Portal:Norway/Selected biography/5

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Lewis chessmen, iconic image of Scandinavian Scotland in Maddadsson's time

Harald Maddadsson (Old Norse Haraldr Maddaðarson, Gaelic Aralt mac Mataid) (c. 1134–1206) was Earl of Orkney and Mormaer of Caithness from 1139 until 1206. He was the son of Matad, Mormaer of Atholl, and Margaret, daughter of Earl Haakon Paulsson of Orkney. Of mixed Norse and Gaelic blood, and a descendant of Scots kings, he was a significant figure in northern Scotland. The Orkneyinga Saga names him one of the three more powerful Earls of Orkney with Sigurd Eysteinsson and Thorfinn Sigurdsson.