Scandinavian Relations with Ireland During the Viking Period

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 Landnámabók 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 little headway; heathenism retained a strong hold on the majority of the Norse people, and there can be little doubt that this form of religion was extensively practised in Ireland during the Viking age. Evidence of this is to be found in The War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill, which describes how Authr, wife of Turgéis, sat on the high altar of the church in Clonmacnois, and gave audiences as a prophetess.176 In this instance the high altar would seem to have corresponded to the seithr hjallr or platform which it was customary to erect in Icelandic houses when a völva or prophetess was called in to foretell the future.177 Some writers178 also point to the numerous raids on churches and religious houses as a proof of the Vikings’ hostility to Christianity, but these attacks were much more likely 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 Turgéis’ expulsion of the abbot Farannan from Armagh (in 839), and his subsequent usurpation of the abbacy,179 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 “White Christ” through their intercourse with the Irish. Indeed, an entry in the Annals of Ulster (A.D. 872), referring to the death of Ivárr the Boneless, implies that this famous Viking died a Christian.180 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, Björn 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 Landnámabók 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 place they built a temple and offered up sacrifices.181 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 voyage 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.182 Mention is also made of several other Christians from the British Isles: Jörundr, Helgi Bjóla;183 Thorkell—son of Svarkell from Caithness—“who prayed before the cross, ever good to old men, ever good to young men;”184 Ásólf,185 Ketill—grandson of Ketill Flatnose—who was surnamed hinn fiflski (‘the foolish’) because he adhered to Christianity.186 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.”187 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 Christianity declined in Iceland; “some of those who came from west-the-sea remained Christians until the day of their death” says the Landnámabók, “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 twenty years.”188

In the transition from heathenism to Christianity opposing beliefs 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 Eyvindr 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 sanctifying all the land between… Helgi believed in Christ, and therefore named his house after Him.”189 We also read that “Örlygr the Old and his family trusted in Columba,”190 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 Norsemen in Carlingford Lough (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 from the árd-rí found the Danes seated round a great fire, cooking their food in cauldrons—which 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.”191

This confusion of the two religions is also illustrated in the crosses, symbols 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 described in Vafthrúthnismál; while on the western side of the cross is portrayed the punishment of Loki.192 A fragment of a cross in the same locality shows Thor fishing for the Mithgarthsormr,193 a subject which is also treated on a cross slab in Kirk Bride Parish Church, Isle of Man.194 Among the many other Celtic crosses in Man are four upon which are carved pictures from the story of Sigurthr Fáfnisbani: 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.195 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 “Mal Lumkun (Ir. Mael Lomchon) raised this cross to his foster (mother) Malmuru (Ir. Maelmuire), daughter of Tufgal (Ir. Dubhgall), whom Athisl had to wife.” To this the rune writer adds: “It is better to leave a good foster-son than a bad son.”196 Crosses were also erected by Mail Brikti (Ir. Mael Brigde), son of Athakan (Ir. Aedhacan) the smith;197 by Thorleifr Hnakki in remembrance of his son Fiak (Ir. Fiacca);198 and by an unknown Norseman to the memory of his wife Murkialu (Ir. Muirgheal).199 Another cross-slab commemorates Athmiul (? Ir. Cathmaoil), wife of Truian (i.e., the Pictish name Druian), son of Tufkal,200 while still another stone contains a fragment of a prayer to Christ, and the Irish saints, Malaki (Malachy), Bathrik (Patrick), and Athanman (Adamnan).201

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 Eyrbyggja 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.”202 We may assume that Sihtric Gale, Gothfrith’s brother (or cousin) was also a Christian, since he formed a friendly alliance with Aethelstan, who gave him his sister in marriage.203 In 943 Olaf Cuaran was baptized, and in the same year Rögnvaldr, another Norse prince, was confirmed.204 After the battle of Tara (980) Olaf went on pilgrimage to Iona, where he died “after penance and a good life.”205 His daughter and grandson were called by distinctively Irish Christian names—Maelmuire206 (servant of Mary), and Gilla Ciarain207 (servant of St. Ciaran). We may also note the name Gilla-Padraig which occurs in the royal family of Waterford208 and the half-Irish name of a priest in Clonmacnois, Connmhach Ua Tomrair, who must have been of Norse extraction.209

