Earldom of Orkney

rdf:langString Earldom of Orkney

rdf:langString Orkney

rdf:langString Earldom of Orkney

rdf:langString Vassal of the Kingdom of Norway

rdf:langString and part of the Greater Norway , then

rdf:langString c.872–c. 892

rdf:langString c. 892–1230

rdf:langString Orkney

rdf:langString Middle Ages

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rdf:langString Third creation

rdf:langString Second creation

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rdf:langString Earldom of Orkney.jpg

rdf:langString Picts

rdf:langString Kingdom of Scotland

rdf:langString Vassal

rdf:langString Earldom of Orkney in 988, by the control of Greater Norway.

rdf:langString The Earldom of Orkney is the official status of the Orkney Islands. It was originally a Norse feudal dignity in Scotland which had its origins from the Viking period. In the ninth and tenth centuries it covered more than the Northern Isles (Norðreyjar) and included Orkney, Shetland, Caithness, and Sutherland. The ruling position of Jarl or Earl of Orkney was heritable. Orkney and Shetland lie off the northernmost tip of Caithness on the modern day Scottish mainland. The Picts came to Orkney during the Bronze Age, and the archaeological data shows that there were people living there prior to the Vikings, who came to Orkney probably by the latter part of the 8th century, although this is disputed. Norse Vikings probably either came to the islands first as farmers seeking land or as warriors who were claiming territory and riches, or both, as was common with Viking conquests elsewhere. The question of whether the Picts were completely massacred by the settling Vikings, migrated away, or were gradually assimilated, in peaceful coexistence, is a matter of contention. However, aside from traces of their lives there, their culture did not endure in the early history or character of Orkney. By the 12th century, Orkney was under Norwegian control and by the 13th century, the Orkneyingasaga was written in Iceland, providing one of the earliest and most repeated versions of the history of Norse life on these isles. The Orkneyingasaga is largely fictional however and was not, being written in Iceland, any sort of primary source. Instead, it should be culled for historical details with great care and these data should be matched and compared against data from other sources.

rdf:langString Earldom of Orkney

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rdf:langString First creation

rdf:langString Flag of Scotland .svg

rdf:langString Arms of the Earl of Orkney.svg

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rdf:langString c. 1236–1472

rdf:langString c. 892–1231