No More Learning

April 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 393
effort of national defence, which culminated victoriously for Bryan Boromha, on the field of Clontarf,' where his glorious and heroic career on earth closed.
The dates given for this last celebrated campaign of the Irish Monarch
have been confused and varied, in accounts which have come down to our
times. By some writers, the period has been considerably antedated. Thus, while a missing leaf,' containing probably what relates to the Battle of Clon- tarf, is not published, in Rev. Dr. Charles O'Conor's edition of Tigernach's Annals ;3 the " Annales Inisfalenses," Bodleian copy, place this last war of Bryan,attheyear996. • However,muchmorediffusely,andattheyear1014, does the Dublin copy of these Annals give a very detailed account regarding the celebrated battle of Clontarf,' and differing altogether in text, from the Oxford Codex. The year 1012 is the date, given for this great engagement, in the " Chronicum Scotorum. "* The Four Masters have the year 1013, for that event. ? About the end of the year 1013, or the be- ginning of 1014, has been assigned, likewise, for the opening of Bryan's last campaign. * A Welsh calculation places this date for the battle of Clontarf to 1013 ;9 but, it was really fought on the following year, as all the best authori- ties are now agreed. At a. d. 1014, the "Annales Buelliani" have the battle of Clontarf ;'° and, the English translation follows the original, with some interesting comments to elucidate the account. " This same year, also, the Annals of Loch C6" open with a narrative of that celebrated engagement. '3 The Njals-Saga ' adopts the latter date for the campaign, and battle, with which it concluded. The Annals of Ulster place the event, at 1013, or loi4;'5 and, the corrected chronology of Marianus Scottus, who lived not very long after the time, has it at the latter year. '* All our most reliable modern historical authorities are agreed, on the same date.
Less difficult is it, however, to settle the chronology, than to place, in suitable order and statement, the incidents of this campaign. All those causes which moved the hosts engaged on either side, and which immediately brought on that decisive b. ittle, can hardly be analyzed, at the present
"time. "' According to the Danish writer, Torfaeus,'* Kormlod,"' a woman of
Chapter vin. — " Now a
Barony of Coolock, and defined on the "Ordnance Survey Townland Maps, for the County of Dublin," sheets 15, 18, 19. Clon- tarf Town and sheds are marked, on sheet
; the divisions of its townland, into Eat and West, are shown on sheets 18, 19.
• See Dr. O'Conor's " Rerum Hibcmica-
rum . Scriptores," tomus ii. Annales Tiger- naci, p. 271.
i \ hiatus is to be found in
leian copy, viz. , from A. D. 1003 to A. D. 1018.
• See ibid. , p. 54.
5 See the Irish text, wi. h the Latin trans- lation, ibiil. , pp. 601070.
Rev. Williams ab John
19
See John D' Alton's History of Ire-
' Edited by William M. Hennessy. pp. 250 to 253.
See
parish,
in the
Ithel, M. A. ,
at
p.
this,
the Bod-
land and Annals of Boyle," vol. ii. , pp. 165
10178.
"The -dnnoil-A tochAC^, or the Annals
of Loch Ce, a Chronicle of Irish Affairs from
A. D. to a. d edited witli transla- 1014 1590.
tion, by'VV'dliamM. Ilennessy, M. R. I. A. M See vol. i. , pp. 2 to 13.
'< See cap. clvii. , clvii. , pp. 599 to 623. '5 See Rev. Dr. O'Conor's "Rerum Hiber-
nicarum Scriptores," tomus iv. , pp. 303 to
306.
''. See Pertz's "Monumenta Germanic
' See dnniLAnioghachcdeipeanti. An-
nals of the Kingdom of Irelan i, by the Four
Masters, &c. , edited with a translation and
copious notes, by John O'Donovan, LL. D. , "Historic. il Memoirs of the O'Briens. "
vol. ii. , pp. 772 to 781.
' See Walter Harris' "
Medieval Part, chap, iii. , pp. 26 to 37.
and Anti- quities of the City of Dublin," chap, ix. ,
" In his
of the
at
p. 194.
' See " Annales Cambri3e,"edited by the
x. , p. 33.
' Called Gormlaith, by the Irish.
" She is said, to have been the greatest
History
History
22.
'° . See pars, ii. , pp. 15 to 17, in Rev. Dr.
Charles O'Conor's " Rerum HIberiiicarum
Scriptores," tomus ii. ""
Historici," tomus v. Mariani Scotti Chroni-
con, p. 555.
