In the windswept lands of Caithness and the isles of Orkney, where Norse and Gaelic cultures violently mingled, few figures loom larger in legend and fear than Sweyn Asleifson. Born in the early 12th century to Olaus Rolfi and Asleif, his life was forged in fire. Quite literally—his father, a governor of Caithness under the Earls of Orkney, was burned alive in his hall at Duncansbay by enemies during a Christmas raid. That single act of betrayal would ignite Sweyn’s transformation into one of the most infamous pirates of the Viking world.