[1] According to Laxdæla saga, Hoskuld Dala-Kollsson purchased Melkorka, who he believed to be a selective mute thrall-woman, from a Rus' merchant on Brännöyar while on a trading expedition to Norway, and made her his concubine while away from his wife Jorunn Bjarnadottir.
[6] Shortly thereafter squabbling between Jórunn and Melkorka forced Höskuldr to move his concubine and his son by her to a different farm, which thereafter was known as Melkorkustaðir.
Höskuldr was opposed to the expedition and would not provide trade wares, and the property of Ólafr's foster-father Þórðr was mostly in immobile goods and land.
In part to arrange financing for his expedition, his mother Melkorka married Þorbjörn skrjúpur ("the Feeble"), a farmer who had previously assisted her in the management of Melkorkustaðir.
Myrkjartan was not immediately convinced of their kinship, but he was impressed with Ólafr's Irish and sure that he was of high birth nevertheless.
[14] Melkorka is featured in the 2007 young adult novel Hush: An Irish Princess' Tale by author Donna Jo Napoli.