ve been can only be gleaned, from a study of the old Norse Saga and Edda
literature
of Iceland.
O'Hanlon - Lives of the Irish Saints - v4
473.
5' Adam ot Bremen, who wrote in the
year 1007, alludes to those disorders, in his history.
pro; Reliqvs, excelleutiam Fasciculus. " Hatinx, 1739 and
1741.
5' Very curious plates of Northern Anti-
quities, illustrating churches, monuments,
seals and and historic incidenis will be found,
in the two folio vulumes of Johun I'eriiig-
*'
skiold :
rum," embracing in the first part Thiunia, cum Antiquitatibus ac Inscriptionibus quae Cippis et Rupibus, vel Tunibis incisoe passim reperiuntur justa deliniatione, brevique com- memario illustrate, and published at Stock- holm, in 1710; and, in the second part,
Monumentorum Sveo-Gothico-
&c. , written the by
Olaus
Archbishop nus, at Rome, in 1555.
Mag-
" Xhe folio history of Denmark, drawn from native and foreign sources, has been learnedly compiled, by Claus Christofferson.
"
Synopsis Historiarum Danica-
Its title is
rum," &c. , and it bears the imprint, Risben-
298 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 23.
beginning of the eleventh century, Olaf II. continued this good work, and he subjected several petty princes to his rule. s^ The Norwegians were formerly
governed by a number of Vikings, subject to a chief King ; and, their ancient laws, which have been published, indicate much of their social state and civil
polity. 59 Canute the Great, King of Denmark, conquered Norway in 1028, but he did not long retain its government ; for, in 1034, the Norwegians had their own monarchs, who, even for a time, governed in Denmark.
It seems to be a well-established fact, that so early as the eighth century, Irish colonists and Christian missionaries, from our Island, had dwelt in remote Ice- land. No doubt, they found or had attracted an indigenous people there,*°
andtheyprobablyinstructedthese,inthetenetsofthetruereligion. However, under exceedingly unfavourable conditions, the Irish settlers in Iceland led religious lives,'' built churciies, and cultivated literature, probably in the Scan- dinavian, as in tlieir own language. The Ira litur, or letters of the Irish,'^ and their books, were known to the pagan Norwegians and Swedes, who began to arrive there as adventurers, in the ninth century. Many of the Irish Christians—especially the monks—were then obliged to flee from the Island, and the natives, who had been converted to the true Faith, were subjected to the power of ever-increasing swarms of emigrants, during the tenth century, so that, it is probable, Christianity was gradually suppressed. *' Notwith-
standing, a school of poetry and history remained, to perpetuate in song and chronicle, the deeds of departed men and the events of past times, which an early civilization had taught the Irish settlers to cultivate, and which these in turn had communicated, as a precious legacy to those people, among whom they had lived for so long a period. In its pagan state, Iceland had a mytho- logyandsuperstitions,peculiartoitself. TherefugeesfromNorwayreplaced Christian practices, by an idolatrous worship. They established laws, which were observed by the colonists. For a long time, their literature breathed the spirit of their strange traditions and rude imaginations. But, the light of Faith began to dawn among the Icelanders, towards the close of the tenth
century; andsoon,theoldmanuscriptsofthepaganswereconsignedtoobli- vion. Yet, their old laws were in force, until the time of Thorgeir,''* who
a promulgated Decree,
in the at the —
year 1000,'s public Assembly
that the — of Christ then received Religion
of the
Island
greater part of the inhabitants should be publicly propagated, and that
Representatives,
by
the
'*
s' See "Popular Encyclopedia, or Con- versations Lexicon," vol. v. Art. Norway,
p. 264.
5' The Common Law of Norway, as it
existed in the middle ages, may be studied,
from the "Regis Magni Legum Reforniatoris
Leges Gula-Thingenses, sivejus Commune
Norvegicum. " Kx Manuscriptis Legati Christianiiy into Iceland, the reader is re-
cum interjjretatione La- tina et Daiiica, variis Lectionibus, indice Verburum et IV. Tabulis ceneis. Havnioe,
1817, 4to.
^ According to some accounts, in the be-
ginning of the fiftli century, Iceland was in- habited, and Veiieralile Bcde gives a pretty accurate description of the Island.
''On this subject, see George Webb
"
Story of Burnt Njal, or Life in Iceland at the end of the Tenth Century," vol. i. Introduction. First Settlers, pp. vii. ,
viii. Edinburgh, 1861, Svo.
'' See Rev. George Miller's " Lectures on
ferred to the " sive llistoria Krisini-. Saga,
Arna-Magnosaiii,
Dasent's
Religiunis Christianas in Icelandium intro- diictae ;" nee non Pattr af Isleifi Biskupi, sive Narratio de leieiio Episcopo ; ex Manu-crijitis Legati Magnasani cum Inter- preiatione Laiina, notis, Chronulogia, tabu- lis genealogicis, et Indicibus, tam Rerum quam verborum. Haffris, 1773, 8vo.
"5 According to the " Vig. i-Glums Saga,
sive Vita Viga-Glumi," the pagan hero of
Iceland was baptized during this year. See
cap. xxviii. , pp. 172, 173.
'^
About the year 1000, the Icelandic hero Glums was baptized. See theViga-Glums Saga
the Philosophy of Modern History," vol. iii. , Lect. xxvi. , p. 204, and n. (1), p. 252.
'^ Notwitlistanding, the Icebnders'Chro-
nicies frequently allude to tlie personal his-
toiy of men, living amongst them, wlio were of Irish extraction.
'• P"or an account of the introduction of
April 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 299
paganism should be prohibited. *' To the zeal of the holy King Olaus,*^ or Olaf, their conversion was principally owing,^9 and he had succeeded, like- wise, in bringing the people of Greenland,7° which was a discovery of the Icelandic navigator, known as Erich Raude,'' or the Red-headed, to the pro- fession of Ciiristianity. '* Churches were founded in Greenland,^3 which the Norwegianshadsettled; and,theseoldNorsecolonies,attheirmostflourish- ing period, are said to have numbered 10,000 inhabitants. ? * During four centuries, this country formed a bishopric ; but, the connexion between its Scandinavian settlers and the modier country was cut off. In the thirteenth
century, it is thought, that the Skraelings, or Esquimaux, made a descent from the north, and extirpated the Scandinavian race, or perhaps absorbed these
people among their own, the lowest race, both physically and intellectually, to be found in Europe. " Although traditions existed among the Greenianders, re- garding the first white visitors, and although Bishops had been appointed for theSee,'*downtothesixteenthcentury; yet,whenJohnDavisrediscovered
now a possession of Denmark were converted, likewise, to the true Faith, towards the close of the tenth century. '^ However, the former customs and
none otiiers but
anywhere long the coast. Th—e inhabitants of the Fero or Faroe Islands ^^
in Greenland, 1585,
were to be — Esquimaux people found,
sive Vita Viga-Glumi, Cujus Textus ad fidem prsestantisaimi Codicis membranei di- ligenter exactus est, et collatus cum mullis libris chartaceis. E Manuscriptis Legati Magnseani. Havnirr,1786,410.
a great stretch of the south-west coast, they reared villages and farm houses.
