page_title: Helga Moddansdóttir
section_title: Family background and status
hierarchical_section_title: Helga Moddansdóttir / Family background and status
caption_attribution_description: English: River Helmsdale Taken from the bridge near Kildonan Railway Station.
context_page_description: Helga Moddansdóttir was the mistress of Haakon Paulsson who was Earl of Orkney from 1105–1123.
  The Orkneyinga saga states that she was the daughter of Moddan - described as a rich and well-born farmer - and that she and the earl had three children. She was a member of a powerful dynasty in northern Scotland, sometimes referred to as "Clan Moddan" by modern historians, whose power base was "Dale" possibly near the modern-day Helmsdale in Sutherland. Although little is known about her own activities save a fabulous story about a poisoned shirt that supposedly killed her son Harald it is clear that she, her sister Frakkök and her children had a significant impact on the politics of early 12th century Orkney, Caithness and Sutherland.
context_section_description: After the death of earl Magnus Erlendsson c. 1115 at the hands of his cousin Haakon Paulsson, the family of Moddan of Dale played a significant part in the affairs of the Earldom of Orkney. However, their origins are obscure. For a date in the mid-11th century the Orkneyinga saga mentions that "Muddan", who was a nephew of a King of Scots the saga calls Karl Hundason, became jarl of Caithness. He had not held this position long when he was killed by Thorkel "the Fosterer" Sumarlidason, an ally of Earl of Orkney Thorfinn Sigurdsson. Thorkel was able to approach Muddan's base in Thurso because "all the people of Caithness were faithful and loyal to him". It is far from certain that Helga's father Moddan was a descendant of this earlier namesake, and there is no suggestion that Moddan was a jarl, but his son Ótarr apparently was. Furthermore, Ótarr also had his base at Thurso.
  Whatever their origins, in addition to the titled Ótarr, Helga's siblings were, Angus "the Generous" and her sisters Frakkök and Þorleif. These children had both Norse and Gaelic names, whereas Orcadian families tended to have exclusively Norse names. It is thus likely that Helga's ancestors were of mixed heritage with her father being of Celtic origin and her mother possibly having a Norse background and related to the jarl Óttar who was killed in 1098 fighting in Man.
  The saga describes Helga as the mistress or concubine of Earl Haakon, but has nothing to say about the mother of Haakon's other named child, Páll. Sellar (2000) suggests that a degree of polygamy appears to have been acceptable among high-status families in Norse Scotland and that the distinction between wives and concubines may not have been rigid.
caption: The River Helmsdale in the area inland from modern-day Helmsdale where Clan Moddan had a power base[3]
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