Rex Scottiae Macbethad Romae argentum pauperibus seminando distribuit.
Alright. I suppose all of you have mused enough on the fact that Macbeth, King of Scotland, went to Rome scattering silver like grain to the poor. But think, people. Would the Macbeth of Shakespeare's play have had time to go to Rome to scatter largesse? Would he have even had the largesse to scatter, as he was up against the designs of Duncan, Malcolm, etc.
There is a mention of someone called Thorfinn Sigurdsson in the Orkneyinga Saga. Now, most historians believe that this Thorfinn, mormaer of Moray, earl of Orkney and Caithness was Macbeth's half brother. (His father Sigurd, if you have ever heard the legend or heard Grimolfr sing the song, was the earl of Orkney that tried to take over Ireland and died with the blessed and cursed raven war banner tied round his waist.)
The main reason for believing that Thorfinn is MacB's half brother lies in the fact of households and wives. Most of this historical records show that wherever MB was, Thorfinn wasn't far behind. Now, records indicate that Thorfinn married a woman called Ingibjorg, daughter of an important Norwegian family closely tied to the king's household. (The king at this time being St. Olaf of Norway.) Olaf was a Christian, which meant that if one wanted to be closely associated, one had to convert. Ingibjorg is not a proper Christian name, and records show that she was baptized with the Christian name Margret.
The name of Macbeth's queen is not mentioned in the play. However, in the source that Shakespeare used to gather information for his play, her name is given as Gruoch.
The Norwegian form of Margaret is Meregrota, and the diminutive form of Meregrota is Groa. Gruoch is a badly anglicized version of Groa.
The records show that wherever Macbeth was, Thorfinn could be found.
Macbeth would have had neither the time nor the money to go to Rome. Thorfinn, however, with his men and ships and land, would have had ample opportunity. A pilgrimage would have bolstered his repute among his Christian subjects, appeased the Pope and Canute and Emma down in England, and done wonders for establishing his trade... and given him opportunity to visit the Norman knights who would later flee to Orkney and take part in his war against his half-brother (or was it his nephew?) Malcolm.
Rex Scottiae Macbethad Romae argentum pauperibus seminando distribuit.
Think about it.
There is a mention of someone called Thorfinn Sigurdsson in the Orkneyinga Saga. Now, most historians believe that this Thorfinn, mormaer of Moray, earl of Orkney and Caithness was Macbeth's half brother. (His father Sigurd, if you have ever heard the legend or heard Grimolfr sing the song, was the earl of Orkney that tried to take over Ireland and died with the blessed and cursed raven war banner tied round his waist.)
The main reason for believing that Thorfinn is MacB's half brother lies in the fact of households and wives. Most of this historical records show that wherever MB was, Thorfinn wasn't far behind. Now, records indicate that Thorfinn married a woman called Ingibjorg, daughter of an important Norwegian family closely tied to the king's household. (The king at this time being St. Olaf of Norway.) Olaf was a Christian, which meant that if one wanted to be closely associated, one had to convert. Ingibjorg is not a proper Christian name, and records show that she was baptized with the Christian name Margret.
The name of Macbeth's queen is not mentioned in the play. However, in the source that Shakespeare used to gather information for his play, her name is given as Gruoch.
The Norwegian form of Margaret is Meregrota, and the diminutive form of Meregrota is Groa. Gruoch is a badly anglicized version of Groa.
The records show that wherever Macbeth was, Thorfinn could be found.
Macbeth would have had neither the time nor the money to go to Rome. Thorfinn, however, with his men and ships and land, would have had ample opportunity. A pilgrimage would have bolstered his repute among his Christian subjects, appeased the Pope and Canute and Emma down in England, and done wonders for establishing his trade... and given him opportunity to visit the Norman knights who would later flee to Orkney and take part in his war against his half-brother (or was it his nephew?) Malcolm.
Rex Scottiae Macbethad Romae argentum pauperibus seminando distribuit.
Think about it.