Havarðsteiger near Stenness. Einar and Ragnhild then fell out and the latter persuaded Einar harðkjotr to attack and kill his cousin Einar kliningr in turn. Ragnhild's ambitions were still not assuaged and this "female spider" then colluded with Ljot Thorfinnson whom she married and then he had the second Einar killed. Having now married three of Thorfinn's sons in succession no more is told of Ragnhild and Ljot became earl and an "excellent leader". Skuli gave allegiance to the Scots king who gave him the title Earl of Orkney but he never gained control of the islands, being killed in battle against Ljot in the Dales of Caithness at which Ljot "fought like a hero". Ljot then took control of Caithness but this angered the Scots and MacBeth, the Mormaer of Moray, brought a large army north. They engaged in battle at Skitten Mire (now called the Moss of Killimister) near Wick and although outnumbered Ljot had the victory. However he later died of wounds suffered there and "people thought it a great loss". Hlodvir then became earl and "ruled alone over this country". Hlodvir ruled well and married Eithne, daughter of Kjarvalr, King of Ireland. Hlodvir died in his bed and was buried at Ham in Caithness. He was succeeded as earl by his son Sigurd. The modern Orcadian beer Skull Splitter is named after Thorfinn. Interpretations Kjarvalr Írakonungr appears in the Landnámabók and has been identified as Cerball mac Dúnlainge, King of Osraige who died in 888. There is clearly a chronological problem with Earl Hlodvir, whose son Sigurd was killed at Clontarf in 1014, marrying the daughter of a king who died more than 120 years before that. Furthermore, Thorstein "the Red" Olafsson (fl. late 9th century and Hlodvir's great grandfather) was apparently married to a granddaughter of Kjarvalr. Woolf (2007) concludes that the saga writers may have confused this story about the provenance of Sigurd Hlodvirsson with one about Thorstein, a close ally of Sigurd Eysteinsson. Thomson (2008) concludes that there is "no real reason to trust the details of this bloodthirsty story" about Thorfinn's children, and speculates about the saga writer's intentions. The joint rulership of earls was a recurring theme in the period up to 1214 and was "inherently unstable and usually ended in violence". He identifies these family feuds as being the main theme of the Orkneyinga saga, culminating in the martyrdom of