' See, on this suljject, John O'Donoghue's
Orkneys, Copenha,'en, 1697, fol.
chap,
394 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 23.
very depraved morals,'" and repudiated by her former husband,'' Bryan Boroimha,wasmainlytheinstigatorofthiswar. SitricoftheSilkenBeard, andKingofDublin,washerson,byanotherhusband. " Aswehavealready premised, the accounts, even of great public events, at this period, and which have come down to us, exceed the sober truth of history, by the introduction of improbable occurences and easily ascertainable fictions. Various are the narratives, furnished in records of the times succeeding this period, and given by our Irish historians, to account for the war now impending. However, so widely do they differ in statement, and so improbable are many of the cir- cumstances introduced, that i: is nearly impossible to reduce them into relia- ble shape. VTet, have we to regard the story of those distant transactions, as not wholly irreconcileable with facts, that are disguised under turgid descrip- tion, and the mannerism of the bards, chroniclers, skaalds and saga-men, in the Irish and Norse traditions of the time. But, as various statements are extant, both on the Irish and the Norse side -p these have been subjected to a close examination—especially the earlier ones—and with a view to elicit themostconsistentandreliableversion. ThatancientTract,relatingtothe Wars of the Gaedhill with the Gaill, comes foremost in importance, as a remote account, and it has been relied on, discounting much that seems to be ima- ginative, yet not wholly incredible. An ancient Irish Manuscript, intituled Cath Chluana Tarbh, contains another description, especially of the cele- brated battle ;'• and, the substance of this statement has been published, already, by the celebrated Gaelic scholar, John O'Donovan. '' A more recent account endeavours to investigate the exact site, on which the great closing battle had been fought. '* Some of the Sagas, or northern stories, are full of detailed description, in reference to the Norse expedition, its origin, progress andresults. Thus,theNials-sagagivesacuriousrelationofthosecircumstances, connected with this great war,'' and, as we may suppose, agreeing with the Northman accounts. '^ Again, the story of Burnt Njal, or Life in Iceland, at the end of the tenth century,'^ contains most interesting illustrative details, 3° relating to the same subject. We are informed, that the NialsSaga has always and justly been placed before all of its class, as peculiar in matter, style, and spirit. 3'
beauty of the day, and to have set off her '? Especially in cap. civ. , clvi. , civii. ,
personal attractions by ornaments, which clviii. , pp. 589 to 623.
were not the products of her own skill and
industry.
=' This ignominy she deeply resented.
" He wasOlaf Kuaran.
'3 However curious and interesting the
subject matter of these Sagas may be, and
however specific their details, we must con-
fess our ignorance, regarding the exact Friderici Suhmii et Legati Arna-Magnseani. amount of credence to be given, in reference
to their Irish historic allusions.
'*See in "The Dubhu Penny Journal,"
vol. i. , No. 17, that article headed "The lished at Edinburgh, A. D. 1S61, in two vols.
Battle of Clontarf," pp. 133 to 136.
's He tells us, however, that the Annals of Innisfallen and of Ulsterhave been followed,
in many details, especially, when giving the list of chieftains, who fell in that engagement. '' See "Journal of the Royal Historical and
Archseological Association of Ireland," vol. V. Fourth series. No. 40. On the site of the Battle of Clontarf, by Thomas O'Gor- man, pp. 169 to 182.
8vo.
'" See the Introduction, ibid. , vol. i. , pp.
clxxxix. to cxcviii. Also vol. ii. , cap. cliii. ,
cliv. , civ. , clvi. , pp. 322 to 343.
3" See Dr. Gudbrand Viglusson's "Stur-
lunga Saga, including the Islendinga Saga of Lawman Sturla Tliordson and other
works," edited with Prologomena, Appen- dices, Tables, Indicesand Maps, vol. i. Prolo-
gomena, sect. 8, p. xlii. Oxford, 1878, 8vo.
"^ "
See Nials-Saga," Historia Niali et
Filiorum, Latine reddita, cum adjecta
Chronologia, variis Textus Islandici Lec-
tionibus, earumque crisi, nee non Glossario .
et Indice Rerum et Locorum. Accessere
specimina scriptur. -e Codicum Membraneo- rum tabulis seneis incisa. Sumptibus Petri
Havnia. ', anno MDCCCIX. , 410.
