Thórir 'the Silent' Rǫgnvaldsson (Old Norse: Þórir þegjandi Rǫgnvaldsson;^[1] Norwegian: Tore Teiande Ragnvaldsson; c. 862 – c. 934) was a ninth-century Viking and the second Jarl of Møre.

Family background

Thórir was the son of Rǫgnvaldr Eysteinsson, first jarl of Møre (Mœrajarl) and close friend of King Harald Fairhair, and Hildr Hrólfsdóttir, a jarl's daughter and skald in her own right. He was one of three sons born to Rǫgnvaldr and Hildr, along with Ívarr (died c. 872) and Hrólfr (c. 860–c. 932). Through his father, he had three half-brothers, called Hallað, Einarr, and Hrollaugr.

Ívarr accompanied their father on campaign in support of King Harald Fairhair and was slain in battle in the early 870s. The king granted the jarldom of the Northern Isles (Norðreyar) to Rǫgnvaldr as recompense for the death of his son. Rǫgnvaldr does not appear to have ever assumed the title and instead determined that his brother Sigurd should have it, which King Harald agreed to and Sigurd was installed as the Jarl of Orkney. Einarr, Thórir's half-brother, better known by the nickname Torf-Einarr, became the fourth Jarl of Orkney and established a direct bloodline that would rule for several hundred years.^[2]

Thórir's brother, Hrólfr, gained a reputation as a great Viking and was known as Gǫngu-Hrólfr ('Hrólfr the Walker') because, as Snorri Sturluson wrote in chapter 24 of Haralds saga ins hárfagra in Heimskringla, "[h]e was such a large man in size, that no horse could carry him, and he walked everywhere he went." Snorri went on to assert that Gǫngu-Hrólfr was none other than the famed Rollo, who became the first ruler of Normandy – after emerging as an outstanding warrior among the Norsemen who had secured a permanent foothold on Frankish soil in the valley of the lower Seine – and progenitor of the House of Normandy. These claims contradict the French- and Norman-origin texts composed in the centuries prior to Snorri's work in the 1200s and are heavily contested.^[3][4]

Jarl of Møre

Two sons of King Harald Fairhair and Snjófríthr Svásadóttir, Hálfdan háleggr and Guðrøðr ljómi, killed Thórir's father, Rǫgnvaldr, by locking him in his longhouse with sixty of his men and setting it on fire. Gudrød took possession of the lands of Rǫgnvaldr while Hálfdan sailed west towards Orkney to overthrow Torf-Einarr. King Harald, apparently horrified by the actions of his sons, dispossessed Guðrøðr and restored Rǫgnvaldr's possessions to Thórir.^[5][6] In 892, Thórir assumed his role as jarl of Møre.^[7]

Issue

Thórir married Ólǫf árbót Haraldsdóttir (Norwegian: Ålov Årbot Haraldsdatter), daughter of Harald I of Norway (Harald Fairhair) and Gyða Eiríksdóttir. They had a daughter, Bergljót Þórisdóttir (born c. 914), who married Sigurð Hákonsson, Jarl of Lade and was mother of Hákon Sigurðsson.^[8]

Landnámabók attests two illegitimate children of Thórir by unnamed women:

• Vigdís Þórisdóttir, who was married to Ingimundr Þorsteinsson and settled in Iceland^[9]
• Jörundur háls Þórisson, mentioned as Thórir's other illegitimate child alongside Vigdís^[10]

Outside of the Norse tradition, he also charged with the paternity of:

• Thorbard av Møre (later Herbert de la Mare), who is said to have married Griselle, the daughter of Rollo and Gisela of France.
• Ljot av Møre, who would be the father of Bård Nesjekonge
• Oluffa
• Armond

References