- Ketil Trout (Iceland)
Ketil Thorkelsson, better known by his nickname Ketil Trout (in
Old Norse , "Ketill hængr") or Ketil Salmon was a Norwegianhersir of the late ninth century who settled inIceland around 900 CE. He appears in "Egil's Saga ", the "Landnamabok ", and other Icelandic sources.Ketil was the son of
Thorkel of Namdalen ,Jarl ofNamdalen , and Hrafnilda, the daughter of Ketil Trout ofHrafnista . [Egil's Saga ch. XXIII.] Ketil was a man of great wealth and a close friend and cousin ofThorolf Kveldulfsson and his brotherSkalla-Grimr . ["ibid."]When he heard that
Harald I of Norway was launching an attack against Thorolf, Ketil was among the latter's allies who set out to support him. They arrived too late, and when the expedition arrived Thorolf had already been slain. In retaliation for Thorolf's death, Ketil gathered sixty warriors and raided Torgar, home of Harek and Hrærek (the sons of Hildirida), who had slandered Thorolf to the king. Following this raid, Ketil loaded his allies, family and possessions onto two largelongships and set sail forIceland . They settled for the first winter on the eastern bank of the outerRang River , but later moved eastwards and took land between "Thjors-river and Mark-fleet, from fell to firth, and made his home atHof by east Rang-river." ["ibid."]With his wife Ingunn Ketil had several children, including Storolf, Herjolf, Helgi, Vestar, and
Hrafn Hængsson , the last of whom was one of the firstLawspeaker s.External links
* [http://www.northvegr.org/lore/landnamabok/028.php Landnámabók, p. 28, on Ketil Salmon's settlement]
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