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diff --git a/old/52041-0.txt b/old/52041-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 222ed78..0000000 --- a/old/52041-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,3709 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Scandinavian Relations with Ireland during -the Viking Period, by A. Walsh - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - -Title: Scandinavian Relations with Ireland during the Viking Period - -Author: A. Walsh - -Release Date: May 10, 2016 [EBook #52041] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SCANDINAVIAN RELATIONS *** - - - - -Produced by Chris Curnow and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - -Transcriber’s Note: The spelling, accents and hyphenation of given -names are inconsistent and have been retained as printed. - - - - - SCANDINAVIAN RELATIONS - WITH IRELAND DURING - THE VIKING PERIOD - - BY - - A. WALSH - - [Illustration] - - DUBLIN - THE TALBOT PRESS LIMITED - - LONDON - T. FISHER UNWIN LIMITED - - 1922 - - - - -PREFACE - - -This short study was written during my tenure of a Travelling -Studentship from the National University of Ireland, and in March, -1920, was accepted for the Research Degree Certificate of Cambridge -University. - -A glance at the bibliography shows that comparatively little has -been written in English on this interesting period of our history. -On the other hand modern Scandinavian scholars--Alexander Bugge, -Marstrander, and Vogt--have thrown a good deal of light on the subject, -but unfortunately very few of their books have been translated into -English. The present dissertation is based principally upon the Old and -Middle Irish annals and chronicles and the Icelandic sagas; reference -has also been made to the work of Scandinavian, English and Irish -scholars on the subject. - -I should like to acknowledge my debt to Professor Chadwick, who -directed my work: those who have had the privilege of working under -him will readily understand how much is due to his encouragement and -stimulating criticism. I wish also to express my thanks to my friends, -Miss N. Kershaw and Mr. E. J. Thomas, for many kindnesses while the -book was in preparation; to Miss Eleanor Hull and Professor Ó’Máille, -University College, Galway, for the loan of books; and to the Librarian -and staff of Cambridge University Library, the National Library, -Dublin, and T.C.D. Library. - -A. W. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - - PREFACE - - Chap. - - I. THE VIKINGS IN IRELAND (795-1014) 1 - - II. INTERCOURSE BETWEEN THE GAILL AND THE GAEDHIL DURING THE - VIKING PERIOD 10 - - III. THE GROWTH OF THE SEAPORT TOWNS 21 - - IV. THE EXPANSION OF IRISH TRADE 29 - - V. SHIPBUILDING AND SEAFARING 35 - - VI. LINGUISTIC INFLUENCES 40 - - (_a_) Loan-words from Old Norse in Irish. - - (_b_) Gaelic Words in Old Norse Literature. - - (_c_) Irish Influence on Icelandic Place-nomenclature. - - VII. THE VIKINGS AND THE CELTIC CHURCH 47 - - VIII. LITERARY INFLUENCE. THE SAGAS OF ICELAND AND IRELAND 57 - - BIBLIOGRAPHY 77 - - - - -Scandinavian Relations with Ireland during the Viking Period. - - - - -CHAPTER I. - -THE VIKINGS IN IRELAND (795-1014). - - -The Vikings made their first appearance[1] on the Irish coasts in 795 -A.D., when they plundered and burned the church on Recru, or Lambay -Island, near Dublin. During the next ten or twelve years Ireland -seems to have been almost free from further attacks, but in 807 they -descended on Inis Murray, off the Sligo coast, and from there made -their way inland to Roscommon.[2] After that the raids ceased for a few -years, then began again with renewed vigour on Connacht and Munster, on -some of the inland counties of Leinster, and on several places along -the east coast.[3] - -The arrival of Turgeis[4] (O.N. Thorgestr) in Armagh, about 832, marks -a new phase of the invasions. Hitherto the Vikings had come in isolated -parties solely for purposes of plunder; now, however, “great sea-cast -floods of foreigners” landed in every harbour, and began to form -settlements in various parts of the island. Dublin was first occupied -in 836, and four years later the Norsemen strengthened their position -there considerably by the erection of a _longphort_ or fortress. From -their _longphort_ at Linn Duachaill (between Drogheda and Dundalk) -built in the same year, they made their way to the West and plundered -Clonmacnois, while settlers from Cael-uisce, near Newry, went south and -laid waste County Kildare.[5] - -The power of Turgeis was not confined to the north of Ireland. His -fleets were stationed on Loch Ree, the centre from which Meath and -Connacht were devastated. His wife, Ota (O.N. Authr), desecrated -the monastery of Clonmacnois by giving her oracular responses (_a -frecartha_) from the high altar.[6] The tyranny of Turgeis came to -an end in 845, when he was captured by Maelsechnaill, who afterwards -became _árd-rí_, and was drowned in Lough Owel.[7] - -After his death the tide of battle turned in favour of the Irish, -and the Norsemen were defeated in several battles. Weakened by -warfare, they had to contend in 849 with an enemy from without--the -Dubh-Gaill[8] or Danes who had sailed round the south coast of England -and landed in Ireland “to exercise authority over the foreigners who -were there before them.” Two years after their arrival the newcomers -plundered the fortresses at Dublin and Dundalk, but were attacked in -the following year on Carlingford Loch by the Norsemen. In this great -naval battle, which lasted three days and three nights, the Danes were -finally victorious.[9] - -“Amhlaoibh Conung, son of the King of Lochlann,” known in Icelandic -sources as Olaf the White, came to Ireland about 852 to rule over his -countrymen, and to exact tribute from the Irish.[10] According to the -_Fragments of Annals_, he left suddenly and returned a few years later -accompanied by his “younger brother, Imhar,” who may be identified -with Ivarr Beinlausi (_i.e._, “the Boneless”) son of Ragnarr Lothbrók. -Both kings ruled from Dublin, which town now gained a new importance -as the seat of the Scandinavian Kings in Ireland. In 865 the Vikings -extended their activities to Scotland, whence they carried off much -plunder and many captives. An expedition on a larger scale was made by -Olaf and Ivarr in 869, when Dumbarton, after a four months’ siege, fell -into their hands. They returned in triumph to Ireland in the following -year with a large number of English, British, and Pictish prisoners -and ended their victorious march by the capture of Dunseverick (Co. -Antrim).[11] - -Olaf returned to Norway some time after this to take part in the wars -there,[12] and we hear no more of him in the Irish Annals. “Imhar, King -of the Norsemen of all Ireland and Britain,” did not long survive him; -his death is recorded under the year 873.[13] - -During the years which followed Ivarr’s death the country was -comparatively peaceful, and the Irish began to enjoy a rest from fresh -invasions, which lasted about forty years.[14] The Danes and the -Norsemen again began to quarrel among themselves, and once more their -opposing fleets met on Carlingford Lough;[15] in this battle Albann -(O.N. Halfdanr), brother of Ivarr, a well-known leader of the Vikings -in England, was slain. Dissensions also spread among the ranks of the -Dublin Norsemen, dividing them into two hostile parties, one siding -with Sitriucc, son of Ivarr, the other with a certain Sighfrith.[16] -This internal strife so weakened Norse power that the Irish captured -the fortress at Dublin in 902, and drove the Vikings across the sea -with great slaughter. - -The forty years’ rest terminated abruptly in 913, when several fleets -arrived at Waterford and proceeded to ravage all Munster and Leinster. -In 916 Raghnall (O.N. Rögnvaldr), grandson of Ivarr, assumed command -while his brother or cousin, Sihtric Gale (also nicknamed Caoch, ‘the -Blind’) came with a fleet to Cenn Fuaid, in the east of Leinster, and -built a fortification there.[17] Both chiefs united forces against the -_árd-rí_ Niall Glundubh, and having defeated him in battle Sihtric -entered Dublin and became king (918). In the following year the Irish -under Niall made a brave stand at Kilmashogue, near Dublin, but Sihtric -won a decisive victory, and Niall and twelve other kings were among the -slain.[18] - -Scandinavian power in Ireland was now at its height. Large fleets -occupied all the lakes in Ulster, so that no part of the surrounding -territory was safe from their attacks.[19] The Vikings also retained -their grip of the coast towns, and successfully withstood the efforts -made by the Irish leaders to dislodge them. Between the years 920 -and 950 the importance of Dublin increased considerably through its -connection with the Scandinavian Kingdom of Northumbria. Raghnall, -grandson of Ivarr, captured York about 919[20] and reigned there until -his death in 921.[21] He was succeeded by Sihtric Gale, who had -been expelled from Dublin in the preceding year,[22] probably by his -brother, Guthfrith. After Sihtric’s death in 927 Guthfrith, King of -Dublin (d. 934), with the Vikings of Dundalk, left Ireland in order -to secure his own succession in York, but he would seem to have been -driven out by Aethelstan, for the Irish Annals mention his return to -Dublin after an absence of six months.[23] - -Guthfrith’s son, Olaf, came forward about this time. Supported by the -Norsemen of Strangford Lough he plundered Armagh, but his subsequent -attacks on Ulster were checked by Muirchertach MacNeill, son of -Niall Glundubh. Olaf fought in alliance with Constantine in the -battle of Brunanburh (937), and after the defeat inflicted on them by -Aethelstan’s forces he fled to Dublin.[24] He is probably the “Anlaf of -Ireland” who was chosen King by the Northumbrians in 941,[25] but he -died about a year later.[26] - -Another Olaf, the famous Olaf Cuaran, also called Sihtricsson to -distinguish between them, also played an important part in campaigns in -Ireland and England. He went to York about 941, and was elected king -by the Northumbrians, but was expelled after a few years along with -Raegenald, son of Guthfrith.[27] He then took the Dublin Kingdom under -his rule, and in the following year was defeated in battle by the Irish -at Slaine (Co. Meath). Leaving his brother Guthfrith to govern in his -stead, he departed to York, where he became king a second time; but the -Northumbrians drove him out after three years and placed “Yric, son of -Harald” (_i.e._, Eric Bloodaxe, late King of Norway) on the throne.[28] - -Henceforward Olaf limited his activities to Ireland, where he reigned, -the most famous of the Dublin Kings, for some thirty years. In 980, -having summoned auxiliaries from the Scottish isles and Man, he -prepared to attack the _árd-rí_, Maelsechnaill II. A fierce battle was -fought between them at Tara in which the Norse armies were completely -routed, Olaf’s son Raghnall being among the slain. Maelsechnaill -followed up this victory by a three days’ siege of Dublin, after -which he carried off a number of hostages from the Norsemen, and also -obtained from them 2,000 kine, together with jewels and various other -treasures.[29] Olaf himself, utterly disheartened by his defeat, went -on pilgrimage to Iona, where he died soon after. - -Some fifteen years before, a severe blow had been struck at the -power of the Limerick Vikings under Ivarr, grandson of Ivarr and his -sons. The attack made on them at Sulcoit (968) by two princes of the -Dal Cais, the brothers Mathgamain and Brian, resulted in victory -for the Irish, who took Limerick shortly after.[30] Mathgamain was -treacherously murdered in 976, and Brian then became King of Thomond. -He soon brought the Kingdoms of Ossory and Leinster under his control, -and by the terms of a treaty made in 998 Maelsechnaill consented -to leave Brian master of Leth Mogha (_i.e._, the southern half of -Ireland). The Leinstermen under King Maelmordha, dissatisfied with -this arrangement, began to make trouble and revolted, assisted by the -Dublin Norsemen. An important victory was gained over their combined -armies at Gleann Mama (Co. Wicklow) in the year 1000 by Brian, who -after the battle captured Dublin. King Sihtric (O.N. Sigtryggr), son of -Olaf Cuaran, had to submit to Brian’s authority. Having accepted his -allegiance Brian married Gormflaith, mother of Sihtric and sister of -Maelmordha, and at the same time gave his own daughter to Sihtric in -marriage.[31] - -Brian became _árd-rí_ in 1002, and after that for about twelve years -there was peace. Towards the end of that time Gormflaith, who had -meanwhile separated from her husband, incited her brother Maelmordha to -make war on Brian. Maelmordha and Sihtric began to gather forces for -the coming struggle. Sihtric at his mother’s command sought the aid of -Sigurthr, Earl of Orkney and of Brodar,[32] a Viking whose fleet then -lay off the west coast of Man. Fleets also came from Norway[33] and -Iceland to help their kinsmen. The armies under Brian and Maelsechnaill -marched towards Dublin, and having encamped near Kilmainham set fire -to the district of Fingal (_i.e._, _Fine Gall_, “the Foreigners’ -territory”) north of the city. The two armies met at Clontarf on Good -Friday morning and the battle, one of the most famous ever fought on -Irish soil, raged all that day. The Norsemen suffered a severe defeat, -and in attempting to fly for refuge to their ships were slaughtered by -Maelsechnaill at Dubhgall’s Bridge, near the Four Courts. Brian himself -did not take part in the fight, but he was slain in his tent by Brodar -after the battle.[34] - -After the Battle of Clontarf the Norsemen became gradually absorbed -in the general population except in a few coast towns, where they -continued to live more or less distinct and governed by petty kings -until the English Invasion (1169). In the chronicles of the twelfth -and thirteenth centuries they are generally alluded to as “_Ostmen_” -(corruptly _Houstmanni_, _Nosmani_, etc.),[35] and it would seem that -when Dublin, Limerick, and Waterford were captured by the English the -“Ostmen” had to withdraw to certain districts outside the walls of -these towns. Thus, near Dublin, north of the River Liffey, we hear of -Ostmaneby[36] (_i.e._, _Austmannabyr_) afterwards called Ostmanstonry, -and now known as Oxmanstown. Mention is also made (c. 1200) of a -“‘cantred’ of the Ostmen and holy isle,” near Limerick and (c. 1282) -of a “vill of the Ostmen”[37] near Waterford.[38] In the records of -the fourteenth century, however, there is an almost total absence of -references to the “Ostmen” in Ireland.[39] - - -FOOTNOTES - -[1] Zimmer was of the opinion that the Norsemen made their way to -Ireland as early as the seventh century. He bases his theory on an -entry in the _Annals of Ulster_ and in certain other Irish annals -(under the year 617) recording “the devastation of Tory Island by -a marine fleet.” (_über die frühesten Berührungen der Iren mit den -Nordgermanen_, p. 279 ff. in _Sitzungsberichte der kgl. preussischen -Akademie der Wissenschaften_. 1891. Bd. I., pp. 279-317.) But this -attack is likely to have been due to Saxon or Pictish raiders rather -than to the Norsemen. - -[2] _Annals of the Four Masters_, A.D. 807. - -[3] _Annals of Ulster_, A.D. 811, 820-824, 827, 830. - -[4] Some writers would identify Turgeis with Thorgils, son of Harold -Fairhair, who with his brother Frothi went on a viking expedition to -Ireland. They captured Dublin, and Thorgils reigned there for a long -time as king. In the end, however, he was betrayed by the Irish and was -killed. (_Heimskringla: Haralds saga hins hárfagra_, ch. 35.) - -This account of Thorgils certainly bears a resemblance to that of -Turgeis contained in the Irish chronicles and Giraldus Cambrensis (cf. -Todd: Introduction to _War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill_, I., ii.), -but it is of course incorrect to say that Turgeis was a son of Harold -Fairhair. - -[5] _Annals of Ulster_, A.D. 841. - -[6] _War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill_, p. 13. - -[7] _Ib._, p. 15. - -[8] The Irish chroniclers use a variety of names for the Scandinavians: -_Dibearccai_ (outlaws), _Gaill_ (foreigners), _Gennti_ (Gentiles), and -_Pagánaigh_ (Pagans). They also distinguish between Danes and Norsemen. -The Danes were known as _Danair_, _Danmarcaigh_, _Dubh Gennti_ (Black -Gentiles), and _Dubh-Gaill_. The word _Dubh-Gaill_ (Black Foreigners) -still survives in the personal names _Doyle_ and _MacDowell_ and in -the place-name _Baldoyle_. The Norsemen were called _Finn-Gaill_ -(Fair Foreigners), _Finn-Genti_, _Nortmannai_ (Lat. Northmanni) and -_Lochlannaigh_ (_i.e._, men of _Lochlann_ or Norway). - -[9] _Annals of Ulster_, A.D. 851 (= 852). - -[10] _Three Fragments of Annals_, p. 127. - -Vogt (_Dublin som Norsk By_, p. 66) suggests that Olaf was related to -Turgeis, the first Norse King of Ireland, and to Earl Tomrair (O.N. -Thórarr), “_tanist_ of the King of Lochlann,” who fell in the battle of -Scaith Neachtain (847). On the other hand it may be noted here that the -Annalist errs in making Olaf a brother of Ivarr the Boneless. - -[11] _Annals of Ulster_, A.D. 870. - -[12] _Three Fragments of Annals_, p. 195. The _Landnámabók_, II., ch. -15 says that “Olaf fell in battle in Ireland,” but this is surely a -mistake. - -[13] _Annals of Ulster_, _sub anno_, 872 (= 873). - -[14] Cf. _War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill_, p. 27. Cf. also the -entries in the _Annals of Ulster_: - -“Ruaidhri, son of Muirmenn King of the Britons came to Ireland, fleeing -before the Black Foreigners” (an. 876). - -“The shrine of Colum-Cille and all his relics were brought to Ireland -to escape the Foreigners” (an. 877). - -[15] The _War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill_ (p. 27) mentions another -battle between Fair and Black Gentiles, in which many of the latter -were killed. - -[16] It is extremely difficult to identify these two princes owing -to the similarity between their names. It has been suggested that -Sighfrith is the Siefredus or Sievert who ruled jointly with -Guthred-Cnut (d. c. 894) as King of Northumbria, while Sitriucc son -of Ivarr is probably the “Sitric comes” whose name appears on a coin -dating from this period. (See A. Mawer: _The Scandinavian Kingdom of -Northumbria_, pp. 11-13. Saga-book of the Viking Club, VII. Part I.) - -[17] _Annals of Ulster_, A.D. 916. - -[18] _Annals of Ulster_, A.D. 918. _War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill_, -p. 37. An entry in the _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_ (A.D. 921), referring -to the result of this battle, runs:--“In this year King Sihtric slew -his brother Niel.” There is, however, no evidence in Irish sources that -Sihtric and Niall were