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SCANDINAVIAN  RELATIONS 

WITH  IRELAND  DURING 

THE  VIKING  PERIOD 


SCANDINAVIAN  RELATIONS 

WITH  IRELAND  DURING 

THE  VIKING  PERIOD 


BY 


A.  WALSH    *• 


BOSTON  COTXKGli  Ut*'\^^ 
CHESTNUT  HILL,  MASS. 


DUBLIN 
THE  TALBOT  PRESS  LIMITED 

LONDON 
T.  FISHER  UNWIN  UMITHD 

1922 


151^147 


PREFACE 

This  short  study  was  written  duritjg  my  tenure  of  a 
Travelling  StudentsHp  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  modem  Scandinavian 
scholars — Alexander  Bugge,  Marstrander,  and  Vogt — have 
thrown  a  good  deal  of  Hght  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,  EngUsh  and  Irish  scholars  on  the  subject. 

I  should  Hke  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  O'Maille,  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  Irei^and  (795-1014)        1 

II.  Intercourse  between  the  Gaii<i,  and  the  Gaedhil 

DURING  the  Viking  Period        10 

III.  The  Growth  of  the  Seaport  Towns     21 

IV.  The  Expansion  oE  Irish  Trade 29 

V.  ShipbuiIvDing  and  Seafaring       35 

VI.  Linguistic  Infi^uences       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  Cei^tic  Church     47 

VIII.  Literary  Infi^uence.     The  Sagas  of  Icei<and  and 

IrEI/And        57 

Bibuography  77 


Scandinavian  Relations  with  Ireland 
during  the  Viking  Period. 

CHAPTER  I. 

THE    VIKINGS    IN    IRELAND    (795-1014). 

The  Vikings  made  their  first  appearance  ^  ou  the  Irish 
coasts  in  795  a.d.,  when  they  plundered  and  burned  the 
church  on  Recru,  or  Lambay  Island,  near  Dubhn.  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  SHgo  coast,  and  from  there  made 
their  way  inland  to  Roscommon.*  x^fter  that  the  raids 
ceased  for  a  few  years,  then  began  again  with  renewed 
vigour  on  Connacht  and  IMunster,  on  some  of  the  inland 
counties  of  I^einster,  and  on  several  places  along  the  east 
coast.* 

The  arrival  of  Turgeis*  (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 

^  Zimmer  was  of  the  opinion  that  the  Norsemen  made  their  way 
to  Ireland  as  earl}^  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."  {liber  die  friihesten  Be/uhrungen  der  Iren  niit 
den  Nordgermanen,  p.  279  ff.  in  Sitzungshevichte  der  kgJ.  prenssischen 
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, 

^Annals  of  the    Four  Masters,  A.D.  807. 

^Annals  of  Ulster,  a.d.  811,  820-824,  827,  830. 

*  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 


2  THE  VIKING   PERIOD 

of  plunder  ;  nor,  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  Ivinn 
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.^ 

The  power  of  Turgeis  was  not  confined  to  the  north  of 
Ireland.  His  fleets  were  stationed  on  I^och  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.*  The  tyranny  of  Turgeis  came  to  an 
end  in  845,  when  he  was  captured  by  Maelsechnaill,  who 
afterwards  became  drd-ri,  and  was  drowned  in  Lough  Owel.' 

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^  or  Danes  who  had 

Irish  and  was  killed.     ( Heimskvingla  :   Haralds  saga  hins  hdrfagra, 
ch.  35-) 

This  account  of  Tliorgils  certainly  bears  a  resemblance  to  that 
of  Turgeis  contained  in  the  Irish  chronicles  and  Giraldus 
Cambrensis  (cf.  Todd  :  Introduction  to  War  of  the  Gaedhll  with 
the  Gain,  I.,  ii.),  but  it  is  of  course  incorrect  to  say  that  Turgeis 
was  a  son  of  Harold  Fairhair. 

^Annals  of  Ulster,  a.d.  841. 

^War  of  the  Gaedhil  with  the  Gaill,  p.  13. 

^Ib.,v.  15- 

*  The  Irish  chroniclers  use  a  variety  of  names  for  the  Scandinavians  : 
Dihearccai  (outlaws),  Gaill  (foreigners),  Gennti  (Gentiles),  and 
Pagdnaigh  (Pagans).  They  also  distinguish  between  Danes  and 
Norsemen.     The  Danes  were  known  as  Danair,  Danmarcaigh,  Dubh 


THE  VIKINGS   IN   IRELAND  3 

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  Carhngford 
Loch  by  the  Norsemen.  In  this  great  naval  battle,  which 
lasted  three  days  and  three  nights,  the  Danes  ^vere  finally 
victorious.  1 

"  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  countr^^men,  and  to  exact 
tribute  from  the  Irish. ^  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  IvOthbr(5k.  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  Dum- 
barton, after  a  four  months'  siege,  fell  into  their  hands. 
They  returned  in  triumph  to  Ireland  in  the  follo^^dng  year 
with  a  large  number  of  English,  British,  and  Pictish  prisoners 

Gennti  (Black  Gentiles),  and  Dubh-Gaill.  The  vcord  Dtcbh-GaiU 
(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). 

'^Annals  of  Ulster,  a.d.  851  (=  852), 

^ 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  Karl  Tomrair 
(O.N,  Thorarr),  "  ianist  of  the  King  of  I,ochlann/'  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. 


4  THE   VIKING   PERIOD 

and  ended  their  victorious  march  by  the  capture  ot 
Dunseverick  (Co.  Antrim).^ 

Olaf  returned  to  Norway  some  time  after  this  to  take 
part  in  the  wars  there,  ^  and  we  hear  no  more  of  him  in  the 
Irish  Annals.  "  Imhar,  King  of  the  Norsemen  of  all  Ireland 
and  Biitain,"  did  not  long  survive  him  ;  his  death  is  recorded 
under  the  year  873.^ 

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  3^ears.* 
The  Danes  and  the  Norsemen  again  began  to  quarrel  among 
themselves,  and  once  more  their  opposing  fleets  met  on 
Carlingford  Lough  ;^  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  Dubhn  Norsemen,  dividing  them  into  two 
hostile  parties,  one  siding  with  Sitriucc,  son  of  Ivarr,  the 
other  with  a  certain  Sighfrith.^     This  internal  strife  so 

'^Annals  of  Ulster,  a.d,  870. 

^Three  Fragments  of  Annals,  p.  195.  The  Landfidmabok,  XL,  ch. 
15  says  that  "  Olaf  fell  in  battle  in  Ireland,"  but  this  is  surely  a 
mistake. 

^Annals  of  Ulster,  sub  anno,  872  (=  873). 

*  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). 
■  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. 

•  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  Vikmg  Club,  VII.  Part  I.) 


THE   VIKIXGS    IN   IRELAND  5 

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. 
Rognvaldr),  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 
Ivcinster,  and  built  a  fortification  there.  ^  Both  chiefs 
united  forces  against  the  drd-ri  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.  2 

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.  * 
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*  and 
reigned  there  until  his  death  in  921.^    He  was  succeeded 

'^Annals  of  Ulster,  a.d.  916. 

^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. 

^Annals  of  Ulster,  a.d.  920,  921,  923,  925. 

*  Anglo- Sax  on  Chronicle,  A.D.  923. 

'^Annals  of  Ulster,  a.d  920. 

C 


6  THE   VIKING   PERIOD 

by  Sihtric  Gale,  who  had  been  expelled  from  DubHn  in  the 
preceding  year/  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.* 

Guthfrith's  son,  Olaf,  came  forward  about  this  time. 
Supported  by  the  Norsemen  of  Strangford  I^ough  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  DubHn.*  He  is 
probably  the  "  Anlaf  of  Ireland  "  who  was  chosen  King 
by  the  Northumbrians  in  941,*  but  he  died  about  a  year 
later. '^ 

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.^  He  then  took  the  DubHn 
Kingdom  under  his  rule,  and  in  the  following  year  was 
defeated  in  battle  by  the  Irish  at  Slaine  (Co.  Meath).  lycaving 
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 

^Annals  of  Ulster,  a.d.  919. 

2  76.,  A.D.  927. 

^  lb.,  A.D.  937.      Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle.  A.  Annal,  937. 

*  Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle,   D.   Annal  941. 

^  lb.,  E.  Annal  942;  Annals  of  Clonmacnoise,  A.D.  934. 

^Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle,  A.  Annal  944. 


THE   VIKINGS    IN    IRELAND  7 

"  Yric,  son  of  Harald  "  {i.e.,  Eric  Bloodaxe,  late  King  of 
Norway)  on  the  throne.^ 

Henceforward  Olaf  limited  his  activities  to  Ireland, 
where  he  reigned,  the  most  famous  of  the  Dublin  Kings, 
for  some  thirty  years.  In  gSo,  having  summoned  auxiliaries 
from  the  Scottish  isles  and  Man,  he  prepaied  to  attack  the 
drd-ri,  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.  Mael- 
sechnaill followed  up  this  victory  by  a  three  days'  siege 
of  DubHn,  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.* 
Olaf  himself,  utterly  disheartened  by  his  defeat,  went  on 
pilgrimage  to  lona,  where  he  died  soon  after. 

Some  fifteen  3^ears  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  lyimerick  shortly  after.  ^  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  tiouble 
and  revolted,  assisted  by  the  Dublin  Norsemen.  An  import- 
ant victory  was   gained   over   their   combined   armies   at 

^Anglo-Saxon  Ch/onicle,  E.  Annals  949,  952. 

*  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters,  a.d.  978,  979;  Annals  of  Ulster, 
A.D.  979  (=  980). 

^War  of  the  Gaedhil  with  the  Gaill,  p.  77. 


8  THE   VIKING    PERIOD 

Gleann  Mama  (Co.  Wicklow)  in  the  year  looo  by  Brian, 
who  after  the  battle  captured  Dublin.  King  Sihtric  (O.N. 
Sigtryggr),  son  of  Olaf  Guar  an,  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.^ 

Brian  became  drd-ri  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,* 
a  Viking  whose  fleet  then  lay  off  the  west  coast  of  Man. 
Fleets  also  came  from  Norway^  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.  * 

^  War  of  the  Gaedhil  with  the  Gaill_  p.  115  ;  Annals  of  the  Four 
Masters,  a.d.  997. 

^Var  of  the  Gaedhil  with  the  Gaill,  p.  153.  Njdls  Saga,  ch.  155. 
In  the  Annals  of  Loch  Ci  (A.D.  1014)  Brodar  is  called  the  earl  of 
York  {iarla  Caoire  Eabhroigh). 

^War  of  the  Gaedhil  with  the  Gaill,  p.  151. 

*/&.,  pp.  151-191  ;  Njdls  Saga,  chs.  155-157,  Annals  of  Loch 
Qi,  AD.  1014  ;  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters,  a.d.   1013. 


THE   VIKINGS    IN   IRELAND  9 

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  Hoiistmanni,  Nosmani,  etc.),^  and  it 
would  seem  that  when  Dublin,  Limerick,  and  Waterford 
were  captured  by  the  English  the  "  Ostmen  "  had  to  with- 
draw to  certain  districts  outside  the  walls  of  these  towns. 
Thus,  near  Dublin,  north  of  the  River  lyiffey,  we  hear  of 
Ostmaneby^  {i.e.,  Austmannabyr)  afterwards  called  Ostman- 
stonry,  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  "^ 
near  Waterford.*  In  the  records  of  the  fourteenth  century, 
however,  there  is  an  almost  total  absence  of  references  to 
the  "  Ostmen  "  in  Ireland.^ 

^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.,  Austnienn, 
plural  of  Austmathv,  "  a  man  living  in  the  East  ")  and  therefore 
must  have  been  current  in  Ireland  before  the  Enghsh  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  moknavae  Austmathv , 
given  to  a  certain  Eyvindr  by  the  Scandinavian  settlers  in  the 
Hebrides  because  he  had  come  there  from  Sweden. 

^Chartulayies  of  St.  Mary's  Abbey,  I.  267  ;  ib.,  I.  227,  234,  etc.; 
Calendar  of  the  Ancient  Records  of  Dublin,  I.  55;  II.  96. 

^A  Calendar  of  Documents  Relating  to  Ireland  (ed.  by  H.  S. 
Sweetman),  I.  24. 

*/&.,  II.  p.  426. 

*  For  interesting  articles  on  the  Ostmen  in  Ireland  see  A.  Bugge  : 
Sidste  Afsnit  af  Nordboernes  Historic  i  Irland,  pp.  248-315  (Aarb  ger 
for  nord.  Oldk.  1900)  ;  and  E.  Curtis  :  The  English  and  the  Ostmen 
tn  Inland  (English  Historical  Review,  XXIII.,  p.  209  £f.). 