"It is remarkable, that the vestiges of stone churches have been discovered there, whiletheirarchitecturalfeaturesandsizeare
'' See such a statement, in " Hin Foma exactly identical with tliose of the primitive
Lx>gb6k I^<Iendinga sem nefuist Gragas. Co-
dex Juris Islandorum Aiitiquissimus, qui
nominatur Gargas. £x duobus Manuscriptis
Pergamenis (quae sola supersuiit) Biblio-
thetse Regiae et Legati Arnoe-Magnxani,
nunc primumeiiitus. Cum interpre'. atione
Latina, Lectionibus variis, Indicibus Vocum out new conclusions as to the sites of long. et Return pp. Praemissa Comnientatione
Histor. ca el Critica uc iiujus Juris origirie ct
Indole," pp. , ab J. F. G. Schlegel Con- scripta. Pars. i. Commentatio Historica ct
Critica, sect. I, 2, 3, 4, 5, pp. xiv. to. xxi. Havniae. Sumptibus Legati Arnaeiriag- nseani. Typis H. H. Thiele, 1829, 4to, in Two Volumes.
" The festival of St. Olaus 11. , or St.
Olave, King of Norway and martyr, was celebrated on the 29th of July, where his Acts will be found.
'» Although little seems to be known, re-
garding tlie history of the early inhabitants
of Greenland, much information about its
prcxlucts are to \x. found, in David Crantz's
"
History of Greenland : containing a De- scription of the Country ami its inhabitants," &c. Tran^lated from High Dutcii, and pub-
lished, in two octavo voiumes, at London, A. U. 1767.
lost cities, monasteries and churches ; while scientific inquiries have led to the conviction, that Greenland is not that ice-clad desert which for ages it has been considered to be, but that it contains grassy valleys worthy of the name it bears, which name, we know, it obtained from the bright verdure which at times fringes its southern point, and which, to Icelandic eyes, seemed beautiful in con- trast with the desert wastes which were too familiar to them at home. "—Henry
1" S>-e the account, in the " cap. xi , pp. 82 to loi.
KristniSaga,"
No. 6, p. 359. New Series.
's In 1448, the Pope issued a brief to a
Bishop of Norway, in which he complains of the pitiful condition of the inhabitants of Greenland, who had been attacl^ed by sea- pirates, about thirtyye. ars before, when people of both sexes weie carried off into captivity, by the hostile fleet.
'' These however, did not make bishops,
any effort to reach theiT dioceses.
Scandinavian See Rev. J. Anglo-Saxon
' See ibid. , vol. i,. Book iv. ,
sect. 2, pp. 243, 244.
'•^ These were discovered,
'' In the ninth one
century, Gunbjomhad
seen Greenland ; and, when Eric Rode, or Red Eric, was exiled from Iceland, in the
Dictionary
Language, Preface, sect, xi. , p. cxlv. Lon-
he set out with his kindred and
1'^ The dates are between a. d. fixed,
tenth
friends to seek its inhospitable shores. Over
century,
996 and 998, in the work intituled, "Johaimis
chap,
i. ,
by navigators, at an early periol. Bosworth's " of the
Irish churches. See an illustration, in John "
R. G. Hassard's History of the United States of America," Part i. , chap, i. , p. \2.
'* Patient research among the obscure pages of the Sagas has thrown fresh light upon doubtful historical data, and brought
Bed- ford's article, "Greenland: What is it," in the "Irish Ecclesiastical Record," vol. iv. .
don, 183S, 8vo.
"
300 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 23.
spirit of the Norse people, moulded on old traditions, did not wholly depart, for many succeeding generations.
The peculiar Norse manners and customs, with characteristics of the Scandinavian superstitions, have been very ably treated, by various modern writers, and, especially by the learned Finn Magnusen ;'» but, speculation is still rife, in the interpretation of the Eddaic doctrines and mysteries. ^" The Northmen legends have accounts of a gigantic race inhabiting their regions. ^' Such opinions were probably founded on their mythology of generation, which refers to the Frost-Giants, or Mountain- Giants. ^^ From their race sprang Odin, or Woden, the father of the bright and beautiful ^sir, the ruling Gods of Heaven and Earth. Asgard or Heaven was the abode of these Gods, and there was Odin's hall, the great Valhalla, roofed with shields, supported by spears, its benches adorned with, coats of mail. Thither Odin invites all men slain in battle, and he refreshes them dailywithboars'fleshandhornsofmead. Theotherdivinitieshavevarious offices to discharge there, or they interpose on earth, in the affairs of men. It was thought a time must come, when the world shall be destroyed, and when a new earth, eternally green and fair, shall spring up out of the sea. Dwarfs, demons, dragons, ser|)ents, monsters, wolves, ghosts and apparitions, had their fantastic existence and form, in the Norse mythology, and in the Norseman's imagination. The celebrated chief divinity or hero of the north, the elder Odin, or Woden, is thought to have passed from southern Europe, or from Asia, i—nto Scandinavia. He is generally regarded as a personage, pardy his- torical and in the remote past—yet chiefly mythological. He was largely mixed up with the northern superstitions, and the Asa dogmas, as understood bytheNorthmenofNorwayandofIceland. Inthemain,theDanesandSwedes seem to have followed the same traditions, customs, and dogmas. These are wild and extravagant, differing altogether from the Greek and Roman fictions
Messenii Scondia lUustrata, seu Chronolo- gia de Rebus Scondios, hoc est, Sueciae, Danite, Norvegipt>, atque una Islandiae, Gron- landijcque, lam Ecclesiasticisquam politicis ; a Mundi Cataclysmo, usque Annum Christi MDCXII gestis. Primumeditaet observationi- bus aucta a Johanne Peringskiold, tomus i. Chronologiifi Scondianie, p. 76. Stock- holmiEE, 17CXD, fol. ,
" A very ingenious work, and most valua- ble for reference, on Northern pagan prac- tices, is the " Priscse Veterura Borealium Mythologias Lexicon, cuncta illius Cosmolo- gica, Theosophica et Damonica Numina, Entia et Loca ordine Alphabetico indicans, illustrans et e magna parte cum Exteris, ista
contingentibus, comparans. Accedit Septen- trionalium Gotliorum, Scandinavorum aut Danorum Gentile Calendarium, ex Asia oriundum, jam primum expositum et cum variis cognatarum Gentium Fastis, Festis et solennibus Rilibus vel Supersiitionibus col- latum. " Auctore Finno
ab hiiic TrecentisQuinquaginta,summa ver- borum elegantia, magna sententiarum gravi-
tate, rerum denique admiranda varietate, in- termixtis aliaruni quoque Gentium historiis,
conscripta. " Praslacio 4, and lib. i. , pp. 9, 15. Fiancofvrti aJ Moenvm, A. D. 1576, fol.
Havnis, * On this subject, Finn has written a great
the Frost Giants
1828, 4to.
"
Eddala;ren og dens Oprindelse,"
work,
4Bd. Kjbnh, 1824-1S26.
*' See the rare work, " Hervarar Saga,"
edited with Notes in Latin, by Olaus Vere-
lelius, cap. i. , p. 4. , Upsalte, 1672, fol; also, the Icelandic writer, Saxo Gramraati- cus, in "Danica Historia Libris xvi. , annis
in the learned work of Professor Rudolph "
Magnusen,
Jotuns Giants. "
—
"
'°
According to the Dogmas of the Asa-
Faith :
'•
In the beginning of time there
were two worlds : in the south was Muspell,
light and flaming ; over it rules Surtur, who
sits at its boundaries with his flaming sword; in the North was Nififheim, cold and dark, with the fountain Hevergclmir in its midst, where the Dragon Niohbgg dwells. Between these worlds was Ginungagap—tlie Yawning Chasm—still as the windless air. From Hevergelmir flowed forth ice-cold venom- streams. The rime from these streams met in Ginunga-gap with Muspell's sparks ; then the rime-drops were quickened by the power of the heat, and the Joiun Ymir came into being, —who of himself produced a race of evil
or Mountain The Religion of the Northmen," by Rudolph Keyser, Part First, chap, i. ,
p. 89.
