tradition, which,
however, in the Highlands, is often a solid enough foundation.

King William next conferred the earldom on Ragnvald Gudrodson, for,
it is said, a considerable sum of money, reserving his own annual
tribute.

On receiving the earldom, Ragnvald Gudrodson left in charge of
Caithness six[44] stewards, of whom Lagmann Rafn was the chief,
and went back to the Isle of Man. Harold had one of these stewards
murdered by an assassin, and returned with a large force to Thurso to
punish the Caithness folk; and, when Bishop John interceded for the
people of his diocese, Harold, whom he had irritated by refusing to
collect the Peter's Pence which the Earl had given to Rome, would not
listen to him, but mutilated him, probably in 1201, nearly blinding
him, and all but cutting out his tongue, though afterwards the bishop
regained his sight and speech in some measure, and may have lived to
administer his diocese till 1213. It is noteworthy that Pope Innocent
III, in his letter of 1202, does not directly blame Harold for the
illtreatment of the bishop, but Lumberd, a layman, whose penance the
letter prescribes.

Harold then drove out the stewards, and they fled to the Scottish
king, who made the best amends he could to them,[45] and Rafn, the
Lawman, seems to have returned and to have lived and enforced the law
in Caithness until at least 1222.[46]

To punish Earl Harold, King William at once had Harold's son Thorfinn
blinded and so mutilated in Roxburgh Castle that he died there.
William also collected a large army and marched in person to
Eysteinsdal or Ousedale near the Ord of Caithness, and Harold, though
he is said to have brought together seven thousand two hundred men,
avoided battle and evaded the king's pursuit.[47] Harold also began
negotiations with King John of England and received a safe conduct for
a journey to England to see him.[48]

Later in the year Harold is said to have recovered his earldom through
the intercession of Bishop Roger of St. Andrews, for a payment of
two thousand pounds of silver, which Munch conjectures may have been
handed over to Ragnvald Gudrodson to replace the sum which he had paid
to the king for the earldom; and it is true that we hear no more of
Ragnvald in connection with Caithness, though he lived until 1229. At
the same time, we can hardly believe that Harold, as the _Flatey
Book_ says, received back "all Caithness as he had it before that
Earl Harald the Young took i