brothers, or even half-brothers. - -[19] _Annals of Ulster_, A.D. 920, 921, 923, 925. - -[20] _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, A.D. 923. - -[21] _Annals of Ulster_, A.D. 920. - -[22] _Annals of Ulster_, A.D. 919. - -[23] _Ib._, A.D. 927. - -[24] _Ib._, A.D. 937. _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, A. Annal, 937. - -[25] _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, D. Annal 941. - -[26] _Ib._, E. Annal 942; _Annals of Clonmacnoise_, A.D. 934. - -[27] _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, A. Annal 944. - -[28] _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, E. Annals 949, 952. - -[29] _Annals of the Four Masters_, A.D. 978, 979; _Annals of Ulster_, -A.D. 979 (= 980). - -[30] _War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill_, p. 77. - -[31] _War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill_, p. 115; _Annals of the Four -Masters_, A.D. 997. - -[32] _War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill_, p. 153. _Njáls Saga_, ch. -155. In the _Annals of Loch Cé_ (A.D. 1014) Brodar is called the earl -of York (_iarla Caoire Eabhroigh_). - -[33] _War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill_, p. 151. - -[34] _Ib._, pp. 151-191; _Njáls Saga_, chs. 155-157, _Annals of Loch -Cé_, A.D. 1014; _Annals of the Four Masters_, A.D. 1013. - -[35] _Calendar of the Ancient Records of Dublin_ (ed. by J. T. -Gilbert), II. 81; _Chartularies of St. Mary’s Abbey, Dublin_ (ed. -by Gilbert), I. 258; II. 251; Giraldus Cambrensis: _Topographia -Hibernica_, V. 187. - -The name “Ostmen” is generally supposed to have been first given -to them by the English, but the word is Norse (_i.e._, _Austmenn_, -plural of _Austmathr_, “a man living in the East”) and therefore must -have been current in Ireland before the English invasion. It may be -suggested that the name was applied to the original Scandinavian -settlers in Ireland, to merchants and other later comers from Norway, -Sweden, and Denmark. Cf. the nickname _Austmathr_, given to a certain -Eyvindr by the Scandinavian settlers in the Hebrides because he had -come there from Sweden. - -[36] _Chartularies of St. Mary’s Abbey_, I. 267; _ib._, I. 227, 234, -etc.; _Calendar of the Ancient Records of Dublin_, I. 55; II. 96. - -[37] _A Calendar of Documents Relating to Ireland_ (ed. by H. S. -Sweetman), I. 24. - -[38] _Ib._, II. p. 426. - -[39] For interesting articles on the Ostmen in Ireland see A. Bugge: -_Sidste Afsnit af Nordboernes Historie i Irland_, pp. 248-315 (Aarb ger -for nord. Oldk. 1900); and E. Curtis: _The English and the Ostmen in -Ireland_ (English Historical Review, XXIII., p. 209 ff.). - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -INTERCOURSE BETWEEN THE GAILL AND THE GAEDHIL DURING THE VIKING PERIOD. - - -The existence of the Gaill-Gaedhil or foreign Irish in Ulster and -various parts of Munster[40] during the years 854-856 shows that -even in the early part of the ninth century there must have been -considerable intercourse between the Vikings and the native population. -For some of the Gaill-Gaedhil were partly of Irish, partly of Norse -extraction; others, as the annalist explicitly states, were Irishmen -who had been fostered by the Norsemen, and in consequence had -forsaken Christian practices and lapsed into Paganism.[41] From a -chance allusion in a tenth century text[42] it would seem that they -could speak Gaelic, but so badly that the expression “the gicgog of -a Gall-Gaedheal” was generally understood to mean halting or broken -Gaelic. - -They are mentioned in the Annals for the first time[43] in 854, in -which year Aedh Finnliath, King of Aileach, won a great victory over -them in a battle fought at Glenelly, in Tyrone.[44] After this they -took an active part in the Irish wars, fighting like mercenaries -on different sides--at one time in alliance with the _árd-rí_, -Maelsechnaill, who was at war with the Norsemen;[45] again, with an -Irish clan against the Dublin Vikings under Ivarr,[46] and still later -we find them joined with the men of Waterford in opposition to the -_árd-rí_.[47] Led by Caittil Find (O.N. Ketill + Ir. _find_--fair) -they made their last stand against the Dublin Vikings under Olaf and -Ivarr, but were defeated with heavy losses, and after this there is no -further record of their activities in Ireland.[48] On one occasion at -least, they fought with the Viking armies in England. According to -the account of the siege of Chester (c. 912) preserved in the _Three -Fragments of Annals_, many Irishmen, foster-children of the Norsemen, -formed part of the besieging army under the chieftain Hingamund,[49] -who had been expelled from Dublin some time previously. To these -Irishmen Aethelflaed, the lady of the Mercians, sent ambassadors -appealing to them as “true and faithful friends” to abandon the -“hostile race of Pagans” and to assist the Saxons in defending the -city. The Irish then deserted their former allies and joined the -Saxons, “and the reason they acted so towards the Danes,” adds the -chronicler, “was because they were less friendly with them than with -the Norsemen.”[50] - -The Vikings who formed settlements in Ireland during the reign of -Turgeis (839-845) seem to have mingled freely with the Irish, for -we find them not long after their arrival stirring up the clans to -rebellion against the _árd-rí_[51] and joining the native princes on -plundering expeditions. The annals mention several such alliances. -Cinaedh, Prince of Cranachta-Breagh, who had revolted against -Maelsechnaill with a party of plunderers, laid waste the country from -the Shannon eastward to the sea.[52] Another Irish prince, Lorcan, King -of Meath, accompanied Olaf and Ivarr when they broke into the famous -burial-mounds[53] at New Grange, Knowth and Dowth, on the Boyne, and -carried off the treasures which they found there. After the great -naval battle between Danes and Norsemen in Carlingford Lough (A.D. -852) Danes and Irish frequently united forces against the common -enemy, and on one occasion--after the two armies had won a victory -over the Norsemen in Tipperary--the Danish chieftain Horm and his men -were escorted in triumph to Tara where they were received with great -honour by the _árd-rí_.[54] Even after the arrival of Olaf the White, -who brought about a temporary reconciliation between the two parties -of “Foreigners,” a detachment of Danes remained on in the service of -Cearbhall, King of Ossory.[55] - -The Irish chronicler, in alluding to the Norse practice of billeting -their soldiers in the Irish farmhouses, lays stress on the feelings of -hostility entertained by the Irish towards this “wrathful, foreign, -purely Pagan people.” Yet, we not infrequently find instances of -friendly intercourse, as in the well-known story of Olaf-Trygvason and -the peasant.[56] It appears that after Olaf’s marriage to Gyda, sister -of Olaf Cuaran, he occasionally visited Ireland. Once he sailed there -with a large naval force, and being short of provisions went on land -with his men on a foraging expedition. They seized a large number of -cows, and were driving them towards the shore when a peasant ran after -them and begged Olaf to give him back his cows. Olaf told him to take -them, if he could separate them from the rest without delaying their -journey. The peasant had with him a large sheep-dog, which he sent in -among the herd, and the dog ran up and down and drove off as many cows -as the peasant claimed. As they were all marked in the same way it was -evident that the dog knew all his master’s cows. Then Olaf asked if the -peasant would give him the dog. “Willingly,” was the reply. So Olaf -gave him in return a gold ring, and assured him of his friendship. The -dog was called Vígi, “the best of all dogs,” and Olaf had it for a long -time. Years later, after the great naval battle in which Olaf lost his -life, “Vígi lay on a mound and would take no food from anyone, although -he drove away other dogs and beasts and birds from what was brought to -him… Thus he lay till he died.”[57] - -Moreover, the evidence of both Norse and Irish sources goes to show -that all through the ninth and tenth centuries there was extensive -intermarriage between the two peoples. Marriages of the invaders -with the women whom they had carried off as captives must have taken -place from an early period,[58] and we know definitely that the kings -and chieftains on both sides frequently strengthened their alliances -by unions between members of the royal families. According to the -_Landnámabók_ many distinguished Icelanders traced their descent to -Kjarval, _i.e._, Cearbhall, King of Ossory (d. 887), an ally of Olaf -and Ivarr. His grandson, Dufthak (Ir. Dubhthach)[59] was the founder -of an Icelandic family, and three of his daughters, Kormlöth (Ir. -Gormflaith),[60] Frithgerth[61] and Rafarta[62] married Norsemen. The -_Landnámabók_ speaks of Kjarval as having been King of Dublin while -“Alfred the Great ruled in England… and Harold Fairhair in Norway,”[63] -a statement which is often doubted because unsupported by the evidence -of the Irish historians; but it is not at all unlikely, since Cearbhall -was remotely connected with the Dublin royal house through his -granddaughter Thurithr, who married Thorsteinn the Red, son of Olaf the -White.[64] - -There is no mention of Authr, Olaf’s Norse wife, in the Annals, but we -hear incidentally[65] that Olaf, while in Ireland, married a daughter -of Aedh Finnliath, King of Aileach. After he became _árd-rí_ (864) Aedh -turned against the Norsemen, and having plundered all their fortresses -in the north of Ireland marched towards Lough Foyle, where they had -assembled to give him battle. Aedh was victorious, and some years after -he again defeated the Foreigners, who were at this time in alliance -with his nephew Flann; Flann himself and Carlus, son of Olaf the White -being numbered among the slain. We also hear of other Irish Kings -who were closely related to their Viking opponents. _Laxdaela Saga_ -contains an interesting account of a slave-woman who was bought at a -market in Norway by an Icelander called Höskuldr. The woman was dumb, -but Höskuldr was so struck by her appearance that he willingly paid for -her three times the price of an ordinary slave, and took her back with -him to Iceland. A few years later, happening to overhear her talking -to their little son, Olaf Pái, he discovered to his amazement that her -dumbness was feigned. She then confessed that her name was Melkorka -(Ir. _Mael-Curcaigh_) and that she was the daughter of Myr Kjartan, a -king in Ireland, whence she had been carried off as a prisoner of war -when only fifteen years old. - -When Olaf was grown up his mother urged him to visit Ireland in order -to establish his relationship with King Myr Kjartan, “for,” she said, -“I cannot bear your being called the son of a slave-woman any longer.” -Before they parted she gave him a large finger-ring and said: “This -my father gave me for a teething-gift, and I know he will recognise -it when he sees it.” She also put into his hands a knife and belt and -bade him give them to her nurse: “I am sure she will not doubt these -tokens.” And still further Melkorka spoke: “I have fitted you out -from home as best I know how, and taught you to speak Irish, so that -it will make no difference to you where you are brought to shore in -Ireland…”[66] - -The saga goes on to describe the voyage to Ireland, the landing there, -and Olaf’s reception by King Myr Kjartan. - -Myr Kjartan may be identified with Muirchertach “of the Leather -Cloaks,” King of Aileach, who like his father Niall Glundubh -distinguished himself by his spirited resistance to Norse rule in -the first half of the tenth century.[67] Donnflaith, another of his -daughters and mother of the _árd-rí_, Maelsechnaill II., married Olaf -Cuaran. Their son, Gluniarainn, reigned in Dublin after his father’s -retirement to Iona, and appears to have been on friendly terms with -Maelsechnaill.[68] The relationship between these two families becomes -more complicated owing to the fact that Maelsechnaill’s own wife, -Maelmuire (d. 1021), was a daughter of Olaf.[69] - -But perhaps no figure stands out so prominently in the Irish and -Norse chronicles[70] of the second half of the tenth century as -Gormflaith (O.N. Kormlöth) who first married Olaf Cuaran, then his -enemy Maelsechnaill II., and finally Brian Borumha, from whom she also -separated. - -The interchange of family and personal names which took place to -such an extent during the Viking period also points to the close -connection between the foreigners and the Irish. As early as 835 -mention is made of one Gofraidh (O.N. Guthröthr), son of Fergus, who -went to Scotland from Ireland in order to strengthen the Dal Riada and -died some time after as King of the Hebrides.[71] The Dublin Viking -who led an attack on Armagh in 895 had an Irish name, Glun-iarainn, -obviously a translation of O.N. _Jarn-kné_. He was in all probability -a relative of Iercne or Jargna (corrupt forms of _Jarn-kné_) who ruled -in conjunction with Zain or Stain (O.N. Steinn) as King of Dublin -(c. 850);[72] while other earls of Dublin, Otir mac Eirgni,[73] Eloir -mac Ergni or Largni[74] and Gluntradna, son of Glun-Iarainn would -also appear to have been of the same royal family.[75] Irish names -occur more frequently in Norse families during the tenth and eleventh -centuries; we find Uathmaran, son of Earl Bairith (O.N. Barthr); -Camman,[76] son of Olaf Godfreyson; Giolla Padraig, Dubhcenn[77] and -Donndubhan, sons of King Ivarr of Limerick;[78] Niall, son of Erulb -(O.N. Herjulfr); Cuallaidh, son of King Ivarr of Waterford; Eachmarach, -and very many others.[79] On the other hand, we may note the prevalence -of such common Norse names as Ivarr, Guthröthr, Sumarlithi among the -Irish, especially in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Several of -these names still survive, as, for instance, MacAuliffe (O.N. Óláfr); -MacCaffrey (O.N. Guthöthr); MacCalmont or Lamont (O.N. Lögmathr); -Kettle (O.N. Ketill); Kitterick (? Ir. Mac + N. Sigtryggr); MacKeever -(O.N. Ivarr); Manus and MacManus (O.N. Magnus); Quistan (Ir. Mac. + -O.N. Eysteinn); Reynolds (O.N. Rögnvaldr); Sigerson (O.N. Sigurthr) and -MacSorley (O.N. Sumarlithi). - -Both Gaill and Gaedhil, so dissimilar in many ways, benefited by -their intercourse with one another. In Ireland the Vikings played an -important part in the development of trade; they also promoted the -growth of town life. We may trace the beginnings of the seaport towns, -Dublin, Limerick, Waterford and Wexford, to the forts built by them -near the large harbours in the ninth and tenth centuries. In Dublin -coins were minted for the first time in Ireland[80] during the reign -of Sihtric Silken Beard (c. 989-1042). Moreover, the large number of -loan-words from Old Norse which made their way into Irish shows that -the Irish learned in many other ways from the invaders, notably in -shipbuilding and navigation. - -So far as literature and art are concerned, the period of the -Viking occupation is one of the most interesting in the history of -Ireland. In spite of the destruction of the monasteries and the -departure of numbers of the monks[81] to the Continent the work of -the great schools was carried on and there was considerable literary -activity;[82] in 914 and 924, respectively, the great crosses at -Clonmacnois and Monasterboice were set up; cumhdachs, or book-shrines -of plated gold and silver, were made for the three great manuscripts, -the _Book of Kells_, the _Book of Durrow_ and the _Book of Armagh_; -carved gold, silver, and bronze work reached a high level of excellence -in the famous Ardagh Chalice and the Tara Brooch; and during the years -which intervened between the battles of Gleann Mama and Clontarf, -Romanesque architecture was introduced into Ireland. Irish art did -not remain wholly free from Scandinavian influence. In the Cross of -Cong (A.D. 1123) the Celtic interlaced patterns are found side by side -with the “worm-dragon” ornament, while the crosier of Clonmacnois, the -psalter of Ricemarsh and the shrine of St. Patrick’s Bell are decorated -in the style known as “Hiberno-Danish.”[83] - -The Vikings, on the other hand, came under the influences of Irish -art and literature. We find marks of Celtic influence not only in the -sculptured crosses erected by the Norsemen in the North of England -and Man, but even in Scandinavia itself.