*^ Much curious information, on the Gen-
tile religion of the Northmen, will be found,
Keyser, Nordmasndenes Religions-forfat- ning i Hedendom-men," pubUshed at Chris- tiana, in Norway. It has been translated
April 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 301
and rites. The Northmen divinities have been conceived as sensual and human- like, with temples and sacrifices, sorcery and divination, predominating. ^3
How remotely derived these practices may ha.
ve been can only be gleaned, from a study of the old Norse Saga and Edda literature of Iceland. In the
time of Ponipey the Great,^* Sigga, a chief of the Asa, or Asiatics, is said to have retreated before him through Russia ; and, he had resolved on returning, with a still greater force, to oppose the Roman legions. He is said to have been a Scythian prince, and to have been a priest of Odin ; while he assumed the direction of religious services, as also of the civil government, in tho—se
The Icelandic Chronicles — this priest conquered. ^s represent
countries he
who seems to have been confounded with his God Odin^° as a master of eloquence and of magic, the inventor of the Runic characters, an introducer of poetry among the Scandinavians, a great warrior, and, in course of time, a deified hero. He passed through Saxony and Franconia, and finally into Denmark. HewasleaderofthosepeopleknownasGoths,andsupposedto have been of Asiatic origin, owing to the affinity of their language with the Sanscrit and Persian. He is said to have given Denmark, as also Sweden, and Norway, a new dynasty of rulers ;*' finally, he retired into Sweden and died there, while the people, in times subsequent, built temples and instituted sacrifices to his honour.
On the southern and western shores of the Baltic, likewise, the Goths had formed their settlements. Allured by a love of adventure, and through the hope of plunder, vast numbers of their warriors began to swarm, into the more soutliern Roman provinces, so early as the third cen- tury. But, in the age succeeding, under their celebrated leader, Fritigern, they inflicted great losses on the Roman legions, especially in that memorable victory, obtained by them, at Hadrianople. ** The Gotliic people of the North had thus carried the fame of tlieir warlike and ferocious hordes, into the central and southern countries of Europe ;'' and, they had become very formidabletotheRomans,duringthedecliningstateoftheEmpire. While such events were transpiring by land, their fellow-countrymen in Scandinavia had covered the northern seas with vessels, which were soon destined to rear hardyseamen,forotheradventuresandtoseekdifferentlands. Themagnificent oak and pine forestsofScandinaviaaflforded great facilities, for fittingout powerful
into English, by Barclay Pennock, and pub- lished, at New York, 1854, 8vo.
*< The actions of this celebrated hero are setforth, very fully, in "The Roman History:
i. , chap. x. ,p. 377. Edition of William Smith, LL. D. London, 1862, 8vo.
'' The reader is referred, for further details,
"
to . S. A. Dunham's
with Notes Historical, Geographical, and Sweden and Norway," vol. i. , Book i. .
Critical," done into English, from the ori- ginal French of the Rev. Fathers Catrou and Rouille, vols, v. , vi. , Books liv. to Ixvi.
chap, i. , ii. , iii.
" See Edw. ird Gibbon's " History of the
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," •5 Such is the account given of him, by vol. iii. , chap, xxvi. , pp. , 324 to 338. Edi-
Snorro Sturlesson, and by his commentator, Torfaeus.
" "Notwithstanding the mysterious ob-
scurity of the Edcia, we can easily distinguish
two persons confounded under tlie name of
Odin,—theGodofwar,andthegreatlegis-
lator of Scandinavia. The latter, the per Russiam, Poloiiiam, Hinigariam, Ita- Mahomet of the North, instituted a religion
adopted to the climate and to the people. Numerous tribes, on either side of tlie Bal- tic, were subdued by the invincible valour of Odin, by his persuasive eloquence, and by
liam, Burgundiam, Hispaniani," &c. Ex MSS. Codicibus Lingvoe velerisScandicae, in hodiernam Svceciam atque Latinam trans-
the fame wh—ich he acquired of a most skilful "
magician. " Gibbon's History of the De- cline and Fall of the Roman Empire," vol.
tion of William Smith, LL. U.
*« See that very rare and curious work,
"Wilkina Saga, &c. , sive Historia Wil- kineiisium, Tlieodorici Veronensis, ac Ni-
contiiiens Regum alque He- roumquorundamGothicorum Res gestas,
flungorum
;
lata, opera Johannis Peringskiold. Stock- holmis, a. d. M. dcc. XV. , fol.
9° The>e are said to have been used, by
Harold Haifager, and by Olaf, Kings of Nor- way.
History of Denmark,
302 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 23.
fleets ; while its peninsular situation, with the many harbours around its coasts, gave them numberless i)laces for secure anchorage. At first, light
smacks were employed, for coasting and fishing purposes; but, soon, thecap- tainsandmariners entertained ambitious projects, while extending their voyages, and, by degrees, skilled operatives were enabled to build vessels of greater size
The Northmen used and large
called "
banks of rovvers. 9'
and
and "
Those vessels were intended for war expeditions. Although exaggerated by
the style and language, in the Saga of King Olaf, one of its descriptive pas- sages may furnish an idea, regarding their size. s= Those vessels, in which the Norse embarked, were doubtless of considerable tonnage -p and each of them contained, probably, not less than one hundred seamen and warriors. ''* Chaunting the rude and heroic songs of their fathers, those hardy and dauntless adventurers plied alternately at the oars, or were engaged in hoisting, shifting,
capacity. serpents,"^''
long ships, thirty-four
dragons,"
Danes and other Northern Nations, with a translation of the Edda," &c. This work, thus translated from the French, w. as pub- lished, in London, a. d. 1770. A new edi- tion of it, revised and enlarged, has ajipeared in a popular form, for Bolm's Antiquarian Library, London, 1847, 8vo.
9» We refer the reader to the poet Long- fellow's "Tales of a Wayside Inn," where
whole of an old Viking vessel, with its stem turned towards the sea, was laid bare, with
while some of them carried
9' The Danish and Norwegian Kings, who
invaded England and Ireland, during the
ninth and tenth centuries, had frequently
fleets of 200 to 300 ships. In the tenth cen-
tury, Aulaf, or Olave, the Danish King of
Dublin, and his allies, entered ihe Humber,
with a fleet of 615 ships, according to Tur-
ner's account of the battle of Brunanburgh,
in Northumberland. About that period,
also, Harold, King of Denmark, and Hacon,
a Norwegian Viknig, had a fleet of 700 ships.
Originally tlieir vessels were twelve-oared
boats, or small galleys. See the learned
Frencliman, Mallet's "Northern Antiquities;
or, a Description of the Manners, Cus- been interred. While sinking a well, the toms, Religion, and Laws of the Ancient
the building of the Long Serpent of King was still divided, among those wild chiefs
Olaf is introduced ; and, there occurs the following allusion to his ship-builder, Thor- berg Skafting : —
" Near him lay the Dragon stranded. Built of old by Kaud the Strong,
And King Olaf had commanded HeshouldbuildanotlierDragon,
Twice as large and long.
" Seventy ells and four extended On the grass the vessels keel;
High above it gilt and splendid, Rose the figure-head ferocious,
With its crest of steel.
"Then they launched her from the tressels,
In the shipyard by the sea ; She was grandest of all vessels. Never sliip was built in Norway
Half so fine as she !
and sea-kings. See M. njor W. G. Wood-
" The Long Serpent was she christened, 'iMid the roar of cheer on cheer !
