Magnus Erlendsson, Earl of Orkney
Earl of Orkney from 1106 to c. 1117
Saint Magnus Erlendsson, Earl of Orkney (1080 – 16 April 1117), sometimes known as Magnus the Martyr, was Earl of Orkney from 1106 to about 1117.
Magnus's grandparents, Thorfinn the Mighty, Jarl of Orkney and his wife Ingibiorg Finnsdottir, had two sons, Erlend and Paul, who were twins. Through Ingibiorg's father Finn Arnesson and his wife, the family was related to the Norwegian Kings Olav II and Harald II.
Sources
Magnus's story is told in three Norse sagas: Orkneyinga saga (chapters 34–57); Magnús saga skemmri; and Magnús saga lengri.
The Orkneyinga Saga was first written down around the year 1200, some 80–90 years after the death of Magnus, by an unknown Icelandic author. An abridgement of the Magnús saga skemmri (the "Shorter Saga of Magnus") makes up chapters 39–55 of the Orkneyinga Saga. Magnús saga lengri (the "Longer Saga of Magnus") contains additions to the original by a "Meistari Roðbert" ("Master Rodbert") dated to the period 1136–70. Robert of Cricklade is believed to be the original Latin author of these additions. Of the three texts Vigfusson (1887) considers the shorter saga to be the "best authority", noting that it is "of ecclesiastical origin" and "composed with pious intent" rather than to "satisfy a love of good tales". As is commonly the case for medieval saints' tales a short book of miracles is appended to both the shorter and longer lives, although they contain somewhat different material. There is also a surviving Latin account of Magnus's life, the Legenda de sancto Magno, and other material in the Brevarium Aberdonense of 1509/10, no doubt based on the missing Vita by the above magister Rodbert - part of which is included in the Magnús saga lengri.
The public source identifies “Magnus Erlendsson, Earl of Orkney” as earl of Orkney from 1106 to c. 1117. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Magnus, Erlendsson and Earl.
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Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jun 7, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q522317. VIAF identifies the subject as 264092245. The Library of Congress control number is n87136326. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1080, 1117, 1106 and 1200.
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This entry incorporates text from “Magnus Erlendsson, Earl of Orkney” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.