[84] Moreover, there are -strong reasons for supposing that the rise of the prose saga among the -Icelanders may be the outcome of their intercourse with the Irish in -the ninth and tenth centuries. - - -FOOTNOTES - -[40] _Annals of Ulster_, A.D. 855, 856; _Annals of the Four Masters_, -A.D. 856. - -[41] _Three Fragments of Annals_, pp. 128, 129, 138, 139. - -[42] _Airec Menmam Uraird Maic Coisse_, sec. 29 (Marstrander: _Bidrag -til det Norske Sprogs Historie i Irland_, p. 10). - -[43] With the Gaill-Gaedhil are often identified a body of plunderers, -members of Meath and Cavan clans, who in the year 845 devastated large -tracts of territory “after the manner of the Gentiles” (_Annals of -Ulster_, A.D. 845). The Annalists call them “sons of death” (_maic -báis_), possibly a term applied by the monastic chroniclers to a -people who had abandoned their Christian baptism, and who had profaned -churches and religious houses. (Cf. Marstrander, _op. cit._, p. 7, n.) - -[44] Cf. _Annals of the Four Masters_, A.D. 854. _Three Fragments of -Annals_, A.D. 852, referring to the same event, mention the “fleet of -the Gaill-Gaedhil.” - -[45] _Annals of Ulster_, A.D. 855. - -[46] _Annals of the Four Masters_, A.D. 856. - -[47] _Fragments of Annals_, A.D. 858. - -[48] There was also a mixed Norse and Gaelic population in Galloway -(the word is a corruption of _Gall-Gaedhil_, Welsh Galwydel) as well -as in the Hebrides (Ir. _Innse Gall._, _i.e._, the “Islands of the -Foreigners or Norsemen”) and other parts of Scotland. There is a -reference to these Gaill-Gaedhil in the _Four Masters_ (A.D. 1154): -“The Cinél Eoghain and Muirchertach, son of Niall, sent persons over -the sea to hire the fleets of the Gaill-Gaedhil of Aran, Cantire and -the Isle of Man and the borders of Scotland in general, over which Mac -Sgelling was in command…” (For other references see Marstrander, _op. -cit._, p. 9.) - -By _Gaddgethlar_ the Norsemen understood “the place… where Scotland and -England meet” (cf. _Orkneyinga Saga_, ch. 28). It is also interesting -to note that in Norse sources the inhabitants of Galloway are called -_Vikinga-Skotar_, a direct translation of Gaill-Gaedhil. - -O’Flaherty (_Ogygia_, p. 360) thought that the Gaill-Gaedhil mentioned -in the Annals of the mid-ninth century came to Ireland from Scotland, -but the ancient _Three Fragments of Annals_, which contain the fullest -accounts of the Gaill-Gaedhil (pp. 138-141) speak of them as _Scuit_ -(_i.e._, an Irish form of the Latin _Scoti_, a word which is always -used with reference to the Irish before the tenth century). Moreover, -the impression received from reading the _Fragments of Annals_ is that -the Annalist had in his mind the Norse-Gaelic population of Ireland, -not of Scotland. - -[49] _Ann. Cambriae_, A.D. 902; (Steenstrup: _Normannerne_, III., pp. -37-41). - -[50] _Three Fragments of Annals_, p. 230 ff. - -[51] _Annals of the Four Masters_, A.D. 845, 852; _Annals of Ulster_, -A.D. 846. _Three Fragments of Annals_, A.D. 862. - -[52] _Annals of the Four Masters_, A.D. 848. - -[53] The plundering of these burial-mounds--“a thing that had never -been done before”--made a deep impression on the Irish Annalists; it -was thought that the Vikings discovered the existence of the treasure -by magic, “through paganism and idol worship” (_War of the Gaedhil with -the Gaill_, p. 115). The same source (p. 25) records the plundering of -Kerry by Baraid (O.N. Barthr) and Olaf the White’s son “who left not a -cave there underground that they did not explore.” - -Several references to this practice of the Vikings occur also in -Icelandic literature. It is interesting to compare the Irish accounts -with the following passage from Landnámabók (I., ch. 5): “Leifr (one of -the earliest settlers in Iceland) went on a Viking raid to the West. -He plundered Ireland and found there a large underground house (Icel. -_jarth-hus_). It was dark within until he made his way to a place where -he saw a light shining from a sword which a man held in his hand. Leifr -slew the man and took the sword and much treasure besides.” - -[54] _Three Fragments of Annals_, p. 135. - -[55] _Ib._, p. 137. - -[56] _Heimskringla: Óláfs Saga Tryggvasonar_, ch. 35. - -[57] Cf. The story of Samr, (_i.e._, probably Ir. sam, “happy” or -“peaceful”) the Irish hound which Olaf Pai gave to Gunnarr. Samr was -killed while defending his master’s homestead. (_Njáls Saga_, chs. 69, -75.) - -[58] _Annals of the Four Masters_, A.D. 820; _Fragments of Annals_, p. -166; _War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill_, p. 79; _The Victorious Career -of Callachan of Cashel_, p. 9. - -[59] _Landnámabók_, V., ch. 8. - -[60] _Ib._, V., ch. 13. - -[61] _Ib_., III., ch. 9. - -[62] _Ib._, III., ch. 12. Rafarta was the wife of Eyvindr the -Easterner, “who settled down in Ireland and had charge of Kjarval’s -defences” (cf. _Grettis Saga_, ch. 3). _Orkneyinga Saga_ (ch. 11.) -makes Edna (Ir. _Eithne_) another of Kjarval’s daughters to be the -mother of Sigurthr, Earl of Orkney (killed in the battle of Clontarf, -1014); but owing to the chronological difficulty this is hardly likely. - -[63] _Landnámabók_, I., ch. 1. - -[64] _Ib._, II., ch. 15. - -[65] _Three Fragments of Annals_, p. 151. The same source (p. 173) -mentions still another wife of Olaf, “the daughter of Cinaedh,” _i.e._, -in all probability Cinaedh Mac Ailpin, King of the Picts (d. 858). - -[66] _Laxdaela Saga_ (translated by M.A.C. Press), chs. 12, 13, 20, 21. - -[67] The _Annals of the Four Masters_ record his death under the year -941: “Muirchertach of the Leather Cloaks, lord of Aileach, the Hector -of the West of Europe in his time, was slain at Ardee by Blacaire, son -of Godfrey, lord of the Foreigners.” - -Muirchertach’s grandson was killed by Olaf Cuaran. (_Ib._, A.D. 975). - -[68] _Ib._, A.D. 981. - -[69] _Ib._, A.D. 1021. - -[70] _War of the Gaedhit with the Gaill_, p. 142 ff.; _Njáls Saga_, -chs. 153, 154. - -[71] _Annals of the Four Masters_, A.D. 851. - -[72] _Three Fragments of Annals_, pp. 119, 123. _Annals of Ulster_, -A.D. 852. - -[73] _Chronicon Scotorum_, A.D. 883. - -[74] _Ib._, 886; _Annals of Ulster_, A.D. 885. - -[75] See A. Bugge: _Nordisk Sprog og Nordisk Nationalitet, i Irland_, -pp. 284, 285. Professor Marstrander (_op. cit._, pp. 45, 46) takes -_Gluntradna_ to be an Irish adaptation of an O.N. nickname _Trönu-Kné_, -to which he compares _Trönubeina, the daughter of Thraell, in the -Rígsthula_, 9. - -[76] Cf. the name Grímr Kamban (_Landnámabók_, Hauksbók MS., ch. 19) -which seems to be a Norse form of the Irish _Camman_. - -[77] According to A. Bugge, _Dubhcenn_ is a translation of the O.N. -_Svarthöfthi_, but Marstrander (_op. cit._, p. 45) holds that the name -was known in Ireland before the Viking age. It may be suggested that -it was a nickname given to Ivarr’s son by the Irish. Cf. Olaf _Cuaran_ -(Ir. _cuaran_, a shoe made of skin); Olaf _Cenncairech_ (_i.e._, -“Scabby-head.”) - -[78] Their mother was an Irishwoman, sister of Donnabhan, King of Ui -Fidgenti. Donnabhan himself was married to a daughter of Ivarr, King of -Limerick. (_War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill_, p. 207). - -[79] _Annals of the Four Masters_, A.D. 931; _Annals of Ulster_, A.D. -960, 1036, 1042, etc. See also Whitley Stokes: _On the Gaelic Names in -the Landnámabók_ (_Revue Celtique_, III., pp. 186-191). - -[80] From the contemporary Irish poems the _Book of Rights_ and _The -Curcuit of Muirchertach Mac Neill_ it may be inferred that in ancient -Ireland all payments were made in kind. With the extension of trade, -however, it is probable that many Anglo-Saxon and other foreign -coins--including those of the Scandinavian Kings of Northumbria, -several of whom also reigned in Ireland--came to be circulated in -Ireland. The Vikings in England struck coins there during the reign of -Halfdanr (d. 877). (Cf. C. F. Keary: _Catalogue of Coins in the British -Museum_, I., p. 202). - -[81] One of these fugitives wrote the following lines on the margin of -Priscian’s Latin Grammar in the monastery of St. Gall, Switzerland: - -“Is acher ingaith innocht fufuasna fairge findfolt, Ni agor reimm mora -minn dond laechraid lainn na lothlind.” - -(_Thesaurus Palaeohibernicus_. Ed. Stokes and Strachan, II., 290.) - -_i.e._, - -Bitter is the wind to-night, It tosses the ocean’s white hair; To-night -I fear not the fierce warriors of Norway Coursing on the Irish Sea. - -(Translation by Kuno Meyer: _Ancient Irish Poetry_, p. 101.) - -[82] See Margaret Stokes: _Early Christian Architecture in Ireland_, p. -127. - -[83] G. Coffey: _A Guide to the Celtic Antiquities of the Christian -Period_ (National Museum, Dublin) pp. 29, 49 and 62. - -[84] _Ib._, p. 17. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -THE GROWTH OF THE SEAPORT TOWNS. - - -The foundation of the seaport towns was the most important, and at the -same time the most permanent effect of the Viking invasion of Ireland. -Before this the only towns were the larger monastic centres[85] at -Armagh, Clonmacnois, Durrow and Clonfert, which, besides the monastery -itself, consisted of numerous beehive-shaped houses of stone, or small -huts of clay and wattles built for the accommodation of the students -attending the schools. During the first half of the ninth century -these monasteries suffered sorely from the attacks of Viking raiders. -After a stubborn resistance on the part of the Irish, Armagh fell into -the hands of Turgeis, who drove out the abbot Farannan and “usurped -the abbacy” (c. A.D. 839). Some years later Armagh was abandoned when -the Vikings captured Dublin, at this time a small “town by the hurdle -ford,”[86] but they were quick to realise its possibilities as the seat -of their monarchy and the chief centre of their trade. As a result -of the struggle for ecclesiastical supremacy, which took place at a -later period[87] between Armagh and Dublin, the Bishops of Dublin were -obliged to acknowledge the Primate of Armagh; but the latter town -never recovered its former prestige as the capital of Ireland.[88] - -That Dublin owes its importance, if not its origin, to the Norsemen -may be inferred from the almost total silence of the historians and -annalists regarding it in the years preceding the Scandinavian inroads. -It is probable that there was a fort to guard the hurdle-ford where -the great road from Tara to Wicklow, Arklow and Wexford crossed the -Liffey, but it seems to have played no great part in history before the -Norsemen fortified it in 840. Between Church Lane and Suffolk Street -they had their _Thing_[89] or meeting-place, which was still to be seen -in the seventeenth century; while all along College Green, called Le -Hogges[90] and later Hoggen Green by the English, lay their barrows -(O.N. _haugar_). During the ninth and tenth centuries the Kingdom of -Dublin--known to the Scandinavians as _Dyflinarski_--became one of the -most powerful in the west. Its sway extended north to its colonies[91] -at the Strangford and Carlingford Loughs, west to Leixlip, south to -Wicklow, Wexford[92] and even as far as Waterford. The Dublin kings -intermarried with royal families in Ireland, England and Scotland, -and between the years 919 and 950 ruled, though in somewhat broken -succession, as Kings of York. - -Limerick (O.N. Hlymrek)[93], the great stronghold on the west coast, -had no existence as a city before the ninth century. It was first -occupied during the reign of Turgeis by Vikings, who used the harbour -as a base for their ships.[94] The only chieftains mentioned in -connection with this kingdom during the ninth century are Hona and -Tomrir Torra (O.N. Thórarr Thórri), who were slain about the year 860 -in attempting to capture Waterford.[95] A few years later Barith (O.N. -Barthr) and Haimar (O.N. Heimarr) when marching through Connacht on -their way to Limerick, were attacked by the Connachtmen and forced to -retreat.[96] The real importance of Limerick, however, dates from the -early part of the tenth century when it was colonised by Vikings under -Tomar (Thórir) son of Elgi (O.N. Helgi). To secure the fort against -attack an earthen mound was built all round, and gates were placed -at certain distances leading into the streets and the houses.[97] -As a kingdom it was independent, having subject colonies at Cashel, -Thurles, Lough Ree and Lough Corrib.[98] It had no connection with -Dublin during the tenth century; in fact, there is evidence to show -that both royal houses were bitterly hostile towards each another. On -one occasion Guthfrith, King of Dublin, led an army to Limerick, but -was repulsed with heavy losses by the Vikings there.[99] A few years -later (A.D. 929) he expelled Tomar’s successor, King Ivarr of Limerick, -and his followers from Magh Roighne (a plain in Ossory), where they had -encamped for a whole year. Olaf Godfreyson was equally active. After -defeating Olaf Cenncairech and the Limerick Vikings at Lough Ree in -937, he carried them off to Dublin,[100] and that same year probably -forced them to fight on his side in the battle of Brunnanburh. - -This hostility would seem to have been due to rivalry between -two powerful kingdoms, rather than, as has been suggested,[101] -to difference of nationality. It is not at all certain that the -Limerick Vikings were purely Danes. One Irish chronicler speaks -of the Scandinavians in Munster as _Gaill_ and _Danair_ and calls -their fleets _loingeas Danmarcach ocus allmurach_ (“fleets of Danes -and foreigners”).[102] Elsewhere[103] we find the word Lochlannaigh -(_i.e._, Norsemen) used with reference to the Limerick settlers; -and Colla (O.N. Kolli), Prince of Limerick (d. 931) was certainly a -Norseman, for he was son of Barthr, a leader of the Finn-Gennti in the -ninth century. There would seem to have been a mixture of both Danes -and Norsemen in Limerick, and since there is no proof that struggles -for mastery took place between them, we may take it that they acted in -harmony. - -During the tenth century Limerick stood in close connection with the -Scandinavian Kingdom in the Hebrides.[104] Mention is made of one -chieftain “Morann, son of the Sea King of Lewis,”[105] who fought and -fell in Limerick against the Irish. Moreover, the occurrence of the -names Manus, Maccus (O.N. Magnus) and Somarlidh (O.N. Sumarlithi) -in both royal families points at least to relationship by marriage. -Indeed, the same family seems to have reigned in both kingdoms. -“Godfrey, son of Harold, King of the Hebrides,” who was slain by the -Dal Riada in 989[106] was in all probability a son of that “Harold, -lord of the foreigners of Limerick,” whose death is recorded by the -Four Masters in 940. - -Practically nothing is known of the Scandinavian settlement in -Waterford[107] (O.N. _Vethrafjörthr_) before the year 919, when Vikings -under Raghnall (O.N. Rögnvaldr), “King of the Danes,” concentrated -their forces there before attacking Dublin. These invaders, sometimes -called Nortmannai (‘Norsemen’), but generally alluded to as _Gaill_ -(‘foreigners’) must have also included Danes, as Raghnall’s army -was composed of both Danes and Norsemen;[108] and moreover, both -parties are represented as fighting side by side against the Irish in -Waterford.[109] - -Waterford had not at first a dynasty of its own, but was dependent on -the Dublin Kingdom. Olaf Godfreyson seems to have been in command there -while his father was King of Dublin;[110] and we hear also that when -the town was attacked by the Irish under Cellachan of Cashel, Sihtric, -a prince from Dublin, came with a fleet to relieve it.[111] Later in -the same century, the kingdom of Waterford stood quite distinct, and -was governed by Ivarr (d. 1000), who was probably a member of the -Dublin royal family. He came forward as a claimant to the Dublin throne -after the murder of Gluniarainn, son of Olaf Cuaran (989) but was -driven out after a three years’ reign by Sihtric Silken-Beard. Ivarr’s -successors in Waterford, Amond (O.N. _Amundr_) and Goistilin Gall were -killed in the battle of Clontarf. - -In the tenth and eleventh centuries Waterford was strongly fortified, -and, like Limerick, had gates leading into the town.[112] The town -itself was built in the form of a triangle with a tower at each -angle,[113] only one of which, the famous Reginald’s Tower, built in -1003, is still standing. Gualtier (? Ir. _Gall tír_, ‘land of the -foreigners’), a barony lying on the west side of the harbour, is -supposed to have been connected with the ‘Ostmen,’ who were obliged to -settle there after the arrival of the English in 1169. - -Cork, the seat of a famous school founded by St. Finbar, fell an easy -prey to the Vikings in the first half of the ninth century. They built -forts there and at Youghal,[114] but in endeavouring to push their way -inland to Fermoy were checked by the Irish (866), and their chief, -Gnimcinnsiolla (or Gnimbeolu)[115] was slain. We hear no more of -Scandinavians here until early in the tenth century when new invaders, -part of the large army which came to Waterford with Raghnall and -Earl Ottarr in 919, gained possession of the town. The new settlers -seem to have been chiefly, if not entirely, Danes (_Danair_ and -_Duibhgeinnti_),[116] and it would seem that with the Danish colonies -at Thurles and Cashel they subsequently came under the authority of -Ivarr of Limerick, “the high-king of the foreigners of Munster.” - -Traces of the Scandinavian occupation still remain in the place-names -on the coast, especially in the districts surrounding the seaport -towns. Near Dublin we find Howth (O.N. _höfuth_, ‘a head’) and Skerries -(O.N. _skjær_, ‘a rock’); also Lambey, Dalkey and Ireland’s Eye, all -three containing the O.N. form _ey_, an ‘island.’ The name Leixlip is -probably a form of O.N. _laxhleypa_[117] (‘salmon-leap’) not, as is -generally supposed, of O.N. _lax-hlaup_. The O.N. _fjörthr_ occurs in -Wexford, Strangford and Carlingford (O.N. Kerlingafjörthr).[118] Other -Scandinavian names on the east coast are Copeland Islands (_i.e._, -_Kaupmannaeyjar_, ‘the merchants’ islands’) near Belfast Lough; Arklow, -Wicklow (O.N. _lo_, a low, flat meadow by the water’s edge.); Carnsore -and Greenore (O.N. _eyrr_, ‘a small tongue of land running into the -sea’). - -The number of names on the south and west coasts is limited; besides -Water_ford_, we find only Hel_vick_ (O.N. _vík_, ‘a bay’), Dursey -Island, south-west of Cork, and Swerwick Harbour, in Kerry. At least -three well-authenticated place-names have dropped out of use; Dún na -Trapcharla, in Co. Limerick (O.N. (1) _torf-karl_, ‘a turf-cutter’ or -(2) _thorp-karl_, a ‘small farmer’);[119] Jolduhlaup,[120] a cape in -the north of Ireland; and Ulfreksfjörthr,[121] the Norse name for Lough -Larne. - -It is also interesting to note that the second element in the names of -the three provinces, Ulster, Leinster and Munster is derived from the -O.N. _stathir_ (plural of _stathr_, ‘a place’), while the name Ireland -(O.N. Iraland) is Scandinavian in form and replaced the old Irish word -Eríu during the Viking period. - - -FOOTNOTES - -[85] In the _Annals of Tighernach_ (A.D. 716), the _Annals of Ulster_ -(A.D. 715), and the _Book of Hymns_ (ed. Todd, p. 156) the Latin -_civitas_ (Ir. _Cathair_) is the word used for a monastery. - -[86] The old name for Dublin was _Baile-atha-Cliath_, “the town of the -hurdle ford.” It was afterwards called _Dubh-linn_ (“black pool”), of -which the O.N. _Dyflin_ is a corruption. - -[87] See p. 55. - -[88] Armagh is the only place in Ireland which is marked on a tenth -century map of the world preserved in the British Museum. See R. A. S. -Macalister: _Muiredach_: _Abbot of Monasterboice_, p. 13. - -[89] It is called _Tengmonth_ and _Teggemuta_ in medieval documents -(_Chartularies of St. Mary’s Abbey_, I., 15, 461, 463, 465) and from -it the surrounding parish of St. Andrew--“_Parochia Sancti Andreae de -Thengmote_”--took its name. In 1647 it is referred to as “the fortified -hill near the College,” but about thirty years later it was levelled -to the ground and the earth was used for building Nassau Street (J. T. -Gilbert: _History of Dublin_, II, p. 258). - -[90] The name survived until the 18th century in _Hog Hill_, but it was -afterwards changed to St. Andrew’s Street. - -[91] _Annals of Ulster_, A.D. 839, 840, 925, 928, 934. - -These colonies were governed by earls, not kings, and their dependency -on the kingdom of Dublin is clearly shown by certain entries in the -Annals. In 926 a Viking fleet at Linn Duachaill (on the coast of Louth) -was commanded by Albdann (O.N. _Halfdanr_), son of Guthfrith (King of -Dublin, 920-933). Later, when part of Albdann’s army was besieged at -Ath Cruithne (near Newry), Guthfrith went with his forces to relieve -it. In 927 the “foreigners of Linn Duachaill” accompanied Guthfrith -when he marched on York. See Steenstrup, _op. cit._, III., p. 115. - -[92] Wexford was also governed by earls. One of them, Accolb, is -mentioned in the _Annals of the Four Masters_, A.D. 928. - -[93] The Irish name _Luimnech_ (hence O.N. _Hlymrek_) was originally -applied to the estuary of the Shannon, but was afterwards confined to -the town itself when it had risen to importance under Scandinavian rule. - -[94] _Annals of the Four Masters_, A.D. 843; _War of the Gaedhil with -the Gaill_, p. 8. - -[95] _Three