10  THE   VIKIKG    PERIOD 


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  Minister^  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  expHcitly  states,  were  Irishmen  who 
had  been  fostered  by  the  Norsemen,  and  in  consequence 
had  forsaken  Christian  practices  and  lapsed  into  Paganism.* 
From  a  chance  allusion  in  a  tenth  century  text^  it 
would  seem  that  they  could  speak  Gaelic,  but  so  badly 
that  the  expiession  "  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*  in 
854,  in  which  year  Aedh  Finnliath,  King  of  Aileach,  won 

^Annals  of  Ulster,  A.D.  855,  856;  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters, 
A.D.  856. 

^Three  Fragments  of  Annals,  pp.  128,  129;  138,  139. 

^  Airec  Menmam  Uraird  Maic  Coisse,  sec.  29  (Marstr^der  : 
Bidrag  til  det  Norske  Sprogs  Historie  i  Irland,  p.  10). 

*  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  "  {mate 
bdis),  pos.sibly  a  term  applied  by  the  monastic  chroniclers  to  a  people 
who  had  abandoned  their  Christian  bapti.sm,  and  who  had  profaned 
churclies  and  religious  houses.     (Cf.  Marstrander,  op.  cit.,  p.  7,  n.) 


THE   GAILL   AND  THE   GAEDHIL  H 

a  great  victory  over  them  in  a  battle  fought  at  Glenelly, 
in  Tyrone.  1  After  this  they  took  an  active  part  in  the 
Irish  wars,  fighting  hke  mercenaries  on  different  sides — at 
one  time  in  alHance  with  the  drd-ri,  Maelsechnaill,  who  was 
at  war  with  the  Norsemen  \^  again,  with  an  Irish  clan 
against  the  DubUn  Vikings  under  Ivarr,^  and  still  later  we 
find  them  joined  with  the  men  of  Waterford  in  opposition 
to  the  drd-ri.''  I^ed  by  Caittil  Find  (O.N.  Ketill  +  Ir.  find 
— fair)  they  made  their  last  stand  against  the  DubUn 
Vikings  under  Olaf  and  Ivarr,  but  were  defeated  with  heavy 
losses,  and  after  this  there  is  no  further  record  of  their 
activities  in  Ireland.*'  On  one  occasion  at  least,  they  fought 

^  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." 

^Annals  of  Ulster,  a.d.  855. 

^Annals  of  the  Four  Masters,  A.D.  856. 

^Fragments  of  Annals,  a.d.  858. 

'^  There  was  also  a  mixed  Norse  and  Gaelic  population  in  Galloway 
(the  word  is  a  corruption  of  Gall-Gaedhil,  Welsh  Galwj^'del)  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-Gaedhill  in  t\iQ  Four  Masters  (a.d.  1154)  :  "The  Cinel 
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  Scotlanc^. 


12  THE   VIKING   PERIOD 

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,i  who  had  been  expelled  from  DubUn 
some  time  previously.  To  these  Irishmen  Aethelflaed,  the 
lady  of  the  Mercians,  sent  ambassadors  appeaUng  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  alhes  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."  2 

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  drd-ri^  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.*  Another  Irish  prince,  Lorcan, 
Eling  of  Meath,  accompanied  Olaf  and  Ivarr  when  they 
broke  into  the  famous  burial-mounds^  at  New  Grange, 
Knowth  and  Dowth,  on  the  Boyne,  and  carried  ofi  the 

^  Ann.  Camhriae,   a.d.  902;    (Steenstrup  :  Normannerne,  III.,  pp. 

37-41)- 

^  Three  Fragments  of  Annals,  p.  230  fi. 

*  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters,  a.d.  845,  852;  Annals  of  Ulster, 
A.D.  846.     Three  Fragments  of  Annals,  a.d.  862. 

^Annals  of  the  Four  Masters,  A.D.  848. 

»  The  plundering  of  these  burial-mounds — "  a  thing  that  had  never 
been  done  before  " — made  a  deep  impression  en  the  Irish  Annalists  ; 
it  was  thought  that  the  Vikings  discovered  the  existence  of  the 
treasure  b}'  magic,  "  through  paganism  and  idol  worship  "  {War  of 
the   Gaedhil   with   the  Gaill,  p.  115).   The  same  source  (p.  25)  records 


THE   GAILL  AND  THE   GAEDHIL  13 

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  drd-ri^  Even  after  the  arrival  of  Olaf  the 
White,  who  brought  about  a  temporary  reconciHation 
between  the  two  parties  of  "  Foreigners,"  a  detachment 
of  Danes  remained  on  in  the  service  of  Cearbhall,  King 
of  Ossory.2 

The  Irish  chronicler,  in  alluding  to  the  Norse  practice 
of  billeting  their  soldiers  in  the  Irish  farmhouses,  lays  stress 
on  the  feelings  of  hostiUty  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.' 
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 


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  Landnamabok  (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  ana  took  the  sword  and  much 
treasure  besides." 

"^  Three  Fragments  of  Annals,   p.    135. 

2/&.,  p.  137. 

^  Hiimskringla  :  dldfs  Saga  Tryggvasonar,  ch.  35. 


14  THE   VIKING   PERIOD 

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.  "  WilHngly," 
was  the  reply.  So  Olaf  gave  him  in  return  a  gold  ring,  and 
assured  him  of  his  friendship.  The  dog  was  called  Vigi, 
"  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,  "  Vigi  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."i 

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,*  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  Landndmabdk  many  distinguished  Ice- 
landers traced  their  descent  to   Kjarval,   i.e.,   Cearbhall, 

1  Cf.  The  story  of  Samr,  {i.e.,  probably  Jr.  sam,  "  happy "  or 
"  peaceful  ")  the  Irish  hound  which  Olaf  Pai  gave  to  Gunnarr. 
Samr  was  killed  while  defending  his  master's  homestead.  {Njdls 
Saga,  chs.  69,  75.) 

*  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters,  a.d.  820;  Fragments  of  Annals, 
p.  166  ;  War  of  the  Gaedhil  with  the  Caill,  p.  79  ;  The  Victorious 
Career  of  Callachan  of  Cashel,  p.  9. 


THE   GAILL   AND   THE    GAEDHIL  15 

King  of  Ossory  (d.  887),  an  ally  of  Olaf  and  Ivarr.  His 
grandson,  Dufthak  (Ir.  Dubhthach)*  was  the  founder  of  an 
Icelandic  family,  and  three  of  his  daughters,  Kormloth  (Ir. 
Gormflaith),2  Frithgerth^  and  Rafarta*  married  Norsemen. 
The  Landndmahdk  speaks  of  Kjarval  as  having  been  King 
of  Dublin  while  "  Alfred  the  Great  ruled  in  England  .  .  . 
and  Harold  Fairhair  in  Norway,"^  a  statement  which  is 
often  doubted  because  unsupported  by  the  evidence  of  the 
Irish  historians  ;  but  it  is  not  at  all  unHkely,  since  Cearbhall 
was  remotely  connected  with  the  DubHn  royal  house  through 
his  granddaughter  Thurithr,  who  married  Thorsteinn  the 
Red,  son  of  Olaf  the  White. « 

There  is  no  mention  of  Authr,  Olaf's  Norse  wife,  in  the 
Annals,  but  we  hear  incidentally'  that  Olaf,  while  in  Ireland, 
married  a  daughter  of  Aedh  FinnHath,  King  of  Aileach. 
After  he  became  drd-ri  (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  alhance  with  his  nephew  Flann  : 
Flann  himself  and  Carlus,  son  of  Olaf  the  White  being 

^Landndmahdk,  V.,  ch.  8. 

2/6.,  v.,  ch.  13. 

3/&.,  III.,  ch.  9. 

*  Ih.,  III.,  ch.  12.  Rafarta  was  the  wife  of  Eyvindr  the  Easterner, 
"  who  settled  down  in  Ireland  and  had  charge  of  Kjarval's  defences  " 
{ci.  Grettis  Saga,  ch.  3).  Ovkneyinga  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. 

^Landndmahdk,  I.,  ch.  i. 
6/6..  II.,  ch.  15. 

"^ 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). 


16  THE   VIKING   PERIOD 

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  Hoskuldr.  The  woman  was  dumb,  but 
Hoskuldr  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  Httle  son,  Olaf 
Pdi,  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  estabHsh  his  relationship  with  King 
Myr  Kjartan,  "  for,"  she  said,  "  I  cannot  bear  your  being 
called  the  sou  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  3^ou  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.  .  .  ."^ 

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  Hke  his  father 
Niall    Glundubh    distinguished    himself    by    his    spirited 

^Laxdaela  Saga  (translated  by  M.A.C.  Press),  chs.  12,  13,  20,  21. 


THE  GAILL  AND  THE  GAEDHIL  17 

resistance  to  Norse  rule  in  the  first  half  of  the  tenth  century.* 
Donnflaith,  another  of  his  daughters  and  mother  of  the 
drd-ri,  Maelsechnaill  II.,  mairied  Olaf  Cuaran.  Their  son, 
Gluniarainn,  reigned  in  Dublin  after  his  father's  retirement 
to  lona,  and  appears  to  have  been  on  friendly  terms  with 
Maelsechnaill.  *  The  relationship  between  these  two  families 
becomes  more  complicated  owing  to  the  fact  that 
Maelsechnaill's  own  wife,  Maelmuire  (d.  102 1),  was  a 
daughter  of  Olaf.^ 

But  perhaps  no  figure  stands  out  so  prominently  in  the 
Irish  and  Norse  chronicles* of  the  second  half  of  the  tenth 
century  as  Gormflaith  (O.N.  Kormloth)  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.  Guthrothr),  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.'*  The  Dublin  Viking 
who  led  an  attack  on  Armagh  in  895  had  an  Irish  name, 
Glun-iarainn,  obviously  a  translation  of  O.N.  Jarn-kni. 
He  was  in  all  probability  a  relative  of  lercne  or  Jargna 
(corrupt  forms  of  Jarn-kne)  who  ruled  in  conjunction  with 

^  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.  ( lb.,  A.D.  975). 

2ife.,  A.D.  981. 

^  lb.,  A.D.   I02I. 

*War  of  the  Gaedhii  with   the  Gaill,   p.   142   ff.  ;  Njdls  Saga,   chs. 
153.  154- 
^  Annais  0^  the  Four  Masters,  ad.  851. 


18  THE  VIKING   PERIOD 

Zain  or  §tain  (O.N.  Steinn)  as  King  of  Dublin  (c.  850)  ;* 
while  other  earls  of  DubHn,  Otir  mac  Eirgni,*  Eloir  mac 
Brgni  or  Largni^  and  Gluntradna,  son  of  Glun-Iarainn 
would  also  appear  to  have  been  of  the  same  royal  family.* 
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,^  son  of  Olaf 
Godfreyson  ;  GioUa  Padraig,  Dubhcenn^  and  Donndubhan, 
sons  of  King  Ivarr  of  Limerick  ;'  Niall,  son  of  Erulb  (O.N. 
Herjulfr)  ;  Cuallaidh,  son  of  King  Ivarr  of  Waterford  ; 
Eachmarach,  and  very  many  others.®  On  the  other  hand, 
we  may  note  the  prevalence  of  such  common  Norse  names 
as  Ivarr,  Guthrothr,  Sumariithi  among  the  Irish,  espedally 
in  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries.  Several  of  these 
names  still  survive,  as,  for  instance,  MacAuliffe  (O.N. 
Olafr)  ;    MacCaffrey    (O.N.    Guthothr)  ;    MacCalmont    or 

'^Three  Fragments  of  Annals,  pp.  119,  123.  Annals  of  Ulster, 
A.D.  852. 

^Chronicon  Scotorum,  a.d.  883. 

3 /&.,  886  ;  Annals  of  Ulster,  a.d.  885. 

*  See  A.  Bugge  :  Nor  disk  Sprog  og  Nor  disk  Nationalitet,  i  Irland, 
pp.  284,  285.  Profe.:>sor  Marstrander  {op.  cit.,  pp.  45,  46)  takes 
Gluntradna  to  be  an  Irish  adaptation  of  an  O.N.  nickname  Tronu-  Kne, 
to  which  he  compares  Tronuheina,  the  daughter  of  Thraell,  in  the 
Rigsthitla,  9. 

^  Cf .  the  name  Grimr  Kamban  [Landndmahok ,  Hauksbok  MS., 
ch.  19)  which  seems  to  be  a  Norse  form  of  the  Irish  Camman. 

*  According  to  A.  Bugge,  Duhhcenn  is  a  translation  of  the  O.N. 
Svarthofthi,  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  Guar  an 
(Ir.  cuaran,  a  shoe  made  of  skin)  ;  Olaf  Genncairech  [i.e.,  "  Scabby- 
head.") 

'  Their  mother  was  an  Irishwoman,  sister  of  Donnabhan,  King  of 
Ui  Fidgenti.  Donnabhan  himself  was  married  to  a  daughter  of 
Ivarr,  King  of  I^imerick.    [War  of  the  Gaedhil  with  the  Gaill,  p.  207). 

