Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - II. Intercourse between the Gaill and the Gaedhil during the Viking Period
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
11
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 like mercenaries on different sides at
one time in alliance with the drd-ri, Maelsechnaill, who was
at war with the Norsemen ;
a
again, with an Irish clan
against the Dublin Vikings under Ivarr,
3
and still later we
find them joined with the men of Waterford in opposition
to the drd-ri.* I^d by Caittil Find (O.N. Ketill + Ir. find
fair) they made their last stand against the Dublin
Vikings under Olaf and Ivarr, but were defeated with heavy
losses, and after this there is no further record of their
activities in Ireland. 8
On one occasion at least, they fought
1
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."
2
Annals of Ulster, A.D. 855.
3
Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 856.
^Fragments of Annals, A.D. 858.
6
There was also a mixed Norse and Gaelic population in Galloway
(the word is a corruption of Gall-Gaedhil, Welsh Galwydel) as well as
in the Hebrides (Ir. Innse Gall., i.e., the "Islands of the Foreigners or
Norsemen ") and other parts of Scotland. There is a reference to
these Gaill-Gaedhill in the Four Masters (A.P. 1154): "The Cine"!
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 i* that the Annalist had in his mind the Norse-Gaelic
population of Ireland, not of Scotland.
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