"' It has been translated from Njals Saga,
by George WebbeDasent, D. C. L. , and pub-
April 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 395
At this period, the Leinstermen and the whole Scanian race acted in con-
cert ; and, soon it was apparent, that their ambitious designs must lead to a
formidable struggle for supremacy, and against the authority of the Irish monarch. The Northmen deemed it necessary, to collect a powerful arma- ment, and they adopted those means, which were required to insure the suc- cess of their arms. The King of Leinster approved of their measures and engagements ; while he prepared his own forces, to second the efforts of tlieir gathering host. For this great expedition, the Danes collected their rein- forcements, from all parts of Europe. 3^ Having been parted from Brian, her former husband, Gormflaith, or Kormlada,33 sent her son Sitric, or Sigtrygg, to induce the Norsemen to attack the monarch of Ireland, at Clontarf. S'* She was the fairest of all women, and, adds the Saga very enigmatically, the best giftedinever}'thingthatwasnotinherownpower; but,itwasthetalkof men, that she did all things ill, over which she had any power. 35 Her hus- band's name was Olafrattle, and her son Sigtrygg went from Ireland, arriving in the Orkney Islands, while Earl Sigurd was keeping his Yule festival there, in 1013. Earl Gilli, Sigurd's brother-in-law,3* out of tlie Southern Isles, was with him, at that time.
King Sigtrygg sat there on a high seat, in the middle,
and on either side of the king was placed one of the Earls. 37 The whole hall was filled with art audience, to hear a story on Yule Day itself, from GunnarLambi'sson,whosatonastool; but,beforehehadended,oneKari drew a sword, and cut off his head. 3^ The northern Sagas have mistaken the relationship of both Sigtrygg and Brian ; and, after those accounts, Thomas Gray, the Poet, strangely states, that Sictryg, "with the silken beard,"39 was
- father-in-law to Bryan, King of Dublin, with whom he was making war. <° When Sigtrygg first moved this subject to Sigurd, the latter was very reluc- tant to engage in the contest, and all his men endeavoured to dissuade him from it. However, he demanded Sigtrygg's mother's hand for his alliance, and to be King of Ireland, if he slew Bryan. To this arrangement, the Danish King of Dublin gave his assent. Then Sigtrygg fared south to Ireland, and told his mother Kornilada what lie had promised Earl Sigurd, and the under- standing given, that he accepted such conditions. She showed herself well pleased at that arrangement ; but, she said a greater force must be gathered. She informed him, that two vikings and brothers lay off the west coast of Man ; one of these was Ospak, and the other was Broder, men of great hardi- hood. She said, moreover, that these must be induced, at any price, to sustain his quarrel. Again, King Sigtrygg sets out on his errand, and finds both of these vikings lying outside, and in ships, off the Isle of Man. Broder refused the proposal, until King Sigtrygg promised him the kingdom and his motlier. Finally, the condition was agreed to, and the secret was to have been kept in such a manner, that Earl Sigurd should know nothing about it. Then, the
'' See S. A. Dunham's ' '
mark, Sweden and Norway," vol. i. , L, chap, iv. , sect, i. , p. 320.
33 This is the name given to her, in the
Sagas.
3* See the "Nials Saga," chap, civ. , p.
S90. The date for this mission is placed, at
A. D. 1012 ; but, it seems referable rather, to
the following year.
35 The story of the Burnt Njal relates :
Scandian
History
of Den- Book
sister,
37 As a curious picture of the manners in
vogue, away from Sigtrygg sat his men and the men of Earl Gilli, on the inner side.
38 See Webbe Dasent's " of George Story
Burnt Njal," vol. ii. , chap, cliii. , cliv. , pp. 322 to 327. We are told, that the head of Gunnar Lambi'sson spun off, on to the board, before tlie king and the earls.
3* This appendage to his features supposes "Kormlada was not the mother of King some peculiarity, marked by the descrip-
Brian's children, and so grim was she against King Brian after their parting, that she would gladlyhavehimdead. "
tion.
<°See "Poetical Works," vol. i. , Ode viii.
TheFatalSisters,p. 78. London,1825,8vo.
A new in two volumes. edition,
3' He had to wife
Swanlauga,
Earl
Sigurd's
396 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 23.
