Three of the brothers in succession married Ragnhilda, the daughter of Eric and Gunhilda. The mother had been celebrated as the most treacherous, as well as the most beautiful woman of her time, and the daughter appears to have inherited a full share of both the maternal qualities. After contriving the murder of her first husband Arnfin, she married his brother Havard, but soon repenting of her second choice, she released herself with as little compunction as before, exerting her influence over the Jarl’s favourite nephew with such success that the luckless Havard was surprised and put to death by a kinsman of whom he harboured not the remotest suspicion; and the scene of the foul murder, the mysterious and once sacred “stones of Stennis” are still sometimes known as Havard-Steigr. The first to exclaim against the treacherous deed was the widowed consort of the Jarl, and Ragnhilda’s whole soul appeared absorbed in a burning desire for vengeance, until the hope of winning the favour of the beautiful mourner induced another relative to undertake the sacred duty of revenge. Upon his return to claim the promised reward--a fair wife and an earldom--he found them both in the possession of the third brother Liotr, and he lost his life in a vain attempt to wrest, at least the latter, from the more fortunate son of Thorfin. Whilst Liotr was in possession of the earldom, Skuli, one of his surviving brothers, presented himself at the court of the Scottish king Kenneth, and obtained from him either a grant of the possessions of his maternal ancestor the Mormaor of Caithness, or a promise to support the pretensions he was encouraged to raise upon the island dominions of his brother. Collecting an army in Caithness, Skuli crossed the Pentland Firth to establish his claim upon the Orkneys, but he failed in his attempt and was driven out of the islands; when Liotr, emboldened by success, passed over to the mainland and again defeated his brother in the Dales of Caithness, where Skuli lost his life, continuing to fight bravely after the rout and dispersion of his army. Liotr then subdued the whole of Caithness, a proceeding which aroused the jealousy of his powerful neighbour Malbride MacRory the “Earl,” or rather perhaps the “Oirrigh of Moray,” and both parties preparing for a contest, Malbride advanced to Skida Moor to drive the intruder from the country. The struggle was obstinate, victory in the end declaring for the Orkneymen, though it was purchased with their leader’s life, Liotr dying soon afterwards of a wound he received in the battle. Lodver, the last surviving son of Thorfin, now succeeded to the earldom, bequeathing it very shortly to his son Sigurd. He was the only member of his family who died a peaceful death, owing perhaps to his marriage with Auda, a daughter of an Irish king Kerval, an alliance through which he was fortunate enough to escape the dangerous fascinations of Ragnhilda.