Fragments of Annals_, pp. 167, 144-6. _War of the Gaedhil -with the Gaill_, ch. 23. - -[96] _Three Fragments of Annals_, pp. 173-175; _Chronicon Scotorum_, -A.D. 887. - -[97] _The Victorious Career of Cellachan of Cashel_, pp. 9, 66; _War of -the Gaedhil with the Gaill_, p. 56. - -[98] _Annals of Ulster_, A.D. 845, 922, 929; _The Victorious Career of -Cellachan of Cashel_, p. 10; _War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill_, p. -10; _Three Fragments of Annals_, p. 197. - -[99] _Annals of Ulster_, A.D. 924. - -[100] _Annals of the Four Masters_, A.D. 935; _Chronicon Scotorum_, -A.D. 936. - -[101] A. Bugge: _Sidste Afsnit af Nordboernes Historie i Irland_, pp. -254, 255. - -[102] _War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill_, p. 41. - -[103] _The Victorious Career of Cellachan of Cashel_, p. 64. - -[104] Steenstrup: _op. cit._, III., p. 213. - -[105] _The Victorious Career of Cellachan of Cashel_, p. 65. - -[106] _Annals of Ulster_, A.D. 988. - -[107] _Three Fragments of Annals_ (A.D. 860) record that “two fleets -of the Norsemen came into the land of Cearbhall, son of Dunlaing (King -of Ossory) to plunder it.” These fleets probably sailed up the Barrow -from Waterford harbour. The same annals also mention (p. 129) a Norse -chieftain called Rodolbh, who may have been connected with the colony -at Waterford. See also _Annals of the Four Masters_, A.D. 888 [891]. - -[108] _Annals of Ulster_, A.D. 921. - -[109] _The Victorious Career of Cellachan of Cashel_, p. 71. - -[110] The Four Masters record “the plundering of Kildare by the son of -Gothfrith (_i.e._, Olaf) from Waterford” (A.D. 926). - -[111] _The Victorious Career of Cellachan of Cashel_, p. 70. - -[112] _The Victorious Career of Cellachan of Cashel_, pp. 13, 70. - -[113] Smith: _History of Waterford_, p. 165. - -[114] _Annals of the Four Masters_, A.D. 846, 864. - -[115] _Ib._, 865. _Fragments of Annals_, p. 169. - -_Gnimbeolu_ is the O.N. _Grímr Bióla_. The Irish “_Cinnsiolla_” -(Nom. Cenn Selach) is probably a translation of O.N. _Selshofuth_, -a word which does not occur as a nickname in Old Norse literature. -It was, however, known in Ireland as may be seen from the runic -inscription--_domnal Selshofoth a soerth (th) eta_--on a bronze -sword-plate found in Greenmount (Co. Louth). Cf. Marstrander, _op. -cit._ p. 49. - -[116] _The Victorious Career of Cellachan of Cashel_, pp. 10, 67. - -[117] Cf. Marstrander, _op. cit._, p. 149. - -[118] Cf. Marstrander, _op. cit._, p. 154. According to him, the O.N. -_Kerling_, “an old woman” in this instance, is a folk-etymological form -of Carlinn, the old name for the ford. - -[119] _Annals of the Four Masters_, A.D. 1062. Cf. _Co dunad na -Piscarcarla in Cath Ruis na Rig_ (ed. Hogan) where _Piscarcarla_ -corresponds to the O.N. _fiskikari_, “a fisherman.” - -The word _Trapcharla_ (“na _Trapcharla_”) also occurs in the _Book -of Ballymote_ as the name of a people who fought at Troy. It has -been suggested that the term was generally used during the ninth and -tenth centuries of a Norse colony in Co. Limerick, which colony would -acquire a legendary character after the Norsemen had been driven out -of Ireland, and would figure, like the Lochlannaigh or Norsemen, in -Middle-Irish stories and poems. - -See _Miscellany presented to Kuno Meyer_, pp. 293, 370. - -[120] _Landnámabók_ I. ch. 1. - -[121] _Heimskringla: Saga Óláfs hins helga_, chs. 88, 10. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -THE EXPANSION OF IRISH TRADE. - - -When the Scandinavians had firmly established themselves on the Irish -coasts they developed trade to a considerable extent, not only by -bringing Ireland into communication with their new settlements in -England, but also by opening up commerce with Iceland and Scandinavia, -and even with Russia and the East.[122] Before A.D. 900 at all events, -they had been accustomed to visit France from Ireland, and had -trafficked with merchants there, using a certain vessel called the -‘Epscop’[123] for measuring their wine. That this branch of their trade -was in a flourishing condition in the latter half of the tenth century -may be inferred from a contemporary poem in which Brian Borumha is said -to have exacted as tribute one hundred and fifty vats of wine from -the Norsemen of Dublin, and a barrel of red wine every day from the -Limerick settlers.[124] - -The Scandinavians also made marked advances on the old methods of -trading by building their forts near the large harbours and carrying -on from there a continuous overseas commerce.[125] Previous to this -foreign merchants[126] who visited Ireland used to exchange their -goods for home produce at the numerous _oenachs_ or fairs held at -certain intervals all over the country. These _oenachs_ continued to be -celebrated during the Viking period, but it was in the seaport towns, -Dublin, Limerick, Cork, Wexford, and Waterford, that the most important -trade was centred. Dublin, owing to its splendid position, half way -between the Continent and the Scandinavian settlements in Scotland -and Iceland, and within easy distance of England, became one of the -wealthiest towns in the West. One Irish chronicler gives a glowing -account of the treasures carried off from there by the Irish after the -battle of Gleann Máma (A.D. 1000): - -“In that one place were found the greatest quantities of gold, silver, -bronze, and precious stones: carbuncle-gems, buffalo horns, and -beautiful goblets… much also of various vestures of all colours were -found there likewise.”[127] - -Dublin is frequently mentioned in the sagas and seems to have been -very well known to Icelandic dealers. In _Olaf Tryggvason’s Saga_ -(_Heimskringla_) we read that during the reign of Olaf Cuaran -a merchant called Thórir Klakka, who had been on many a Viking -expedition, went on a trading voyage to Dublin, “as was usual in those -days.”[128] When _Olaf’s_ son, Sihtric Silken Beard, was King of Dublin -(c. 994) the Icelandic poet Gunnlaug Ormstungu sailed from England to -Ireland with merchants who were bound for Dublin.[129] - -_Eyrbyggia Saga_ tells[130] of both Thórodd, the owner of a large ship -of burden, and Guthleif,[131] who went with other traders on voyages -“west to Dublin.” Still more interesting is the account in the same -saga of a merchant-ship that came from Dublin in the year 1000 to -Snaefellsness in Iceland and anchored there for the summer. There were -on board some Irishmen and men from the Sudreyar (Hebrides) but only -a few Norsemen. One of the passengers, a woman named Thorgunna, had a -large chest containing “bed-clothes beautifully embroidered, English -sheets, a silken quilt, and other valuable wares, the like of which -were rare in Iceland.”[132] - -Limerick is heard of only once in Icelandic sources; a trader named -Hrafn was surnamed “the Limerick-farer” (Hlymreks fari)[133] because -he had lived for a long time there. The _War of the Gaedhil with -the Gaill_ gives a detailed description of the spoils gained by the -Irish after the battle of Sulcoit (968) whence it would seem that the -Limerick Vikings had been engaged in trade with France, Spain and the -East. - -“They carried away their (_i.e._, ‘The Vikings’) jewels and their best -property, their saddles, beautiful and foreign, their gold and their -silver; their beautifully woven cloth of all colours and of all kinds; -their satins and their silken cloths, pleasing and variegated, both -scarlet and green, and all sorts of cloth in like manner.”[134] - -Reference has already been made to the numbers of Irish women captured -by Viking raiders; many of these captives were afterwards sold as -slaves in Norway and Iceland. In _Laxdaela Saga_ we hear of Melkorka, -an Irish princess, who was exposed for sale with eleven other women -at a market in Norway. The slave-dealer, a man known as Gilli (Ir. -Giolla) “the Russian” was in all probability a Scandinavian merchant -from Ireland who had carried on trade with Russia. The extent of the -slave traffic is further illustrated in _Kristni Saga_ (ch. 3) where -mention is made of “a fair Irish maid” whom Thangbrandr the priest -bought; “and when he came home with her a certain man whom the emperor -Otto the Young had put as steward there, wished to take her from him,” -but Thangbrandr would not let her go![135] On the other hand, the -Irish frequently descended on the Viking strongholds in Ireland and -carried off the Norse women and children, “the soft, youthful, bright, -matchless girls; blooming, silk-clad young women, and active, large -well-formed boys.”[136] Therefore it is not unlikely that the “slaves -ignorant of Gaelic” who are stated to have been given as tribute to -the Irish kings in the ninth and tenth centuries[137] were really -Scandinavian prisoners of war. - -An interesting passage in the _Book of Ely_ gives an idea of the -activity of the Irish merchants at this period: “Certain merchants from -Ireland, with merchandise of different kinds and some coarse woollen -blankets, arrived at the little town called Grantebrycge (Cambridge) -and exposed their wares there.”[138] It is not surprising then that the -wealth of Ireland increased rapidly, so much so that Brian Borumha, -realising that this was largely due to Viking enterprise, allowed the -invaders to remain in their forts on the coast “for the purpose of -attracting commerce from other countries to Ireland.”[139] And even -after their defeat at Clontarf, the Vikings remained in the coast -towns, whence they continued to engage in trade with England and the -Continent. Both Giraldus Cambrensis[140] and William of Malmesbury[141] -mention the extensive slave-trade carried on between Ireland and -England in the twelfth century, Bristol being the chief centre. In -addition to the slave traffic, large supplies of wine were imported -from France, while the Irish ‘out of gratitude’ (_non ingrata_) gave -hides and skins in exchange.[142] That there was commercial intercourse -with Chester and also with the towns round the Bristol Channel may -be seen from the names of the citizens of Dublin in the year 1200: -Thorkaill, Swein Ivor from Cardiff; Turstinus and Ulf from Bristol; -Godafridus and Ricardus from Swansea; Thurgot from Haverfordwest and -Harold from Monmouth.[143] About 1170 two ships sailing from England -“laden with English cloths and a great store of goods” were attacked -and plundered near Dublin by a Norseman, Swein, son of Asleif; and some -years later vessels from Britain carrying corn and wine were seized in -Wexford harbour by the English invaders.[144] - -The historical evidence is amply borne out by the existence of -such old Norse loan-words in Irish as _mangaire_ (O.N. mangari, a -‘trader’), _marg_ (O.N. mörk, a ‘mark’), margadh, (O.N. markathr, -a ‘market’), and _penning_ (O.N. penningr, a ‘penny’), and also by -certain archæological discoveries. In Scandinavia coins of King Sithric -Silken-Beard have been found,[145] while four sets of bronze scales -and some weights richly decorated in enamel and gold have been dug up -in Ireland (Bangor, Co. Down).[146] To the same period (early ninth -century) also belong the scales and weights which were discovered in -the great hoard at Islandbridge, near Kilmainham in 1866.[147] With -such strong evidence of the influence exerted by the Vikings on the -expansion of Irish trade it is not surprising to find that even as late -as the seventeenth century the greater part of the merchants of Dublin -traced their descent to Olaf Cuaran and the Dublin Norsemen.[148] - - -FOOTNOTES - -[122] See the map of the Irish Trade Routes in Mrs. J. R. Green’s _The -Old Irish World_. - -[123] “Epscop fina” in the sea-laws, _i.e._, “a vessel for measuring -wine used by the merchants of the Norsemen and the Franks.” See _Sanas -Cormaic_ (_Cormac’s Glossary_) compiled c. A.D. 900. (_Anecdota from -Irish Manuscripts_ IV., ed. Kuno Meyer.) - -[124] Cf. O’Curry: _Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish_, II., -p. 125. For a transcript of the poem see A. Bugge: _Vesterlandenes -Indflydelse paa Nordboernes i Vikingetiden_, p. 183. - -[125] Cf. _Laxdaela Saga_, ch. 21. - -[126] According to an ancient poem on the great fair of Carman (Co. -Kildare) foreign merchants visited this fair and sold there “articles -of gold and silver, ornaments and beautiful clothes.” For other -references see Joyce: _A Social History of Ancient Ireland_, Vol. II., -pp. 429-431; O’Curry: _Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish_, III., -p. 531. - -[127] _War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill_, p. 115. - -[128] _Saga Óláfs Tryggvasonar_ (_Heimskringla_), ch. 51. - -[129] _Gunnlaugs Saga Ormstungu_, ch. 8. - -[130] _Eyrbyggia Saga_, ch. 29. - -[131] _Ib._, ch. 64. - -[132] _Ib._, ch. 50. - -[133] _Landnámabók_, II., ch. 21, etc. - -[134] _War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill_, p. 79. - -[135] _Kristni Saga_, ch. 3. - -[136] _War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill_, p. 79. - -[137] _The Book of Rights_ (Leabhar na gCeart), pp. 87, 181. Ed. J. -O’Donovan. - -[138] _Liber Eliensis_, (ed. Gale) I., ch. XLII. - -[139] _Keating: History of Ireland_, III., p. 271. (Ed. Dinneen). -Keating probably derived his information from Giraldus Cambrensis: -_Topographia Hibernica_, D. III., ch. LIII. - -[140] _Expugnatio Hibernica_, I., ch. XVIII. - -[141] _De Vita S. Wulstani_, II., 20. - -(See Cunningham: _Growth of English Industry and Commerce_, I., p. 86.) - -[142] Giraldus Cambrensis: _Topographia Hibernica_, I., ch. VI. - -[143] A. Bugge: _Contributions to the History of the Norsemen in -Ireland_, Part III. - -[144] Giraldus Cambrensis: _Expugnatio Hibernica_, I., ch. III. - -[145] A. Bugge: _Vesterlandenes Indflydelse paa Nordboernes i -Vikingetiden_, pp. 300-304. - -[146] G. Coffey, _op. cit._, p. 91. - -[147] _Ib._, p. 89. - -[148] Duald Mac Firbis: _On the Fomorians and the Norsemen_ (ed. A. -Bugge), p. 11. - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -SHIPBUILDING AND SEAFARING. - - -The almost complete absence of any allusion to Irish ships[149] -during the eighth and ninth centuries shows that at this time the -Irish had no warships to drive back the powerful naval forces of the -Vikings. Meeting with no opposition on sea the invaders were able to -anchor their fleets in the large harbours, and afterwards to occupy -certain important positions along the coasts. In this connection it is -interesting to note that the Irish word _longphort_ (a ‘shipstead’; -later, ‘a camp’) is used for the first time in the _Annals of Ulster_ -with reference to the Norse encampments at Dublin and Linn-Duachaill -(840); hence it has been concluded that the early Norse _long-phorts_ -were not exactly fortified camps, but ‘ships drawn up and protected on -the landside, probably by a stockaded earthwork.’[150] - -The Annalists tell how, when the Vikings were expelled from Dublin in -902, they fled across the sea to England, leaving large numbers of -their ships behind them. It was probably the capture of these vessels -that impressed upon the Irish the advantages of this new method of -warfare, for they now began to build ships and to prepare to meet -the Vikings in their own element.[151] In 913 a “new fleet,” manned -by Ulstermen, attacked the Norsemen off the coast of Man but was -defeated.[152] Another Ulster fleet commanded by Muirchertach mac -Neill, King of Aileach, sailed to the Hebrides in 939 and carried off -much spoil and booty.[153] Moreover, the Irish seem to have imitated -the Scandinavian practice of “drawing” or carrying their light vessels -over land to the lakes and rivers in the interior of the island. -Mention is made of Domhnall, son of Muirchertach, who “took the boats -from the river Bann on to Lough Neagh, and over the river Blackwater -upon Lough Erne, and afterwards upon Lough Uachtair.”[154] - -The men of Munster also had their navy, which they organised according -to Norse methods[155] by compelling each district in the different -counties to contribute ten ships to it. Thus by the middle of the -tenth century they were able to put a formidable fleet to sea. When -Cellachan of Cashel (d. 954) was captured by the Vikings and brought to -Dublin, he sent messengers to the Munstermen bidding them to defend -their territory: “and afterwards,” he said, “go to the chieftains of -my fleet and bring them with you to Sruth na Maeile (Mull of Cantyre), -and if I am carried away from Ireland, let the men of Munster take -their ships and follow me.”[156] The chronicle goes on to give a vivid -description of the great naval battle which followed: the Vikings -under the leadership of Sihtric, a prince from Dublin, took up their -position in the Bay of Dundalk, where the “barques and swift ships of -the men of Munster” met them. The Irish ships were arranged according -to the territories they represented: those of Corcolaigdi and Ui -Echach (Co. Cork) were placed farthest south; next came the fleets of -Corcoduibne and Ciarraige (Co. Kerry), and lastly those of Clare. When -the Munstermen saw Cellachan, who had been bound and fettered to the -mast by Sihtric’s orders, they made gallant attempts to release him; -some of them leaped upon “the rowbenches and strong oars of the mighty -ships” of the Norsemen, while others threw tough ropes of hemp across -the prows to prevent them from escaping. Failbhe, King of Corcoduibne, -brought his ship alongside Sihtric’s, and with his sword succeeded -in cutting the ropes and fetters that were round the King, but was -himself slain immediately afterwards. The battle ended in victory for -the Irish: the Norsemen were forced to leave the harbour with all their -ships, but “they carried neither King nor chieftain with them.”[157] - -The _War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill_ records still more victories -for the Munster fleet during the reign of Brian Borumha. In 984 he -assembled “a great marine fleet” on Lough Derg and took three hundred -boats up the Shannon to Lough Ree[158] and again in 1001 sailed with -his fleet to Athlone.[159] But the greatest triumph of all was in -1005, when Brian, then at the height of his power, “sent forth a naval -expedition composed of the foreigners of Dublin and Waterford and the -Ui Ceinnselaigh (_i.e._, the men of Wexford) and almost all the men -of Erin, such of them as were fit to go to sea; and they levied royal -tribute from the Saxons and the Britons and from the men of Lennox in -Scotland and the inhabitants of Argyle.”[160] - -The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records the names of a number of Frisian -sailors who fought with the English in a naval battle against the -Vikings (A. an. 897). In the same way the Irish ships must have been -manned to a large extent by Norse mercenaries or by the Gaill-Gaedhil, -for practically all the shipping terms introduced into Irish in the -tenth and eleventh centuries are of Norse origin.