*  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 
Landndmabdk  (Revue  Celtigue,  III.,  pp.  186- 191). 


THE   OAILL   AND  THE   GAEDHIL        ^  19 

Lamont  (O.N.  I^gmathr)  ;  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.  Rognvaldr)  ;  Sigerson 
(O.N.  Sigurtbr)  and  MacSorley  (O.N.  Sumarlithi). 

Both  Gain  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  Ufe.  We 
may  trace  the  beginnings  of  the  seaport  towns,  DubHn, 
Limerick,  Waterford  and  Wexford,  to  the  forts  built  by 
them  near  the  large  harbours  in  the  ninth  and  tenth 
centuries.  In  DubUn  coins  were  minted  for  the  first  time 
in  Ireland^  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  ^ 


1  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  North- 
umbria,  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). 

*  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  Stracban,  II.,  290.) 


20  THE  VIKING   PERIOD 

to  the  Continent  the  work  of  the  great  schools  was  carried 
on  and  there  was  considerable  Hterary  activity  ;^  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  in- 
tervened 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  inter- 
laced 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  "  Hibemo-Danish."* 
The  Vikings,  on  the  other  hand,  came  under  the  influences 
of  Irish  art  and  hterature.  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.^  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. 


t.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.  loi.) 

*  See  Margaret  Stokes  :  Early  ChrUtian  Architecture  in  Ireland, 
p.  127. 

2  G.  Coffey:  A  Guide  to  the  Celtic  Antiquities  of  the  Christian 
Period  (National  Museum,  Dublin)  pp.  29,  49  and  62. 

^  lb.,  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^  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  DubHn,  at  this  time 
a  small  "  town  by  the  hurdle  ford,"^  but  they  were  quick 
to  reaHse  its  possibiHties  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  3  between  Armagh  and  DubHn,  the  Bishops  of  Dubhn 
were   obliged   to   acknowledge   the    Primate   of   Armagh  ; 

^  In  the  Annais  of  Tighernach  (a.d.  716),  the  Annals  of  Ulster 
(A.D.  715),  and  the  Book  of  Hymns  (ed.  Todd,  p.  156)  the  Latin 
civitas  (Li.  Cathair)  is  the  word  used  for  a  monastery. 

*  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, 

8  See  p.  55. 

31 


22  THE   VIKING   PERIOD 

but  the  latter  town  never  recovered  its  former  prestige  as 
the  capital  of  Ireland.^ 

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  preced- 
ing 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 
lyiffey,  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  Things  or  meeting- 
place,  which  was  still  to  be  seen  in  the  seventeenth  century  ; 
while  all  along  College  Green,  called  Le  Hogges''  and  later 
Hoggen  Green  by  the  EngHsh,  lay  their  barrows  (O.N. 
haugar).  During  the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries  the  Kingdom 
of  DubHn — known  to  the  Scandinavians  as  Dyflinarski — 
became  one  of  the  most  powerful  in  the  west.  Its  sway 
extended   north   to   its   colonies*   at   the   Strangford   and 

^  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- 

*  It  is  called  Tengmonth  and  Teggemiita  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). 

3  The  name  survived  until  the  1 8th  century  in  Hog  Hill,  but  it 
was  afterwards  changed  to  St.  Andrew's  Street. 

*■  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  Albdarn  (O.N.  Halfdanr), 
son  of  Guthfrith  (King  of  Dublin,  920-933).  Later,  when  part  of 
Albdann's    army    was    besieged    at    Atk    Cruithne    (near    Newry), 


GROWTH   OF  THE   SEAPORT  TOWNS  23 

Carlingford  Loughs,  west  to  Leixlip,  south  to  Wicklow, 
Wexford  1  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. 

lyimerick  (O.N.  Hlymrek)2,  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. ^ 
The  only  chieftains  mentioned  in  connection  with  this 
kingdom  during  the  ninth  century  are  Hona  and  Tomrir 
Torra  (O.N.  Th6rarr  Thorri),  who  were  slain  about  the 
year  860  in  attempting  to  capture  Waterford.*  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.* 
The  real  importance  of  Limerick,  however,  dates  from  the 
early  part  of  the  tenth  century  when  it  was  colonised  by 
Vikings  under  Tomar  (Th6rir)  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 

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. 

^Wexford  was  also  governed  by  earls.  One  of  them,  Accolb,  is 
mentioned  in  the  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters,  A.D.  928. 

2  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. 

^Annals  of  the  Four  Masters,  a.d.  843  ;  War  of  the  Gaedhil  with 
the  Gain,  p.  8. 

*Three  Fragments  of  Annals,  pp.  167,  144-6.  War  of  the  Gaedhil 
with  the  Gain,  ch.  23. 

^Three  Fragments  of  Annals,  pp.  173-175;  Chronicon  Scoforton, 
A.D.  887. 


24  THE   VIKING    PERIOD 

leading  into  the  streets  and  the  houses.*  As  a  kingdom  it 
was  independent,  having  subject  colonies  at  Cashel,  Thurles, 
lyough  Ree  and  Lough  Corrib.'*  It  bad  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  Guthfiith,  King  of  DubHn, 
led  an  army  to  Limerick,  but  was  repulsed  with  heavy  losses 
b3^  the  Vikings  there. ^  A  few  years  later  (a.d.  929)  he 
expelled  Tomar's  successor,  King  Ivarr  of  Linierick,  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,*  and  that  same  year  probably  forced  them 
to  fight  on  his  side  in  the  battle  of  Brunnanburh. 

This  hostiUty  would  seem  to  have  been  due  to  rivalry 
between  two  powerful  kingdoms,  rather  than,  as  has  been 
suggested,^  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  Gain  and  Danair  and  calls  their  fleets  loingeas 
Danmarcach  ocus  allmurach  ("  fleets  of  Danes  and 
foreigners  ").®  Elsewhere^  we  find  the  word  Lochlannaigh 
[i.e.,  Norsemen)  used  with  reference  to  the  Limerick  settlers  ; 

^  The  Victorious  Career  of  Cellachan  of  Cashel,  pp.  9,  66 ;  War  oj 
the  Gaedhil  with  the  Gaill,  p.  56. 

^Annals  of  Ulster,  A.D.  845,  922,  929;  The  Victorious  Career  of 
Cellachan  of  Cashed,  p.  10  ;  War  of  the  Gaedhil  with  the  Gaill,  p.  10  ; 
Thr&e  Fragments  of  Annals,  p.  197. 

^Annals  of  Ulster,  a.d.  924. 

^Annals  of  the  Four  Masters,  a.d.  935;  Chronicon  Scototum,  a.d. 
936. 

*  A.  Bugge  :  Sidste  Afsnit  af  Nordhoernes  Historic  i  Irland,  pp- 
254.  255. 

^War  of  the  Gaedhil  with  the  Gaill,  p.  41. 

''The   Victorious  Career  of  Cehachan  of  Cashed,   p.   64. 


GROWTH   OF   THE    SEAPORT   TOWNS  25 

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. 

I^During  the  tenth  century  Limerick  stood  in  close 
connection  with  the  Scandinavian  Kingdom  in  the  Hebrides.  ^ 
Mention  is  made  of  one  chieftain  "  Morann,  son  of  the 
Sea  King  of  Lewis,"  ^  who  fought  and  fell  in  Limerick 
against  the  Irish.  Moreover,  the  occurrence  of  the  names 
Manus,  Maccus  (O.N.  Magnus)  and  SomarHdh  (O.N. 
SumarHthi)  in  both  royal  famihes  points  at  least  to  re- 
lationship by  mairiage.  Indeed,  the  same  family  seems  to 
have  reigned  in  both  kingdoms.  "  Godfrey,  ^on  of  Harold, 
King  of  the  Hebrides,"  who  was  slain  by  the  Dal  Riada 
in  989^  was  in  all  probabiHty  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  settle- 
ment in  Waterford*  (O.N.  Vethraf^jorthr)  before  the  year 
919,  when  Vikings  under  Raghnall  (O.N.  Rognvaldr), 
"  King  of  the  Danes,"  concentrated  their  forces  there 
before  attacking  DubUn.  These  invaders,  sometimes 
called    Nortmannai    ('  Norsemen  '),  but  generally  alluded 

^  Steeustrup  :  op.  cit.,  III.,  p.  213. 

2  The  Victorious  Career  of  Cellachan  of  Cashel,   p.   65. 

^Annals  of  Ulster,  a.d.  988. 

^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]. 


26  THE  VIKING   PERIOD 

to  as  Gain  ('  foreigners  ')  must  have  also  included  Danes, 
as  Raghnall's  army  was  composed  of  both  Danes  and 
Norsemen  ;i  and  moreover,  both  parties  are  represented  as 
fighting  side  by  side  against  the  Irish  in  Waterford.^ 

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  ;3  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.*  Later 
in  the  same  century,  the  kingdom  of  Waterford  stood  quite 
distinct,  and  was  governed  by  Ivarr  (d.  looo),  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.^  The  town  itself  was  built  in  the  form  of 
a  triangle  with  a  tower  at  each  angle,®  only  one  of  which, 
the  famous  Reginald's  Tower,  built  in  1003,  is  still  standing. 
Gualtier  (?  Ir.  Gall  Hr,  '  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. 

^Annals  oj  Ulster,  A.D.  921. 

^The  Victorious  Career  oJ  Cellachan  of  Cashel,  p.  71. 
3  The  Four  Masters  record  "  the  pluudering  of  Kildart  by  the  son 
of  Gothfrith  {i.e.,  Olaf)  from  Waterford  "  (a.d.  926). 
^The  Victorious  Career  of  Cellachan  of  Cashel,  p    70. 
^The  Victorious  Career  of  Cellachan  of  Cashel,  pp.  13,  70. 
*  Smith  :   History  of  Waterford,  p    165. 


GROWTH   OF  THE   SEAPORT  TOWKS  27 

Cork,  the  seat  of  a  famous  school  founded  b}^  St.  Finbar, 
fell  an  easy  prey  to  the  Vikings  in  the  first  half  of  the  ninth 
century.  They  built  forts  there  and  at  Youghal/  but  in 
endeavouring  to  push  their  way  inland  to  Fermoy  were 
checked  by  the  Irish  (866),  and  their  chief,  Gnimcinnsiolla 
(or  Gnimbeolu)  ^  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  Diiihhgeinnti) ,*  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.  hdfuth,  '  a  head  ')  and  Skerries  (O.N. 
skjcBY,  '  a  rock  *  ;  also  Lambey,  Dalkey  and  Ireland's  Eye, 
all  three  containing  the  O.N.  form  ey,  an  *  island.'  The  name 
LeixHp  is  probably  a  form  of  O.N.  laxhleypa*  {'  salmon-leap  ') 
not,  as  is  generally  supposed,  of  O.N.  lax-hlaup.  The  O.N. 
fjorthr  occurs   in    Wexford,    Strangford    and    Cariingford 


'^Annals  of  the  Four  Masters,  a.d.  846,  864. 

*/&.,  865,    Fragments  of  Annals,  p.  169, 

Gnimbeolu  is  the  0,'N.  Grimr  Biola.  The  Irish  "Cinnsiolla" 
(Nom.  Cenn  Selach)  is  probably  a  translation  of  O.N.  Selshofxith, 
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. 

^The   Victorious  Career  of  Cellachan  of  Cashel,  pp.  10,  67. 

*Cf.  Marstrander,  op.  cit.,  p.  149. 


28  iHE   VIKING    PERIOD 

(O.N.  Kerlingafjorthr).!  Other  Scaudinavian  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.)  ;  Camsore 
and  Greenore  (O.N.  eyyr,  '  a  small  tongue  of  land  running 
into  the  sea  '). 

The  number  of  names  on  the  south  and  west  coasts 
is  Hmited  ;  besides  Water/or^,  we  find  only  Heluic^  (O.N. 
vik,  '  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  ;  Dun 
na  Trapcharla,  in  Co.  Limerick  (O.N.  (i)  torf-karl,  '  a 
turf-cutter'  or  (2)  thorp-karl,  a  'small  farmer');* 
Jolduhlaup,^  a  cape  in  the  north  of  Ireland  ;  and 
Ulfreksfjorthr,*  the  Norse  name  for  Lough  Lame. 

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  Scandi- 
navian in  form  and  replaced  the  old  Irish  word  Briu  during 
the  Viking  period. 

1  Cf.  Marstrander,  op.  cit.,  p.  154.  According  to  him,  the  O.N. 
Kenmg,  "  an  old  woman"  in  this  instance^  is  a  folk-etymological 
form  of  Carlinn,  the  old  name  for  the  ford. 

^  Annais  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  ")  al'.o  occurs  in  the  Book 
of  Bally  mote  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  Lliddle-Irish  stories  and  poems. 