Martin's
"
History of Sligo, County and
They who to the Saga listened Heard the name of Thorberg Skaf-
ting
For a hundred year ! "
'3 A discovery has been made, in the 1880, which serves to throw much light on the estimate here made. On the sea-shore, near Christiana, in Norway, and not far from Sanileford, was a tumulus, known to the people as King's Hill. Under this ac- cording to tradition, a mighty warrior had
year
twenty of its ribs remaining in their places. Between stem and stern, it measured 77 feet,
II inches, in length, while it was l5 feet, 6 inches, in breadth amid-ships. Judging by
its proportions, this g. alley must hive drawn nearly six feet of water. The northern anti- quaries have fixed the date of its entomb- ment, at about A. D. 800, wlien Scandinavia
Town, from the earliest Ages to the close of
the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, with illustra-
tions from Original Drawings and Plans,"
Book ii. , chap, iv. , p. 145. Dublin : 1882,
8vo.
'•I Describingthatparticularship,towhich allusion lias been made in a previous note,
the writer ailds: "Amid-ships reposed the Viking, surrounded by remains of men,
horses, dogs, cooking utensils, drinldng-cups, &c. , so that, like Eoghan Bel, when the great father should call him, the chief might start, fully equipped, from the tomb ; but more than a tiiousand years have rolled along since his galley "walked the waters like a thing of life," and still he awaits liis call.
in the hulls, or hold, were small boats and a quantity of oars. Tlie hundred bucklers which hung on the gunwale of the disen- tombed vessel represented one hundred fight- ing men. There must have been mariners
Along the free-board were ranged a hundred shields;
April 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 303
or furling the sails, while measuring the bearing and. distance, by sunlight or starlight, wliich separated them, (rem the shores of their own country, and from tliose of the nations, they were about to invade. Bent on their piratical enterprises, the crews sought in more distant lands, and with ruthless deter- mination, those means of subsistence, which their fatherland withheld from them. 95
Among the Danes, Icelanders, Swedes, and Norwegians, from time imme- morial, Ireland had been celebrated for its excellent soil, for its charming situation, for its mild climate, for its fertility and beauty. An ancientNorthern writer ^ acknowledges this, and, in terms of high praise; although, as he remarks, no vines grow there. According to some authorities, the foreigners from the north landed in Ireland—probably as peaceful immigrants—at rather an early date ;97 but, we cannot well be satisfied, regarding authorities given for such accounts. 9* The coasts of Scotland and of England lay nearer to them, and these were first invaded. '9 The Saxon Chronicle notices their arrival, at a. d. 787,'°° and again, in 793, when a great naval armament attacked the Island of Lindisfarne,"'' where they killed several of the monks, and made others captives, demolishing their holy places, and carrying off all the treasures of their church. '°^ Next year, the Western Isles of Scotland, and the northern
shoresofEngland,wereinvaded. '°3 Thenwerethechurchandmonasteryat lona plundered by those Gentiles, who laid waste the Islands about it ; and
soon, supported by coming adventurers, their fleets were directed towards the shores of Ireland. The invaders landed on the Island of Reachrann,'°'t sup-
posed to be the present Lambay,'°5 where they broke and plundered the shrines, and set fire to the place. Besides the general term of Gentiles and
also to look after the sails ; indeed, to man
such a ship a large crew was required. No wonder, therefore, that a fleet of these galleys should strike terror along any coast off which they hovered. "—Ibid. , pp. 145,
146.
»s J . Harris Stone's
Tyrone, at th^ time of the Attacot insurrec- tion. See Haverty's "History of Ireland, Ancient and Modem," chap, v. , p. 32, note.
" It is said, that the conquests of Charle- magne over the Saxons, and their dispersion into Scandinavia, led them to originate or take
'' The Mirror of
Viking Ship. " Konge>peil,"
composer Kings, compiled,
or about
part France.
in the invasions of Britain and of
ing is the opening stanza
See Simeon of in Durham,
Historia
"
:
Danced the stream, laught the skies, sang the trees merrily,
Regum. "
Whitely
the berry lay ;
"
of the "
the year 12CO.
'' The third century of the Christian era
has l)een named, for the descent of King Sigir and his sons, to aid Eoghan More, who had fled to Spain, when he had been de- prived of his Munster Kingdom, by Conn of the Hundred Baltics. This theme has
vianKingdomofDublin,"Booki. , chap,i. , pp. 5 to 10.
'""Then, three ships came from Hseretha-
laixle, interpreted Norway, and they landed on the coa. it of Dorsetshire.
"" Before this time, dreadful prodigies,
he mountain beamed,
Dr. O'Conor's " Rerum Hiber-
i
South o'er the sparkling sea ran the breeze cheerily.
Wafting from Norway Clann Sigir the Bold I"
gentibus. "
—" The Saga of King Sigir and his sons,"
p. 306.
9' It is said, there were Norwegians in
"
Masters," vol. i. , pp. 396, 397, and n. (i).
in
Norway,
See Charles " . Scandina- Haliday's
horrible lightning. s, and dragons in the air, furnished the ground-work for a spirited affrighted the nauon of tlie Angles. See
an Irish
son, M. R. I. A. , writing under the signature
of Krionnah, in "The Harp," a Monthly Magazine, edited by M. J. M 'Cann, and pub-
lished in Dublin, a. d. — The follow- 8vo.
ballad, by
Jioet,
Dr.
1869.
George Siger-
brightly
" The to Anglo-Saxon Chronicle," according
the several original Autlioritics, Edited with a Tran. sl. ition, by Benjamin Thorpe, vol, i. ,
London, 1861,
p. loi, and vol. ii. , p. 48. '°'
"
'°3 At A. D. 794, the Annals of Ulster re-
"
'°* According to the Annals of Clonmac- noise, a. d. 792, but the true year is 795. This was an ancient name for the present Island of Kathlin, olT the norlh-coast of Antrim County.
°5 This was likewise called Reachrann.
cord,
Vaslatio omnium isolarum Britannise
—
nicarum . Scriptores," tomusiv.
See Dr. 6'Donovan's
Annals of the Four
304 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 23. Pagans,theIrishdistinguishedbetweentwoinvadingnations; theNorwe-
'°*—the more formidable horde— known as or
gians
" fair-headed
being Fingaills, "white,"
"' The teiTn JopmgLdi-A, translated "
"azure, is sometimes applied to them ; it is probable, because of their armour presenting the colour a greenish blue.
"* Hirotlia or Irruaith is the Irish name
for Norw. iy.
'°^ This word is thought to signify Lake-
land, including the /fiJ/v/f, or arms of the sea; and, in Ireland, too, we liave corresponding
"'' See Miss M. F. Cusack's "
applications
of the term Loch, such as Loch
Popular
Foyle, Loch Swilly, &c.
See Coj;A-oh 5<se-oheL Ue 5<),Lt. Aibh.
also called Loclilannach,'°^ or " of Loch- people
strangers,"""?
lann,"'°9 wliile the Danes were known as Dubhgaill, black," or dark-haired strangers," also called Danars. But, in the accounts of their depredations on Ireland, our historians are not always careful, to distinguish between those nations. "" The wealth and resources, presented to their ambition, soon caused the Scandinavian Vikings and emigrants, to turn their attention, towards effecting conquests, in the Emerald Isle ; as it bordered very closely upon their colonies, in England and Scotland, and especially when its ferti- lity contrasted so favourably, with such poor countries as Greenland and those Islands, lying in the North Atlantic Ocean. '"
So early as the close of the eighth century, the invasion of Great Britain
and Ireland, by the Northmen, is chronicled ; but, it was only in tiie century succeeding, that their inroads received repetition and dangerous consistence. To give some idea of their frequency and power, we have only to take a rapid glance, over the Annals and Chronicles of those Islands.