[161] This is evident -from the following list:-- - - Mid. Ir. _abor_, _abur_: O.N. _hábora_, ‘an oar hole.’ - - _Accaire_: O.N. _akkeri_, ‘an anchor.’ - - _Accarsoid_: O.N. _akkerissaeti_, ‘a harbour for - ships.’ - - _Achtuaim_: O.N. _aktaumr_, ‘a brace.’ - - _athbha_: phonetic form (af, av) of O.N. - _höfuth_, ‘head’ of a ship. - - _Allsad_: O.N. _halsa_, ‘to slacken a sail.’ - - _As_: O.N. _ass_, ‘the pole to which the - lower end of a sail was - fastened during a fair wind.’ - - _bat_, _bad_: O.N. _bátr_, ‘a boat.’ - - _birling_: O.N. _byrthingr_, ‘a transport vessel,’ - ‘a merchant ship.’[162] - - _carb_: O.N. _karfi_, ‘a ship.’ - - _cnairr_: O.N. _knörr_, ‘a merchant ship.’ - - _laideng_: O.N. _leithangr_, ‘naval forces.’ - - _lipting_: O.N. _lypting_, ‘a taffrail.’ - - _lunnta_, _lunn_ (in reania): O.N. _hlunnr_, ‘the handle of an oar.’ - - _scib_: O.N. _skip_, ‘a ship,’ whence also are - derived _sciobaire_, ‘a sailor’ - and _scipad_ and _sgiobadh_, ‘to - make ready for sailing.’ - - _tile_: O.N. _thili_, ‘a plank,’ ‘the bottom - board in a boat.’ - - _Tlusdais_ (? teldass): O.N. _tjaldáss_, ‘the horizontal topmast - of a ship.’ - - _uicing_, a word used for O.N. _Víkingr_, ‘one who haunts - ‘a fleet’: a bay or creek.’ - _uiginnecht_, piracy: - - - - -CHAPTER VI. - -LINGUISTIC INFLUENCES. - - -(_a_) Loan-words from Old Norse in Irish. - -The large number of loan-words from Old Norse which occur in Old and -Middle Irish indicate clearly the extent and character of Scandinavian -influence in Ireland. They are therefore interesting from an historical -point of view, for they confirm, and sometimes supplement, the evidence -of Irish and Icelandic sources, that the relations existing between the -two peoples were largely of a friendly character. - -As the subject has already been fully dealt with by Celtic -scholars,[163] only the more important loan words are given here:-- - - -I. DRESS[164] AND ARMOUR. - - O. Ir. _at-cluic_, also _clocc-att_ ‘a helmet.’ _att_ = O.N. _hattr_, - ‘a hat,’ while _cluic_ = M. Ir. _clocenn_, ‘a head.’ - - M. Ir. _allsmann_; O.N. _halsmen_, ‘a necklace.’ - - M. Ir. _boga_; O.N. _bogi_, ‘a bow.’ - - M. Ir. _bossan_; O.N. _púss_, ‘a small bag or purse - hanging from the belt.’ - - M. Ir. _cnapp_; O.N. _knappr_, ‘a button.’ - - M. Ir. _elta_; O.N. _hjalt_, ‘a hilt’ (of a sword). - - M. Ir. _mattal_; O.N. _möttull_, ‘a cloak.’ - - M. Ir. _mergge_; O.N. _merki_, ‘a flag’ or ‘banner.’ - - M. Ir. _sceld_; O.N. _sköjldr_, ‘a shield.’ - - O. Ir. _scot_, lin _scoit_; O.N. _skaut_, ‘a cloth,’ or ‘sheet.’ - - M. Ir. _starga_; O.N. _targa_, ‘a shield.’ - - -II. HOUSEBUILDING. - - M. Ir. _bailc_; O.N. _bálkr_, ‘a beam.’ - - M. Ir. _fuindeog_; O.N. _vindauga_, ‘a window.’ - - M. Ir. _garda_; O.N. _garthr_, ‘a garden.’ - - M. Ir. _halla_; O.N. _höll_, ‘a hall.’ - - M. Ir. _sparr_; O.N. _sparri_, ‘a rafter.’ - - M. Ir. _stóll_; O.N. _stóll_, ‘a stool.’ - - -III. - -Other interesting loan words are:-- - - O. Ir. _armand_, _armann_; O.N. _ármathr_, ‘an officer.’ - - M. Ir. _callaire_; O.N. _kallari_, ‘a herald.’ - - M. Ir. _gunnfann_; O.N. _gunnfáni_, ‘a battle standard.’ - - O. Ir. _erell_; M. Ir. _iarla_; O.N. _jarl_, ‘an earl.’ - - M. Ir. _lagmainn_;[165] O.N. _lögmenn_, plural of _lögmathr_, - ‘a lawman.’ - - M. Ir. _Pers_;[166] O.N. _berserkr_. - - M. Ir. _sráid_; O.N. _straeti_, ‘a street.’ - - M. Ir. _sreang_; O.N. _strengr_, ‘a string.’ - - M. Ir. _tráill_; O.N. _thraell_, ‘a slave.’ - - M. Ir. _trosg_; O.N. _thorskr_, ‘codfish.’ - - O. Ir. _ustaing_; O.N. _hústhing_, ‘an assembly.’ - -Certain old Norse words and phrases which are to be found in Irish -texts also go to show the familiarity of the Irish with the Norse -language. They may be mentioned here, although they are not loan-words, -but rather attempts on the part of the Irish authors to reproduce the -speech of the foreigners:-- - - _cing._[167] O.N. _konungr_, or possibly A.S. - _cyning_. - - _conung_ (_Three Fragments of - Annals_, pp. 126, 194, 228). O.N. _konungr_, ‘a king.’ - - “_Faras Domnall?_” (_War of “_Hvar es Domhnall?_” “Where - the Gaedhil with the Gaill_; is Domhnall?” - p. 174). - - “_Sund a sniding_,” was the O. Ir. _sund_, “here.” - reply. O.N. _nithingr_, “here, rascal.” - - fíut (_Book of Leinster_, 172, - a, 7). O.N. _hvítr_, ‘white.’ - - _Infuit_, a personal name; O.N. _hvítr_, ‘white.’ - _War of the Gaedhil with - the Gaill_, p. 78. - - _litill_ (_ibid._, p. 84). O.N. _lítill_, ‘little.’ - - _mikle_ (_Three Fragments of O.N. _míkill_, ‘much.’ - Annals_, p. 176). - - _nui, nui_ (_ibid_, p. O.N. _knúe_, from _knýja_, ‘to - 164).[168] advance.’ - - _roth._[169] O.N. _rauthr_, ‘red.’ - - -(_b_) Gaelic Words in Old Norse Literature.[170] - -Considering the close connection between Ireland and Iceland, -especially in the tenth and eleventh centuries, it is surprising that -so few Gaelic words found their way into Old Norse literature. The only -Norse words that can be said, with any certainty, to be derived from -Irish, are the following:-- - - _bjannak_ (_Ynglingasaga_, Ir. _bennacht_, ‘a blessing.’ - _Heimskringla_, ch. 2): - - _erg_ (_Orkneyinga Saga_, Ir. airghe, (1) ‘a herd of cattle.’ - ch. 113) (2) ‘grazing land.’ - - _gelt_;[171] Ir. _geilt_, ‘a madman.’ - - _varth at gjalti_, to become - mad with fear. Cf. _Eyrbyggja - Saga_, ch. 18. - - _ingian_; Ir. _inghean_, ‘a girl.’ - - _kapall_ (Fornmanna Sögur II., Ir. _capall_, ‘a horse.’ - p. 231); - - _kesja_; Ir. _ccis_, ‘a spear.’ - - _korki_ (Snorres Edda, II., Ir. _coirce_, ‘oats.’ - 493); - - _kross_; Ir. _cros_, ‘a cross.’ - - _kuaran_; Ir. _cuaran_, ‘a shoe’ (made of skin). - - _kúthi_;[172] ? Ir. _cuthach_, ‘fierce.’ - - _male diarik_;[173] Ir. _mallacht duit, a rig_, ‘a curse - upon you, O king.’ - - _minnthak_;[174] Ir. _mintach_, ‘made of meal.’ - - _ríg_ (in _Rígsmál_); Ir. _ri(g)_, ‘a king.’ - - _tarfr_ (_Eyrbyggia Saga_, ch. Ir. _tarbh_, ‘a bull.’ - 63, etc.) - - -(_c_) Irish Influence on Icelandic Place-nomenclature. - -A number of the place-names mentioned in the _Landnámabók_[175] contain -a Gaelic element which, with one or two exceptions, is present in the -form of a personal name. Among these Icelandic place-names we may note -the following:-- - - _Personal Name._ - - _Bekkanstathir_; Ir. _Beccán_. - - (1) _Branslackr_, (also (2) Ir. (1) _Bran_, (2) _Brian_. - _Brjamslackr_); - - _Dufansdalir_; Ir. _Dubhan_. - - _Dufthaksholt_; Ir. _Dubhthach_. - also _Dufthakskor_; etc. - - _Kalmansá_; Ir. _Colmán_. - also _Kalmanstunga_. - - _Kjallakshöll_, Ir. _Ceallach_. - _Kjallaksstathir_; - - _Kjaransvík_; Ir. _Ciarán_. - - _Kylansholar_; Ir. _Culen_ (Marstrander). - - (1) _Lunansholt_ or Ir. (1) _Lon-án_ (2) _Lommán_. - (2) _Lumansholt_; - - _Minnthakseyr_; Ir. _mintach_, ‘made of meal.’ - - _Papýli_, _Papey_; Ir. ‘papa,’ ‘an anchorite.’ - - _Patreksfjörthr_; Ir. personal name _Patraic_. - - - - -CHAPTER VII. - -THE VIKINGS AND THE CELTIC CHURCH. - - -Beyond a few meagre allusions the Irish Annals throw no light on the -progress of Christianity among the “foreigners” in Ireland during -the ninth century. Fortunately, however, the Icelandic Sagas and the -_Landnámabók_ have preserved some interesting details concerning a -small number of the Norse settlers in Iceland, who had previously come -under the influence of Christianity in Ireland and in the Western -Islands of Scotland. As far as we can gather from these sources the -new faith seems at first to have made but little headway; heathenism -retained a strong hold on the majority of the Norse people, and -there can be little doubt that this form of religion was extensively -practised in Ireland during the Viking age. Evidence of this is to -be found in _The War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill_, which describes -how Authr, wife of Turgéis, sat on the high altar of the church in -Clonmacnois, and gave audiences as a prophetess.[176] In this instance -the high altar would seem to have corresponded to the _seithr hjallr_ -or platform which it was customary to erect in Icelandic houses when -a _völva_ or prophetess was called in to foretell the future.[177] -Some writers[178] also point to the numerous raids on churches and -religious houses as a proof of the Vikings’ hostility to Christianity, -but these attacks were much more likely to have originated in the -amount of treasure which the raiders knew to be stored in these places. -It is rather in this light, too, that we must regard Turgéis’ expulsion -of the abbot Farannan from Armagh (in 839), and his subsequent -usurpation of the abbacy,[179] than as an attempt to stamp out -Christianity and establish heathenism in its stead. - -Yet, at the same time, the Norsemen must have come into close contact -with the religion of the “White Christ” through their intercourse with -the Irish. Indeed, an entry in the _Annals of Ulster_ (A.D. 872), -referring to the death of Ivárr the Boneless, implies that this famous -Viking died a Christian.[180] The records are silent on this point with -regard to Olaf the White, although he was related by marriage to Ketill -Flatnose, a famous chief in the Hebrides, all of whose family, with -the exception of his son, Björn the Easterner, adopted Christianity. -Olaf’s wife, Authr, daughter of Ketill, was one of the most zealous of -these early Norse converts: “She used to pray at Crossknolls, where -she had crosses erected, because she was baptized, and was a good -Christian.” Before her death she gave orders that she was to be buried -on the seashore, between high and low water-mark, because she did not -wish to lie in unconsecrated ground. The _Landnámabók_ also says that -for some time after her death her kinsfolk reverenced these knolls, -but in course of time their faith became corrupt, and in the same -place they built a temple and offered up sacrifices.[181] We hear, -too, of Orlygr the Old, who had been fostered by Bishop Patrick in the -Hebrides. When he was setting out for Iceland the Bishop gave him “wood -for building a church, a plenarium, an iron penny and some consecrated -earth to be put under the corner pillars,” and asked him to dedicate -the church to St. Columba. On the voyage a great storm arose. Orlygr -prayed to St. Patrick that he might reach Iceland in safety, promising, -as a thanksgiving, to call the place in which he should land by the -saint’s name.[182] Mention is also made of several other Christians -from the British Isles: Jörundr, Helgi Bjóla;[183] Thorkell--son of -Svarkell from Caithness--“who prayed before the cross, ever good to -old men, ever good to young men;”[184] Ásólf,[185] Ketill--grandson -of Ketill Flatnose--who was surnamed _hinn fiflski_ (‘the foolish’) -because he adhered to Christianity.[186] A long time after (c. A.D. -997) Thangbrandr the Priest found descendants of Ketill’s in Iceland, -“all of whom had been Christians from father to son.”[187] Considering -the missionary ardour of the Irish at this period it is curious that -no priests accompanied these early settlers to Iceland. This may -have been due to scepticism as to the sincerity of these converts; -such, at least, is the impression received from the Irish annals and -chronicles, in which the Norsemen are almost invariably referred -to as ‘heathens’ and ‘pagans.’ The result was that the influence -of Christianity declined in Iceland; “some of those who came from -west-the-sea remained Christians until the day of their death” says the -_Landnámabók_, “but their families did not always retain the faith, for -some of their sons erected temples and offered sacrifices, and the land -was wholly heathen for nearly one hundred and twenty years.”[188] - -In the transition from heathenism to Christianity opposing beliefs were -sometimes held at the same time; the Viking continued to have recourse -to Thor even after he had been baptized. Helgi the Lean, son of Eyvindr -the Easterner, and Rafarta, daughter of King Cearbhall of Ossory, “was -very mixed in his faith; he believed in Christ, but he invoked Thor for -seafaring and brave deeds. When he came in sight of Iceland he asked -Thor where he should settle down;” and when he had built his house, -“he made a large fire near every lake and river, thus sanctifying all -the land between… Helgi believed in Christ, and therefore named his -house after Him.”[189] We also read that “Örlygr the Old and his family -trusted in Columba,”[190] but whether they abandoned all other belief -in the Christian faith and fell into Paganism is not quite clear. -Again, in the account of the naval battle between Danes and Norsemen in -Carlingford Lough (A.D. 852) the annalist describes how “Lord Horm,” -leader of the Danish forces, advised his men to “pray fervently” to -St. Patrick, “the archbishop and head of the saints of Erin,” whose -churches and monasteries the Norsemen had plundered and burned. So -the Danes put themselves under the protection of the saint: “Let our -protector,” they cried, “be the holy Patrick and the God who is lord -over him also, and let our spoils and our wealth be given to his -church.” After the battle ambassadors from the _árd-rí_ found the Danes -seated round a great fire, cooking their food in cauldrons--which were -supported on the dead bodies of the Norsemen, while near by was “a -trench full of gold and silver to give to Patrick; for the Danes,” adds -the chronicler, “were a people with a kind of piety; they could for a -while refrain from meat and from women.”[191] - -This confusion of the two religions is also illustrated in the -crosses, symbols of Christianity, which the Vikings erected in the -north of England and in the Isle of Man to the memory of their -kinsfolk. On the Gosforth cross in Cumberland a representation of the -Crucifixion--obviously influenced by Celtic designs--is found side -by side with a figure of the god Vitharr slaying the Wolf, a scene -described in Vafthrúthnismál; while on the western side of the cross -is portrayed the punishment of Loki.[192] A fragment of a cross in -the same locality shows Thor fishing for the Mithgarthsormr,[193] a -subject which is also treated on a cross slab in Kirk Bride Parish -Church, Isle of Man.[194] Among the many other Celtic crosses in Man -are four upon which are carved pictures from the story of Sigurthr -Fáfnisbani: Sigurthr roasting the dragon’s heart on the fire and -cooling his fingers in his mouth, his steed Grani and the tree with the -talking birds; another figure has been identified with Loki throwing -stones at the Otter.[195] There are besides twenty-six crosses with -Runic inscriptions, six of which bring out the Viking connection with -the Celtic Church. On one the Ogam alphabet is scratched, and the same -monument bears a Runic inscription which tells us that “Mal Lumkun -(Ir. Mael Lomchon) raised this cross to his foster (mother) Malmuru -(Ir. Maelmuire), daughter of Tufgal (Ir. Dubhgall), whom Athisl had -to wife.” To this the rune writer adds: “It is better to leave a good -foster-son than a bad son.”[196] Crosses were also erected by Mail -Brikti (Ir. Mael Brigde), son of Athakan (Ir. Aedhacan) the smith;[197] -by Thorleifr Hnakki in remembrance of his son Fiak (Ir. Fiacca);[198] -and by an unknown Norseman to the memory of his wife Murkialu (Ir. -Muirgheal).[199] Another cross-slab commemorates Athmiul (? Ir. -Cathmaoil), wife of Truian (_i.e._, the Pictish name _Druian_), son of -Tufkal,[200] while still another stone contains a fragment of a prayer -to Christ, and the Irish saints, Malaki (Malachy), Bathrik (Patrick), -and Athanman (Adamnan).[201] - -The advance of Christianity during the tenth century may be attributed -to a large extent to the prevalence of the practice known as -_prime-signing_ or marking with the sign of the cross. According to -_Eyrbyggja Saga_ (ch. 50), this was “a common custom among merchants -and mercenary soldiers in Christian armies, because those men who were -‘prime-signed’ could associate with Christians as well as heathens, -while retaining that faith which they liked best.” Nearly all the -Norse kings who reigned in Dublin during this century seem to have -accepted Christianity. When Gothfrith plundered Armagh in 919 “he -spared the church and the houses of prayer, with their company of -culdees (ceile-de) and the sick.”[202] We may assume that Sihtric -Gale, Gothfrith’s brother (or cousin) was also a Christian, since he -formed a friendly alliance with Aethelstan, who gave him his sister in -marriage.[203] In 943 Olaf Cuaran was baptized, and in the same year -Rögnvaldr, another Norse prince, was confirmed.[204] After the battle -of Tara (980) Olaf went on pilgrimage to Iona, where he died “after -penance and a good life.”[205] His daughter and grandson were called by -distinctively Irish Christian names--Maelmuire[206] (servant of Mary), -and Gilla Ciarain[207] (servant of St. Ciaran). We may also note the -name Gilla-Padraig which occurs in the royal family of Waterford[208] -and the half-Irish name of a priest in Clonmacnois, Connmhach Ua -Tomrair, who must have been of Norse extraction.[209] - -But all traces of heathenism in Ireland had not disappeared by the end -of the tenth century. An interesting relic was Thor’s ring (Ir. _fail -Tomhair_) which was carried off from Dublin by King Maelsechnaill -II. in 994.[210] This must have been the _dóm-hringr_, so frequently -alluded to in Icelandic literature. It was a ring of silver or gold, -about twenty ounces in weight, which lay upon an altar in the temple, -except during ceremonies, when it was worn on the priest’s arm.[211] -Upon this ring oaths were usually sworn.[212] That it was connected -with the worship of Thor is clear from a passage in the _Landnámabók_ -describing a place called Thorsnes in Iceland: “there still stands -Thor’s stone, on which were broken the backs of those men who were -about to be sacrificed, and close by is the _dómhringr_ where the men -were condemned to death.”[213] Even as late as the year A.D. 1000 we -hear of Thor’s wood (_caill Tomair_) north of Dublin, which was laid -waste by Brian Borumha after the battle of Gleann Mama.[214] - -The battle of Clontarf (A.D. 1014) is frequently represented as a -great fight between Pagan and Christian, but this point of view -is hardly confirmed by the historical facts. It is true that the -Norsemen numbered among their supporters such prominent upholders -of heathenism as Sigurthr, earl of Orkney, and Broder--who had been -a mass-deacon, but “now worshipped fiends, and was of all men most -skilled in sorcery,” yet it must be remembered that the Leinstermen, -under their king Maelmordha, also formed part of the Norse army on -the same occasion. Moreover, both the Norse and Irish accounts of the -battle agree that Gormflaith, who had been the wife of Brian Borumha, -inspired by hatred of Brian, was mainly responsible for the renewal of -hostilities between the two peoples. Her son, Sihtric Silken Beard, -who was most active in mobilising the Norse troops, must have been -a Christian, since the coins which were minted in Dublin during his -reign are stamped with the sign of the cross. In 1028 he visited Rome, -and there is record of another visit some years later.