King of Dublin hastened home to his unprincipled mother, and told her how things stood. After that, Ospak, who had ten ships, and Brodir, who had twenty,talkedoverthesecretarrangement; but,Ospak,aheathen,andthe wisest of men, refused to join Brodir, against so good a king as Bryan. Both got wroth in the debate, and sundered their band, at once ; but, while Ospak's ships lay within a sound, Brodir's vessels were outside from them. '^'
The Danes summoned their countrymen, to join this great expedition ; while, in Ireland itself, their allies were to be found among the natives, who had been accustomed to serve with them in the field. Emissaries or agents duly instructed were sent to Sweden, Denmark, and Norway, as also to their colonial offshoots,*' urging by every argument the adventurous vikings to muster their hordes, and to draw out their vessels, from the northern fiords. Plat, a strong knight of Lochlann, and the hero Conmael, were invited to jointheconfederacy. 3 Weareinformed,likewise,thattheKingofDenmark sent his two sons, Carolus Kanutus • and Andreas, at the head of twelve thousand men, and that these were safely landed in Dublin, where they were kindly received and refreshed by Maelmordha. 'ts It is stated, moreover, that thirty thousand men were embodied in Scandinavia, and, afterwards, these made a descent on the shores of Ireland, landing at Clontarf. ** Thus, Danes came from the regions of snow,*? and from the Mediterranean Gothland. The Sclaves and Wandali, likewise, dwelt on islands of the Baltic sea, and spread their pagan hordes on the Continent, towards the south j-ts b^t^ ^^^ have no account, that those people took any part in the invasion. The Irish Scandina- vian colonists invited the Jarl Brodor,''^ or Broder,5° a renowned warrior, apparently from the North of Saxon-land, to take a command on their behalf, and he accordingly consented to join the expedition. By one authority, he is called the Earl of Cair Ascadal, as also, son to the King of Loclilann,! ' and by another, he is denominated Earl of Caer Ebroc,5= that is of York, in England. 53 He is said, not only to have embraced Christianity,5-* but even to have become a Mass Deacon, by consecration. Afterwards, he apostatized, and he resorted to gentile practices. He is called " God's dastard," being a worshipper of heathen fiends, and of all men most addicted to sorcery. He
*" Webbe Dasent's " of See George Story
vel
« He is also called " a Broderick, famous
Burnt Njal," chap, cliv. , pp. 327 to 329.
eversores, fuerunt," lib. ii. , cap. 2r, p. 38. Francofvrti, m. d. lxxx, fol.
<=
See
Thomas McGee's " D'Arcy
Popular of Ireland : from the Earliest Period
leader against the Britons of Wales and
History
to the Emancipation of the Catholics," vol.
—Thomas
i. , Book ii. , chap, vi. , p. 99. Glasgow edi- tion, no date, 8vo.
*3 See Coja'dVi jAecliel ne 5All<iibli,
chap. Ixxxvii. , pp. 152, 153.
1* Sometimes called Carl Canuteson.
's See tlie Battle of Clontarf, an article by John O'Donovan, in "The Dublin Penny Journal," vol. i. . No. 17,"p. 134.
«' See Dr. Hanmei's Chronicle of Ire-
laud," p. 184.
"So state the "Annales Inisfalenses,"
Dublm copy, and in a note, Kev. Dr. O'Conor interprets this designation, as i—n-
eluding "Norwegia, SueJia, Jutlandia. ''
" Rerum Hibernicarum Scriptores," tomus
,
62.
«^SeeA. Krantzii
ii. , p.
"
Viri in Theologia et Jure Pontificio Celeberrimi, Historicique,
Clarissimi, Wandalia. De Wandalorum vera copy), in Rev. Dr. O'Conor's " Rerum
Origine, variis genlibu-;, creliris e patria mi-
grationibus, regnis item, quorum
Hibernicarum Scriptores," tomus ii.
vel autores
"
According
to the "
Nials-Saga. "
Cornwall. "
J| Popular Histoiy of Ireland," vol. i. , Book ii. , chap, vi. , p. 99.
S" He is called Bruadar, chief of the Danes, in the Dublin copy of " Annales Inisfalenses," in Rev. Dr. O'Conor's "Re- rum Hibernicarum Scriptores," tomus ii. , p. 61.
si Such is the account in the Manuscript, distinguishetl as B, in Rev. James Henthorn Todd's edition of CogA-oh JaeoVieL He Sitiaibli, p. 151, n. 14.
5» According to the Annals of Loch Ce. Dr. Todd thinks, however, that this must be a mistake.