5' Adam ot Bremen, who wrote in the
year 1007, alludes to those disorders, in his history.
pro; Reliqvs, excelleutiam Fasciculus. " Hatinx, 1739 and
1741.
5' Very curious plates of Northern Anti-
quities, illustrating churches, monuments,
seals and and historic incidenis will be found,
in the two folio vulumes of Johun I'eriiig-
*'
skiold :
rum," embracing in the first part Thiunia, cum Antiquitatibus ac Inscriptionibus quae Cippis et Rupibus, vel Tunibis incisoe passim reperiuntur justa deliniatione, brevique com- memario illustrate, and published at Stock- holm, in 1710; and, in the second part,
Monumentorum Sveo-Gothico-
&c. , written the by
Olaus
Archbishop nus, at Rome, in 1555.
Mag-
" Xhe folio history of Denmark, drawn from native and foreign sources, has been learnedly compiled, by Claus Christofferson.
"
Synopsis Historiarum Danica-
Its title is
rum," &c. , and it bears the imprint, Risben-
298 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 23.
beginning of the eleventh century, Olaf II. continued this good work, and he subjected several petty princes to his rule. s^ The Norwegians were formerly
governed by a number of Vikings, subject to a chief King ; and, their ancient laws, which have been published, indicate much of their social state and civil
polity. 59 Canute the Great, King of Denmark, conquered Norway in 1028, but he did not long retain its government ; for, in 1034, the Norwegians had their own monarchs, who, even for a time, governed in Denmark.
It seems to be a well-established fact, that so early as the eighth century, Irish colonists and Christian missionaries, from our Island, had dwelt in remote Ice- land. No doubt, they found or had attracted an indigenous people there,*°
andtheyprobablyinstructedthese,inthetenetsofthetruereligion. However, under exceedingly unfavourable conditions, the Irish settlers in Iceland led religious lives,'' built churciies, and cultivated literature, probably in the Scan- dinavian, as in tlieir own language. The Ira litur, or letters of the Irish,'^ and their books, were known to the pagan Norwegians and Swedes, who began to arrive there as adventurers, in the ninth century. Many of the Irish Christians—especially the monks—were then obliged to flee from the Island, and the natives, who had been converted to the true Faith, were subjected to the power of ever-increasing swarms of emigrants, during the tenth century, so that, it is probable, Christianity was gradually suppressed. *' Notwith-
standing, a school of poetry and history remained, to perpetuate in song and chronicle, the deeds of departed men and the events of past times, which an early civilization had taught the Irish settlers to cultivate, and which these in turn had communicated, as a precious legacy to those people, among whom they had lived for so long a period. In its pagan state, Iceland had a mytho- logyandsuperstitions,peculiartoitself. TherefugeesfromNorwayreplaced Christian practices, by an idolatrous worship. They established laws, which were observed by the colonists. For a long time, their literature breathed the spirit of their strange traditions and rude imaginations. But, the light of Faith began to dawn among the Icelanders, towards the close of the tenth
century; andsoon,theoldmanuscriptsofthepaganswereconsignedtoobli- vion. Yet, their old laws were in force, until the time of Thorgeir,''* who
a promulgated Decree,
in the at the —
year 1000,'s public Assembly
that the — of Christ then received Religion
of the
Island
greater part of the inhabitants should be publicly propagated, and that
Representatives,
by
the
'*
s' See "Popular Encyclopedia, or Con- versations Lexicon," vol. v. Art. Norway,
p. 264.
5' The Common Law of Norway, as it
existed in the middle ages, may be studied,
from the "Regis Magni Legum Reforniatoris
Leges Gula-Thingenses, sivejus Commune
Norvegicum. " Kx Manuscriptis Legati Christianiiy into Iceland, the reader is re-
cum interjjretatione La- tina et Daiiica, variis Lectionibus, indice Verburum et IV. Tabulis ceneis. Havnioe,
1817, 4to.
^ According to some accounts, in the be-
ginning of the fiftli century, Iceland was in- habited, and Veiieralile Bcde gives a pretty accurate description of the Island.
''On this subject, see George Webb
"
Story of Burnt Njal, or Life in Iceland at the end of the Tenth Century," vol. i. Introduction. First Settlers, pp. vii. ,
viii. Edinburgh, 1861, Svo.
'' See Rev. George Miller's " Lectures on
ferred to the " sive llistoria Krisini-. Saga,
Arna-Magnosaiii,
Dasent's
Religiunis Christianas in Icelandium intro- diictae ;" nee non Pattr af Isleifi Biskupi, sive Narratio de leieiio Episcopo ; ex Manu-crijitis Legati Magnasani cum Inter- preiatione Laiina, notis, Chronulogia, tabu- lis genealogicis, et Indicibus, tam Rerum quam verborum. Haffris, 1773, 8vo.
"5 According to the " Vig. i-Glums Saga,
sive Vita Viga-Glumi," the pagan hero of
Iceland was baptized during this year. See
cap. xxviii. , pp. 172, 173.
'^
About the year 1000, the Icelandic hero Glums was baptized. See theViga-Glums Saga
the Philosophy of Modern History," vol. iii. , Lect. xxvi. , p. 204, and n. (1), p. 252.
'^ Notwitlistanding, the Icebnders'Chro-
nicies frequently allude to tlie personal his-
toiy of men, living amongst them, wlio were of Irish extraction.
'• P"or an account of the introduction of
April 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 299
paganism should be prohibited. *' To the zeal of the holy King Olaus,*^ or Olaf, their conversion was principally owing,^9 and he had succeeded, like- wise, in bringing the people of Greenland,7° which was a discovery of the Icelandic navigator, known as Erich Raude,'' or the Red-headed, to the pro- fession of Ciiristianity. '* Churches were founded in Greenland,^3 which the Norwegianshadsettled; and,theseoldNorsecolonies,attheirmostflourish- ing period, are said to have numbered 10,000 inhabitants. ? * During four centuries, this country formed a bishopric ; but, the connexion between its Scandinavian settlers and the modier country was cut off. In the thirteenth
century, it is thought, that the Skraelings, or Esquimaux, made a descent from the north, and extirpated the Scandinavian race, or perhaps absorbed these
people among their own, the lowest race, both physically and intellectually, to be found in Europe. " Although traditions existed among the Greenianders, re- garding the first white visitors, and although Bishops had been appointed for theSee,'*downtothesixteenthcentury; yet,whenJohnDavisrediscovered
now a possession of Denmark were converted, likewise, to the true Faith, towards the close of the tenth century. '^ However, the former customs and
none otiiers but
anywhere long the coast. Th—e inhabitants of the Fero or Faroe Islands ^^
in Greenland, 1585,
were to be — Esquimaux people found,
sive Vita Viga-Glumi, Cujus Textus ad fidem prsestantisaimi Codicis membranei di- ligenter exactus est, et collatus cum mullis libris chartaceis. E Manuscriptis Legati Magnseani. Havnirr,1786,410.
a great stretch of the south-west coast, they reared villages and farm houses.
"It is remarkable, that the vestiges of stone churches have been discovered there, whiletheirarchitecturalfeaturesandsizeare
'' See such a statement, in " Hin Foma exactly identical with tliose of the primitive
Lx>gb6k I^<Iendinga sem nefuist Gragas. Co-
dex Juris Islandorum Aiitiquissimus, qui
nominatur Gargas. £x duobus Manuscriptis
Pergamenis (quae sola supersuiit) Biblio-
thetse Regiae et Legati Arnoe-Magnxani,
nunc primumeiiitus. Cum interpre'. atione
Latina, Lectionibus variis, Indicibus Vocum out new conclusions as to the sites of long. et Return pp. Praemissa Comnientatione
Histor. ca el Critica uc iiujus Juris origirie ct
Indole," pp. , ab J. F. G. Schlegel Con- scripta. Pars. i. Commentatio Historica ct
Critica, sect. I, 2, 3, 4, 5, pp. xiv. to. xxi. Havniae. Sumptibus Legati Arnaeiriag- nseani. Typis H. H. Thiele, 1829, 4to, in Two Volumes.
