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Caithness

2 stories from this place.

The Footnote June 26, 2026 · Caithness, northern Scotland

The Viking Earl Killed by a Severed Head Tied to His Saddle

Sigurd Eysteinsson — known as Sigurd the Mighty, the second Norse Earl of Orkney — defeated the Scottish chieftain Máel Brigte in 892 AD, beheaded him, and tied the head to his saddle as a trophy. The dead man's tooth scratched Sigurd's calf during the ride home. The wound became infected. Sigurd died of sepsis approximately three weeks later.

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The Footnote June 24, 2026 · Orkney Islands

The Viking Earl Killed by the Severed Head of His Defeated Enemy in 892

Sigurd the Mighty was the first Norse Earl of Orkney. He defeated and beheaded the Pictish ruler Máel Brigte in 892, tied the severed head to his saddle as a trophy, and died on the ride home when one of Máel Brigte's protruding teeth scratched his leg and infected the wound. The story comes from the 13th-century *Orkneyinga Saga*.

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