Ketill Bjǫrnsson, nicknamed Flatnose (Old Norse: Flatnefr), was a Norwegian hersir of the 9th century.[1]
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Ketill Bjǫrnsson was the son of Bjorn Grimmson. He was from Romsdal (Raumsdal), a valley in the county of Møre og Romsdal, between Nordmøre and Sunnmøre. When Harald Fairhair decided to expand his kingdom from southeast Norway, many fled and would raid Norway in summers from islands around Scotland. For this reason Harald set sail to uproot the attackers. He won the Hebrides and the Isle of Man and a part of Scotland. However as he had returned to Norway, the raiders renewed the attacks. At which point Harald sent Ketill to re-win the islands. Ketill did so but paid no tax at which point Harald took possession of what was owed from possessions of Ketill in Norway and sent away Ketill's sons. Some sources refer to Ketill as "King of the Sudreys" but there is little evidence that he himself claimed that title.
According to the Landnámabók Kettil became ruler of a region already settled by Scandinavians.[2] He left no successors and there is little record of Norse activity in the west of Scotland in the succeeding four decades.[3]
Most of his family eventually emigrated to Iceland. Ketill's wife was Yngvild Ketilsdóttir, daughter of Ketill Wether, a hersir from Ringarike. They had a number of children, including Bjǫrn Ketilsson, who lived at Bjarnarhofn; Helgi Bjola, who lived at Esjuberg on Kjalarnes; Thorunn Ketilsdatter, wife of Helgi the Lean, the first settler in Eyjafjordur bay; and Jorunn Ketilsdatter. Ketill's daughter, Aud the Deep-Minded, married Olaf the White, King of Dublin. Their son, Thorstein the Red, briefly conquered much of northern Scotland during the 870s and 880s before he was killed in battle. Aud and many members of her clan settled in the Laxdael region of Iceland.[4]
Hunter (2000) states that Ketill was "in charge of an extensive island realm and, as a result, sufficiently prestigious to contemplate the making of agreements and alliances with other princelings".[5] However, Woolf (2007) suggests that his appearance in the sagas "looks very much like a story created in later days to legitimise Norwegian claims to sovereignty in the region"[6] and some scholars believe that this entire story is apocryphal and based on the later voyages of Magnus Barelegs.[7]
Ketill Flatnose is also sometimes equated with Caittil Find a reported leader of the Gallgáedil fighting in Ireland in 857[8] although this connection is far from definite. The Ketill/Caittil relationship is described by Woolf (2007) as "extremely tenuous"[9]
Harald Fairhair is assumed to have annexed the Northern Isles (comprising Orkney and Shetland) in 875 or later. If Ketill's suzerainty post-dates this time, it is hard to see how an adult grandson of his (Thorstein the Red) could have been in active in the 870s and 880s.[7]
Ketill is a character in such works as Laxdaela saga, Eyrbyggja saga, and Eirik the Red's Saga. His genealogy is described in detail in the Landnamabok.
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| Preceded by unknown |
King of the Isles | Succeeded by unknown |
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