[215] His death -is entered in the Annals under the year 1042, in which same year his -daughter, a nun in an Irish convent, also died.[216] - -It was probably on his return to Dublin from Rome in 1036 that Sihtric -gave “a place on which to build a church of the Blessed Trinity,” -afterwards known as Christchurch Cathedral, and “contributed gold and -silver wherewith to build it.”[217] - -The Norsemen would seem to have regarded the Irish Church with no -friendly feelings. The first Norse bishop, Dunan or Donatus, was on -intimate terms with Lanfranc, and when the next bishop, Patrick, was -chosen by the clergy and people of Dublin, he was sent, with a letter -professing their “bounden obedience” to Lanfranc for consecration (A.D. -1074).[218] His successors, Donatus (d. 1095), Samuel (d. 1121), and -Gregory (d. 1162) were also consecrated at Canterbury, and acknowledged -the supremacy of the archbishop. An interesting letter addressed to -the Archbishop of Canterbury by the priests and citizens of Dublin in -1121 is still extant: “You know,” the letter runs, “that the bishops of -Ireland, more especially the Bishop of Armagh, is extremely angry with -us because we will not submit to his decrees, and because we always -wish to remain under your authority.”[219] - -Bishoprics were founded at Waterford and Wexford later than in Dublin. -Malcus, the first Bishop of Waterford, was consecrated at Canterbury, -and on his arrival in Waterford in 1096, he began to build a church, -dedicated, like that of Dublin, to the Holy Trinity.[220] - -Some years later we hear of a Bishop of Limerick, Gilla or Gilbert, -who does not seem to have been consecrated in England, but who was in -close touch with the Archbishop of Canterbury.[221] He it was who -convoked the synod at Rathbresail, at which it was decided to divide -Ireland into dioceses: “there,” says Keating, “the sees and dioceses of -the bishops of Ireland were regulated; Dublin was excluded, because it -was not customary for its bishop to receive consecration except from -the Archbishop of Canterbury.”[222] Limerick and Waterford were placed -under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of Cashel, but this decree seems -to have been ignored by the people of Limerick, for they elected their -next bishop, Patrick, in the ordinary way and sent him to England for -consecration.[223] It is uncertain whether the Waterford people obeyed, -as the records merely mention the names of the succeeding bishops. - -A still more important synod was held at Kells in 1132. There the -decision of the previous synod regarding the division of the country -into dioceses was ratified, and archbishoprics were established at -Dublin, Armagh, Cashel, and Tuam. Henceforth the bishops of Dublin, -Limerick, and Waterford were consecrated in Ireland, and this marked -the close of the connection between Canterbury and the Celtic Church. - - -FOOTNOTES - -[149] Only one reference is to be found in the Annals. See _Annals of -the Four Masters_, A.D. 728. - -[150] Eoin MacNeill: “The Norse Kingdom of the Hebrides” (_Scottish -Review_, Vol. XXXIX., pp. 254-276). - -[151] It is interesting to recall that a new development in -shipbuilding, probably due to the same causes, was taking place in -England about the same time. The _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_ first mentions -a naval encounter with Vikings under the year 875, and some twenty -years later describes the long ships, “shaped neither like the Frisian -nor the Danish,” which Alfred had commanded to be built to oppose the -_oescs_, or Danish ships. - -[152] _Annals of Ulster_, A.D. 912. - -[153] _Annals of the Four Masters_, A.D. 939. - -[154] _Annals of the Four Masters_, A.D. 953 (= 955). _Annals of -Ulster_, A.D. 963. - -To this entry the annalist adds the following note: “Quod non factum -est ab antiquis temporibus.” - -Cf. _Three Fragments of Annals_ (A.D. 873): “Bairith (O.N. Barthr), -drew many ships from the sea westwards to Lough Ree…” - -[155] Ancient Norway was divided by Haakon into districts -(_Skipreithur_) each of which had in wartime to equip and man -a warship: the number of these districts was fixed by law. -_Gulathingslög_, 10. Cf. _The Victorious Career of Cellachan -of Cashel_, p. 151, n; etc. Cf. _The Saga of Haakon the Good_ -(_Heimskr._), ch. 21. - -[156] _The Victorious Career of Cellachan of Cashel_, pp. 29, 86. - -[157] _Ib._, pp. 89-102. - -[158] _War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill_, p. 109. - -[159] _Ib._, p. 133. - -[160] _Ib._, p. 137. - -[161] See A. Bugge: _Norse Loan-words in Irish_ (_Miscellany Presented -to Kuno Meyer_, p. 291 ff.). - -W. A. Craigie: _Oldnordiske Ord i de Gaeliske Sprog_ (_Arkiv för -Nordisk Filologi_, X., 1894). - -C. Marstrander: _Bidrag til det Norske Sprogs Historie i Irland_. - -K. Meyer: Revue Celtique, X., pp. 367-9, XI., pp. 493-5, XII., pp. -460-3. - -[162] Marstrander (_op. cit._, p. 21) suggests that the word is -connected with the O.N. dialectal form _berling_, “a little stick or -beam under the shallows in a boat.” - -[163] Cf. the list of authorities referred to _ante_, pp. 38, 39. - -[164] The Norsemen sometimes adopted Irish fashions in their dress. -The great Viking Magnus, who was killed in Ireland in A.D. 1103, was -usually called “barelegs” (O.N. _berfaettr_) because he always wore -the Irish kilts; and his son, Harold Gilli, who could speak Irish -better than Norse, “much wore the Irish raiment, being short-clad and -light-clad.” It was probably from his Irish _cuaran_, or shoes of skin -that Olaf Sihtricsson, the famous King of Dublin received his nickname. - -[165] In the _Annals of the Four Masters_ (A.D. 960), _lagmainn_ is the -name given to certain chieftains from the Hebrides who plundered the -southern and eastern coasts of Ireland. - -[166] The word occurs only once in Irish: cf. _The Victorious Career of -Cellachan of Cashel_, p. 140. - -[167] _The War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill_, p. 203, says that when -the Norsemen were fleeing after the battle of Clontarf, Earl Broder, -accompanied by two warriors, passed by the tent in which King Brian -was. One of these men, who had been in Brian’s service, saw the King -and cried “Cing, Cing” (This is the King). “No, no, acht prist, prist” -said Broder (No, no, it is a priest, said Broder). - -[168] These annals state that on one occasion (_A.D._ 869) Cennedigh of -Leix, a brave Irish chieftain, was pursued by the Norsemen, who “blew -their trumpets and raised angry barbarous shouts, many of them crying -‘_nui, nui_.’” - -[169] Marstrander (_op. cit._, p. 156) suggests, however, that _roth_ -may be an archaic form of the Irish _ruadh_, ‘red.’ - -[170] Cf. W. A. Craigie: _Gaelic Words and Names in the Sagas and -Landnámabók_. (_Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie_, Band I., pp. -439-454). - -A. Bugge: _Vesterlandenes Indflydelse paa Nordboernes i Vikingetiden_, -ch. 9. See especially pp. 358-359. - -[171] There is an interesting account of the _gelt_ in the Old Norse -_Konungs Skuggsjá_ (_Speculum Regale_): - -“It happens that when two hosts meet and are arranged in battle-array, -and when the battle-cry is raised loudly on both sides, cowardly men -run wild and lose their wits from the dread and fear which seize them. -And they run into a wood away from other men, and live there like -beasts and shun the meeting of men like wild beasts. And it is said of -these men then when they have lived in the woods in that condition for -twenty years, that feathers grew on their bodies like birds, whereby -their bodies are protected against frost and cold…” - -Cf. Kuno Meyer: _On the Irish Mirabilia in the Old Norse “Speculum -Regale”_ (_Eríu_, Vol. IV., pp. 11-12). - -This bears a striking resemblance to a certain passage in the -mediæval romance _Cath Muighe Rath_ (Battle of Moy Rath, p. 232. Ed. -by O’Donovan). It may also be compared with another romance, which -probably dates from the same period, viz., _Buile Suibhne_, (_The -Madness of Suibhne_, ed. by J. G. O’Keefe for the Irish Texts Society). -Cf. also _Hávamál_ (ed. Gering), str. 129, etc. - -[172] Vilbald, a descendant of Kjarval, King of Ossory, had a ship -called _Kuthi_, cf. _Landnámabók_, IV., ch. II. Todd (_War of the -Gaedhil with the Gaill_, p. 299, n.) suggests Ir. _Cuthach_. - -[173] According to _Jáns Saga hins Helga_, ch. 14 (_Biskupa Sögur_ I., -Kaupmannahófn, 1858) King Magnus Barelegs sent an Icelander with other -hostages to King Myrkjartan of Connacht. When they arrived there, one -of the Norsemen addressed the King in these words: “Male diarik,” to -which the King replied “Olgeira ragall,” _i.e._, Ir., _olc aer adh ra -gall_, (it is a bad thing to be cursed by a Norseman.) - -[174] _minnthak_ was the name given by Hjorleif’s Irish thralls to the -mixture of meal and butter which they compounded while on board ship on -their way to Iceland. They said it was good for quenching thirst. Cf. -_Landnámabók_, I., ch. 6. - -[175] Cf. Whitley Stokes, _op. cit._, pp. 186, 191. - -[176] _War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill_, p. 13. - -Cf. also _Three Fragments of Annals_, p. 146: “In a battle fought -between the Irish and the Norsemen the latter were driven to a small -place surrounded by a wall. The druid Hona went up on the wall, and -with his mouth open began to pray to the gods and to exercise his -magic; he ordered the people to worship the gods…” - -[177] Cf. _Thorfinssaga Karlsefnis_, ch. 3; _Vatnsdaela Saga_, ch. 10; -_Tháttr af Nornagesti_, ch. 11; _Hrólfs Saga Kraka_, ch. 3; etc. - -[178] _e.g._, C. Haliday: _The Scandinavian Kingdom of Dublin_, p. 12 -ff. Margaret Stokes, _op. cit._, pp. 96-98. - -[179] Cf. _War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill_, p. 8. - -[180] The expression used is _quievit in Christo_ and occurs only in -_MS. A_. As neither _MS. B_ nor any of the other annals mention Ivárr’s -conversion it may be that the scribe of the former has unintentionally -slipped into using a formula which was customary in recording the death -of a Christian. - -[181] _Landnámabók_, II., ch. 16. - -[182] _Landnámabók_, I., ch. 12. - -[183] _Ib._, V., ch. 15. - -[184] _Ib._, I., ch. 13. - -[185] _Ib._, I., ch. 15. - -[186] _Ib._, IV., ch. 11. - -[187] _Njáls Saga_, ch. 101. - -[188] _Landnámabók_, V., ch. 15. - -[189] _Ib._, III., ch. 12. - -[190] _Ib._, I., ch. 12. - -[191] _Three Fragments of Annals_, pp. 120-124. - -[192] Cf. _Gylfaginning_, chs. 51, 52. - -[193] _Hýmiskvitha, pass._ Cf. W. S. Calverley: _The Ancient Crosses at -Gosforth_, p. 168. - -[194] P. M. C. Kermode: _Manx Crosses_, pp. 180-184. - -[195] _Ib._, pp. 170-179. - -[196] _Ib._, pp. 86-95, 195-199. - -[197] _Ib._, pp. 150-153. - -[198] _Ib._, pp. 203-205. - -[199] _Ib._, pp. 209-213. - -[200] _Ib._, p. 169. - -[201] _Ib._, pp. 212-213. - -[202] _Annals of Ulster_, A.D. 919. The same source in recording -Gothfrith’s death (A.D. 933) speaks of him as “the most cruel of the -Norsemen.” - -[203] _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, _MS.D._, A.D. 925. - -[204] _Ib._, _MSS. A._, 942, D. 943. - -[205] _Annals of the Four Masters_, A.D. 979. - -[206] _Ib._, A.D. 1021. - -[207] _War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill_, p. 207. - -[208] _Annals of the Four Masters_, A.D. 982. - -[209] _Ib._, A.D. 1011. - -[210] _Ib._, A.D. 994. - -[211] _Eyrbyggja Saga_, chs. 4 and 10; _Kjalnesinga Saga_, ch. 2; etc. - -[212] Cf. _Anglo-Saxon Chronicle_, _MS.A._ Annal, A.D. 876, -_Kjalnesinga Saga_, ch. 2; etc. - -[213] _Landnámabók_, II., ch. 12. - -[214] _War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill_, pp. 196, 198. - -[215] _Annals of Tigernach_, A.D. 1028, 1036. - -[216] _Ib._, A.D. 1042. - -[217] _The Whole Works of Sir James Ware Concerning Ireland_, Vol I., -p. 301. (Ware quotes from the Black Book of Christchurch Cathedral, -Dublin.) - -[218] _Ib._, p. 306. - -[219] _Ib._, pp. 309-311. - -[220] _Ib._, pp. 525-6. - -[221] _Ib._, p. 504. - -Cf. J. MacCaffrey: _The Black Book of Limerick_. Introduction, chs. 5 -and 7. - -[222] _The History of Ireland_, by Geoffrey Keating (ed. P. S. -Dinneen). Vol. III., p. 298. - -[223] _Ware_, _op. cit._, p. 505. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII. - -LITERARY INFLUENCE: THE SAGAS OF ICELAND AND IRELAND. - - -I. - -The most interesting branch of early Norse literature is the saga or -prose story. Of these there are many varieties but the most distinctive -are the following: (1) the _Íslendinga Sögur_, or stories relating to -prominent Icelanders, (2) _Konunga Sögur_, or stories of Kings, chiefly -of Norway; (3) _Fornaldar Sögur_, or stories about early times. All -these are essentially Icelandic in origin; sagas having their origin in -Norway are by no means unknown, but they are, as a rule, translated or -derived from French and other foreign sources.[224] In their present -form the sagas relating to the history of Iceland date for the most -part from the thirteenth century, though some of them were probably -committed to writing in the latter part of the twelfth. - -The earliest Icelandic document of which we have any record is the -original text of the Laws, said to have been written in the year 1181. -Ari’s _Íslendinga-Bók_, containing a short account of the settlement -of Iceland with notices of the more important events, and accounts -of the succession of lawmen and bishops, was written a few years -later, though the form in which it has come down to us is that of an -abbreviated text written about the year 1130. This work, the foundation -of all subsequent historical writing in Iceland, contains some short -notices, which apparently had been handed down by tradition, but these -stories, usually known as sagas, would seem to have been written down -somewhat later. Indeed until the close of the twelfth century the -language employed for historical writings in Iceland, as elsewhere, was -for the most part Latin. - -Though the writing of the sagas did not begin until the latter part -of the twelfth century, sagas in some form or other must have been -in existence much earlier, carried on from generation to generation -by oral tradition. This faculty of reciting sagas was a special -characteristic of the Icelanders, by whom it was carefully cultivated. -In the preface to his _Historia Danica_ Saxo acknowledges his -indebtedness to the “men of Thule,” who “account it a delight to learn -and to consign to remembrance the history of all nations, deeming it as -great a glory to set forth the excellence of others as to display their -own. Their stores, which are stocked with attestations of historical -events, I have examined somewhat closely and have woven together no -small portion of the present work by following their narrative.”[225] - -That the art of story-telling did not decline in Iceland even after -the majority of the sagas were written down is attested by _Sturlunga -Saga_. Here we are told that when Sturla visited King Magnus’ court at -Bergen in 1263 the king received him coldly, but afterwards allowed -him to accompany the royal party on a voyage to the south of Norway. -In the evening one of the sailors asked if there was anyone among them -who could tell stories, but he received no answer. He turned to Sturla, -“Sturla, the Icelander, will you entertain us?” “Willingly,” said -Sturla. Then he related the story of Huld[226] better and with much -more detail than any of those present had ever heard it told before. -Then many men made their way to the deck so as to hear as clearly as -possible, and there was a great crowd there. The queen asked: “What -is that crowd on the deck?” A man answered, “Men who are listening to -the tale the Icelander is telling.” “What story is that?” she asked. -“It is about a great giantess; it is a good story and well told.” On -the following day the queen sent for Sturla and asked him to come and -bring with him the saga of the giantess.[227] So Sturla went aft to -the quarterdeck and told the story over again. When he had finished, -the queen and many of the listeners thanked him and took him to be a -learned and wise man.[228] - -A much earlier reference to the recitation, and indeed the composition -of sagas is found in _Thorgils Saga ok Haflitha_, in which there is an -account of a wedding-feast at Reykholar in 1119: - -“There was fun and merriment and great festivity, and all kinds of -amusements, such as dancing, wrestling and story-telling… Hrólfr of -Skalmarnes told a story about Hrongvithr the Viking, and Olaf ‘the -sailor’s king,’ and about the rifling of the barrow of Thrainn the -berserkr, and about Hrómundr Gripsson, and he included many verses in -his story. King Sverrir used to be entertained with this story, and he -declared that fictitious stories like these were the most entertaining -of any; and yet there are men who can trace their ancestry to Hrómundr -Gripsson. Hrólfr had put this saga together. Ingimundr the priest told -the story of Ormr, the poet of Barrey and included many verses in -it, besides a good poem which Ingimundr had composed, therefore many -learned men regard this saga as true.”[229] - -The former of these stories is the _Hrómundra Saga_ which belongs to -the class commonly called _Fornaldar Sögur_.[230] - -Still further back in the reign of Harald Hardradith (1047-1066) we -have a most important allusion to the art of story-telling. According -to the saga[231] a young Icelander came one summer to King Harald -seeking his protection. The king received him into his court on the -understanding that he should entertain the household during the winter. -He soon became very popular, and received gifts from members of the -household and from the king himself. Just before Christmas the king -noticed that the Icelander seemed dejected, and he asked the reason. -The Icelander replied that it was because of his ‘uncertain temper.’ - -“That is not so,” said the king… “I think your stock of sagas must -be exhausted, because you have entertained us all through the winter, -whenever you were called upon to do so. Now you are worried because -your sagas have come to an end at Christmas time, and you do not wish -to tell the same over again.” - -“You have guessed rightly,” said the Icelander. “I know only one more -saga, but I dare not tell it here, because it is the story of your -adventures abroad.” - -“That is the saga I particularly want to hear,” said the king, and he -asked the Icelander to begin it on Christmas Day and tell a part of -it every day. During the Christmas season there was a good deal of -discussion about the entertainment. Some said it was presumption on -the part of the Icelander to tell the saga and they wondered how the -king would like it; others thought it was well told, but others again -thought less of it. When the saga was finished, the king, who had -listened attentively throughout, turned to the story-teller and said: -“Are you not curious to know, Icelander, how I like the saga?” - -“I am afraid to ask,” replied the story-teller. - -The king said: “I think you have told it very well. Where did you get -the material for it, and who taught it to you?” - -The Icelander answered: “When in Iceland I used to go every summer -to the _Thing_, and each summer I learned a portion of the saga from -Halldór Snorrason.” - -“Then it is not surprising that you know it so well, since you have -learned it from him,” said the king. - -We may in fact see the origin of the _Íslendinga Sögur_ in certain -passages of the sagas themselves. In _Fóstbroethra Saga_, for instance, -the story is told of an Icelander named Thormóthr, who went to -Greenland in order to avenge the death of his foster-brother Thorgeirr. -On one occasion he fell asleep in his booth, and when he awoke some -time later he found, to his surprise, that the place was quite -deserted. Then his servant Egill “the foolish” came to him and said: -“You are too far off from a great entertainment.” - -Thormóthr asked: “Where have you come from and what is the -entertainment?” - -Egill replied: “I have been to Thorgrímr Einarsson’s booth and most of -the people who are attending the _Thing_ are there now.” - -Thormóthr asked: “What form of amusement have they?” - -Egill answered: “Thorgrímr is telling a saga.” - -“About whom is the saga?” asked Thormóthr. - -“That I do not know clearly,” replied Egill, “but I know that he tells -it well and in an interesting manner. He is sitting on a chair outside -his booth and the people are all around him listening to the saga.” - -Thormóthr said: “But you must know the name of some man who is -mentioned in the saga, especially since you think it so entertaining.” - -Egill replied: “A certain Thorgeirr was a great hero in the saga, and I -think that Thorgrímr himself must have had some connection with it, and -played a brave part in it, as is most likely. I wish you would go there -and listen to the entertainment.”[232] - -Then Thormóthr and Egill went to Thorgrímr’s booth and stood close by -listening to the saga, but they could not hear it very distinctly. -Thormóthr had, however, understood from Egill’s remarks that this -was the same Thorgrímr who had slain his foster-brother and was now -recounting his exploits for the amusement of the crowd. - -More famous is the scene in _Njáls Saga_ where Gunnar Lambi’s son, who -has just arrived at Earl Sigurthr’s palace in the Orkneys is called -upon to tell the story of the burning of Njáll’s homestead. - -“The men were so pleased that King Sigtryggr [of Dublin] sat on a high -seat in the middle, but on either side of the king sat one of the -earls… Now King Sitryggr and Earl Gille wished to hear of these tidings -which had happened at the burning, and so, also, what had befallen -since. - -“Then Gunnarr Lambi’s son, who had taken part in the burning was got to -tell the tale, and a stool was set for him to sit upon… - -“Now King Sigtryggr asked: “How did Skarphethinn bear the burning?” - -““Well at first for a long time,” said Gunnarr, “but still the end of -it was that he wept.” And so he went on giving an unfair bias to his -story, but every now and then he laughed aloud. - -“Kári (Kjall’s friend who was listening outside) could not stand this -and he then ran in with his sword drawn… and smote Gunnarr Lambi’s son -on the neck with such a smart blow that his head spun off on to the -board before the king and the earls. - -“… Now Flosi undertook to tell the story of the Burning and he was fair -to all, and therefore what he said was believed.”[233] - -For the way in which such stories were preserved from generation -to generation we may refer to the end of _Droplaugarsona Saga_ -(Ljósvetninga): “Thorvaldr (born c. 1006) son of Grímr”--one of the -chief actors in the story--“had a son called Ingjaldr. His son was -named Thorvaldr, and he it was who told the story.”[234] - -The passage quoted from _Njála Saga_ and _Fóstbroethra Saga_ seem -to show that the art of story-telling was already developed at the -beginning of the eleventh century. In these instances, it is true, we -have only the records of events given by the actors themselves or by -eyewitnesses, and we cannot be certain that such stories had assumed -anything like a fixed form. Far more important is the passage from -_Haralds Saga Hardrada_,[235] for there the story-teller was not an -eyewitness, but had obtained the story, or the material for it, from -Halldór Snorrason, an Icelandic follower of King Harald. From what is -said about the length of the saga, there can be no doubt that it had -been worked up in a very elaborate way. For such elaborate secondhand -stories we have no other definite evidence, but again, considering the -time which the recital is said to have occupied, it would be unwise to -conclude that this later form of the art was entirely new. - -We have, therefore, clearly to distinguish two stages in the history -of the oral saga; (i) the story as told by someone who had taken part -in the events described; (ii) the secondhand story. The story was soon -embellished, especially in the second stage, not merely with such -devices as the records of conversation, but even by the introduction of -imaginary adventures. Indeed we need not assume that even in the first -stage the stories were told in strict accordance with fact. Reference -may be made, for instance, to the passage quoted above from _Njáls -Saga_, where Gunnarr Lambi’s son is said to have told the story of the -burning unfairly. Even in the _Íslendinga_ and _Konunga Sögur_ fiction -forms a not inconsiderable element: in the _Fornaldar Sögur_ it is -obviously much greater. - -Yet there is good reason for believing that in the main the -_Íslendinga_ and _Konunga Sögur_ are historical. This may be seen -by the general agreement between the various sagas, since the same -characters constantly reappear, and there is little inconsistency -with regard to their circumstances or personal traits. Again, the -description of houses, ships, weapons, and other articles seems -generally to correspond to those known to date from the period to which -the stories refer. There is, moreover, one feature which points to a -more or less fixed tradition dating from the closing years of the tenth -century, namely, the attitude towards those characters who figured -prominently in the struggle between Christianity and heathenism. Thus -there are indications that the rather unsympathetic representation of -Harold Greycloak and his brothers may be due to the fact that they -were Christians. Still more significant is the attitude of the sagas -towards Haakon the Bad, whose character seems to undergo a great -change--probably a reflection of the change in the popular opinion of -Christianity. - -Sagas like those of Egill and Kormak relating to the middle or first -part of the twelfth century are few in number and usually contain a -considerable amount of poetry; in fact, the prose is not infrequently -based upon the poetry. Stories dealing with early Icelandic history -from A.D. 874 onwards and Norwegian history of the same period are much -less full. In general they appear to be trustworthy, but the details -are such as might have been preserved by local or family tradition -without the special faculty which is characteristic of the sagas. - -Of a totally different character are the sagas relating to times before -the settlement of Iceland (A.D. 874). Some of these, such as _Völsunga -Saga_ and _Hervarar Saga_, deal with events as far back as the fifth -century, and are, to a great extent, paraphrases of poems, many of -which have come down to us. Very frequently, too, whether based on -poems or not, the narrative bears the stamp of fiction.[236] - -Conditions in Iceland were especially favourable to the development -of the art of story-telling, owing partly to the isolated position of -the country itself and to the difficulties of communication across -the wide tracts of land separating the various settlements within it, -partly also to the love of travel which characterised its inhabitants. -In Icelandic literature the recital of stories is mentioned in -connection with public meetings--such as the annual general assembly -(_Althingi_)--and with social gatherings at the “winter-nights,” the -chief season for hospitality in Iceland, when travellers had returned -from abroad. - -The Icelanders were famous, too, for the cultivation of poetry. This -art was evidently much practised in Norway in early times, but we -hear of hardly any Norwegian poets after Eyvindr (c. 980), whereas -in Iceland poetry flourished for a considerable period after this. -Icelandic poets were received with favour not only in Norway, but -elsewhere, for instance, in England and Ireland. It has been stated -that sagas dealing with the early part of the tenth century owe a -good deal to poetry, while stories relating to times earlier than the -settlement of Iceland are often almost entirely dependent on poetic -sources. Moreover, the cultivation of poetry probably contributed very -largely to the development of the faculty of story-telling, and the -two arts may have been practised by the same person. On this point, -however, we have no precise information. - - -II. - -Yet the remarkable fact that this faculty of story-telling was peculiar -to the Icelanders alone among the Teutonic peoples still remains to be -explained. It can hardly be without significance that the only parallel -in Europe for such a form of literature is to be found in Ireland. - -From the allusions to this type of composition in old Irish literature -it would seem to have existed at a very early period; so early, that -its very origin is obscure. There is, for example, mention of a king’s -“company of story tellers” in the eight lines of satirical verse, said -to have been composed by the poet Cairbre on Bress, the niggardly king -of the Formorians.[237] - -Story-telling was one of the many attractions of the great _aonachs_ or -fairs which played the same part in the national life of Ireland as the -_things_ or popular assemblies in Iceland. From the poem on the ancient -fair of Carman preserved in the _Book of Ballymote_, we can form an -idea of the entertainment provided by the professional story-teller:-- - -“The tales of Fianna of Erin, a never-wearying entertainment: stories -of destructions, cattle-preys, courtships, rhapsodies, battle-odes, -royal precepts and the truthful instructions of Fithil the sage: the -wide precepts of Coirfic and Cormac.”[238] - -The _Book of Leinster_ states that the poet who had attained the rank -of _ollamh_ was bound to know for recital to kings and chieftains two -hundred and fifty tales of prime importance (prím-scéla), and one -hundred secondary ones.[239] The same source gives the names of one -hundred and eighty-seven of these tales, the majority of which have not -come down to us. These include stories from the three great cycles of -legend, viz., that relating to the gods; to Cuchulain and the warriors -of the Red Branch, and to Finn and Fianna. A number of stories relating -to the kings of Ireland mentioned in this list have an historical -basis; while there are others purporting to deal with kings as far back -as 1000 B.C., which are no doubt partly imaginary, and were invented to -arouse popular interest in the past history of the country. - -We know of several stories and poems about kings and chieftains who -played a prominent part in the wars against the Vikings. The list in -_The Book of Leinster_ mentions only one, _The Love of Gormflaith for -Niall_ _i.e._, Niall Glundubh (d. 919), a summary of which is contained -in the mediæval English translation of _The Annals of Clonmacnois_. -In the case of _The Victorious Career of Cellachan of Cashel_, it -is difficult to say whether this was originally an oral narrative -committed to writing for the first time in the fifteenth century, or -whether it was copied from an older manuscript, now lost. Brian Borumha -and his sons are the principal characters in _The Leeching of Cian’s -Leg_, a tale preserved in a sixteenth century manuscript.[240] It is -interesting to note here the presence of a strong folk element which -would seem to point towards a popular, not a literary origin. - -At the close of the tenth century story-telling was in high favour -in Ireland, and the professional story-teller was able not only to -recite any one of the great historical tales, but to improvise, if -the occasion arose. Mac Coisse, the poet attached to the court of -Maelsechnaill II., tells in an interesting prose work how his castle at -Clartha (Co. Westmeath) was once plundered by the O’Neills of Ulster. -He immediately set out for Aileach in order to obtain compensation from -the head of the clan, King Domhnall O’Neill (d. 978). On his arrival, -he was received with great honour and brought into the king’s presence. -In response to Domhnall’s request for a story, Mac Coisse mentioned -the names of a large number of tales including one called _The Plunder -of the Castle of Maelmilscotach_. This was the only one with which the -king was unfamiliar, so he asked the story-teller to relate it. In it -Mac Coisse described, under the form of an allegory, the plundering of -his castle by the king’s kinsmen. When he had finished he confessed -that he himself was Maelmilscotach[241], and he begged the king to -grant him full restitution of his property. This the king agreed to do, -and the grateful poet then recited a poem of eighteen stanzas which he -had composed about the king and his family.[242] - - -III. - -The resemblance which we have noted between Icelandic and Irish customs -seem to justify us in suggesting that they may be due in part to some -influence exercised by the one people upon the other. There is in fact -a certain amount of evidence which renders such influence probable. -We know that Irish poets and story-tellers were welcome guests at the -court of the Scandinavian kings in Ireland. In an elegy on Mathgamain, -Brian’s brother,[243] one of the Munster bards, says he finds it -difficult to reproach the foreigners because of his friendship with -Dubhcena, Ivarr’s son.[244] And during the lifetime of Brian, Mac -Liag, Brian’s chief poet, and Mac Coisse, poet and story-teller to -Maelsechnaill II., visited the court of Sigtryggr and remained there -for a whole year. On their departure they gave expression to their -feelings of regret in a poetical dialogue:-- - - _Mac Liag_: - - It is time for us to return to our homes, - We have been here a whole year; - Though short to you and me may seem - This our sojourn in Dublin, - Brian of Banba deems it too long - That he listens not to my eloquence.[245] - -Another poem of Mac Liag’s, in which he addresses the Scandinavians -of Dublin as “the descendants of the warriors of Norway,” was also -composed in Dublin, at the court of ‘Olaf of the golden shields,’ soon -after the battle of Clontarf.[246] - -On the other hand Icelandic sources mention at least three skálds who -made their way to Ireland during the tenth century: Thorgils Orraskáld, -who was with Olaf Cuaran in Dublin,[247] and Kormak (Ir. Cormac) who -fought with Harold Greycloak in Ireland (c. 961).[248] In _Gunnlaugs -Saga Ormstungu_ (ch. 8) there is a charming account of the poet’s -reception in Dublin, shortly after Sigtryggr became king (c. 994): -Gunnlaug went before the king and said: “I have composed a poem about -you, and I would like to get a hearing for it.” - -“The king answered: “No man has yet made a poem about me, and I will -certainly listen to yours.” - -“Then Gunnlaug recited his poem in praise of “Cuaran’s son,” and the -king thanked him for it. - -“Sigtryggr then called his treasurer and asked: “How shall I reward him -for this poem?” - -““As you will, lord,” replied the treasurer. - -““Shall I give him two merchant-ships?” asked the king. - -““That is too much,” said the treasurer, “other kings give, as rewards -for songs, costly gifts, good swords or gold rings.” - -“So the king gave Gunnlaug his own garments of new scarlet cloth, a -tunic ornamented with lace, a cloak lined with choice furs, and a gold -ring which weighed a mark. Gunnlaug remained for a short time there and -then went to the Orkneys.” - -It is to be noted, too, that among the original settlers in Iceland -there were a not inconsiderable number who came from Ireland and the -islands off the west coast of Scotland. These included some of the most -important families in the country. We may mention especially Authr, -widow of Olaf the White, king of Dublin, with her brothers Ketill the -Foolish, Björn, Helgi Bjóla and all their families and dependants;[249] -also Helgi the Lean who had been brought up partly in the Hebrides, -partly in Ireland, Jörundr the Christian and Örlygr the Old.[250] Not a -few of these were partly of Irish stock such as Helgi the Lean, Áskell -Hnokkan and his brother Vilbaldr who were descendants of Cearbhall, -king of Ossory (d. 877).[251] Sometimes we hear of settlers who were -of pure Gaelic blood, like Kalman (Ir. Colman) from the Hebrides,[252] -and Erpr, son of a Scottish earl Maeldúin,[253] and Myrgjol (Ir. -Muirgheal), daughter of Gliomall, an Irish king.[254] - -It has been urged[255] that the persons mentioned in the _Landnámabók_ -as coming from Ireland and Scotland form a very small percentage of the -whole number of settlers. But we have to remember that by no means all -the colonists are mentioned in the records and genealogies. There can -be no doubt that a number of slaves and freedmen accompanied the more -important settlers to Iceland, and of these probably the great majority -were of Celtic blood. Their numbers, too, were being continually -reinforced during the tenth century. It is difficult, however, to -estimate how many they were, because in the case of thralls Icelandic -names were not infrequently substituted for Irish ones. Thus, of the -Irish thralls whom Hjörleifr brought to Iceland only one, Dufthakr, had -a Gaelic name. - -Such slaves were not always people of humble origin. Gilli (Ir. -Giolla), the slave who killed Thorsteinn, son of Hallr[256] of -Side, was a descendant of Cearbhall, king of Ossory. Mention is -made elsewhere of Nithbjörg, daughter of the Irish king Biolan (Ir. -Beollán) who was carried off from Ireland in a Viking raid;[257] also -of Melkorka, King Myrkjartan’s daughter, who was bought from a slave -dealer in Norway.