Thorfinn Turf-Einarsson

Thorfinn Turf-Einarsson was an early Norse Earl of Orkney, remembered in saga tradition as part of the Scandinavian ruling line in the northern isles. His world was one of sea power, kinship and contested authority across the Viking North Atlantic.

Thorfinn Turf-Einarsson was born in Orkney Islands. The Orkneyinga saga places Thorfinn within the descendants of Torf-Einarr and the early earldom of Orkney, although the chronology and details of these early rulers are partly legendary and cannot always be independently verified.

Tim Hodkinson’s Odin’s Game introduces Thorfinn Skull-splitter as the Orkney jarl to whom the exiled Einar Unnsson turns for protection. The Raven Banner makes opposition to Thorfinn a reason to seek the legendary banner believed to guarantee victory, turning Orcadian family rivalry into a wider struggle for power. The Wolf Hunt returns to the Icelandic and Norwegian conflicts surrounding Einar’s family, with the threat posed by Thorfinn’s world of kinship, vengeance and competing jarls continuing to shape the story.