The Legend of Orm
So I turned back to Sharon's side of the family, again climbing the branches of her mother's side of the tree. Along the way, I ran into the Ormsby family, whose lineage extended far into England's past -- so far that I decided to run it back as far as I could go.
At the end of the line was a fellow referred to as Orm son of Gamel. His birth is listed as being in the 10th century and his death in the 11th before the Norman invasion, though the dates listed were approximations. His listing contained one attachment, a line drawing of a book titled The Domesday Book.
We'll discuss the Domesday Book in a subsequent post, probably not the next one but the one after that - two weeks if I manage to exercise some discipline. For now, know that the book has a significant role in England's history.
I backed up a couple of generations from this Orm trying to find more information about the family and finally ran across an entry titled "The Orm Legend." The note purported to tell the story of the original Ormsby ancestor, also named Orm, and I was able to find another couple of retellings of the legend. What follows puts together the various elements from the versions.
This Orm was born to a wealthy landholder in Scandinavia sometime in the 8th century, the youngest of an uncertain number of sons. Over the years the landholder granted portions of his estate to his sons as they gained adulthood, and by the time Orm reached majority, all the lands had been distributed.
By all accounts Orm possessed tremendous strength and was a skilled warrior. The legend has it that he wielded a sword that would require most men to wield it with both hands, but Orm needed only one. Another part of the legend says a bear attempted to attack him, but he crushed the animal's skull with one blow of his fist. He also reportedly bragged he could defeat two men at once in a wrestling match.
Once he entered into battle, he seems to have had a tendency to become overwhelmed with rage toward his enemies and would abandon his weapons in favor of beating them with his fists. This would eventually cause him both grief and notoriety.
Because he had no inheritance or lands he decided to join a band of Vikings who planned to attack and plunder the Scottish coast. By this time the Vikings often raided the coast of Great Britain, and the locals had grown tired of it. When the ship Orm joined neared the Scottish coast, they encountered a group of Scottish ships, determined to stop the Viking invasion.
The leader of the Viking expedition, noting that he and his crew were outnumbered, still believed they could win the day, and as an incentive he promised to grant rulership of the territory they conquered to whoever was first to set foot on Scottish soil.
The Vikings sailed straight for the Scottish ships and as they drew alongside a ship, some of them would board it and begin fighting. Orm boarded one ship and immediately attacked, supposedly killing three Scots with a single blow of his sword. Shortly the rage overcame him, and he threw down his sword, grabbing a Scot and lifting him into the air before smashing the Scotsman's head on the side of the boat. Another Scot grabbed a broadaxe and cut off one of Orm's legs above the knee.
Orm in turn grabbed this new attacker, presumably as he was falling, wrapped his arms around the man's chest, and squeezed him to death. The attacker turned out to be the chief of the clan, and his death brought an end to the battle.
Orm's crewmates performed crude surgery to stem the loss of blood, saving his life. The Vikings anchored about a mile offshore for the night and approached the coast in the morning. Remembering the expedition leader's promise, Orm grabbed his severed leg and heaved it up on land before the rest of the crew could beach the ship and climb out. The leader, whom I assume was greatly amused with his crewman's quick thinking, honored his pledge and gave Orm reign over the territory.
After subduing the rest of the locals, Orm built a habitation and returned to Scandinavia to find a wife. The pair then returned to Scotland and became permanent residents.
A note about the name: Depending on which source you look at, Orm, sometimes spelled Ormr, is Norse for "snake," "dragon," "reptile," or "worm." Some claim the name comes from a Scottish word meaning "elm." Of course it's possible that the Norse word sounded like the Gaelic for elm. Who knows?
Picture: Statue of Orm the Viking, photo by Francis Hannaway, used under Creative Commons license, obtained from Wikimedia.
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