Kári Sölmundarson was a Hebridean

Hebrides

The Hebrides comprise a widespread and diverse archipelago off the west coast of Scotland. There are two main groups: the Inner and Outer Hebrides. These islands have a long history of occupation dating back to the Mesolithic and the culture of the residents has been affected by the successive...

 viking

Viking

The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...

 and soldier of fortune

Mercenary

A mercenary, is a person who takes part in an armed conflict based on the promise of material compensation rather than having a direct interest in, or a legal obligation to, the conflict itself. A non-conscript professional member of a regular army is not considered to be a mercenary although he...

 who lived in the late tenth and early eleventh centuries. He is a major character in Njál's Saga. Kári was the son of Solmund, who was the son of Thorbjorn "Jarl's Champion," an Icelander exiled before the establishment of the Althing

Althing

The Alþingi, anglicised variously as Althing or Althingi, is the national parliament of Iceland. The Althingi is the oldest parliamentary institution in the world still extant...

 for murder.

Early career

Kári was a hird

Hird

The hird, in Norwegian history, was originally an informal retinue of personal armed companions, hirdmen or housecarls, but came to mean not only the nucleus of the royal army, but also developed into a more formal royal court household....

man of Sigurd the Stout, jarl of Orkney. He came to the rescue of Helgi Njálsson and Grim Njálsson, the sons of Njáll Þorgeirsson

Njáll Þorgeirsson

Njáll Þorgeirsson was a 10th century Icelandic lawyer who lived at Bergþórshvol and is one of the main protagonists of Njáls saga, a medieval Icelandic saga.Njáll was the son of Þorgeir "gollnir" Ófeigsson...

 of Bergthorshvoll, Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

 in the 990's. The brothers, who were on a trading expedition to the British Isles

British Isles

The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...

, had come under attack by the vikings Snaekolf and Grjotgard Mordansson. After killing the raiders, Kári brought the Njálssons to Orkney, where they stayed for a time at Jarl Sigurd's court and fought in his campaigns in northern and central Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

.

Kári came to the aid of Helgi and Grim again when the brothers were arrested by Hakon Jarl of Norway for aiding in the escape of their fellow Icelander, Thrain Sigfusson.

In Iceland

When Helgi and Grim returned to Iceland, Kári accompanied them. He bought a landholding at Dyrholmar, but settled at Bergthorshvoll, where he married Njál's daughter Helga and became close friends with Njál's son Skarphéðinn. He likely became at least nominally a Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 when Iceland converted during the Althing

Althing

The Alþingi, anglicised variously as Althing or Althingi, is the national parliament of Iceland. The Althingi is the oldest parliamentary institution in the world still extant...

 of 1000.

Kári became entangled in the Njálssons' blood feud

Blood Feud

"Blood Feud" is the twenty-second and final episode of The Simpsons second season. It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on July 11, 1991. In the episode, Mr. Burns falls ill and desperately needs a blood transfusion. Homer discovers Bart has Burns' rare blood type and urges...

 with the clan of Thrain Sigfusson, and participated in Skarphéðinn's ambush and murder of Thrain. In around 1010, Thrain's allies and kinsmen, led by Flosi Þórðarson, attacked Bergthorshvoll and burned it with its inhabitants inside

Quickfire

Quickfire or Quick-fire was a type of arson sometimes employed in blood feuds in medieval Scandinavia and Iceland. In committing quickfire, a group of attackers would set fire to the home of an opponent, sometimes by quickly and surreptitiously piling wood, brush and other combustible materials...

. Kári managed to escape under cover of smoke, but his friends Helgi and Skarphéðinn were both killed. Njál, his wife Bergthora, and Kári's son Thord all refused Flosi's offer of reprieve and died in the flames.