[258] Icelandic custom did not necessarily prevent the -children of slave women from becoming persons of wealth and influence; -indeed Ósvifr, son of Nithbjörg and Olaf Pái, son of Melkorka, were -among the leading men in Iceland in their time. It is not unreasonable, -then, to suppose that by the end of the tenth century Irish blood had -found its way into a large number of Icelandic families. - -Lastly we may observe that the Irish and Icelandic sagas bear certain -resemblances to one another which are at least worthy of attention. In -both cases the narrative prose is frequently interspersed with poetry, -and in both the use of dialogue is a prominent feature. Nor is the -subject matter dissimilar. Indeed it is possible to apply to the Irish -stories a classification roughly similar to that which is adopted for -the more important of the Icelandic sagas.[259] As far as the “stories -of the kings” are concerned, the resemblance is most striking in the -case of sagas relating to early times such as _Ynglinga Saga_. There -are Irish stories, too, corresponding to a certain extent to the -_Íslendínga Sögur_, though they are comparatively few in number, while -many of the _Fornaldar Sögur_ may be said to bear a certain resemblance -to the Irish epic stories. - -The evidence discussed above seems to afford some ground for suspecting -that the saga literature of Iceland and Ireland may not be wholly -unconnected, and, as we have seen, the conditions of the time, -particularly the frequent intercourse between the two countries, were -such as to favour the exercise of literary influence by one people upon -the other. If so, one can hardly doubt that in this case the influence -came to Iceland from Ireland. - -We have seen[260] that the prose saga appears to have developed in -Iceland in the course of the tenth century. There are indeed narratives -relating both to the settlement of Iceland and to still earlier events -in Norway. But these, in so far as they can be regarded as trustworthy -traditions--not embellished by fiction in later times--are quite brief, -and not far removed from such local or family traditions as one could -find in other parts of the world. The detailed and elaborate type of -story which we dealt with in Section I., and which is the distinctive -feature of Icelandic literature, can hardly be traced back beyond the -end of the tenth century. - -The prose stories of Ireland, on the other hand, are without doubt much -earlier. Although we have few MSS. of Irish prose dating from a period -before the twelfth century, yet it is generally agreed that many of the -forms preserved, _e.g._, in the _Yellow Book of Lecan_ MS. of the Tain -Bo Cualnge must be derived from an earlier MS. of not later than the -seventh or early eighth century. The oral saga in Ireland is therefore -of great antiquity. - -It may, of course, be argued that if the prose saga arose spontaneously -in Ireland, there is no reason why it should not also have arisen -independently in Iceland. But the existence of this form of literature -in Ireland may be due to special circumstances for which Iceland offers -no parallel. The oldest Irish sagas belong to that class of literature -known as the heroic epic, a class which among the Teutonic peoples--as -indeed among all other European peoples--makes its first appearance -in verse. The exceptional treatment of this subject in Irish is all -the more remarkable in view of the fact that among the Celtic peoples -the _file_ or professional minstrel occupied a distinguished position -in society. It would be strange if the professional minstrel were not -primarily concerned with heroic epic poetry in Ireland as in other -countries, since in the times to which our records refer the recitation -of the heroic prose epics was one of the chief functions of the _file_. - -On the other hand, we know nothing of the ancient forms of Irish -poetry. The earliest poems that have come down to us have a metrical -form which is not native. Earlier than these--in the fifth and sixth -centuries--there is evidence for the cultivation of “rhetorics,” or -metrical prose, but this too appears to be of foreign origin.[261] The -unique feature in Irish literature, namely, the fact that the early -epic, as it has come down to us, appears in prose instead of poetry may -be due, at least in part, to the disappearance of native metrical forms -before the fifth century. It may be that the prose epics originated -in paraphrases of early poems such as we find, for instance, in the -_Völsunga Saga_, which is a paraphrase of older poems dealing with the -story of Sigurthr. Or the change may have been more automatic, the -outcome of a process of metrical dissolution similar to that of which -the beginnings may be seen in certain Anglo-Saxon and German poems. -Such metrical dissolution would be favoured, if not necessitated, by -the extensive phonetic changes which took place in Ireland in the fifth -century. But into this question it is not necessary to enter here. It -is sufficient to point out that Irish Saga literature, according to -all appearances, began in the heroic epic, a form which in all other -literatures, including Norse, originated in poetry. - -The preservation of poetry, narrative or other, by oral tradition is -a common enough phenomenon among many peoples, but the traditional -prose narrative, except in such primitive forms as folk-tales, is very -rare. Since we find it both in Ireland and Iceland--and apparently in -no other European countries--and since we have found so many other -connections between these two countries, the theory that the Icelandic -Saga owes its origin, however indirectly, to the Irish Saga, seems -to deserve more serious consideration from scholars than it has yet -received. - - -FOOTNOTES - -[224] It has been stated (cf. E. Mogk: _Geschichte der -Norwegisch-Isländischen Literatur_. Strassburg, 1904, p. 830) that many -of Saxo’s stories came from Norway, where they had been collected by an -Icelander in the twelfth century. There can be no doubt that stories -of some kind relating to families and localities--especially stories -which accounted, or professed to account for local names--were current -in Norway down to this time. Such stories form the basis of many of the -_Fornaldar Sögur_, but in all probability these had been familiar to -Icelanders from the first settlement of the island, or at least during -the tenth century. We have no evidence that they ever gained literary -form in Norway. (Cf. Finnur Jónsson: _Old Norske Litteraturs Historie_, -II., p. 791.) - -[225] _The First Nine Books of the Danish History of Saxo Grammaticus._ -Translated by Oliver Elton (ed. by F. York Powell, p. 5). It is not -clear whether Saxo had Icelandic manuscripts before him, but his words -leave no doubt that he was aware of the fact that stories had been -carried on by oral tradition. - -[226] This was probably something in the nature of a fairy-tale like -the _Huldre-eventyr_ of modern Norway. We may refer to the story of the -witch Huldr given in _Ynglinga Saga_ (ch. 16), and to the supernatural -being Holda or Holle in German folk-lore. - -[227] “_hafa meth sér trollkonu-söguna._” From these words Finnur -Jónsson (_op. cit._, II., p. 792) concludes that Sturla possessed a -written copy of the saga. - -[228] _Sturlunga Saga_, II., pp. 270-271. - -[229] _Thorgil’s Saga ok Haflitha_ (_Sturlunga Saga_, Vol. I., p. 19). - -[230] _Fornaldar Sögur_, Vol. II., p. 323. - -[231] _Harald’s Hardrada Saga_, ch. 99 (_Fornmanna Sögur_, VI., pp. -354-356). - -[232] _Fóstbroethra Saga_, ch. 23. - -[233] _Njáls Saga_ (by G. W. Dasent), chs. 153, 154. - -[234] _Droplaugarsona Saga_ (Ljosvetninga Saga), p. 175 (_Austfirthinga -Sögur_, ed. Jakobsen). - -[235] See pp. 60, 61, ante. - -[236] Cf. the references to _Hrómundar Saga_, pp. 69, 70, ante. - -[237] The poem is preserved in the _Book of the Dun Cow_ (twelfth -century), but the form of the language in which it is written is -considerably earlier than this date; indeed, the meaning of the verses -would be quite obscure if we did not possess explanatory glosses. - -Cf. D’Arbois de Jubainville: _The Irish Mythological Cycle_, p. 96 -(Best’s translation): also D. Hyde: _A Literary History of Ireland_, p. -285. - -There is a possible reference to an Irish story-teller in an -inscription on a stone cross at Bridgend (Glamorganshire). The -inscription, which is thought to date from the seventh century, -runs:--_(Co)nbellini possuit hanc crucem pro anima eius Scitliuissi_ … -Rhys takes _scitlivissi_ to be an Irish word, a compound of _viss_ (Ir. -_fis_, ‘knowledge’) and _scitl_ (_scetlon_, _scél_, a ‘story,’ ‘news’) -and surmises that _scitliviss_ might mean a ‘messenger,’ a ‘bringer of -news,’ a ‘scout.’ (Cf. _Celtic Britain_, pp. 313-315.) But _scitliviss_ -can also be explained as ‘one who knows stories.’ In that case we might -infer that story-telling was a profession in Ireland as early as the -seventh century; but the reading appears to be too uncertain to justify -us in attaching any great importance to the inscription. - -[238] O’Curry: _Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish_, II., p. 543. - -[239] O’Curry: _Lectures on the MS. Materials of Irish History_, pp. -243, 583. - -[240] Printed in _Silva Gadelica_ (ed. Standish O’Grady), Vol. I., pp. -296-305. - -Stories of Brian and his sons are still current in the Gaelic-speaking -districts of Ireland. (See _Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie_, Band -I., pp. 477-492.) They are, however, more likely to be folk tales, in -which the deeds of mythical heroes have been transferred to historical -people, than sagas transmitted by oral tradition from generation to -generation. - -[241] _i.e._, “son of the honeyed words,” a poet. - -[242] O’Curry: _Manners and Customs of the Ancient Irish_, II., pp. -130-135. - -[243] Mathgamain was murdered at the instigation of King Ivarr of -Limerick in 976. - -[244] _War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill_, pp. 98-99. - -[245] _O’Curry_, _op. cit._, II., p. 128. - -[246] _Ibid._, II., p. 125. - -[247] _Landnámabók_, I., ch. 19. - -[248] _Kormak’s Saga_, ch. 19. - -[249] Cf. _Landnámabók_, II., ch. 16, etc. - -[250] _Landnámabók_, V., ch. 15. - -[251] _Ib._, IV., ch. 11. - -[252] _Ib._, II., ch. 1. - -[253] _Ib._, II., ch. 16. - -[254] _Ib._, II., ch. 16. - -[255] Finnur Jónsson, _op. cit._, II., pp. 187-188 (n); W. A. Craigie: -_Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie_, Band I., p. 441. - -[256] “This Gilli was the son of Jathguth, who was the son of Gilli, -son of Bjathach (Ir. Blathach), son of King Kjarval of Ireland.” -(_Thorsten’s Saga Síthu-Hallssonar_, appendix. _Draumr Thorsteins -Síduhalssonar_, Ásmundarson’s Ed., pp. 26, 27.) - -[257] _Landnámabók_, II., ch. 11. - -[258] Cf. p. ante. - -[259] Cf. p. 66, ante. - -[260] Cf. p. 63 ante. - -[261] See Kuno Meyer: _Learning in Ireland in the Fifth Century_ -(Dublin, 1913). - - - - -BIBLIOGRAPHY. - - -I. - -_Annals of Clonmacnois_, ed. by Rev. D. J. Murphy. Dublin, 1896. - -_Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters_ (Vols. I. and -II.), ed. by J. O’Donovan, Dublin, 1856. - -_Three Fragments of Irish Annals_, ed. by J. O’Donovan. Dublin, 1860. - -_Annals of Tigernach_, ed. by Whitley Stokes (Revue Celtique, XVI.; -XVII.). Paris, 1895. - -_Annals of Ulster_ (Vol. I.), ed. by W. M. Hennessy. Dublin, 1887. - -_Black Book of Limerick_, ed. by J. MacCaffrey. Dublin, 1907. - -_Book of Rights_ (Leabhar na gceart), ed. by J. O’Donovan. Dublin, 1847. - -_Brennu-Njálssaga_, ed. by Finnur Jónsson. Halle a S., 1908. - -_The Story of Burnt Njal_, translated by Sir G. W. Dasent. London, -1861. (Several subsequent editions.) - -_Caithriém Cellachain Caisil: The Victorious Career of Cellachan of -Cashel_, ed. by A. Bugge. Christiania, 1905. - -_Chronicon Scotorum_, ed. by W. M. Hennessy. London, 1866. - -_Cogadh Gaedheal re Gallaibh_ (_The War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill_) -ed. by J. H. Todd. London, 1867. - -_Eyrbyggja Saga_, ed. by H. Gering. Halle a S., 1897. (English -translation by E. Magnússon and William Morris, London, 1892). - -_Fornaldar Sögur_, ed. by C. C. Rafn. Copenhagen, 1829-30. - -_Fornmanna Sögur._ Copenhagen, 1825-1837. - -_Fóstbroethra Saga_, ed. by V. Ásmundarson, Reykjavík, 1899. - -_Gunnlaugs Saga Ormstungu_, ed. by V. Ásmundarson. Reykjavík, 1911. - -_Heimskringla_, ed. by C. R. Unger. Christiania, 1868. - -_Kormaks Saga_, ed. by V. Ásmundarson. Reykjavík, 1893. - -_Landnámabók_, ed. by V. Ásmundarson. Reykjavík, 1909. (English -translation by Rev. T. Ellwood. Kendal, 1898.) - -_On the Fomorians and the Norsemen_ (Duald Mac Firbis), ed. by A. -Bugge. Christiania, 1905. - -_Origines Islandicae_, ed. by G. Vigfusson and F. York Powell. Oxford, -1905. - -_Orkneyinga Saga_, ed. and tr. by J. Anderson. Edinburgh, 1873. Also -tr. by Sir G. W. Dasent for the Rolls Series. London, 1894. - -_Sturlunga Saga_, ed. by G. Vigfusson. Oxford, 1878. - -_Thorsteins Saga Sithu-Hallssonar_, ed. by V. Ásmundarson. Reykjavík, -1902. - -_Two of the Saxon Chronicles (Parallel)_, 2 Vols., ed. by Earle and -Plummer. Oxford, 1892 and 1899. - - -II. - - Bugge, A. _Contributions to the History of the Norsemen - in Ireland._ Christiania, 1900. - - ---- _Vesterlandenes Indflydelse paa Nordboernes - i Vikingetiden._ Christiania, 1905. - - Collingwood, W. G. _Scandinavian Britain._ London, 1908. - - Craigie, W. A. _The Icelandic Sagas._ Cambridge, 1913. - - Du Chaillu, P. B. _The Viking Age_, 2 Vols. London, 1889. - - Henderson, G. _The Norse Influence on Celtic Scotland._ - Glasgow, 1910. - - Jónsson, F. _Old Norske Litieraturs Historie_, also - (abridged). Copenhagen, 1907. - - Joyce, P. W. _A Social History of Ancient Ireland_, - 2 Vols. Dublin, 1913. - - Keary, C. F. _The Vikings in Western Christendom._ - London, 1891. - - Kermode, P. M. C. _Manx Crosses._ London, 1907. - - Marstrander, C. _Bidrag til det Norske Sprogs Historie i - Irland._ Christiania, 1912. - - Mawer, A. _The Vikings._ Cambridge, 1913. - - Mogk, E. _Geschichte der Norwegisch-Isländischen - Literatur._ Strassburg, 1904. - - O’Curry, E. _On the Manners and Customs of the Ancient - Irish_ (ed. by W. K. Sullivan). London, - 1873. - - ---- _Lectures on the Manuscript Materials of - Ancient Irish History._ Dublin, 1861. - - Steenstrup, J. C. H. R. _Normannerne_ (Vols. II. and III.). - Copenhagen, 1876-82. - - Stokes, G. T. _Ireland and the Celtic Church_ (revised by - H. J. Lawlor). London, 1907. - - Vogt, L. J. _Dublin som Norsk By._ Christiania, 1896. - - _The Whole Works of Sir James Ware concerning Ireland_, 2 Vols. - (translated and continued by W. Harris). Dublin, 1764. - - Worsaae, J. J. A. _Minder om de Danske og Nordmaendene i - England, Skotland og Irland._ - Copenhagen, 1851. (English translation: - _An Account of the Danes and Norwegians - in England, Scotland and Ireland_. - London, 1852.) - - Zimmer, H. _The Celtic Church in Britain and Ireland_, - (translated by A. Meyer). London, 1902. - -Reference has also been made to the following articles:-- - - Bugge, A. _Nordisk Sprog og Nordisk Nationalitet i - Irland_ (Aarboger for Nordisk Oldkyndighed - og Historie, 1900, pp. 279-332). - - ---- _Bidrag Bidet Sidste Afsnit af Nordboernes - Historie i Irland_ _ibid._, 1904, pp. - 248-315. - - Craigie, W. A. _Oldnordiske Ord i de Gaeliske Sprog_ (Archiv - for Nordisk Filologi. 1894.) - - Curtis, E. _The English and the Ostmen in Ireland_ - (English Historical Review, XXIII., p. - 209 ff.) - - Hull, E. _Irish Episodes in Icelandic Literature_ - (Saga Book of the Viking Club. January, - 1903.) - - ---- _The Gael and the Gall: Notes on the Social - Condition of Ireland during the Norse - Period._ (_Ibid._ April, 1908.) - - Mawer, A. _The Scandinavian Kingdom of Northumbria._ - _Ibid._ January, 1911. - - Stokes, W. _A few Parallels between the Old Norse and - the Irish Literatures and Traditions_ - (Arkiv för Nordisk Filologi. 1885.) - - Zimmer, H. _Ueber die frühesien Berührungen der Iren - mit den Nordgermanen._ (Sitzungsberichte - der Kgl. Preussichen Akademie der - Wissenschaften, Bd. I., pp. 279-317. - Berlin, 1891.) - - - - -INDEX. - - - Aedh Finnliath, 10, 15. - - Albann, brother of Ivarr the Boneless, 4. - - Albdann, son of Gothfrith, 22 _n._ - - Altar-ring, 53, 54. - - _aonach_, 30, 67. - - Armagh, 21-22, 48, 52, 55. - - Art, Scandinavian influence on Irish, 20. - - Authr, wife of Olaf the White, 15, 48, 72; - wife of Turgéis, 47. - - - Brian Borumha, 7-8, 29, 37-38. - - Brunanburh, battle of, 6, 24. - - Burial mounds, 12. - - - Canterbury, 55-56. - - Carlingford Lough, battle of, 3, 13, 50-51. - - Cearbhall, king of Ossory, 13-15, 50, 72, 73. - - Cellachan, king of Cashel, 26, 36-37. - - Chester, siege of, 12. - - Clontarf, battle of, 8-9, 54. - - Colla, 25. - - Cork, 27, 30. - - - Danes, 2-4, 12, 13, 24-27, 50-1. - - _dóm-hringr_, 53-4. - - Dublin, fortress built at, 2; - seat of Scandinavian kings, 3, 5-7; - Vikings driven from, 5; - coins minted in, 19; - early history, 21-3; - as a trade centre, 30-1, 70-1. - - - _epscop_, 29. - - Eric Blood-axe, 7. - - - Fingal, 8. - - Finn Gaill, 3 _n._ - - - Gaill-Gaedhil, 10-11, 38. - - _gelt_, 44. - - Gleann Máma, battle of, 8, 30, 54. - - Gluniarainn, 17-8. - - Gnimcinnsiolla, 27. - - Gormflaith, wife of Brian Borumha, 8, 17, 54; - wife of Niall Glundubh, 68. - - Gothfrith, king of Dublin, 6, 24. - - - Heathenism, 47-8, 50-4. - - Hebrides, 17, 25, 36, 41 _n._, 48-9. - - - Iceland, 13 _n._, 8, 57-8, 66, 71. - - Ivarr the boneless, 3-4, 11, 48; - king of Limerick, 7, 24, 70 _n._, - king of Waterford, 18. - - - Ketill Flatnose, 48-9; - Ketill “the foolish,” 49, 72. - - Kilmashogue, battle of, 5. - - - _lagmainn_, 41. - - Lambey, 1. - - Limerick, 7, 9, 23-5, 30-1. - - _longphort_, 2, 34, 35. - - - Mac Liag, 70. - - Maelsechnaill I (Malachy), 2, 11; - Maelsechnaill II, 7-8, 17, 70. - - Melkorka, 16, 31, 73. - - Morann, son of the king of Lewis, 25. - - Muirchertach of the Leather Cloaks, 6, 16-7. - - - Niall Glundubh, 5, 68. - - Norsemen, _passim_. - - Northumbria, 5-7. - - Norway, 4, 16, 32, 59. - - - Olaf Cuaran (Sihtricsson), 6-7, 17, 34, 40, 53, 71; - Godfreyson, 6, 26; - Olaf the White, 3-4, 11-2, 15, 48; - Trygvasson, 13-4. - - _Ostmen_, 9, 26. - - Ota, wife of Turgéis, 2, 47. - - - Place-names, Scandinavian influence on Irish, 27-8; - Irish influence on Icelandic, 45-6. - - _prime-signing_, 75. - - - Raghnall, grandson of Ivarr, 5, 25. - - Runic inscriptions, 27 _n._, 51-2. - - - Settlers in Iceland, 13 _n._, 71, 72. - - Sihtric Silken Beard, 8, 19, 34, 54-5, 70. - - Sigurd, earl of Orkney, 8, 15 _n._ - - Slave traffic, 32-3, 72-3. - - Story-telling in Iceland, 58-64; - in Ireland, 67-9. - - Sulcoit, battle of, 7. - - - _Tengmouth_, 22 _n._ - - _thing_, 22, 61, 67. - - Turgeis, 1-2, 21, 23. - - - Waterford, 5, 9, 23, 25-6, 30. - - Wexford, 22, 23, 30. - - - _völva_, 47. - - - York, 5, 6, 23. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Scandinavian Relations with Ireland -during the Viking Period, by A. 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