Ketill Björnsson, nicknamedFlatnose (Old Norse:Flatnefr), was aNorseKing of the Isles of the 9th century.[1]
The story of Ketill and his daughter Auðr, orAud the Deep-Minded, was probably first recorded by the IcelanderAri Þorgilsson (1067 – 1148).[2] Ari was born not long after the death of his great-grandmotherGuðrún Ósvífrsdóttir – a prominent character in theLaxdæla saga whose husband, Thorkell Eyjolfsson, was descended from Auðr. Ari was thus a direct descendant of Ketill and so, when he wrote his story of Ketill, he was drawing in part on oral traditions amongst his own relatives.[2]
Ketill was also depicted in such works as theLaxdæla saga,Eyrbyggja saga and theSaga of Erik the Red, while his genealogy was described in detail in theLandnámabók.
However, like many other medieval histories, all of theseOld Norse works were written long after the events they described. No contemporaneous records of Ketill's life are known to exist, with the arguable exception of a single entry in theAnnals of Ulster.
Ketill Björnsson was the son of Björn Grímsson. In theLaxdaela saga he is recorded as being fromRomsdal (Raumsdal), a valley in the county ofMøre og Romsdal, betweenNordmøre andSunnmøre[3] and fromSogn in theLandnámabók.[4]
Most of Ketill's family eventually emigrated toIceland. Ketill's wife wasYngvild Ketilsdóttir, daughter ofKetill Wether, ahersir fromRingerike. They had a number of children, includingBjǫrn Ketilsson, who lived at Bjarnarhofn;Helgi "Bjolan" Ketilsson, who lived at Esjuberg on Kjalarnes; Thorunn Ketilsdatter, wife of Helgi the Lean, the first settler in Eyjafjordur bay; and Jorunn Ketilsdatter. Ketill's daughter,Aud the Deep-Minded, marriedOlaf the White, King ofDublin. Their son,Thorstein the Red, briefly conquered much of northern Scotland during the 870s and 880s before he was killed in battle. Aud and many members of her clan settled in theLaxdael region of Iceland.[5][6]
There is evidence that Scandinavian settlers may have reached theNorðreyjar (Northern Isles) – theOrkneys andShetland, north of mainlandScotland – as early as the mid-7th century.[7] AfterHarald Fairhair won the decisiveBattle of Hafrsfjord, in the late 9th century, to take control of Norway, many people emigrated to the Orkneys and Shetlands.[8] According to theOrkneyinga saga, some of these emigres began to raid Norway in summer, and Harald followed them to retaliate; he defeated them and also took possession of what the Norse called theSuðreyjar (or Sudreys): theHebrides and theIsle of Man.[9] However, in theEyrbyggja saga, it was Ketill, rather than Harald himself, who led that expedition, and after the initial victory the former retained the islands as an independent, personal domain, rather than bringing them under Harald's rule.[10] In theLaxdaela saga the same story is told, but here Ketill is one of the Vikings who have fled to the Isles to escape Harald's tyranny.[11] In theLandnámabók the initial conquest was led by Harald, but as soon as he returned to Norway the raiders regrouped. At this point Harald sent Ketill to win the islands back again.[12] Ketill did so, but paid no tribute,[13] at which point Harald took possession of what was owed from possessions of Ketill in Norway and sent away Ketill's sons. According to theLandnámabók, Ketill became ruler of a region already settled by Scandinavians.[14] Some sources refer to Ketill as "King of the Sudreys",[15] although there is little evidence that he himself claimed that title. Ketill left no successors there, and there is little record of Norse activity in the west of Scotland in the first four decades of the 10th century.[15]
Hunter (2000) states that Ketill was "in charge of an extensive island realm and, as a result, sufficiently prestigious to contemplate the making of agreements and alliances with other princelings".[16] However, Woolf (2007) suggests that the story of his failing to pay tax to Harald "looks very much like a story created in later days to legitimise Norwegian claims to sovereignty in the region"[13] and some scholars believe that this entire story of Harald's expedition is apocryphal and based on the later voyages ofMagnus Barefoot.[17] Although Norse military activity in Ireland in the 9th century is well documented in Irish sources, they contain no record at all of Harald Fairhair's voyage to the west.[18]
Furthermore, Harald is assumed to have annexed theNorthern Isles (comprising Orkney and Shetland) in 875 or later. If Ketill's suzerainty post-dates this time, it is hard to see how Thorstein the Red, an adult grandson of his, could have been active in the 870s and 880s. It is therefore likely that Ketill'sfloruit in the Hebrides was at a period that pre-dates Harald's victory at Hafrsfjord.[19]
Ketill Flatnose is also sometimes equated withCaittil Find, a reported leader of theGallgáedil recorded in theAnnals of Ulster as fighting in Ireland in 857.[20] This source states simply that "Ímar and Amlaíb inflicted a rout on Caittil the Fair and his Norse-Irish in the lands of Munster."[21] (Ímar andAmlaíb are well-attested Norse leaders active in Ireland and the Isles in the 9th century.)
The Ketill/Caittil relationship was first proposed by E. W. Robertson in 1862,[22] and then rejected byJ. H. Todd in 1867.[23] Robertson's position has since been supported by, among others,W. F. Skene andA. P. Smyth,[2] while others, includingA. O. Anderson[24] andDonnchadh Ó Corráin[25] are more skeptical.
In more recent scholarly debate, Claire Downham has endorsed Ó Corráin's view.[26] The connection is described byWoolf (2007) as "extremely tenuous",[13] but Jennings and Kruse (2009) have supported the identification.
Woolf argues that:
Jennings and Kruse recognise the deficiencies of the saga materials but suggest that "they should not be summarily written off as void of any historical value".[2] They note that:
Dál Riata was a Gaelic kingdom in theArgyll and Bute region of Scotland. Jennings and Kruse argue that Ketill Bjornsson could have taken "control of Dál Riata with its islands".[31] They note the correspondence between the Gaelic nameDál Riata and the fact that when Auðr, settled in theBreiðafjörður region of western Iceland it was in a region called Dalir or Dalaland (modernDalasýsla).[31] Furthermore, "in the Breiðafjörður area there is an indisputably nostalgic Celtic precedent for quite a few names."[32] Examples include islands called Pjattland (Pictland) and Írland (Ireland) and the nearby Patreksfjörður and Trostansfjörður named in honour of two Celtic saints.[32]
They also quote the IrishMartyrology of Tallaght, which refers to a "[Feast of] Bláán, bishop of Kingarth in Gall-Ghàidheil". This indicates thatSt Blane ofKingarth inBute was closely connected to the Gallgáedil. The text is dated not later than the early tenth century and it seems that this part of Dál Riata was by then part of Gallgáedil-held territory.[33] Fraser (2009) has suggested that Little Dunagoil near Kingarth could have been the DalriadanCenél Comgaill capital prior to the Norse incursions.[32][34]
TheChronicum Scotorum refers to a battle that took place in 904 in which two grandsons ofÍmar and their ally "Catol" were victorious against "Aed" who was evidently a leader in either Ireland orPictland. It has been suggested that Catol was Ketill Flatnose (although once again the chronology is problematic), or alternatively that he wasCadell ap Rhodri, a King ofGwynedd.[35]
Ketill Flatnose is portrayed byAdam Copeland (better known in WWE by the ring name Edge) in the5th and6th season of the historical drama television seriesVikings.[36]
| Regnal titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by unknown | King of the Isles | Succeeded by unknown |