" The festival of St. Olaus 11. , or St.
Olave, King of Norway and martyr, was celebrated on the 29th of July, where his Acts will be found.
'» Although little seems to be known, re-
garding tlie history of the early inhabitants
of Greenland, much information about its
prcxlucts are to \x. found, in David Crantz's
"
History of Greenland : containing a De- scription of the Country ami its inhabitants," &c. Tran^lated from High Dutcii, and pub-
lished, in two octavo voiumes, at London, A. U. 1767.
lost cities, monasteries and churches ; while scientific inquiries have led to the conviction, that Greenland is not that ice-clad desert which for ages it has been considered to be, but that it contains grassy valleys worthy of the name it bears, which name, we know, it obtained from the bright verdure which at times fringes its southern point, and which, to Icelandic eyes, seemed beautiful in con- trast with the desert wastes which were too familiar to them at home. "—Henry
1" S>-e the account, in the " cap. xi , pp. 82 to loi.
KristniSaga,"
No. 6, p. 359. New Series.
's In 1448, the Pope issued a brief to a
Bishop of Norway, in which he complains of the pitiful condition of the inhabitants of Greenland, who had been attacl^ed by sea- pirates, about thirtyye. ars before, when people of both sexes weie carried off into captivity, by the hostile fleet.
'' These however, did not make bishops,
any effort to reach theiT dioceses.
Scandinavian See Rev. J. Anglo-Saxon
' See ibid. , vol. i,. Book iv. ,
sect. 2, pp. 243, 244.
'•^ These were discovered,
'' In the ninth one
century, Gunbjomhad
seen Greenland ; and, when Eric Rode, or Red Eric, was exiled from Iceland, in the
Dictionary
Language, Preface, sect, xi. , p. cxlv. Lon-
he set out with his kindred and
1'^ The dates are between a. d. fixed,
tenth
friends to seek its inhospitable shores. Over
century,
996 and 998, in the work intituled, "Johaimis
chap,
i. ,
by navigators, at an early periol. Bosworth's " of the
Irish churches. See an illustration, in John "
R. G. Hassard's History of the United States of America," Part i. , chap, i. , p. \2.
'* Patient research among the obscure pages of the Sagas has thrown fresh light upon doubtful historical data, and brought
Bed- ford's article, "Greenland: What is it," in the "Irish Ecclesiastical Record," vol. iv. .
don, 183S, 8vo.
"
300 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 23.
spirit of the Norse people, moulded on old traditions, did not wholly depart, for many succeeding generations.
The peculiar Norse manners and customs, with characteristics of the Scandinavian superstitions, have been very ably treated, by various modern writers, and, especially by the learned Finn Magnusen ;'» but, speculation is still rife, in the interpretation of the Eddaic doctrines and mysteries. ^" The Northmen legends have accounts of a gigantic race inhabiting their regions. ^' Such opinions were probably founded on their mythology of generation, which refers to the Frost-Giants, or Mountain- Giants. ^^ From their race sprang Odin, or Woden, the father of the bright and beautiful ^sir, the ruling Gods of Heaven and Earth. Asgard or Heaven was the abode of these Gods, and there was Odin's hall, the great Valhalla, roofed with shields, supported by spears, its benches adorned with, coats of mail. Thither Odin invites all men slain in battle, and he refreshes them dailywithboars'fleshandhornsofmead. Theotherdivinitieshavevarious offices to discharge there, or they interpose on earth, in the affairs of men. It was thought a time must come, when the world shall be destroyed, and when a new earth, eternally green and fair, shall spring up out of the sea. Dwarfs, demons, dragons, ser|)ents, monsters, wolves, ghosts and apparitions, had their fantastic existence and form, in the Norse mythology, and in the Norseman's imagination. The celebrated chief divinity or hero of the north, the elder Odin, or Woden, is thought to have passed from southern Europe, or from Asia, i—nto Scandinavia. He is generally regarded as a personage, pardy his- torical and in the remote past—yet chiefly mythological. He was largely mixed up with the northern superstitions, and the Asa dogmas, as understood bytheNorthmenofNorwayandofIceland. Inthemain,theDanesandSwedes seem to have followed the same traditions, customs, and dogmas. These are wild and extravagant, differing altogether from the Greek and Roman fictions
Messenii Scondia lUustrata, seu Chronolo- gia de Rebus Scondios, hoc est, Sueciae, Danite, Norvegipt>, atque una Islandiae, Gron- landijcque, lam Ecclesiasticisquam politicis ; a Mundi Cataclysmo, usque Annum Christi MDCXII gestis. Primumeditaet observationi- bus aucta a Johanne Peringskiold, tomus i. Chronologiifi Scondianie, p. 76. Stock- holmiEE, 17CXD, fol. ,
" A very ingenious work, and most valua- ble for reference, on Northern pagan prac- tices, is the " Priscse Veterura Borealium Mythologias Lexicon, cuncta illius Cosmolo- gica, Theosophica et Damonica Numina, Entia et Loca ordine Alphabetico indicans, illustrans et e magna parte cum Exteris, ista
contingentibus, comparans. Accedit Septen- trionalium Gotliorum, Scandinavorum aut Danorum Gentile Calendarium, ex Asia oriundum, jam primum expositum et cum variis cognatarum Gentium Fastis, Festis et solennibus Rilibus vel Supersiitionibus col- latum. " Auctore Finno
ab hiiic TrecentisQuinquaginta,summa ver- borum elegantia, magna sententiarum gravi-
tate, rerum denique admiranda varietate, in- termixtis aliaruni quoque Gentium historiis,
conscripta. " Praslacio 4, and lib. i. , pp. 9, 15. Fiancofvrti aJ Moenvm, A. D. 1576, fol.
Havnis, * On this subject, Finn has written a great
the Frost Giants
1828, 4to.
"
Eddala;ren og dens Oprindelse,"
work,
4Bd. Kjbnh, 1824-1S26.
*' See the rare work, " Hervarar Saga,"
edited with Notes in Latin, by Olaus Vere-
lelius, cap. i. , p. 4. , Upsalte, 1672, fol; also, the Icelandic writer, Saxo Gramraati- cus, in "Danica Historia Libris xvi. , annis
in the learned work of Professor Rudolph "
Magnusen,
Jotuns Giants. "
—
"
'°
According to the Dogmas of the Asa-
Faith :
'•
In the beginning of time there
were two worlds : in the south was Muspell,
light and flaming ; over it rules Surtur, who
sits at its boundaries with his flaming sword; in the North was Nififheim, cold and dark, with the fountain Hevergclmir in its midst, where the Dragon Niohbgg dwells. Between these worlds was Ginungagap—tlie Yawning Chasm—still as the windless air. From Hevergelmir flowed forth ice-cold venom- streams. The rime from these streams met in Ginunga-gap with Muspell's sparks ; then the rime-drops were quickened by the power of the heat, and the Joiun Ymir came into being, —who of himself produced a race of evil
or Mountain The Religion of the Northmen," by Rudolph Keyser, Part First, chap, i. ,
p. 89.
