MAGNUS III., surnamed _Barfoet_, or the Barefoot, succeeded his father Olaf III. At first, he was acknowledged by the southern provinces: in the northern was opposed to him Hako, nephew of the late king. Though death soon rid him of that rival, an army only could induce those provinces to receive him.
This was the first Norwegian monarch after St. Olaf that visited the Orkneys. He went to punish the jarls of those islands, which had thrown off their allegiance to the yoke of Norway. These jarls were Erling and Paul, whom he took and sent prisoners to his kingdom. Leaving his son Sigurd in the government, with fit councillors, he laid waste Sutherland, which was a portion of the jarldom, and feudally dependent on the Scotch crown. Proceeding to the Hebrides, he reduced them also. Very different was his conduct at Iona from that which had been pursued by his pagan ancestors. He showed great veneration for the memory of S. Columbe, and great affability to the inhabitants of all the islands that submitted. Ilay was next reduced, then Cantyre. These successes were followed by predatory depredations on both the Irish and Scottish coasts. Most places offered little resistance, but the conquest of Anglesey could not be effected without a battle. Two Welsh chieftains, both named _Hugh_, fought stoutly for their independence. One, Hugh the Magnanimous, was so encased in armour, that his two eyes only were visible: Magnus shot an arrow into one eye, and a Norwegian warrior into another; and after a valiant struggle victory declared for the Northmen. The whole island, we are told, acknowledged the king; but this statement will obtain little credit with any reader. The truth seems to be that he made some of the chiefs do homage for their respective domains; but they reasserted their independence the moment he had left the shores. There is more probability in another statement of the northern chroniclers, that he forced Malcolm of Scotland to cede to him the sovereignty over all the islands, from the Orkneys to Man. From this expedition he returned in 1099. Its results were valuable: the Hebrides and the Orkneys were now his. The possession of the former indeed was short-lived and precarious; but the latter were long subject to his successors.