no-destiny asked:
Hey! I just found your blog and now I’m in love with it. So, I felt free to make some questions! First I wanna ask about a post, tagged in the “Celtic History” link, where you said that Ireland was mentioned in the Viking Sagas and that the Vikings where also said in the Ireland History. Can you say more about it and give some examples? Cause I really like both cultures. And can you suggest me some good folk bands and musics about Viking and Celtic? Congratulations for your amazing blog!
I am so very glad to hear that! The hard work pays off when I receive such warm words. I would be more than happy to give more detail about Ireland being mentioned in Icelandic sagas (and vice versa). It is one of my favorite aspects of Viking History, since I also love both cultures. (I will discuss this with Njal’s saga below). As for folk bands and music, I may not be so helpful (at the moment). I know one good group (that I myself recently learned of) for the Scandinavian side. I would suggest you check out Wardruna if you haven’t already. I believe they are a Norwegian group and their music is phenomenal.
I do not know enough Irish literature yet to name good sources where Vikings show up. I know that they are referred to quite a bit in the Annals of Ulster, but that work merely provides a few sentences about each major event that happened in a given year. However, I do know that there is an Irish version of an event that appears in Njal’s Saga: The Battle of Clontarf (1014 CE). This was a very important battle in Ireland’s medieval history, for it was the battle for Ireland’s High King (the only High King Ireland has ever had) to maintain his control over Ireland. What is most interesting about this, though, is that the Vikings were right at the center of this. In fact, Ireland may have never had a High King if it were not for the Viking settlement of Dublin.
Chapters 154 to 157 of Njal’s saga actually take place during this event in Ireland. A few characters from Iceland go abroad and end up serving as mercenaries in the battle. These chapters also give some level of insight into historical figures such as Earl Sigtrygg of Dublin and Brain Boru (the High King of Ireland). Here is a quote from the saga about Brain Boru:
“King Brain pardoned outlaws three time for the same crime, but if they did it again he let them be dest with according to law, and from this is can be seen what sort of king he was.”
This quote ties in with the themes of the saga quite well and shows a bit of respect for Brian Boru from this Icelandic author. Brain Boru actually married Sigtrygg’s mother so that he would have rights to rule over the vikings of Dublin. In other words, he married in with the Vikings so that he could control the settlement without having to get rid of them. Although it may seems contradictory, the Vikings actually brought a lot of wealth to Ireland. The developed towns that had international trading contacts that Ireland never had before. Brain Bori took advantage of these, which can be seen even in the historical memory of the Icelanders writing this saga. If you want more on Brain Boru, feel free to ask. I have written a few essays on him and the battle of Clontarf as well as Viking Age Dublin.
Though those chapters do not have much to do with the story itself, it preserves the historical memory of such a battle. At the very least, the fact that this battle is included in a later medieval saga shows that it was well known and important even to Icelanders.
The Irish source for this event is called Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib (The War of the Irish with the Foreigners). I have not personally read this yet, but apparently you can read an outdated version on achieve.org for free, if you are interested.
I would like to give more detail of Njal’s saga, but I am not quite sure it would be helpful since you have not read the saga (I assume). If you want more detail on that saga specifically, send me another ask and I will focus more on providing you the details needed to sum up those chapters. If you want more on the Battle of Clontarf, check out my post about Viking Age Dublin (assuming that is not the post you already referred to).
I have not gotten around to reading all of the sagas, but there are many, many occasions of Irish people being in Iceland. One notable case is in the Laxdæla saga, in which one of the characters is an Irish princess. Sometimes it is just a simple reference and nothing more, but sometimes you will find chapters dedicated to events like Clontarf. They are really easter eggs for those interested in Ireland as well as Iceland and the Vikings.
One day, I will try to bring a lot of that together and discuss this in more detail. I hope my answer is somewhere around what you were hoping for. If you want more detail about Njal’s saga (one of the more popular sagas when it comes to references to Ireland and events in Ireland), feel free to let me know. I can happily provide more insight, but it will require some time for me to research, read, and write the response. I did provide a few examples, so if you would like to look into those sources, I will provide links to them below. If you would like more sources on Viking/Irish interactions, let me know and I can provide those as well.
Again, I hope that was helpful. If not, simply send another ask and I will do better or give more detail. Thank you very much for asking!
Sources to explore:
- Njal’s Saga (mainly chapters 154-157) <link>
- OR, you can get the Viking Age Reader, which has this and more. <link> Though, I would be happy to provide some of that for you in a post if you wanted me to. Just send an ask if you do.
- Laxdæla saga <link>
- Annals of Ulster (mainly the years 841-1014 CE) <link>
- Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib <link>
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