See  Miscellany  presented  to  Kuno  Meyer,  pp.   293,  370. 

^ Landndmabok  I,  ch.   i. 

*  Heimskringla  :  Saga  dldfs  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.^  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  '2  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  fiity  vats  of  wine 
from  the  Norsemen  of  Dublin,  and  a  barrel  of  red  wine 
every  day  from  the  Limerick  settlers.^ 

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 

1  See  the  map  of  the  Irish  Trade  Routes  in  Mrs.  J.  R.  Green's  The 
Old  Irish  World. 

2  "  Kpscop  fina  "  in  the  sea-laws,  i.e.,  "  a  veisel  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.) 

'  Cf.  O'Curry  :  Manners  and  Customs  of  the  Ancient  Irish,  II., 
p.  125.  For  a  transcript  of  the  poem  see  A.  Bugge  :  Vesterlanden^ 
Indjlydelse  paa  Nordboernes  i   Vikingctiden,  p.  183. 

29 


30  THE   VIKING   PERIOD 

overseas  commerce.^  Previous  to  this  foreign  merchants* 
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,  DubHn,  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  Mama  (a.d.  iooo)  : 

"  In  that  one  place  were  found  the  greatest  quantities 
of  gold,  silver,  bronze,  and  precious  stones  :  carbuncle-gems, 
bufialo  horns,  and  beautiful  goblets  .  .  .  much  also  of  various 
vestures  of  all  colours  were  found  there  likewise."^ 

DubHn  is  frequently  mentioned  in  the  sagas  and  seems 
to  have  been  very  well  known  to  Icelandic  dealers.  In  Olai 
Tryggvason's  Saga  {Heimskringla)  we  read  that  during  the 
reign  of  Olaf  Cuaran  a  merchant  called  Thorir  Klakka,  who 
had  been  on  many  a  Viking  expedition,  went  on  a  trading 
voyage  to  DubHn,  "  as  was  usual  in  those  days."*  When 
Olaf's  son,  Sihtric  Silken  Beard,  was  King  of  DubHn  (c.  994) 
the  Icelandic  poet  Gunnlaug  Ormstungu  sailed  from  England 
to  Ireland  with  merchants  who  were  bound  for  DubHn.* 

'^  QL  Laxdaela  Saga,  ch    21. 

*  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. 

^  War  of  the  Gaedhil  with  the  Gaill,  p.  115. 

*  Saga  Oldfs  Tryggvasonar    {Heimskringla),  ch.  51. 

*  Gunnlaugs  Saga  Ormstungu,  ch.  8. 


EXPANSION   OF   IRISH   TRADE  31 

Eyrbyggia  Saga  tells  ^  of  both  Th6rodd,  the  owner  of  a 
large  ship  of  burden,  and  Guthleif,^  who  went  with  other 
traders  on  voyages  "  west  to  Dubhn."  Still  more  interesting 
is  the  account  in  the  same  saga  of  a  merchant-ship  that  came 
from  Dublin  in  the  year  looo  to  Snaefellsness  in  Iceland 
and  anchored  there  for  the  vSummer.  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  Hke  of  which  were  rare  in  Iceland."^ 

Limerick  is  heard  of  only  once  in  Icelandic  sources  ;  a 
trader  named  Hrafn  was  sumamed  "  the  Limerick-farer  " 
(Hlymreks  f ari)  *  because  he  had  lived  for  a  long  time  there. 
The  War  of  the  Gaedhil  with  the  Gaill  gives  a  detailed  descrip- 
tion 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  vaiiegated,  both  scarlet  and  green, 
and  all  sorts  of  cloth  in  hke  manner."^ 

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 


^Eyrbyggia  Saga,  ch.  29. 

2/6..  ch.  64. 

^  lb.,  ch.  50. 

^Landndmabok,  II.,  ch.  21,  etc. 

^War  of  the  Gaedhil  with  the  Gaill,  p.  79. 


32  THE  VIKING   PERIOD 

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  1^  On  the  other  hand,  the  Irish  frequently  descended  on 
the  Viking  strongholds  in  Ireland  and  carried  oS  the  Norse 
women  and  children,  "  the  soft,  youthful,  bright,  matchless 
girls  ;  blooming,  silk-clad  young  women,  and  active,  large 
well-formed  boys."^  Therefore  it  is  not  unUkely  that  the 
"  slaves  ignorant  of  GaeHc  "  who  are  stated  to  have  been 
given  as  tribute  to  the  Irish  kings  in  the  ninth  and  tenth 
centuries^  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  Httle  town  called  Grantebrycge  (Cambridge)  and 
exposed  their  wares  there."*  It  is  not  surprising  then  that 
the  wealth  of  Ireland  increased  rapidly,  so  much  so  that 
Brian  Borumha,  reaUsing  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 


^  Kristni  Saga,  ch.  3. 

2  War  of  the  Gaedhil  with  the  Gaill,  p.  79. 

^The  Book  of  Rights    (lycabhar  na  gCeart),  pp.  87,   181.     Ed.  J. 
O'Donovan. 

^Liber  Eliensis,  (ed.  Gale)  I.,  ch.  XLII. 


EXPANSION   OF   IRISH  TRADE  33 

other  countries  to  Ireland."*  And  even  after  their  defeat 
at  Clontarf,  the  Vikings  remained  in  the  coast  towns, 
whence  they  continued  to  engage  in  trade  witn  England 
and  the  Continent.  Both  Giraldus  Cambrensis*  and  William 
of  Malmesbury^  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.*  That  there  was  commercial  intei- 
course  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.^  About  1170  two  ships  saiHng 
from  England  "  laden  with  English  cloths  and  a  great 
store  of  goods  "  were  attacked  and  plundered  near  DubHn 
by  a  Norseman,  Swein,  son  of  Asleif ;  and  some  years  later 
vessels  from  Britain  carrying  com  and  wine  were  seized  in 
Wexford  harbour  by  the  English  invaders.® 

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.  mork,  a  '  mark  '),  margadh, 

^Keating  :  History  of  Ireland,  III.,  p.  271.  (Ed.  Dinneen).  Keating 
probably  derived  his  information  from  Giraldus  Cambrensis : 
Topographia  Hibernica,  D.  III.,  ch.  LIII. 

^Expugnatio  Hibernica,  I.,  ch.  XVIII. 
^De  Vita  S.  Wulstani,  II..   20. 

(See  Cunningham  :  Growth  of  English  Industry  and  CofUfnerce,  I., 
p.  86.) 

*  Giraldus  Cambrensis  :  Topographia  Hibernica,  I.,  ch.  VI. 

5  A.  Bugge  :  Contributions  to  the  History  of  the  Norsemen  in 
Ireland.  Part  III. 

•  Qiraldus  Cambrensis  :  Expugnatio  Hibernica,  I,,  ch.  III. 


34  THE  VIKING    PERIOD 

(O.N.  markathr,  a  '  market '),  and  penning  (O.N.  penningr, 
a  '  penny '),  and  also  by  certain  archaeological  discoveries. 
In  Scandinavia  coins  of  King  Sithric  Silken-Beard  have  been 
found,  ^  while  four  sets  of  bronze  scales  and  some  weights 
richly  decorated  in  enamel  and  gold  have  been  dug  up  in 
Ireland  (Bangor,  Co.  Down).*  To  the  same  period  (early 
ninth  century)  also  belong  the  scales  and  weights  which  were 
discovered  in  the  great  hoard  at  Islandbridge,  near  Kilmain- 
ham  in  1866.  ^  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  Dubhn  Norsemen.* 

^  A.  Bugge  :  Vesterlandefies  Indflydelse  paa  Nordboernes  i  Vikinge- 
tiden,  pp.  300-304. 

2  G.  Coffey,  op.  cit„  p.  91. 

3/6.,  p.  89. 

*  Duald  Mac  Firbis  :  On  the  Fomorians  and  the  Norsemen  (ed. 
A.  Bugge).  p.  II. 


CHAPTER  V. 

SHIPBUILDING    AND    SEAFARING. 

The  almost  complete  absence  of  any  allusion  to  Irish  ships* 
during  the  eighth  and  ninth  centuiies  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  DubHn  and 
Ivinn-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.'* 

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 

*  Only  one  reference  is  to  be  found  in  the  Annals.  See  Annals  of 
the  Four  Masters,  a.d.  728. 

*  'B,o\n  MacNeill :  "  The  Norse  Kingdom  of  the  Hebrides  "  {Scottish 
Review.  Vol.  XXXIX.,  pp.  254-276). 

35 


36  THE  VIKING  PERIOD 

the  Vikings  in  their  own  element.^  In  913  a  "  new  fleet,'* 
manned  by  Ulstermen,  attacked  the  Norsemen  off  the  coast 
of  Man  but  was  defeated.*  Another  Ulster  fleet  commanded 
by  Muirchertach  mac  Neill,  King  of  Aileach,  sailed  to  the 
Hebrides  in  939  and  carried  off  much  spoil  and  booty. ^ 
Moreover,  the  Irish  seem  to  have  imitated  the  Scandinavian 
practice  of  "  drawing  "  or  carrying  their  Hght  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  I^ough  Kme,  and 
afterwards  upon  I^ough  Uachtair."* 

The  men  of  Munster  also  had  their  navy,  which  they 
organised  according  to  Norse  methods''  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  DubHn, 

^  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. 

^Annals  of  Ulster,  a.d.  912. 

^  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters,  A.D.  939. 

^Annals  of  the  Four  Masters,  a.d.  953  (=  955).  Annals  of  Ulster, 
A.v.  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  I^ough  Ree.  ..." 

®  Ancient  Norway  was  divided  by  Haakon  into  districts  (Skipreithur) 
each  of  ^vhich  had  in  wartime  to  equip  and  man  a  warship  :  the 
number  of  these  districts  was  fixed  by  law.  Gulathingslog,  10.  Cf. 
The  Victorious  Career  of  Cellachan  of  Cashel,  p.  151,  n;  etc.  Cf, 
The  Saga  of  Haakon  the  Good  {Heimskr.),  ch.   2j. 


SHIPBUILDING   AND   SEAFARING  37 

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  Smth 
na  Maeile  (Mull  of  Cantyre),  and  if  I  am  carried  away  from 
Ireland,  let  the  men  of  Munster  take  their  ships  and  follow 
me."^  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."* 

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 

"^The  Victorious  Career  of  Cellachan  of  Cashel,  pp.  29,  86. 
•  Ih.,  pp.  89-102. 


38  THE   VIKING   PERIOD 

Shannon  to  Lough  Ree^  and  again  in  looi  saikd  with  his 
fleet  to  Athlone.*  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 
Dubhn  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  Arg^de."* 

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.*  This  is  evident 
from  the  following  Hst : — 

llid.  Ir.  abor,  ahiir :  O.N.  hdbora,  '  an  oar  hole.' 
Accaire  :  O.N.  akkeri,  *  an  anchor.' 

Accarsoid:  O.N.  akkerissaeti,    'a   harbour   for 

ships.' 
Achtuaim  :  O.N.  aktaumr,  '  a  brace.' 

athhha :  phonetic   form    (af,    av)    of    O.N. 

hofuih, '  head  '  of  a  ship. 

'^War  of  the  GaedJiil  ivith  the  Gaill,  p.  109. 

*Ih.,  p.  133. 

^  lb.,  p.  137. 

•See  A.  Bugge  :  Novse  Loan-ivords  in  Irish  {Miscellany  Presented 
to  Kuno  Meyer,  p.  291  ff.). 

W.  A.  Craigie  :  Oldnordiske  Ord  i  de  Gaelishe  Sprog  {Arhiv  for 
Nordisk  Filologi,  X.,  1894). 

C.    Marstrander  :  Bidrag    til   det  Norske  Sprogs  Histnrie   i  Irland. 

K.  Meyer  :  Revue  Celtique,  ■  X.,ypp.  367-9. 

^^Xl.,'pp.  493-5. 

,,  ,,  XII., (pp.     ^6o-3. 


SHIPBUILDING   AND   SEAFARING 


39 


Allsad : 

O.N, 

As: 

O.N. 

bat,  bad  : 

O.N. 

birling  : 

O.N. 

carb : 

O.N. 

cnairr  : 

O.N. 

laid  en  g  : 

O.N. 

lip  ting  : 

O.N. 

liinnta,  Innn  (in 

reania)  : 

O.N. 

scib  : 

O.N. 

tile :  O.N. 