*^ Much curious information, on the Gen-
tile religion of the Northmen, will be found,
Keyser, Nordmasndenes Religions-forfat- ning i Hedendom-men," pubUshed at Chris- tiana, in Norway. It has been translated
April 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 301
and rites. The Northmen divinities have been conceived as sensual and human- like, with temples and sacrifices, sorcery and divination, predominating. ^3
How remotely derived these practices may ha.
ve been can only be gleaned, from a study of the old Norse Saga and Edda literature of Iceland. In the
time of Ponipey the Great,^* Sigga, a chief of the Asa, or Asiatics, is said to have retreated before him through Russia ; and, he had resolved on returning, with a still greater force, to oppose the Roman legions. He is said to have been a Scythian prince, and to have been a priest of Odin ; while he assumed the direction of religious services, as also of the civil government, in tho—se
The Icelandic Chronicles — this priest conquered. ^s represent
countries he
who seems to have been confounded with his God Odin^° as a master of eloquence and of magic, the inventor of the Runic characters, an introducer of poetry among the Scandinavians, a great warrior, and, in course of time, a deified hero. He passed through Saxony and Franconia, and finally into Denmark. HewasleaderofthosepeopleknownasGoths,andsupposedto have been of Asiatic origin, owing to the affinity of their language with the Sanscrit and Persian. He is said to have given Denmark, as also Sweden, and Norway, a new dynasty of rulers ;*' finally, he retired into Sweden and died there, while the people, in times subsequent, built temples and instituted sacrifices to his honour.
On the southern and western shores of the Baltic, likewise, the Goths had formed their settlements. Allured by a love of adventure, and through the hope of plunder, vast numbers of their warriors began to swarm, into the more soutliern Roman provinces, so early as the third cen- tury. But, in the age succeeding, under their celebrated leader, Fritigern, they inflicted great losses on the Roman legions, especially in that memorable victory, obtained by them, at Hadrianople. ** The Gotliic people of the North had thus carried the fame of tlieir warlike and ferocious hordes, into the central and southern countries of Europe ;'' and, they had become very formidabletotheRomans,duringthedecliningstateoftheEmpire. While such events were transpiring by land, their fellow-countrymen in Scandinavia had covered the northern seas with vessels, which were soon destined to rear hardyseamen,forotheradventuresandtoseekdifferentlands. Themagnificent oak and pine forestsofScandinaviaaflforded great facilities, for fittingout powerful
into English, by Barclay Pennock, and pub- lished, at New York, 1854, 8vo.
*< The actions of this celebrated hero are setforth, very fully, in "The Roman History:
i. , chap. x. ,p. 377. Edition of William Smith, LL. D. London, 1862, 8vo.
'' The reader is referred, for further details,
"
to . S. A. Dunham's
with Notes Historical, Geographical, and Sweden and Norway," vol. i. , Book i. .
Critical," done into English, from the ori- ginal French of the Rev. Fathers Catrou and Rouille, vols, v. , vi. , Books liv. to Ixvi.
chap, i. , ii. , iii.
" See Edw. ird Gibbon's " History of the
Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire," •5 Such is the account given of him, by vol. iii. , chap, xxvi. , pp. , 324 to 338. Edi-
Snorro Sturlesson, and by his commentator, Torfaeus.
" "Notwithstanding the mysterious ob-
scurity of the Edcia, we can easily distinguish
two persons confounded under tlie name of
Odin,—theGodofwar,andthegreatlegis-
lator of Scandinavia. The latter, the per Russiam, Poloiiiam, Hinigariam, Ita- Mahomet of the North, instituted a religion
adopted to the climate and to the people. Numerous tribes, on either side of tlie Bal- tic, were subdued by the invincible valour of Odin, by his persuasive eloquence, and by
liam, Burgundiam, Hispaniani," &c. Ex MSS. Codicibus Lingvoe velerisScandicae, in hodiernam Svceciam atque Latinam trans-
the fame wh—ich he acquired of a most skilful "
magician. " Gibbon's History of the De- cline and Fall of the Roman Empire," vol.
tion of William Smith, LL. U.
*« See that very rare and curious work,
"Wilkina Saga, &c. , sive Historia Wil- kineiisium, Tlieodorici Veronensis, ac Ni-
contiiiens Regum alque He- roumquorundamGothicorum Res gestas,
flungorum
;
lata, opera Johannis Peringskiold. Stock- holmis, a. d. M. dcc. XV. , fol.
9° The>e are said to have been used, by
Harold Haifager, and by Olaf, Kings of Nor- way.
History of Denmark,
302 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 23.
fleets ; while its peninsular situation, with the many harbours around its coasts, gave them numberless i)laces for secure anchorage. At first, light
smacks were employed, for coasting and fishing purposes; but, soon, thecap- tainsandmariners entertained ambitious projects, while extending their voyages, and, by degrees, skilled operatives were enabled to build vessels of greater size
The Northmen used and large
called "
banks of rovvers. 9'
and
and "
Those vessels were intended for war expeditions. Although exaggerated by
the style and language, in the Saga of King Olaf, one of its descriptive pas- sages may furnish an idea, regarding their size. s= Those vessels, in which the Norse embarked, were doubtless of considerable tonnage -p and each of them contained, probably, not less than one hundred seamen and warriors. ''* Chaunting the rude and heroic songs of their fathers, those hardy and dauntless adventurers plied alternately at the oars, or were engaged in hoisting, shifting,
capacity. serpents,"^''
long ships, thirty-four
dragons,"
Danes and other Northern Nations, with a translation of the Edda," &c. This work, thus translated from the French, w. as pub- lished, in London, a. d. 1770. A new edi- tion of it, revised and enlarged, has ajipeared in a popular form, for Bolm's Antiquarian Library, London, 1847, 8vo.
9» We refer the reader to the poet Long- fellow's "Tales of a Wayside Inn," where
whole of an old Viking vessel, with its stem turned towards the sea, was laid bare, with
while some of them carried
9' The Danish and Norwegian Kings, who
invaded England and Ireland, during the
ninth and tenth centuries, had frequently
fleets of 200 to 300 ships. In the tenth cen-
tury, Aulaf, or Olave, the Danish King of
Dublin, and his allies, entered ihe Humber,
with a fleet of 615 ships, according to Tur-
ner's account of the battle of Brunanburgh,
in Northumberland. About that period,
also, Harold, King of Denmark, and Hacon,
a Norwegian Viknig, had a fleet of 700 ships.
Originally tlieir vessels were twelve-oared
boats, or small galleys. See the learned
Frencliman, Mallet's "Northern Antiquities;
or, a Description of the Manners, Cus- been interred. While sinking a well, the toms, Religion, and Laws of the Ancient
the building of the Long Serpent of King was still divided, among those wild chiefs
Olaf is introduced ; and, there occurs the following allusion to his ship-builder, Thor- berg Skafting : —
" Near him lay the Dragon stranded. Built of old by Kaud the Strong,
And King Olaf had commanded HeshouldbuildanotlierDragon,
Twice as large and long.
" Seventy ells and four extended On the grass the vessels keel;
High above it gilt and splendid, Rose the figure-head ferocious,
With its crest of steel.
"Then they launched her from the tressels,
In the shipyard by the sea ; She was grandest of all vessels. Never sliip was built in Norway
Half so fine as she !
and sea-kings. See M. njor W. G. Wood-
" The Long Serpent was she christened, 'iMid the roar of cheer on cheer !