Aftermath of the Burning

Kári gathered supporters and prompted the prosecution of the Burners, and there is a legal joust between the parties. Fighting broke out and almost escalated into a full-scale civil war until Snorri Goði

Snorri Goði

Snorri Þorgrímsson or Snorri Goði was a prominent chieftain in Western Iceland, who featured in a number of Icelandic sagas. The main source of his life is the Eyrbyggja saga, in which he is the main character, although he also figures prominently in Njál's saga and the Laxdæla saga...

 and his followers separated the belligerents. As part of an imposed settlement, the Burners were exiled for three years, but Kári attacked them on their way home, and pursued those who escaped abroad. Kári and a small group of followers spent the next several years taking vengeance on the Burners in them to Orkney and Wales

Wales

Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

. In a particularly brazen display, Kári entered the hall of Jarl Sigurd of Orkney as Gunnar Lambason was telling a slanderous version of the story of the burning of Bergthorshvoll. Kári killed Gunnar and composed the verse

Old Norse poetry

Old Norse poetry encompasses a range of verse forms written in Old Norse, during the period from the 8th century to as late as the far end of the 13th century...

:

Men bold of battle,

boast of the burning of Njál.

But have you heard,

how we harried them?

Those givers of gold had a good return,

ravens feasted on their raw flesh.

Kári stayed in Caithness

Caithness

Caithness is a registration county, lieutenancy area and historic local government area of Scotland. The name was used also for the earldom of Caithness and the Caithness constituency of the Parliament of the United Kingdom . Boundaries are not identical in all contexts, but the Caithness area is...

 during the Battle of Clontarf

Battle of Clontarf

The Battle of Clontarf took place on 23 April 1014 between the forces of Brian Boru and the forces led by the King of Leinster, Máel Mórda mac Murchada: composed mainly of his own men, Viking mercenaries from Dublin and the Orkney Islands led by his cousin Sigtrygg, as well as the one rebellious...

 in 1014, when Jarl Sigurd and his allies fought against Brian Boru

Brian Boru

Brian Bóruma mac Cennétig, , , was an Irish king who ended the domination of the High Kingship of Ireland by the Uí Néill. Building on the achievements of his father, Cennétig mac Lorcain, and especially his elder brother, Mathgamain, Brian first made himself King of Munster, then subjugated...

, High King of Ireland

High King of Ireland

The High Kings of Ireland were sometimes historical and sometimes legendary figures who had, or who are claimed to have had, lordship over the whole of Ireland. Medieval and early modern Irish literature portrays an almost unbroken sequence of High Kings, ruling from Tara over a hierarchy of...

. During his stay in Scotland his wife Helga died. Flosi returned to Iceland after a pilgrimage to Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

. Kári followed, but was shipwrecked near Flosi’s home. Testing Flosi’s nobility he went to him for help, and they arranged a final peace. Kári married Flosi's niece Hildigunn, who was the widow of Hoskuld Thrainsson, the son of Thrain Sigfusson and foster-son of Njál.

Descendants

Kári had four children with Helga, his first wife: his son Thord, who died during the Burning of Bergthorshvoll, and the daughters Thorgerd, Ragnheid, and Valgerd.

By his second wife Hildigunn, Kári had three sons: Starkad, Thord and Flosi. Flosi's son Kolbein became a powerful chieftain in the mid eleventh century.

Resources

• Cook, Robert, trans. Njál's Saga
  Njál's saga
  Njáls saga is one of the sagas of Icelanders. The most prominent characters are the friends Njáll Þorgeirsson, a lawyer and a sage, and Gunnarr Hámundarson, a formidable warrior...
  
  . Penguin Classics, 2002.
• Durrenberger, E. Paul. "Icelandic Saga Heroes: The Anthropology of Natural Existentialists." Anthropology & Humanism Quarterly, February 1984, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 3–8.
• Hudson, Benjamin. "Brjan's Saga." Medium Aevum, 22 September 2002.
• Miller, William Ian. Bloodtaking and Peacemaking: Feud, Law, and Society in Saga Iceland. Univ. of Chicago Press, 1990.
• Thorsson, Ornulfur, and Bernard Scudder, transl. The Saga of Grettir the Strong. Penguin Classics, 2005.