Tlusdais  (?  teldass)  :  O.N. 

uicing,  a  word  used 
for  '  a  fleet '  :         O.N. 

uiginnecht,  piracy  : 


halsa,  *  to  slacken  a  sail.* 

ass,  '  the  pole  to  which  the 
lower  end  of  a  sail  was 
fastened  during  a  fair  wind.' 

bdtr,  'a  boat.' 

byrthingr, '  a  transport  vessel/ 
'  a  merchant  ship.'i 

karfi,  '  a  ship.' 

knorr,  '  a  merchant  ship.' 

leithangr,  '  naval  forces.' 

lypting,  '  a  taffrail.' 

hlunnr, '  the  handle  of  an  oar.' 

skip,  '  a  ship/  whence  also  are 
derived  sciobaire,  *  a  sailor  ' 
and  scipad  and  sgiobadh,  '  to 
make  ready  for  saihng/ 

thili,  *  a  plank/  '  the  bottom 
board  in  a  boat.' 

tjalddss,  '  the  horizontal  top- 
mast of  a  ship.' 

Vikingr,  '  one  who  haunts  a 
bay  or  creek.' 


^  i  '  Marstrander  {op.  cit.,  p.  21)  suggests  that  the  word  is  connected 
with  the  O.N.  dialectal  form  herling,  "  a  little  .stick  or  beam  under  the 
shallow.s  in  a  boat." 


40  THE  VIKING  PERIOD  ^ 

CHAPTER  VI. 

LINGUISTIC    INFLUENCES. 

{a)  Loan-words  from  Old  Norse  in  Irish. 

The  large  number  of  loan-words  from  Old  Xorse  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  thej^  confirm,  and  sometimes  supplement,  the  evidence 
of  Irish  and  Icelandic  sources,  that  the  relations  existing 
between  the  two  peoples  were  largely  of  a  f riendh^  character. 
As  the  subject  has  already  been  fully  dealt  with  by 
Celtic  scholars,  ^  onty  the  more  important  loan  words  are 
given  here  : — 

I.  Dress 2  and  Armour. 
O.Ir.  at-cliiic,  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.  puss,   *  a   small   bag   or   purse 

hanging  from  the  belt,' 
M.  Ir.  cnapp  ;  O.N.  knappr,  '  a  button.' 

1  Cf.  the  list  of  authorities  referred  to  ante.  pp.  38,  39. 

2  The  Norsemen  sometimes  adopted  Irish  fashions  in  their 
dress.  The  great  Viking  Magnus,  who  was  killed  in  Ireland 
in  A.D.  1 103,  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  01  af  Sihtricsson,  the  famous  King 
of  Dublin  received  his  nickname. 


LINGUISTIC   INFLUENCES 


41 


M.  Ir.  elta  ;  O.N.  hjalt,  '  a  hilt '  (of  a  sword). 

M.  Ir.  mattal ;  O.N.  mdttull,  '  a  cloak.' 

M.  Ir.  mergge;  O.N.  merki,  '  a  flag  '  or  '  banner.' 

M.  Ir.  sceld  ;  O.N.  skojldr,  '  a  shield.' 

O.  Ir.  scot,  lin  scoU  ;  O.N.  skaiit,  '  a  cloth,'  or  '  sheet.' 

M.  Ir.  starga  ;  O.N.  targa,  '  a  shield.' 


M.  Ir.  bailc; 
M.  Ir.  fidndeog: 
M.  Ir.  garda ; 
M.  Ir.  halla ; 
M.  Ir.  sparv : 
M.  Ir.  si5J//; 


Other  interesting 
O.  Ir.  armand, 

armann  ; 
M.  Ir.  callaire ; 
M.  Ir.  gunnfann  ; 
O.  Ir.  ^/'^W ;  M.  Ir. 

iavla  : 
M.  Ir.  lagmainn  ;^ 


M.  Ir.  P^?'s;2 
M.  Ir.  srdid; 
M.  Ir.  sreang ; 
M.  Ir.  ^m'z7/; 
M.  Ir.  trosg ; 
O.  Ir.  itstaing ; 


II.  Housebuilding. 
O.N.  6^7^;',  '  a  beam.' 
O.N.  vindaiiga,  '  a  window. 
O.N.  garthr,  '  a  garden.' 
O.N.  /io//,  '  a  hall.' 
O.N.  sparri,  '  a  rafter.' 
O.N.  s/d^/,  '  a  stool.' 

III. 

loan  words  are  : — 


O.N.  drmathr,  '  an  officer.' 

O.N.  kallari,  '  a  herald.' 

O.N.  gimnfdni,    '  a   battle  standard.* 

O.N.  jarl,  '  an  earl.' 

O.N.  logmenn,  plural  of  logmatJiY,  '  a 

lawman.' 
O.N.  berserkr. 
O.N.  straeti,  '  a  street.' 
O.N.  strengy,  '  a  string.' 
O.N.  thraell,  '  a  slave.' 
O.N.  thorskr,   '  codfish.' 
O.N.  hiisthing,  '  an  assembly.' 


^  In  the  Annals  of  the  Foiiv  Masters  (A.D,  960),  laguiainn  is  the 
name  given  to  certain  chieftains  from  the  Hebrides  who  phuidered 
the  southern  and  eastern  coasts  of  Ireland. 

*  The  word  occurs  only  once  in  Irish  :  cf .  The  Victorious  Carser  of 
Cellachan  of  Cushel,  p.  140. 


42  THE   VIKING   PERIOD 

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  : — 

ciug.'^  O.N.  koniingv,  or  possibly 

A.S.  cyning. 

coming  (Three  Fragments  of 

Annals,  pp.  126,  194,  228).  O.N.  kommgr,  '  a  king.* 

"  Faras  Domnall  ?  "  (War  of 
the  Gaedhil  with  the  Gaill ; 
p.  174).  "  Hvar  es  Domhnall  ?  " 

"  Where    is    Domhnall  ?  '* 

"Simd  a  sniding,"  was  the       O.  Jr.  simd,  "  here.'* 
reply.  O.N.        nithingr,        "  here, 

rascal." 

fiiit   (Book  of  Leinster,    172, 

a,  7).  O.N.  hvitr,  '  white.' 

In  fait,  a  personal  name ; 
War  of  the  Gaedhil  with 
the  Gaill,  p.  yS.  O.N.  hvitr,  *  white.' 


'^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). 


LINGUISTIC   INFLUENCES  43 

litill  {ibid.,  p.  84).  O.N.  litill,   '  little.' 

mikle   (Three    Fragments   of 
Annals,  p.  176).  O.N.  mikill,  '  much.' 

nui,nui  {ibid,'p.  16^).'^  O.N.  kmie,  ixom  knyja,   'to 

advance.' 

roth.^  O.N.  raitthr,  '  red.' 

(b)  Gaelic  Words  in  Old  Norse  Literature. ^ 

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  Hterature.  The  only  Norse  words  that  can 
be  said,  with  any  certainty,  to  be  derived  from  Irish,  are 
the  following  : — 

bjamiak    ( Ynglingasaga, 

Heimskringla,  ch.  2)  :  Ir.  bennacM,  '  a  blessing.' 

erg  [Orkneyinga  Saga,  ch.  113)  Ir.  airghe,  (i) '  a  herd  of 

cattle.' 
(2)  *  grazing  land/ 


1  These  annals  state  that  on  one  occasion  (a.d.  869)  Cennedigh 
of  Ivcix,  a  brave  Irish  chieftain,  was  pursued  by  the  Norsemen,  who 
"  blew  their  trumpets  and  raised  angry  barbarous  shouts,  many  of 
them  crying  '  nui,  mii.'  " 

2  Marstrander  {op.  cit,  p.  156)  suggests,  however,  that  roth  may  be 
an  archaic  form  of  the  Irish  niadh,  '  red.' 

^  Cf.  W.  A.  Craigie  :  Gaelic  Words  and  Names  in  the  Sagas  and 
Landndmabok.  [Zeitscltrift  fiir  Celtische  Philologie,  Band  I.,  pp. 
439-454)- 

A.  Bugge  :  Vesterlandenes  Indflydelse  paa  Nordbosmes  i  Vihinge- 
iiden,  ch.  9.    See  especially  pp.  358-359. 


44  THE   VIKING    PERIOD 

gelt  ;^  Ir.  g^^l^,  '  a  madman/ 

varth  at  gjalti,  to  become  mad 
I  with  fear.  Cf .  Eyrhyggja 
,  Saga,  ch.  i8. 

ingian  ;  Ir.  inghean,  '  a  girl.' 

kapall  (Fommanna  Sogur  II., 

p.  231)  ;  Ir-  capall,  '  a  horse.* 

kesja  :  Ir.  c^Js,  '  a  spear.' 

y^of'^i  (Snorres  Edda,  II.,  493);  Ir.  coivce,  '  oats.' 

kross  :  Ir.  cws,  '  a  cross.' 

kuaran ;  Ir.  cnaran,   '  a  shoe  '    (made 

of  skin). 

1  There  is  an  interesting  account  of  the  gelt  in  the  Old  Norse 
Konungs  Skuggsjd  {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  Hved  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  Mivahilla  in  the  Old  Norse 
"Speculum  Regale"  {Eriu,  Vol.  IV.,  pp.  11-12). 

This  bears  a  .striking  resemblance  to  a  certain  passage  in  the 
mediaeval  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.,  Bnile  Suibhne. 
{The  Madness  of  Suibhne,  ed.  by  J.  G.  O'Keefe  for  the  Irish  Texts 
Society).    Cf.  also  Hdvamdl  (ed.  Gering),  .str.  129,  etc. 


LINGUISTIC   INFLUENCES  45 

ktithi i"^  ?  Ir.  cuthach,  'fierce.' 

mahdiarik;^  Ir.  mallackt  diiit,    a   rig,    'a 

curse  upon   you,   O  king.' 
minnthak ;^  Ir.  mintach,  'made  of  meal.' 

rig  (in  Rigsmdl)  ;  Ir.  ri[g),  '  a  king.' 

tarfr  {Eyrbyggia  Saga,  cli.  63, 
etc.)  Ir.  tarbh,  '  a  bull.' 

(c)  Irish  Influence  on  Icelandic  Place- 
nomenclature. 

A  number  of  the  place-names  mentioned  in  the 
Landndmahok*  contain  a  Gaelic  element  which,  ^Yith  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. 
Bekkanstatkir  :  Ir.  Beccdn. 

(i)    Branslackr,    (eilso    (2) 

Brjamslackr) ;  Ir.  (i)  Bran,  (2)  Brian. 


^  Vilbald,  a  descendant  of  Kjarval,  King  of  Ossory,  liad  a  ship 
called  Kuthi,  cf.  Landndmahok ,  IV.,  ch.  11.  Todd  {War  of  the  Gaedhil 
with  the  Gain,  p.  299,0.)  suggests  Ir.  Cuthach. 

2j^ccording  to  Jans  Saga  kins  Helga,  ch.  14  {Bishupa  Sogiiv  I., 
Kaupmannahofn,  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 
m  these  words  :  "  Male  diarik,"  to  which  the  King  repHed  "  Olgeira 
ragall,"  i.e.,  Ir.,  olc  aev  adh  ra  gall,  (it  is  a  bad  thing  to  be  cursed  by 
a  Norseman.) 

3  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.  Landmmabdk,  I.,  ch.    6. 


*Cf.  Whitley  Stokes,  op.  ctt.,  pp.  186  191, 


46 


THE   VIKING   PERIOD 


Personal  Name. 

Dufansdalir  ; 

Ir. 

Duhhan. 

Dufthaksholt ; 

Ir. 

Dubhthach. 

also  Dufthakskor ;  etc. 

Kalmansd  ; 

Ir. 

Colmdn. 

also  Kalmanstunga. 

Kjallaksholl,  Kjallaksstathiv , 

:  Ir. 

Ceallach. 

Kjaninsvik  ; 

Ir. 

Ciardn. 

Kylaiisholar  ; 

Ir. 

Culen  (Marstrander). 

(i)  Lnnansholt  or 

Ir. 

(i)  Lon-dn 

(2)  Lumansholt ; 

(2)  Lomnidn. 

Minnthakseyy  ; 

Ir. 

mintach, '  made  of  meal.' 

Papyli,  Papey  ; 

Ir. 

*  papa,'     '  an     anchorite 

Patreksfjoythr  ; 

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  Landndniabok  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  httle 
headway  ;  heathenism  retained  a  strong  hold  on  the  majority 
of  the  Norse  people,  and  there  can  be  Httle  doubt  that  this 
form  of  religion  was  extensively  practised  in  Ireland  during 
the  Viking  age.  Evidence  of  this  is  to  be  found  in  The 
Way  of  the  Gaedhil  imth  the  Gaill,  which  describes  how 
Authr,  wife  of  Turgeis,  sat  on  the  high  altar  of  the  church 
in  Clonmacnois,  and  gave  audiences  as  a  prophetess.^  In 
this  instance  the  high  altar  would  seem  to  have  corresponded 
to  the  seithy  hjally  or  platform  which  it  was  customary  to 
erect  in  Icelandic  houses  when  a  volva  or  prophetess  was 
called  in  to  foretell  the  future. ^    Some  writers ^  also  point 

'^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.  ..." 

