now
sole jarl of Orkney and Shetland, and sole earl of Caithness and
Sutherland, and he also held Ross and the western islands and coast
down to Galloway, and part of Ireland, as his _rikis_ or conquered
tributary lands.
The fourth and last period of his career now begins with his dramatic
visit to King Magnus in Norway; and, on the death of that king, he
became the friend of his successor, Harald Hardrada, in 1047, and
after visiting King Sweyn in Denmark, and Henry III, Emperor of
Germany, rode south to Rome probably in 1050 along with, it is said,
his cousin Macbeth, king, and a good king, of Scotland, returning
thence to Orkney to his Hall at Birsay at the north-west corner of
Mainland. Thorfinn went to the Pope not only for absolution, but to
get Thorolf appointed bishop in Orkney, according to Adam of Bremen,
c.
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