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 Dublin by King Maelsechnaill II. in 994.210 This must have been the dóm-hringr, so frequently alluded to in Icelandic literature. 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.211 Upon this ring oaths were usually sworn.212 That it was connected with the worship of Thor is clear from a passage in the Landnámabók describing a place called Thorsnes 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 by is the dómhringr where the men were condemned to death.”213 Even as late as the year A.D. 1000 we hear of Thor’s wood (caill Tomair) north of Dublin, which was laid waste by Brian Borumha after the battle of Gleann Mama.214

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. Moreover, 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 hostilities between the two peoples. Her son, Sihtric Silken Beard, who was most active in mobilising 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.215 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.216

It was probably on his return to Dublin from Rome in 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.”217

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 Lanfranc, and when the next bishop, Patrick, was chosen by the clergy and people of Dublin, he was sent, with a letter professing their “bounden obedience” to Lanfranc for consecration (A.D. 1074).218 His successors, Donatus (d. 1095), Samuel (d. 1121), and Gregory (d. 1162) 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 extremely angry with us because we will not submit to his decrees, and because we always wish to remain under your authority.”219

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, like that of Dublin, to the Holy Trinity.220

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 of Canterbury.221 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 customary for its bishop to receive consecration except from the Archbishop of Canterbury.”222 Limerick 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.223 It is uncertain whether the Waterford people obeyed, as the records merely mention the names of the succeeding bishops.

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

Footnotes

149 Only one reference is to be found in the Annals. See Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 728.

150 Eoin MacNeill: “The Norse Kingdom of the Hebrides” (Scottish Review, Vol. XXXIX., pp. 254-276).

151 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.

152 Annals of Ulster, A.D. 912.

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

154 Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 953 (= 955). Annals of Ulster, A.D. 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 Lough Ree…”

155 Ancient Norway was divided by Haakon into districts (Skipreithur) each of which had in wartime to equip and man a warship: the number of these districts was fixed by law. Gulathingslög, 10. Cf. The Victorious Career of Cellachan of Cashel, p. 151, n; etc. Cf. The Saga of Haakon the Good (Heimskr.), ch. 21.

156 The Victorious Career of Cellachan of Cashel, pp. 29, 86.

157 Ib., pp. 89-102.

158 War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill, p. 109.

159 Ib., p. 133.

160 Ib., p. 137.

161 See A. Bugge: Norse Loan-words in Irish (Miscellany Presented to Kuno Meyer, p. 291 ff.).
W. A. Craigie: Oldnordiske Ord i de Gaeliske Sprog (Arkiv för Nordisk Filologi, X., 1894).
C. Marstrander: Bidrag til det Norske Sprogs Historie i Irland.
K. Meyer: Revue Celtique, X., pp. 367-9, XI., pp. 493-5, XII., pp. 460-3.

162 Marstrander (op. cit., p. 21) suggests that the word is connected with the O.N. dialectal form berling, “a little stick or beam under the shallows in a boat.”

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

164 The Norsemen sometimes adopted Irish fashions in their dress. The great Viking Magnus, who was killed in Ireland in A.D. 1103, 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 Olaf Sihtricsson, the famous King of Dublin received his nickname.

165 In the Annals of the Four Masters (A.D. 960), lagmainn is the name given to certain chieftains from the Hebrides who plundered the southern and eastern coasts of Ireland.

166 The word occurs only once in Irish: cf. The Victorious Career of Cellachan of Cashel, p. 140.

167 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).

168 These annals state that on one occasion (A.D. 869) Cennedigh of Leix, a brave Irish chieftain, was pursued by the Norsemen, who “blew their trumpets and raised angry barbarous shouts, many of them crying ‘nui, nui.’”