2  Cf.  Thoyfinssaga  Karlsefnis,  ch.  3  ;  Vatnsdaela  Saga,  cli.  10  ; 
Thdtiy  af  Nornagesti,  ch.   11;  Hrolfs  Saga.  Kraka,  ch,  3;  etc. 

^  e.g.,  C.  Haliday  :  The  Scandinavian  Kingdom  of  Dublin,  p    12  ft". 
Margaret  Stokes,  op.  cit.,  pp.  96-98. 

47 


48  THE  YlKING   PERIOD 

to  the  numerous  raids  ou  churches  and  religious  houses 
as  a  proof  of  the  Vikings*  hostility  to  Christianity,  but 
these  attacks  were  much  more  likel}''  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  Turgeis'  expulsion  of  the  abbot  Farannan  from 
Armagh  (in  839),  and  his  subsequent  usurpation  of  the 
abbacy,  1  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  "  \Vhite  Christ " 
through  their  intercourse  with  the  Irish.  Indeed,  an  entry 
in  the  Annals  of  Ulster  (a.d.  S72),  referring  to  the  death 
of  fvarr  the  Boneless,  impHes  that  this  famous  Viking  died 
a  Christian.  2  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,  Bjorn  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  Landndmabok  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 


^  Cf.  War  of  the  Gaedhil  with  the  Gaill,  p.  8. 

2  The  expression  used  is  quievit  in  Chrisio  aud  occurs  only  in 
MS.  A .  As  neither  MS.  B  nor  any  of  the  other  annals  mention  Ivarr's 
conversion  it  may  be  that  the  scribe  of  the  former  ha=?  unintentionally 
slipped  into  using  a  formula  which  was  customary  in  recording  the 
death  ot  a  Christian. 


THE   VIKINGS    AND  THE  CELTIC   CHURCH  49 

place  they  built  a  temple  and  offered  up  sacrifices.  ^  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  vo^^age  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.  2  ]\Iention  is  also  made  of  several  other  Christians 
from  the  British  Isles  :  Jorundr,  Helgi  Bjola  ]^  Thorkell— 
son  of  Svarkell  from  Caithness — "  who  pra3^ed  before  the 
cross,  ever  good  to  old  men,  ever  good  to  young  men  ;  '"^ 
As61f,5  Ketill — grandson  of  Ketill  Flatnose^ — who  was  sur- 
named  hinn  fifiski  ('  the  fooHsh  ')  because  he  adhered  to 
Christianity.®  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.'"^ 
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 
Christianit}^  declined  in  Iceland  ;  "  some  of  those  who  came 
from  west-the-sea  remained   Christians  until  the  day  of 

'^Landndmahok,  II.,  ch.  16. 

^Landndmahok,  I.,  ch.  12, 

3/6.,  v.,  ch.   15. 

^Ib.,  I.,  ch.   13. 

^Ib.,  I.,  ch.   15. 

8/6..  IV..  ch.   II. 

'  Njdls  Saga,  ch    i  o i . 


50  THE   VIKING   PERIOD 

their  death  *'  says  the  Landndmahok,  "  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  twent}^  3^ears."i 

In  the  transition  from  heathenism  to  Christianity 
opposing  beHefs  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  Byvindr  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  sancti- 
fying all  the  land  between.  .  .  .  Helgi  beHeved  in  Christ,  and 
therefore  named  his  house  after  Him."  2  We  also  read  that 
"  Orlygr  the  Old  and  his  family  trusted  in  Columba,"* 
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  Norse- 
men in  Carhngford  lyough  (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  frcm  the  drd-ri  found  the  Danes  seated 
round  a  great  fire,  cooking  their  food  in  cauldrons — which 

'^Landnamahok,  V.,  ch.  15. 
2/6.,  III.,  ch.  12. 
8/6..  I.,  ch.  12. 


THE  VIKINGS   AND  THE  CELTIC   CHURCH  51 

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."  ^ 

This  confusion  of  the  two  religions  is  also  illustrated  in 
the  crosses,  sj^mbols  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  de- 
scribed in  Vafthruthnismal ;  while  on  the  western  side 
of  the  cross  is  portrayed  the  punishment  of  Loki.^  A  frag- 
ment of  a  cross  in  the  same  locaHty  shows  Thor  fishing 
for  the  Mithgarthsormr,  3  a  subject  which  is  also  treated 
on  a  cross  slab  in  Kirk  Bride  Parish  Church,  Isle  of  Man.* 
Among  the  many  other  Celtic  crosses  in  Man  are  four  upon 
which  are  carved  pictures  from  the  story  of  Sigurthr 
Fafnisbani  :  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.  ^  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  "  Mai  Lumkun  (Ir.  Mael  Lomchon)  raised  this  cross 

^Three  Fragments  of  Annals,  pp.  120-124. 
2  Cf .  Gylfaginning,  chs.  51,  52. 

^  H'piniskvitha,   pass.      Cf.    W.    S.    Calverley  :  The  Ancient  Crosses 
at  Gosforth,  p.  168. 

*  P.  M.  C.  Kermode.  :  Manx  Crosses,  pp.   180-184. 
^Ib.,  pp.   170-179. 


52  THE   YTKTNG    PERIOD 

to  his  foster  (mother)  Malmuni  (Ir.  Maelmuire),  daughter 
of  Tufgal  (Ir.  Dubhgall),  whom  Athisl  had  to  wife."  To  this 
the  nine  writer  adds  :  "It  is  better  to  leave  a  good  foster- 
son  than  a  bad  son."i  Crosses  were  also  erected  by  Mail 
Brikti  (Ir.  Mael  Brigde),  son  of  Athakan  (Ir.  Aedhacan) 
the  smith  ;2  by  Thorleifr  Hnakki  in  remembrance  of  his 
son  Fiak  (Ir.  Fiacca)  ;3  and  by  an  unknown  Norseman  to 
the  memory  of  his  wife  Murkialu  (Ir.  Muirgheal).*  Another 
cross-slab  commemorates  Athmiul  (?  Ir.  Cathmaoil),  wife 
of  Truian  {i.e.,  the  Pictish  name  Dmian),  son  of  Tufkal,** 
while  still  another  stone  contains  a  fragment  of  a  prayer 
to  Christ,  and  the  Irish  saints,  Malaki  (Malachy),  Bathrik 
(Patrick),  and  Athanman  (Adamnan).« 

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  Eyrhyggja  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."'  We  may  assume 


^  lb.,  pp.  86-95,   195-199- 

'  lb.,  pp.   150-153- 

2  Jb.,  pp.  203-205. 

■*  lb.,  pp.  209-213. 

^  lb.,  p.   169. 

*  lb.,  pp.  212-213. 

"^Annals  of  Ulster,  a.d.  919.  The  vSame  source  in  recording 
Gothfrith's  death  (A.D.  933)  speaks  of  him  as  "  the  most  cruel  of 
the  Norsemen." 


THE   VTKTNnS    AND   THE   CELTIC    CHURCH  53 

that  Sihtric  Gale,  Gothfrith's  brother  (or  cousin)  was  also 
a  Christian,  since  he  formed  a  friendly  alhance  with  Aethel- 
stan,  who  gave  him  his  sister  in  marriage. ^  In  943  Olaf 
Cuaran  was  baptized,  and  in  the  same  year  Rognvaldr, 
another  Norse  prince,  was  confirmed.'*  After  the  battle 
of  Tara  (980)  Olaf  went  on  pilgrimage  to  lona,  where  he 
died  "  after  penance  and  a  good  life."^  His  daughter  and 
grandson  were  called  by  distinctively  Irish  Christian  names 
— Maelmuire*  (servant  of  Mary),  and  Gilla  Ciarain^  (servant 
of  St.  Ciaran).  We  ma}-  also  note  the  name  Gilla-Padraig 
which  occurs  in  the  royal  family  of  Waterford^  and  the 
half-Irish  name  of  a  priest  in  Clonmacnois,  Connmhach 
Ua  Tomrair,  who  must  have  been  of  Norse  extrac- 
tion.^ 

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 
Dubhn  by  King  Maelsechnaill  II.  in  994.^  This  must  have 
been  the  ddm-hnngr,  so  frequently  alluded  to  in  Icelandic 
Hterature.  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.^  Upon  this  ring  oaths  w^ere  usually  sworn. i''  That  it 
was  connected  with  the  worship  of  Thor  is  clear  from  a 
passage    in    the  Landndmahdk    describing    a    place    called 


^Anglo-Saxon  Chronicle,  MS.D.,  a.d.  925. 

2/fc.,  MSS.   A.,  942,  D.  943. 

^Annals  of  the  Four  Masters,  a.d.  979. 

*  lb.,   A.D.    I02I. 

^War  of  the  Gaedhil  with  the  Gaill,  p.  207. 

•  Annals  of  the  Four  Masters,  a.d.  982. 

'76.,    A.D.    lOII. 
®  lb.,  A.D.   994. 

^Eyrbyggja  Saga,   clis.   4   and   10;    Kjalnesinga  Saga,   ch.   2;   etc. 
^oCf.  Anglo-Saxon    Chronicle,  M5. /4.  Annal,  a.d,  876,  Kjalnesinga 
Saga,  ch.  2  ;  etc. 


54  THE   VIKING   TERIOD 

Thorsnea  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  b}^  is  the  ddmhringr  where 
the  men  were  condemned  to  death."  ^  Even  as  late  as  the 
year  a.d.  looo  we  hear  of  Thor's  wood  {caill  Tomair) 
north  of  DubUn,  which  was  laid  waste  by  Brian  Borumha 
after  the  battle  of  Gleann  Mama.^ 

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.  More- 
over, 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  hostiUties  between  the  two  peoples.  Her  son, 
Sihtric  Silken  Beard,  who  was  most  active  in  mobihsing 
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.' 
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.* 

It  was  probably  on  his  return  to  Dublin  from  Rome  in 


'^Lnndndmaboh,  II.,  ch.  12. 

^Vnr  of  the  Gaedhil  zvith  the  GaiU,  pp.  196,  198. 

^  Atmals  of  Tigernach,  ad.   1028,   1036. 

*  Jh.,  A.D.   10-^2. 


THE  VIKINOS   AND  THE  CELTIC  CHURCH  55 

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."i 

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 
lyanfranc,  and  when  the  next  bishop,  Patrick,  was  chosen 
by  the  clergy  and  people  of  DubUn,  he  was  sent,  with  a 
letter  professing  their  "  bounden  obedience  "  to  lyanfranc 
for  consecration  (a.d.  1074). 2  His  successors,  Donatus 
(d.  1095),  Samuel  (d.  1121),  and  Gregory  (d.  11 62)  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  extremeh^  angry  with  us  because  we 
will  not  submit  to  his  decrees,  and  because  we  always  wish 
to  remain  under  your  authority.  ^ 

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, 
hke  that  of  DubUn,  to  the  Holy  Trinity.* 

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 


^The  Whole  Works  of  Sir  James  Ware  Concerning  Ireland,  Vol  I., 
p.  301.  (Ware  quotes  from  the  Black  Book  of  Christchurch  Cathedral, 
Dublin.) 

2/6.,  p.  306. 

»/6.,  pp.  309-311. 

*/fe.,  pp.  525-6. 


56  THE  VIKING   PERIOD 

of  Canterbury.*  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  customar}^  for  its  bishop  to  receive 
consecration  except  from  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury."* 
lyimerick  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. ^  It  is  uncertain  whether  the 
Waterford  people  obe3^ed,  as  the  records  merely  mention 
the  names  of  the  succeeding  bishops. 

A  still  more  important  S3Tiod  was  held  at  Kells  in  1132. 
There  the  decision  of  the  j^revious  synod  regarding  the 
division  of  the  country  into  dioceses  was  ratified,  and 
archbishoprics  were  established  at  DubHn,  Armagh,  Cashel, 
and  Tuam.  Henceforth  the  bishops  of  DubHn,  Limerick, 
and  Waterford  were  consecrated  in  Ireland,  and  this  marked 
the  close  of  the  connection  between  Canterbury  and  the 
Celtic  Church. 

17&.,  p.  504. 

Cf.  J.  MacCa&rey  :  The  Black  Book  of  Limerick.  Introduction, 
chs.  5  and  7. 

^The  History  of  Ireland,  bv  Geoffrey  Keating  (ed.  P.  S.  Dinneen). 
Vol.  III.,  p.  298. 

^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  f  ollo^ving  :  (i)  the  Islendinga 
Sogur,  or  stories  relating  to  prominent  Icelanders,  (2) 
Konunga  Sogur,  or  stories  of  Kings,  chiefly  of  Norway  ; 
(3)  Fornaldar  Sogur,  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.^  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  Islendinga-Bok,  containing 

^  It  has  been  stated  (cf.  E.  Mogk  :  Geschichte  d^y  Norwegisch- 
Isldndischen  Literatur.  Strassburg,  1904,  p.  830)  that  mauy  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  Sogur,  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.Fiunur  jonssoU  ;  Old 
Norske  Liiteraturs  Historie,  II.,  p.  791.) 

