The Norse saga was written around 1230 (three centuries after the events they record) by an unknown Icelandic author and, as was generally the case with Icelandic language writing of this period, the saga is as much a fictional story as a historic document. It is thought to have been compiled from a number of sources, combining oral legends with historical facts to tell the lives of the earls of Orkney and how they came about their earldom.