William was Bishop of the Orkneys at this time. He was the first bishop there. The bishop’s seat was at Christ’s Kirk in Birgishérad (Birsay). William was bishop for six winters of the seventh decade.[304] For a long time he disbelieved in the sanctity of Earl Magnus, until his merits became manifest to such a degree that God made his holiness grow the more conspicuous the more it was tried, as is told in the book of his miracles.
AFTER the murder of Earl Magnus, Hákon, Paul’s son, took possession of all the Orkneys, and exacted an oath of fealty from all men, and took submission from those who had served Earl Magnus. He became a great chief, and made heavy exactions from those of Earl Magnus’s friends who in his opinion had taken part against him.
Some winters after this he prepared to leave the country, and went to Rome. Then he also went to Jerusalem, according to the custom of the palmers, and brought away sacred relics, and bathed in the river Jordan. After that he returned to his dominions, and resumed the government of the Orkneys. He became a good ruler, and established peace throughout his dominions; he also made new laws for the Orkneys, which the landowners liked better than the former ones. Then he became so popular that the Orkneymen desired no other rulers than Hákon and his issue.
WHEN Earl Hákon ruled over the Orkneys there lived a noble and wealthy man, by name Moddan, at Dal (Dale), in Caithness. His daughters were Helga and Frákork Thórleif. Helga, Moddan’s daughter, was the concubine of Earl Hákon, and their son was Harald, who was called Sléttmáli (smooth-talker), and their daughter was Ingibiorg, who was married to Olaf Bitling (little bit), the King of the Sudreyar. Their second daughter was Margarét. Moddan’s daughter, Frákork, was married to a man who was named Liót Níding (miscreant), in Sutherland, and their daughter was Steinvör the Stout, who was married to Thorliót, at Rekavík.[305] Their sons were Olvir Rosta (strife), Magnus Orm, and Moddan Eindridi, and their daughter Audhild. A second daughter of Frákork was Gudrún, married to Thorstein Höld, Fiaransmunn (open-mouth). Their son was Thorbiörn Klerk (clerk).
Hákon, Paul’s son, had a son named Paul, who was called Umálgi (speechless); he was a reserved man, but popular. When the brothers grew up they never agreed. Hákon, Paul’s son, died on a sick-bed in the Islands, and his death was considered a great loss, for in the later days of his reign there was unbroken peace, and the Islanders suspected that the brothers would not agree well.