57 


58  THE  VIKING   PEEtOD 

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  3'ears  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  shoil  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  emplo^-ed  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.  "1 

That  the  art  of  storytelling  did  not  decUne  in  Iceland 
even  after  the  majority  of  the  sagas  were  written  down  is 


'^The  First  Nine  Books  of  the  Danish  History  of  Saxo  Grammaiicv.s. 
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. 


LirEEAEY  INFLUE^'CE  59 

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^  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 
hstening  to  the  tale  the  Icelander  is  telHng."  "  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.*  So  Sturla  went  aft  to 
the  quarterdeck  and  told  the  story  over  again.  When  he 
had  j&nished,  the  queen  and  many  of  the  Hsteners  thanked 
him  and  took  him  to  be  a  learned  and  wise  man.^ 

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 

1  This  was  probabh^  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  Hold  a  or  Holle  in  German  folk-lore. 

2  "  hafa  meih  sey  tyvllkomi-susuna,"  From  these  words  Finnur 
Jonsson  [op.  cit.,  II.,  p.  792)  concludes  that  Sturla  possessed  a  written 
copy  of  the  saga. 

^Sturlunga  Saga,  11.,  pp.  270-271. 


bO  THE   VIKING   PERIOD 

all  kinds  of  amusements,  such  as  dancing,  wrestling  and 
story-telling.  .  .  .  Hrolfr  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  Hromundr  Gripsson,  and  he  included  many 
verses  in  his  story.  King  Sverrir  used  to  be  entertained 
with  this  story,  and  he  declared  that  fictitious  stories  Hke 
these  were  the  most  entertaining  of  any  ;  and  yet  there  are 
men  who  can  trace  their  ancestry  to  Hromundr  Gripsson. 
Hrolfr  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."^ 

The  former  of  these  stories  is  the  Hromundr  a  Saga  which 
belongs  to  the  class  commonly  called  Fornaldar  Sogur.* 

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^  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  3^ou  were  called  upon 

^Tkorgtl's  Saga  ok  Haflitha  {Siurhtnga  Saga,  Vol.  I.,  p.   19). 
^Fornaldar  Soguy,  Vol.  II.,  p.  323. 

^ Harald' s  Hardrada  Saga,  cli.  99  {Fornmavnn  Sogur,  VI.,  pp. 
354-356;. 


LITERARY  INFLUENCE  61 

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  enter- 
tainment. Some  said  it  was  presumption  on  the  part  of 
the  Icelander  to  tell  the  saga  and  they  wondered  how  the 
king  would  Hke  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  storyteller  and  said  :  "  Are  3'ou  not  curious  to  know, 
Icelander,  how  I  Hke  the  saga  ?  " 

"  I  am  afraid  to  ask,"  repHed  the  stor5^eller. 

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  Halldor  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  Islendinga  So  gar 
in  certain  passages  of  the  sagas  themselves.  In  Fostbroethra 
Saga,  for  instance,  the  story  is  told  of  an  Icelander  named 
Thormothr,  who  went  to  Greenland  in  order  to  avenge  the 
death  of  bis  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  sei-vant  Egill  "  the  fooUsh  "  came  to  him  and 


62  THE  VIKING  PERIOD 

said  :  "  You  are  too  far  off  from  a  great  entertainment." 

Thormothr  asked  :  "  Where  have  you  come  from  and 
what  is  the  entertainment  ?  " 

Egill  replied  :  "  I  have  been  to  Thorgrimr  Einarsson's 
booth  and  most  of  the  people  who  are  attending  the  Thing 
are  there  now." 

Thormothr  asked  :  "  What  form  of  amusement  have 
they  ?  " 

Egill  answered  :  "  Thorgrimr  is  telHng  a  saga." 

"  About  whom  is  the  saga  ?  "  asked  Thormothr. 

"  That  I  do  not  know  clearly,"  repHed  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." 

Thormothr  said  :  "  But  3^ou  must  know  the  name  of 
some  man  who  is  mentioned  in  the  saga,  especially  since 
you  think  it  so  entertaining." 

Egill  repHed  :  "  A  certain  Thorgeirr  was  a  great  hero  in 
the  saga,  and  I  think  that  Thorgrimr  himself  must  have 
had  some  connection  with  it,  and  played  a  brave  part  in 
it,  as  is  most  Hkely.  I  wish  you  would  go  there  and  Hsten 
to  the  entertainment."  1 

Then  Thormothr  and  Egill  went  to  Thorgrimr's  booth 
and  stood  close  by  Hstening  to  the  saga,  but  they  could  not 
hear  it  very  distinctly.  Thormothr  had,  however,  under- 
stood from  Egill's  remarks  that  this  was  the  same 
Thorgrimr  who  had  slain  his  foster-brother  and  was  now 
recounting  his  exploits  for  the  amusement  of  the  crowd. 

More  famous  is  the  scene  in  Njdls  Saga  where  Gunnar 
Lambi's  son,  who  has  just  arrived  at  Earl  Sigurthr's  palace 
iu  the  Orkneys  is  called  upon  to  tell  the  story  of  the 
burning  of  Nj all's  homestead. 

^Fostbroethra  Saga,  ch.  23. 


LITERARY  INFLUENCE  63 

"  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  Sitr^^ggr  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. 

Kari  (Kj all's  friend  who  was  Ustening  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  liis  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."  1 

For  the  way  in  which  such  stories  were  preserved  from 
generation  to  generation  we  may  refer  to  the  end  of 
Droplaiigarsona  Saga  (Ljosvetninga)  :  "  Thorvaldr  (born  c. 
1006)  son  of  Grimr  " — one  of  the  chief  actors  in  the  story — 
"  had  a  son  called  Ingjaldr.  His  son  was  named  Thoi-valdr, 
and  he  it  was  who  told  the  story."  ^ 

The  passagee  quoted  from  Njdla  Saga  and  Fostbroethra 
Saga  seem  to  show  that  the  art  of  story-telling  was  already 
developed  at  the  beginning  of  the  eleventh  centur3^  In  these 

^NjdlsSaga  (by  G.  W.  Daseut),  cli.j.  153,  154. 

^Droplatigarsona  Saga  (Ljosvetuiuga  Saga),  p.  175  [AusifiyLhinga 
Soguy,  ed.  Jakobseu). 


64  THE  VlElNG   PERIOD 

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,'^  for  there  the  story-teller  was  not  an  eye- 
witness, but  had  obtained  the  story,  or  the  material  for  it, 
from  Halldor  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  some- 
one 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  Njdls  Saga,  where 
Gunnarr  Lambi's  son  is  said  to  have  told  the  story  of  the 
burning  unfairly.  Even  in  the  Islendinga  and  Konunga 
Sogur  fiction  forms  a  not  inconsiderable  element :  in  the 
Fornaldar  Sogur  it  is  ovbiously  much  greater. 

Yet  there  is  good  reason  for  beheving  that  in  the  main 
the  Islendinga  and  Kominga  Sogur  are  historical.  This 
may  be  seen  by  the  general  agreement  between  the  various 

^  See  pp.  Oo,  Oi,  ante. 


LTTERABY   INFLUENCE  65 

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  oi:)inion  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  deaHng  with  early  Icelandic  history  from  a.d.  874 
onwards  and  Norwegian  history  of  the  same  period  are  much 
less  full.  In  general  the^^  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  Volstinga  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.  ^ 

*  Cf .  the  references  to  Hromundar  Sa§a,  pp.  69,  70,  ante. 


G6  THE  VIKING   PERIOD 

Conditions  in  Iceland  were  especially  favourable  to  the 
development  of  the  art  of  story-telHng,  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  hospitaUty  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  B3^vindr  (c.  980),  whereas  in  Iceland  poetry  flourished 
for  a  considerable  period  after  this.  Icelandic  poets  were 
received  with  favour  not  onl}^  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  culti- 
vation of  poetry  probably  contributed  very  largel}^  to  the 
development  of  the  facult^^  of  story-telUng,  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 
w^ithout  significance  that  the  only  parallel  in  Europe  for 
such  a  form  of  Hterature  is  to  be  found  in  Ireland. 

From  the  allusions  to  this  type  of  composition  in  old 


LITERARY  INFLUENCE  67 

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  "  compan}^  of  story 
telleis  "  in  the  eight  lines  of  satirical  verse,  said  to  have 
been  composed  by  the  poet  Cairbre  on  Bress,  the  niggardl}" 
king  of  the  Formorians.^ 

Stor^^-telhng  was  one  of  the  many  attractions  of  the  great 
aonachs  or  fairs  which  plaj^ed  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  enter- 
tainment provided  by  the  professional  storj'-teller  : — 

"  The  tales  of  Fianna  of  Erin,  a  never- wearying  enter- 
tainment :  stories  of  destructions,  cattle-preys,  courtships, 
rhapsodies,  battle-odes,  royal  precepts  and  the  truthfid 
instructions  of  Fithil  the  sage  :  the  wide  precepts  of  Coirfic 
and  Cormac."^ 

The  Book    of  Leinster  states    that    the    poet   who    had 

^  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.  06 
(Best's  translation)  :  also  D.  Hyde  :  A  Liierarv  History  of  Ireland, 
p.  285. 

There  is  a  possible  reference  to  an  Irish  storyteller  in  an  inscription 
'on  a  stone  cross  at  Bridgend  (Glamorganshire).  The  inscription, 
which  is  thought  to  date  from  the  seventh  century,  runs  : — ( Co)nhellim 
possuit  hanc  CYucem  pro  anima  eiiis  Scitliuissi  .  .  .  Rh5's  takes 
scitlivissi  to  be  an  Irish  word,  a  compound  oiviss  {Ir.fis,  '  knowledge  ') 
and  scitl  {section ,  seel,  a  '  storj-,'  '  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. 

2  O'Curry  ;  ManngYS  and  Customs  of  the  Ancient  Irish.  II.,  p.  543. 


68  THE   VIKING    PEEIOD 

attained  the  rank  of  ollamh  was  bound  to  know  for  recital 
to  kings  and  chieftains  two  hundred  and  fifty  tales  of  prime 
importance  (prim-scela),  and  one  hundred  secondary  ones.^ 
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,  \dz.,  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  Hst  have  an  historical  basis  ; 
while  there  are  others  purporting  to  deal  with  kings  as  far 
back  as  looo  B.C.,  which  are  no  doubt  partly  imaginary, 
and  w^ere  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  mediaeval  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 
liis  sons  are  the  principal  characters  in  The  Leeching  of 
Cian's  Leg,  a  tale  preserved  in  a  sixteenth  century  manu- 
script. 2     It  is  interesting  to  note  here  the  presence  of  a 

1  O'Curry  :  Lectures  on  the  MS.  Materials  of  Irish  History,  pp.  243, 
583. 

2  Printed  in  Silva  Gadelica  (ed.  Standisli  O'Grady),  Vol.  I.,  pp. 
296-305. 

Stories  of  Brian  and  his  sons  are  still  current  in  the  Gaehc-speakiug 
districts  of  Ireland.  (See  Zeitschrift  fUr  Celtische  Philologie,  Band  I.. 
pp.  477-492.)     They  are,  however,  more  likely  to  be  folk  tales,  in 


LITERAEY   INFLUENCE  69 

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  storj^-teller 
was  able  not  onh'  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  stor3rteller  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^,  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.  ^ 

which  the  deeds  of  mythical  heroes  have  been  transferred  to  historical 
people,  than  sagas  transmitted  by  oral  tradition  from  generation  to 
generation, 

"^i.e.,  "son  of  the  honeyed  words,"  a  poet. 

■  O'Curry :  Manners  and  Customs  of  ths  Ancient  Irish,  II.,  pp. 
130-135- 


70  THE   VIKING   PERIOD 


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  storytellers  were  welcome  guests 
at  the  court  of  the  Scandinavian  kings  in  Ireland.  In  an 
elegy  on  Mathgamain,  Brian's  brother,  i  one  of  the  Munster 
bards,  says  he  finds  it  difficult  to  reproach  the  foreigners 
because  of  his  friendship  with  Dubhcena,  Ivarr's  son.* 
And  during  the  Hfetime  of  Brian,  Mac  Iviag,  Brian's  chief 
poet,  and  Mac  Coisse,  poet  and  storyteller  to  Maelsechnaill 
II.,  visited  the  court  of  Sigtryggr  and  remained  there  for 
a  whole  year.  On  their  departure  they  gave  expression 
to  their  feeHngs  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  Hstens  not  to  my  eloquence.* 

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.* 

^  Mathgamain  was  murdered  at  the  instigation  of  King  Ivarr  of 
Limerick  in  976. 

*War  of  the  Gaedkil  with  the  Gaill,  pp.  98-99. 

