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Sweyn Asleifsson, Orcadian adventurer and pirate, c. 1115 - 1171. Look up pirate and piracy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Events Clairvaux Abbey is founded by St. ... Events Saladin abolishes the Fatimid caliphate, restoring Sunni rule in Egypt. ...

Early career

Sweyn (or Sveinn) was born in Orkney in the early twelfth century, to Olaf Hrolfsson and his wife Asleif. According to the Orkneyinga Saga, he came to prominence when he murdered Earl Paul of Orkney's cup-bearer c. 1134 in a quarrel over a drinking game, and fled to Tiree to take refuge with Holdbodi Hundason.^[1] Orkney (sometimes known as the Orkney Islands) is an archipelago in northern Scotland, situated 10 miles north of the coast of Caithness. ... (11th century - 12th century - 13th century - other centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 12th century was that century which lasted from 1101 to 1200. ... The Orkneyinga saga (also called the History of the Earls of Orkney) is an unique historical narrative of the history of the Orkney Islands from their capture by the Norwegian king in the 9th century onwards until about 1200 AD. The saga was written around 1200 AD by an unknown... Events Baalbeck taken by Genghis Khan House of Brandenburg begins when Albrecht the Bear is made head of the Nordmark St. ... Looking West to Balephuil Bay, across the famous Hebridean Machair. ...

In 1140, Holdbodi called on Sweyn to join him raiding the coast of Wales, but they were beaten off, Holdbodi withdrawing to the Isle of Man and Sweyn to Lewis.^[2] In the early summer of 1141, Sweyn arrived in Man to join Holdbodi, but the Hebridean had been persuaded to join forces with the Norman-Welsh lord Robert who had defeated them in the previous year, and attacked Sweyn. This created a feud between the former friends.^[3] Events Henry Jasomirgott was made count palatine of the Rhine. ... This article is about the country. ... The Isle of Lewis Looking towards the Uplands in the centre of the Island of Lewis Lewis (Leòdhas in Scottish Gaelic) or The Isle of Lewis (Eilean Leòdhais), is the northern part of the largest island of the Western Isles of Scotland or Outer Hebrides (Na h-Eileanan... Events February 2 - Battle of Lincoln. ...

Quarrels and feuds

Some years later, after falling out with his own captains (led by his brother-in-law Thorbjorn Thorsteinsson), Sweyn was driven out of Orkney by Rognvald Kali Kolsson, but King David I persuaded them to make peace.^[4] Ragnvald Kale Kollson was a Norwegian saint. ... King David I (or Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim), known as the Saint (1084 – May 24, 1153), was king of Scotland from 1124 until his death, and the youngest son of Malcolm Canmore and of Saint Margaret (sister of Edgar Ætheling). ...

In 1153, there was a falling-out between the three Earls of Orkney (Rognvald Kali Kolsson, Erlend Haraldsson and Harald Maddadsson). Sweyn, backed by the new King, Malcolm IV, threw in his lot with Erlend, attacking the shipping of the other two Earls and raiding the east coast of Scotland in his company.^[5] Events January 6 - Henry of Anjou arrives in England. ... The Lewis chessmen an iconic image of Scandinavian Scotland in Harald Maddadssons time. ... Malcolm IV (c. ... Motto: (Latin) No one provokes me with impunity1 Anthem: Multiple unofficial anthems Capital Edinburgh Largest city Glasgow Official language(s) English, Gaelic, Scots2 Government  - Queen Queen Elizabeth II  - UK Prime Minister Tony Blair MP  - First Minister Jack McConnell MSP Unification    - by Kenneth I 843  Area    - Total 78,772 km...

After Erlend's death in 1154, Harald drove Sweyn into hiding for a while, but he soon regained his power - the saga claims that he raided as far as the Scilly Isles, although this seems a little implausible. By the time Rognvald died in 1158, Harald and Sweyn were reconciled: and Sweyn even became foster-father to Harald's son Hakon.^[6] King Stephen of England dies at Dover, and is succeeded by his adopted son Henry Plantagenet who becomes King Henry II of England, aged 21. ... The Isles of Scilly (Cornish: Ynysek Syllan) are an archipelago of islands off the Cornish coast. ... Events January 11 - Vladislav II becomes King of Bohemia End of the formal reign of Emperor Go-Shirakawa of Japan, also the beginning of his cloistered rule, which will last to his death in 1192. ...

Death

The circumstances of Sweyn's death are confused. It is clear that the events described in the saga are those of the brief recapture of Dublin from the Normans by its last Scandinavian king, Askulf, in 1171: but there are many discrepancies between the Orcadian and Anglo-Norman accounts. It is possible that the warlord referred to by Giraldus Cambrensis as "John the Furious" was none other than Sweyn. Be that as it may, when the Normans retook Dublin, Sweyn and Hakon were killed. WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 53. ... Norman conquests in red. ... Scandinavia is a historical and geographical region centered on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. ... Events Saladin abolishes the Fatimid caliphate, restoring Sunni rule in Egypt. ... Giraldus Cambrensis (c. ...

Notes

Pálsson, Hermann; Edwards, Paul (translators) (1981). Orkneyinga Saga. Penguin Classics. ISBN 0-14-044383-5.  Hermann Pálsson (1921–2002) was an Icelandic scholar. ... 1981 (MCMLXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Orkneyinga saga (also called the History of the Earls of Orkney) is an unique historical narrative of the history of the Orkney Islands from their capture by the Norwegian king in the 9th century onwards until about 1200 AD. The saga was written around 1200 AD by an unknown... Penguin Books is a British publisher founded in 1935 by Allen Lane. ...