Brusi Sigurdsson
[2] The Orkneyinga Saga reports that when their father Earl Sigurd was killed at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014, the Norse earldom was divided between his three oldest sons, Brusi, Sumarlidi, and Einar "Wry-Mouth".
Einar soon became unpopular, demanding heavy taxes and frequent military service from the farmers, and gaining little booty on his raids.
On the last day of the feast Thorkel was supposed to travel with Einar for the reciprocal event but the former's spies reported that ambushes were in place en route.
However, while Thorfinn could count on the aid of his maternal grandfather, Máel Coluim mac Cináeda, Brusi could rely only on his own resources.
[20] To find support Brusi went to Norway, to the court of King Olaf, to have the sharing out of the Earldom settled and Thorfinn followed him there.
[22][23] The Heimskringla then tells that at this time, when King Olaf was defeated by Cnut the Great and exiled to Russia, that he was joined there by Rögnvald Brusason.
[30] Thomson (2008) identifies these family feuds as being the main theme of the Orkneyinga saga, culminating in the martyrdom of St Magnus c.1115, and that the writer emphasises the doom of "kin-slaying" at various points in the story.
[16][31] It is also clear that there is a moral element to the tale, with Brusi cast as the peacemaker who is father to the noble Rögnvald and who stands in contrast to his grasping brother and half-brother.
Crawford (1987) observes several sub-themes: "submission and of overlordship; the problem of dual allegiance and the threat of the earls looking to the kings of Scots as an alternative source of support; the Norwegian kings' use of hostages; and their general aim of attempting to turn the Orkney earls into royal officials bound to them by oaths of homage, and returning tribute to them on a regular basis.
"[32] King Olaf was a "skilled practitioner" of divide and rule and the competing claims of Brusi and Thorfinn enabled him to take full advantage.
"[32] Although the saga writer paints a vivid and plausible picture of the scene, this "merely tell us that the thirteenth-century saga writer knew his Orkney traditions and the recurring factors which did indeed come to the fore on occasions during the thirteenth century when the kings and earls fought or negotiated from their related positions of strength".