53 Another account has it, that Carolus and Anrud, sonof Elihric, and also two sons of the White Danes, joined this expeiiition. See "Annales Inisfalenses," p. 61 (Dublin
D'Arcy
McGee's
April 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAIJVTS. 397
wore a coat of mail, which no steel could bite, and black hair so long, that he tucked its locks under his belt. He was both tall and strong. ss The Danes invited, also, Amlaibh,^* son to the King of Lochlann. Both of the last-named chiefs S7 are called Earls of Cair, and of all the North of Saxon- land. These are stated to have been chiefs of ships, outlaws, ferocious and impious men, having no reverence " for God or man, for church or for sanc- tuary. "5' According to the account, these were at the head of two thousand hard-hearted mercenaries, ss being men in armour. ^° Other statements have it, that those chiefs commanded only one thousand men. ^' From Manann or the Isle of Man,*^ from Sci,^3 and from Leodhas,'* assistance was sought.
sent the " war arrow "
that obeyed him as Lord. *5 To Scotland, and to the Hebrides '^ and Orkney
Islands,*' the envoys repaired, to knit well the ramifications of this great con- federacy. The Cat Islands '* are mentioned as having furnished a contin- gent, as likewise, Cenn Tyre and Airer-Gaedhel. '' There Sigurd,? " the powerful Earl of the Orkneys,'' who began his rule over these islands, a. d. 996, and who had also possession of Caithness and of Sutherland, was remark- able for his warlike adventurers, at this epoch, both by sea and land. The
Suibne,
Earl of
Man,
through
all those "
out-islands,"
55 See the account, in George Webbe
Innisfallen Annals, is interpreted, the He-
brides, Rev. Dr. O'Conor, in " Rerum by
HibemicarumScriptores,"tomusii. , p. 61, n. 2.
^In966,statesthePoet Gray,thepeople
of the Orkney Islands became Chriitians,
but probably it happened in 995 ; however, although they and the other Gothic nations
no longer worshipped their old divinities, yet they never doubted of their existence, or forgottheirancientmythology. See"The Works of Thomas Gray, containing his Poems and Correspondence, with Memoirs of his Life and Writings," tome i. , p. 78, note.
" The people of the Ore Islands and of
the Cat Islands are represented, as "an
assembled army of ignorant, barbarous,
thoughtless, irreclaimable, unsociable foreign-
ers. See CogAoVi 54ex)heL tie 5dtt<iibh,
chap. Ixxxvii. , pp. 152, 153.
''In the Dublin of the "Annales
"
Dasent's "
of Burnt
vol. ii. ,
Story chap, cliv. , p. 329.
Njal,'
5^ Probably, he is not distinct from Asca- dal. Earl of Cair Ascadal.
- 57 The romantic tale, known as the Cath ChluanaTarbh, distinguishes them as Broda' and Asgal, two sons of the King of Loch- lann, and probably they were brothers.
5* See CogATsh 54et)liet He jAlLiMbh, chap. Ixxxvii. , pp. 150 to 153.
5* Accustomed to hire themselves for gold or silver, or for other treasures ; in other words, they were a standing and a regularly
disciplinedbodyofmen. Seeiiu/.
^Their armour is stated to have been triple-plated, of refined iron or of cool un- corroding brass, polished, glittering and strong, encasing their sides and bodies, from
head to foot. See iiiii.
''
According
to the Annals of Ulster and
of the Four Masters, as also, the Leabhar Inisfalenses, the Irish version has Ciiintire
Gabhala, or Book of Conquests.
agus Oirear Caedhil, which is translated, by Dr. Charles O'Conor, "et Kentirias etOrien- talium Hibemorum. " He adds, in a note to this passage, "i^. in mare Hibernico Orien- tali. ' This latter is a mistaken identifica- tion of their position, which was in Argyle. See " Rerum Hibemicarum Scriptores," tomus ii. , pp. 61, 62.
? " Sometimeshe is called Sigurd, Hlodver's son,asintheNials-Saga,cap. civiii. ; some- times, Sinchradh, son of Lodar, as in the Annals of Ulster ; sometimes, Sichfrith, son of Ltidar, as in the " Annals of the Four Masters;" and sometimes, Sincrad, son of Lotar, or Sitric, son of Lodar, as in the different copies of the CogAxiVi 5Aet)'hel He Salldibn.
" There the original Celtic population had yielded to the Scandinavian. At this time, the Danish pirates had possession of Man. The Manx language resembles more the Erse of Ireland and the Gaelic of Scotland, than the Cymric or lesser Breton. See
"
Elisee Reclus'
verselle, laTerre et les Hommes, tome iv. He de Man, p. 626.
'3 Probably the Island of Sky, although in the Dublincopy of the Annals of Innisfallen, we find Sgiligia, interpreted Shetland, by
Rev. Dr. O'Conor, in
Renim Hibemica-
Nouvelle Geographic Uni-
" rumScriptores,"tomusii. , p. 61,n.