*0'Curry,  op.  cit.,  II.,  p.  128 

*  Ibid.,  II.,  p.  125. 


LITEEAEY  INFLUENCE  71 

On  the  other  hand  Icelandic  sources  mention  at  least 
three  skdlds  who  made  their  way  to  Ireland  during  the 
tenth  century  :  Thorgils  Orraskald,  "  who  was  with  Olaf 
Cuaran  in  Dubhn,^  and  Kormak  (Ir.  Cormac)  who  fought 
with  Harold  Greycloak  in  Ireland  (c.  961). ^  In  Gimnlaugs 
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  Hke  to 
get  a  hearing  for  it." 

The  king  answered  :  "  No  man  has  yet  made  a  poem  about 
me,  and  I  will  certainly  Hsten  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 


^ Landndmabok ,  I.,  ch.  19. 
^  Kormak' s  Saga,  ch.  19. 


72  THE  VIKING   PERIOD 

families  in  the  country.  We  may  mention  especially  Authr, 
widow  of  Olaf  the  White,  king  of  Dublin,  with  her  brothers 
Ketill  the  Foolish,  Bjom,  Helgi  Bjola  and  all  their  families 
and  dependants  ;^  also  Helgi  the  Lean  who  had  been 
brought  up  partly  in  the  Hebrides,  partly  in  Ireland, 
Jorundr  the  Christian  and  Orlygr  the  Old.^  Not  a  few  of 
these  were  partly  of  Irish  stock  such  as  Helgi  the  Lean, 
Askell  Hnokkan  and  his  brother  Vilbaldr  who  were  descen- 
dants of  Cearbhall,  king  of  Ossory  (d.  877). ^  Sometimes  we 
heal  of  settlers  who  were  of  pure  GaeHc  blood,  Hke  Kalman 
(Ir.  Colman)  from  the  Hebrides,*  and  Erpr,  son  of  a  Scottish 
earl  Maelduin,^  and  Myrgjol  (Ir.  Muirgheal),  daughter  of 
GHomall,  an  Irish  king.* 

It  has  been  urged  ^  that  the  persons  mentioned  in  the 
Landndmabdk  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  f  reedmen  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  Hjorleifr  brought  to  Iceland  only  one, 
Dufthakr,  had  a  Gaelic  name. 

1  Cf.  Landndmabdk,  II.,  ch.  16,  etc. 
^Landndmabdk,  V.,  ch.  15. 
8/6..  IV.,  ch.  II. 
*Ib.,  II..  ch.  I. 
6/6..  IL,  ch.  16. 
« lb.,  II.,  ch.  16. 

'  Finnur  Jonsson,  op.  cit.,  II.,  pp.  187-188  (n)  ;  W.  A.  Craigie  : 
Zeitschrift  fur  Celtische  Philologie,  Band  I.,  p.  441. 


LITERARY   INFLUENCE  73 

Such  slaves  were  not  always  people  of  humble  origin. 
Gilli  (Ir.  GioUa),  the  slave  who  killed  Thorsteinn,  son  of 
Hallr^  of  Side,  was  a  descendant  of  Cearbhall,  king  of  Ossory. 
Mention  is  made  elsewhere  of  Nithbjorg,  daughter  of  the 
Irish  king  Biolan  (Ir.  Beollan)  who  was  carried  off  from 
Ireland  in  a  Viking  raid  ;2  also  of  Melkorka,  King 
Myrkjartan's  daughter,  who  was  bought  from  a  slave 
dealer  in  Norway.  ^  Icelandic  custom  did  not  necessarily 
prevent  the  children  of  slave  women  from  becoming  persons 
of  wealth  and  influence  ;  indeed  Osvifr,  son  of  Nithbjorg 
and  Olaf  Pai,  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  famihes. 

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.* 
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 
Islendinga  Sogur,  though  they  are  comparatively  few  in 

^  "  This  Gilli  was  the  son  of  Jathguth,  who  was  the  son  of  Gilli, 
son  of  Bjathach  (Ir.  Blathach),  son  of  King  Kjarval  of  Ireland." 
( Thovsten's  Saga  Sithu — Hallssonay,  appendix.  '  Draumr  Thorsieins 
Siduhalssonar,  Asmundarson's  Kd.,  pp.  26,  27. 

^Landmmabok,  II.,  ch.  11. 

3  Cf.  p.  ante. 

*  Cf .  p.  66,  ante. 


74  THE  VIKING   PERIOD 

number,  while  many  of  the  Fornaldar  Sogar  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  Hterature  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  hterary  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^  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  earher  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 

1    Cf.  p.  63  ante. 


LITERARY   INFLUENCE  75 

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  Hterature 
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  treat- 
ment 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  herqic  epic  poetr}'  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.  EarHer  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. ^  The  unique  feature 
in  Irish  hterature,  namely,  the  fact  that  the  earl}^  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  centur3^  It  may  be  that  the 
prose  epics  originated  in  paraphrases  of  early  poems  such 
as  we  find,  for  instance,  in  the  Volsunga  Saga,  which  is  a 
paraphrase  of  older  poems  deahng  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, 

*See  Kuno  Meyer  :  Learning  in  Ireland  in  the  Fifth  Century 
(Dublin,  191 3). 


76  THE  VIKING  PEEIOD 

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. 


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, 

i860. 
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-Njdlssaga,  ed.  by  Finnur  J6nsson.    Halle  a  S.,  1908. 
The  Story  of  Burnt  Njal,  translated  by  Sir  G.  W.  Dasent.    London, 

1861. 

(Several  subsequent  editions.) 

Caithriim  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. 

Eyrhyggja  Saga,  ed.  by  H.  Gering.    Halle  a  S.,  1897. 

(English  translation   by  E.  Magniisson  and  William  Morris, 
London,  1892). 
Fornaldar  Sogtiv,  ed.  by  C.  C.  Rafn.    Copenhagen,  1829-30. 
Fornmanna  Sogur.     Copenhagen,    1825-1837. 
Fdstbroethra  Saga,  ed.  by  V.  Asmundarson,  Reykjavik,  1899. 
Gunnlaugs  Saga  Ormstungu,  ed.  by  V.   Asmundarson.     Reykjavik, 

1911. 
Heimskringla,  ed.  by  C.  R.  linger.     Christiania,  1868. 
Kormaks  Saga,  ed.  by  V.  Asmundarson.    Reykjavik,  1893. 
Landndmabok.  ed.  by  V.  Asmundarson.    Reykjavik,  1909. 

(Enghsh  translation  by  Rev.  T.  KUwood.     Kendal,   1898.) 

77 


78 


THE  VIKING   PERIOD 


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. 
Stiirlunga  Saga,  ed.  by  G.  Vigfusson.    Oxford,  1878. 
Thorsteins    Saga     Siihu-Hallssonar,     ed.     by     V.      Asmundarson. 

Reykjavik,   1902. 
Two  of  the  Saxon  Chronicles  (Parallel),  2  Vols.,  ed.  by  Earle  and 

Plummer.     Oxford,  1892  and  1899. 


Bugge,  A. 


CoUingwood,  W.  G. 
Craigie,  W.  A. 
Du  Chaillu,  P.  B. 
Henderson,  G. 

J6nsson,  F.    ... 

Joyce,  P.  W. 

Keary,  C.  F. 

Kermode,  P.  M.  C. 
Marstrander,  C. 

Mawer,  A. 
Mogk,  B. 

O'Ciury,  E.   ... 


II. 

Contributions  to  the  History  of  the  Norsemen 
in  Ireland.      Christiania,    1900. 

Vesterlandenes   Indflydelse  paa  Nordboernes 
i  Vikingetiden.     Christiania,  1905. 

Scandinavian  Britain.    London,   1908. 

The  Icelandic  Sagas.   Cambridge,  1913. 

The   Viking  Age,    2    Vols.     London,    1889. 

The    Norse    Influence     on   Celtic  Scotland. 

Glasgow,  19 10. 
Old     Nor  she     Litteraturs     Historie,     also 

(abridged).    Copenhagen,  1907. 
A    Social    History      of    Ancient    Ireland, 

2  Vols.     Dublin,   191 3. 
The     Vikings       in    Western    Christendom. 

London,  1891. 
Manx  Crosses.     London,  1907. 

Bidrag  til    det   Norske  Sprogs   Historie    i 

Irland.      Christiania,    191 2. 
The  Vikings.      Cambridge,    191 3. 
Geschichte  der  Norwegisch-Isldndischen 

Literatur.      Strassburg,  1904. 
On  the  Manners  and  Customs  of  the  Ancient 
Irish  (ed.  by  W.  K.  SuUivan).  London,  1873. 
Lectures  on   the  Manuscript    Materials     of 

Ancient  Irish  History.    Dublin.    1861. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


79 


Steenstrup,  J.C.  H.  R 

Stokes,  G.  T. 

Vogt,  L.  J 


Normannerne  (Vols.  II.  and  III.).     Copen- 
hagen, 1876-82. 

Ireland  and   the  Celtic  Church   (revised   by 
H.  J.  Lawlor).     London.   1907. 

Dublin  som  Norsk    By.     Christiania,    1896. 

The  Whole  Works    of  Sir  James  Ware    concerning  Ireland,    2    Vols, 
(translated  and  continued  by  W.  Harris).    JDublin,  1764. 

Worsaae,  J.  J.  A.  ...  Minder  om  de  Danske  og  Nordmaendene  i 
England,  Skotland  og  Irland.  Copen- 
hagen,   1 85 1. 

(EngHsh   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.      ., 


Craigie,  W.  A 
Curtis,  B. 

Hull,  E. 


Mawer,  A. 
Stokes,  W. 

Zimmer,  H. 


Nordisk  Sprog  og  Nordisk  Nationalitet  i 
Irland  (Aarboger  for  Nordisk  Old- 
kyndighed  og  Historie,  1900,  pp.  279-332). 

Bidrag  Bidet  Sidste  Afsnit  af  Nordboernes 
Historie  i  Irland  ibid.,  1904.    pp.  248-315. 

Oldnordiske  Ord  i  de  Gaeliske  Sprog  (Archiv 
for  Nordisk  Filologi.     1894.) 

The  English  and  the  Ostmen  in  Ireland 
(English  Historical  Review,  XXIII.,  p. 
209  ff.) 

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.) 

The  Scandinavian  Kingdom  of  Northumbria. 
Ibid.     January,   191 1. 

A  few  Parallels  between  the  Old  Norse  and 
the  Irish  Literatures  and  Traditions  (Arkiv 
for  Nordisk  Filologi.     1885.) 

Ueber  die  friihesien  Beriihrungen  der  Iren 
init  den  Nordgermanen.  (Sitzungsberichte 
der  Kgl.  Preussichen  Akademie  der 
Wissenschaften,  Bd.  I.,  pp.  279-317. 
Berlin,    1891.) 


80  THE  VIKING  PERIOD 


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 ;  \vife  of  Turgeis,  47. 

Brian  Borumha,  7-8,  29,  37-38. 
Brunanburh,  battle  of,  6,  24. 
Burial  moimds,   12. 

Canterbury,   55-56. 

Carlingford  I/)ugh,  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. 

dom-hvingy,  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. 

Kric  Blood-axe,  7. 

Fingal,  8. 
Finn  Gaill.  3  n. 


INDEX  81 

GaiU-Gaedhil,  10-11,  38. 

gelt,  44. 

Gleann  Mama,  battle  of,  8,  30,  54. 

Glttniarainn,  17-8. 

Gnimcinnsiolla,  27. 

Gormflaith,  wife  of  Brian  Borumha,  8,  17,  54 ;  wife  of  Niall 

Glundubh,  m. 
Gothfrith,  king  of  Dublin,  6,  24. 

Heathenism,  47-8.  50-4. 
Hebrides,    17,  25,  36,   41   «.,   48-9. 

Iceland,  13  w.,  8,  57-8,  QQ,  71. 

Ivarr  the  boneless,  3-4,  11,  48 ;  king  of  Hmerick,  7,  24,  70  n., 
king  of  Waterford,  18. 

Ketill  Flatnose,  48-9;  KetUl  "  the  fooHsh,"  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  ;  Maelsechnafli  H,  7-8,  17,  70, 

Melkorka,  16.  31,  73. 

Morann,  son  of  the  king  of  I^ewis,  25. 

Mnirchertach  of  the  I^eather  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 ;  Tryg\asson,  13-4. 
Ostmen,  9,  26. 
Ota,  wife  of  Turgeis,  2,  47, 


82  THE  VIKING   PERIOD 

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  w.,  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. 

Tengmoiith,  22  n. 
thing,  22,  61,  67. 
Turgeis,  1-2,  21,  23. 

Waterford,  5,  9,  23,  25-6,  30. 
Wexford,  22,  23,  30. 

volva,  47. 

York,  5,  6,  23. 


BOSTON  COLLEGE 


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