Martin's
"
History of Sligo, County and
They who to the Saga listened Heard the name of Thorberg Skaf-
ting
For a hundred year ! "
'3 A discovery has been made, in the 1880, which serves to throw much light on the estimate here made. On the sea-shore, near Christiana, in Norway, and not far from Sanileford, was a tumulus, known to the people as King's Hill. Under this ac- cording to tradition, a mighty warrior had
year
twenty of its ribs remaining in their places. Between stem and stern, it measured 77 feet,
II inches, in length, while it was l5 feet, 6 inches, in breadth amid-ships. Judging by
its proportions, this g. alley must hive drawn nearly six feet of water. The northern anti- quaries have fixed the date of its entomb- ment, at about A. D. 800, wlien Scandinavia
Town, from the earliest Ages to the close of
the Reign of Queen Elizabeth, with illustra-
tions from Original Drawings and Plans,"
Book ii. , chap, iv. , p. 145. Dublin : 1882,
8vo.
'•I Describingthatparticularship,towhich allusion lias been made in a previous note,
the writer ailds: "Amid-ships reposed the Viking, surrounded by remains of men,
horses, dogs, cooking utensils, drinldng-cups, &c. , so that, like Eoghan Bel, when the great father should call him, the chief might start, fully equipped, from the tomb ; but more than a tiiousand years have rolled along since his galley "walked the waters like a thing of life," and still he awaits liis call.
in the hulls, or hold, were small boats and a quantity of oars. Tlie hundred bucklers which hung on the gunwale of the disen- tombed vessel represented one hundred fight- ing men. There must have been mariners
Along the free-board were ranged a hundred shields;
April 23. ] LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. 303
or furling the sails, while measuring the bearing and. distance, by sunlight or starlight, wliich separated them, (rem the shores of their own country, and from tliose of the nations, they were about to invade. Bent on their piratical enterprises, the crews sought in more distant lands, and with ruthless deter- mination, those means of subsistence, which their fatherland withheld from them. 95
Among the Danes, Icelanders, Swedes, and Norwegians, from time imme- morial, Ireland had been celebrated for its excellent soil, for its charming situation, for its mild climate, for its fertility and beauty. An ancientNorthern writer ^ acknowledges this, and, in terms of high praise; although, as he remarks, no vines grow there. According to some authorities, the foreigners from the north landed in Ireland—probably as peaceful immigrants—at rather an early date ;97 but, we cannot well be satisfied, regarding authorities given for such accounts. 9* The coasts of Scotland and of England lay nearer to them, and these were first invaded. '9 The Saxon Chronicle notices their arrival, at a. d. 787,'°° and again, in 793, when a great naval armament attacked the Island of Lindisfarne,"'' where they killed several of the monks, and made others captives, demolishing their holy places, and carrying off all the treasures of their church. '°^ Next year, the Western Isles of Scotland, and the northern
shoresofEngland,wereinvaded. '°3 Thenwerethechurchandmonasteryat lona plundered by those Gentiles, who laid waste the Islands about it ; and
soon, supported by coming adventurers, their fleets were directed towards the shores of Ireland. The invaders landed on the Island of Reachrann,'°'t sup-
posed to be the present Lambay,'°5 where they broke and plundered the shrines, and set fire to the place. Besides the general term of Gentiles and
also to look after the sails ; indeed, to man
such a ship a large crew was required. No wonder, therefore, that a fleet of these galleys should strike terror along any coast off which they hovered. "—Ibid. , pp. 145,
146.
»s J . Harris Stone's
Tyrone, at th^ time of the Attacot insurrec- tion. See Haverty's "History of Ireland, Ancient and Modem," chap, v. , p. 32, note.
" It is said, that the conquests of Charle- magne over the Saxons, and their dispersion into Scandinavia, led them to originate or take
'' The Mirror of
Viking Ship. " Konge>peil,"
composer Kings, compiled,
or about
part France.
in the invasions of Britain and of
ing is the opening stanza
See Simeon of in Durham,
Historia
"
:
Danced the stream, laught the skies, sang the trees merrily,
Regum. "
Whitely
the berry lay ;
"
of the "
the year 12CO.
'' The third century of the Christian era
has l)een named, for the descent of King Sigir and his sons, to aid Eoghan More, who had fled to Spain, when he had been de- prived of his Munster Kingdom, by Conn of the Hundred Baltics. This theme has
vianKingdomofDublin,"Booki. , chap,i. , pp. 5 to 10.
'""Then, three ships came from Hseretha-
laixle, interpreted Norway, and they landed on the coa. it of Dorsetshire.
"" Before this time, dreadful prodigies,
he mountain beamed,
Dr. O'Conor's " Rerum Hiber-
i
South o'er the sparkling sea ran the breeze cheerily.
Wafting from Norway Clann Sigir the Bold I"
gentibus. "
—" The Saga of King Sigir and his sons,"
p. 306.
9' It is said, there were Norwegians in
"
Masters," vol. i. , pp. 396, 397, and n. (i).
in
Norway,
See Charles " . Scandina- Haliday's
horrible lightning. s, and dragons in the air, furnished the ground-work for a spirited affrighted the nauon of tlie Angles. See
an Irish
son, M. R. I. A. , writing under the signature
of Krionnah, in "The Harp," a Monthly Magazine, edited by M. J. M 'Cann, and pub-
lished in Dublin, a. d. — The follow- 8vo.
ballad, by
Jioet,
Dr.
1869.
George Siger-
brightly
" The to Anglo-Saxon Chronicle," according
the several original Autlioritics, Edited with a Tran. sl. ition, by Benjamin Thorpe, vol, i. ,
London, 1861,
p. loi, and vol. ii. , p. 48. '°'
"
'°3 At A. D. 794, the Annals of Ulster re-
"
'°* According to the Annals of Clonmac- noise, a. d. 792, but the true year is 795. This was an ancient name for the present Island of Kathlin, olT the norlh-coast of Antrim County.
°5 This was likewise called Reachrann.
cord,
Vaslatio omnium isolarum Britannise
—
nicarum . Scriptores," tomusiv.
See Dr. 6'Donovan's
Annals of the Four
304 LIVES OF THE IRISH SAINTS. [April 23. Pagans,theIrishdistinguishedbetweentwoinvadingnations; theNorwe-
'°*—the more formidable horde— known as or
gians
" fair-headed
being Fingaills, "white,"
"' The teiTn JopmgLdi-A, translated "
"azure, is sometimes applied to them ; it is probable, because of their armour presenting the colour a greenish blue.
"* Hirotlia or Irruaith is the Irish name
for Norw. iy.
'°^ This word is thought to signify Lake-
land, including the /fiJ/v/f, or arms of the sea; and, in Ireland, too, we liave corresponding
"'' See Miss M. F. Cusack's "
applications
of the term Loch, such as Loch
Popular
Foyle, Loch Swilly, &c.
See Coj;A-oh 5<se-oheL Ue 5<),Lt. Aibh.
also called Loclilannach,'°^ or " of Loch- people
strangers,"""?
lann,"'°9 wliile the Danes were known as Dubhgaill, black," or dark-haired strangers," also called Danars. But, in the accounts of their depredations on Ireland, our historians are not always careful, to distinguish between those nations. "" The wealth and resources, presented to their ambition, soon caused the Scandinavian Vikings and emigrants, to turn their attention, towards effecting conquests, in the Emerald Isle ; as it bordered very closely upon their colonies, in England and Scotland, and especially when its ferti- lity contrasted so favourably, with such poor countries as Greenland and those Islands, lying in the North Atlantic Ocean. '"
So early as the close of the eighth century, the invasion of Great Britain
and Ireland, by the Northmen, is chronicled ; but, it was only in tiie century succeeding, that their inroads received repetition and dangerous consistence. To give some idea of their frequency and power, we have only to take a rapid glance, over the Annals and Chronicles of those Islands.