169 Marstrander (op. cit., p. 156) suggests, however, that roth may be an archaic form of the Irish ruadh, ‘red.’

170 Cf. W. A. Craigie: Gaelic Words and Names in the Sagas and Landnámabók. (Zeitschrift für Celtische Philologie, Band I., pp. 439-454).
A. Bugge: Vesterlandenes Indflydelse paa Nordboernes i Vikingetiden, ch. 9. See especially pp. 358-359.

171 There is an interesting account of the gelt in the Old Norse Konungs Skuggsjá (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 lived 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 Mirabilia in the Old Norse “Speculum Regale” (Eríu, Vol. IV., pp. 11-12).
This bears a striking resemblance to a certain passage in the mediæval 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., Buile Suibhne, (The Madness of Suibhne, ed. by J. G. O’Keefe for the Irish Texts Society). Cf. also Hávamál (ed. Gering), str. 129, etc.

172 Vilbald, a descendant of Kjarval, King of Ossory, had a ship called Kuthi, cf. Landnámabók, IV., ch. II. Todd (War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill, p. 299, n.) suggests Ir. Cuthach.

173 According to Jáns Saga hins Helga, ch. 14 (Biskupa Sögur I., Kaupmannahófn, 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 in these words: “Male diarik,” to which the King replied “Olgeira ragall,” i.e., Ir., olc aer adh ra gall, (it is a bad thing to be cursed by a Norseman.)

174 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. Landnámabók, I., ch. 6.

175 Cf. Whitley Stokes, op. cit., pp. 186, 191.

176 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…”

177 Cf. Thorfinssaga Karlsefnis, ch. 3; Vatnsdaela Saga, ch. 10; Tháttr af Nornagesti, ch. 11; Hrólfs Saga Kraka, ch. 3; etc.

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

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

180 The expression used is quievit in Christo and occurs only in MS. A. As neither MS. B nor any of the other annals mention Ivárr’s conversion it may be that the scribe of the former has unintentionally slipped into using a formula which was customary in recording the death of a Christian.

181 Landnámabók, II., ch. 16.

182 Landnámabók, I., ch. 12.

183 Ib., V., ch. 15.

184 Ib., I., ch. 13.

185 Ib., I., ch. 15.

186 Ib., IV., ch. 11.

187 Njáls Saga, ch. 101.

188 Landnámabók, V., ch. 15.

189 Ib., III., ch. 12.

190 Ib., I., ch. 12.

191 Three Fragments of Annals, pp. 120-124.

192 Cf. Gylfaginning, chs. 51, 52.

193 Hýmiskvitha, pass. Cf. W. S. Calverley: The Ancient Crosses at Gosforth, p. 168.

194 P. M. C. Kermode: Manx Crosses, pp. 180-184.

195 Ib., pp. 170-179.

196 Ib., pp. 86-95, 195-199.

197 Ib., pp. 150-153.

198 Ib., pp. 203-205.

199 Ib., pp. 209-213.

200 Ib., p. 169.

201 Ib., pp. 212-213.

202 Annals of Ulster, A.D. 919. The same source in recording Gothfrith’s death (A.D. 933) speaks of him as “the most cruel of the Norsemen.”

203 Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, MS.D., A.D. 925.

204 Ib., MSS. A., 942, D. 943.

205 Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 979.

206 Ib., A.D. 1021.

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

208 Annals of the Four Masters, A.D. 982.

209 Ib., A.D. 1011.

210 Ib., A.D. 994.

211 Eyrbyggja Saga, chs. 4 and 10; Kjalnesinga Saga, ch. 2; etc.

212 Cf. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, MS.A. Annal, A.D. 876, Kjalnesinga Saga, ch. 2; etc.

213 Landnámabók, II., ch. 12.

214 War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill, pp. 196, 198.

215 Annals of Tigernach, A.D. 1028, 1036.

216 Ib., A.D. 1042.

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

218 Ib., p. 306.

219 Ib., pp. 309-311.

220 Ib., pp. 525-6.

221 Ib., p. 504. Cf. J. MacCaffrey: The Black Book of Limerick. Introduction, chs. 5 and 7.

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

223 Ware, op. cit., p. 505.