page_title: Gilli (Hebridean earl)
section_title: Earl in the Hebrides
hierarchical_section_title: Gilli (Hebridean earl) / Earl in the Hebrides
caption_attribution_description: English: Farmland near Gallanach
context_page_description: Gilli was an eleventh-century Hebridean chieftain whose career coincided with an era of Orcadian overlordship in the Kingdom of the Isles. According to mediaeval saga-tradition, Gilli was a brother-in-law of Sigurðr Hlǫðvisson, Earl of Orkney, having married the latter's sister Hvarflǫð. Traditionally regarded as one of the most powerful Orcadian earls, Sigurðr appears to have extended his authority into the Isles in the late tenth century. Gilli apparently acted as Sigurðr's viceroy or tributary earl in the region. The time frame of Gilli's apparent authority in the Isles is uncertain, and may date as early as the reign of Guðrøðr Haraldsson, King of the Isles, or as late as the period following the death of this man's eventual successor, Rǫgnvaldr Guðrøðarson, King of the Isles. Gilli's name is probably Gaelic in origin, and he seems to have seated himself on either Coll or Colonsay, islands in the Inner Hebrides. It is possible that Gilli is identical to Gilla Ciaráin mac Glún Iairn, an Uí Ímair dynast who was slain at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. If not, another possibility is that he was the father of a certain Conamal/Conmáel who was killed in 980.
context_section_description: There is evidence to suggest that Sigurðr Hlǫðvisson, Earl of Orkney extended his authority from Orkney into the Isles in the late tenth- and early eleventh century. For instance, the thirteenth-century Njáls saga—the only source that specifically refers to Gilli—states that one of Sigurðr's followers, Kári Sǫlmundarson, extracted taxes from the northern Hebrides, then controlled by Gilli himself. Whether these taxes were due to Norwegian overlords of Sigurðr, as the saga states, is uncertain. The saga further declares that Sigurðr and his men defeated Guðrøðr Haraldsson, King of the Isles, after which they plundered the Isles. Also noted are additional assaults conducted by accomplices of Sigurðr throughout the Hebrides, Kintyre, Mann (against Guðrøðr), and Anglesey. The thirteenth-century Orkneyinga saga also reports Sigurðr's raids into the Isles, as does Eyrbyggja saga, a thirteenth-century source which further notes his taxation of the kingdom. Contemporary Orcadian expansion may be perceptible in the evidence of the land-assessment system of ouncelands in the Hebrides and along the western coast of Scotland. If Sigurðr's authority indeed stretched over the Isles in the last decades of the tenth century, such an intrusion could account for the numbers of silver hoards dating to this time.
  Various Irish annals also reveal that this was a period of strife in the Isles, as Danair (literally "Danes") are recorded active in the region throughout 986 and 987. Although it is not impossible that the Danair (perhaps merely meaning "pirates") refer to Sigurðr's forces, it is more likely that they are instead identical to the Vikings who are otherwise attested attacking England in the 990s. In fact, it seems that the Danair were active in the region against opponents of Guðrøðr. This could indicate that either the kin of the recently deceased Amlaíb Cuarán, King of Northumbria and Dublin, or perhaps an Orcadian-aligned Islesman like Gilli himself, may have fallen target to an alliance between the Danair and Guðrøðr. This could in turn reveal that the aforesaid claims of continuous Orcadian conquests in the Isles—otherwise unrecorded outwith saga-tradition—give a less than unbiased account of events. Whatever the case, Guðrøðr was slain in 989, after which the political cohesion of Kingdom of the Isles—perhaps shaken by Orcadian encroachment in the 980s—seems to have diminished.
  The extent of Guðrøðr's authority in the Hebrides is unknown due to his apparent coexistence with Gilli, and to the uncertainty of Orcadian encroachment. Guðrøðr's successor is likewise uncertain. On one hand, he may have been succeeded by his son, Rǫgnvaldr. Although it is conceivable that either Gilli or Sigurðr capitalised on Guðrøðr's death, and extended their overlordship as far south as Mann, possible after-effects such as these are uncorroborated. Although it is possible that Gilli controlled the Hebrides whilst Guðrøðr ruled Mann, the title accorded to the latter on his death could indicate otherwise. If so, the chronology of Gilli's subordination to Sigurðr may actually date to the period after Rǫgnvaldr's death in 1004/1005.
  According to Njáls saga, Gilli was seated on Kola or Kolu, an island that appears to refer to Coll or perhaps Colonsay. The saga also states that Gilli was married to Sigurðr's sister, Hvarflǫð. This marital alliance appears to further evince the southward extension of Sigurðr's influence. This union, along with the record of apparent amiable dealings with Sigurðr's associates, suggests that Gilli and Sigurðr indeed enjoyed close relations. The earl's family was clearly not adverse to marrying into native dynasties, as Sigurðr's own mother was the daughter of an Irish king, whilst his wife was the daughter of a Scottish king. In fact, the aforesaid sources appear to indicate that Gilli operated in the Hebrides as a tributary earl to his brother-in-law. Certainly, Eyrbyggja saga states that Sigurðr left menn ("agents") in the Hebrides to collect tax from Mann, whilst Orkneyinga saga reveals that, at a later period in time, 
caption: Rocky moorland near Gallanach, Coll. A rocky hillside near Gallanach, known as Cnoc Ghillebhreide (grid reference NM21766078), has been associated with fairies, Colum Cille, and Gilli himself, since the early twentieth century.[26] In 1972, the site was visited by the Ordnance Survey, with no evidence of antiquity being observed.[27]
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