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Warriors and Warfare: Ideal and Reality in Early Insular Texts

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Warriors and Warfare: Ideal and Reality in Early Insular Texts This thesis has been submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree (e.g. PhD, MPhil, DClinPsychol) at the University of Edinburgh. Please note the following terms and conditions of use: • This work is protected by copyright and other intellectual property rights, which are retained by the thesis author, unless otherwise stated. • A copy can be downloaded for personal non-commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. • This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the author. • The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the author. • When referring to this work, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given. Warriors and Warfare: Ideal and Reality in Early Insular Texts Brian Wallace PhD The University of Edinburgh 2011 Declaration I declare that this thesis has been composed by me and that the work is entirely my own. Furthermore, I declare that it has not been submitted for any other degree or professional qualification. Abstract This thesis investigates several key aspects of warfare and its participants in the Viking Age insular world via a comparison of the image which warriors occupy in heroic literature to their concomitant depiction in sources which are primarily non- literary in character, such as histories, annalistic records, and law codes. Through this method, the thesis seeks to add to the scholarship regarding organized violence in this era in two principle manners. First, this study will depart from nearly all previous studies of warriors by moving beyond a single cultural milieu and treating them in a ‘pan-insular’ context. Second and perhaps more importantly, in choosing to address the heroic literature as a genre distinct from other contemporary texts, this thesis will allow progress beyond the bulk of pre-existing ‘warfare scholarship’ for this era, which tends to utilize any and all manner of sources as a reflection of historical reality. In considering the context of heroic poetry and sagas, the thesis will allow one to make conclusion regarding its likely authorship and intended audience, as well as the goals of the former and expectations of the latter. Studies of warfare are always of particular relevance, due to their intersection with many areas of history long studied, such as constitutional and legal history, as well as those which have only recently received their due attention, such as questions of group cohesion, violence, and community. This thesis was largely inspired by the attempt by Stephen S. Evans to study the institution of the war-band in a cross- cultural reference in his 1997 book Lords of Battle. Evans provided a good analysis of this body in its fifth- through eighth-century Anglo-Saxon and British manifestation but failed to achieve his primary stated goal – a comparison of the image and reality of the war-band. His decision to limit his research to the Anglo- Saxon and Welsh cultural spheres in the era predating the first Viking invasions led him to omit much relevant Irish and Insular Norse material, as well as a great deal of later heroic literature. It was with these two shortcomings in mind that I set out to write a more thorough treatment of the war-band. Yet, what began initially as an attempt to remedy the shortcomings of Lords of Battle soon grew into a slightly more wide-ranging study that has moved beyond focussing solely upon the war-band to look at attitudes about warfare and its participants amongst contemporary audiences and authors during the Viking age insular world. Contents Acknowledgements i Abbreviations iii Chapter One – Introduction 1 I. Heroic Literature 5 i. Anglo-Saxon Sources 6 ii. Welsh (British) Sources 9 iii. Irish Sources 12 iv. A Consideration of Late Transmission of Earlier Material 14 Chapter Two - The Size of Warrior Groups 17 I. The size of warrior groups outside heroic literature 19 i. Historical and legal sources - the size of war-bands 20 ii. Historical and legal sources - casualty figures 23 iii. Archaeological, anthropological and other data 25 II. The Heroic Image of the Size of Warrior Groups 29 i. Three, its square and cube 29 ii. Twelve and fifteen 32 iii. Thirty and sixty 33 iv. Fifty and thrice fifty 35 v. Three hundred 37 vi. Seven hundred and twenty one hundred 41 III. Comparison of the Heroic Image to ‘Reality’ 43 IV. Conclusion 46 Chapter Three – The Social Status of Warriors 49 I. Previous and Current Thoughts on the Warrior’s Social Class 49 I. The Social Class of Warriors outside Heroic Literature 58 i. Relevant early historical sources 58 ii. Historical and annalistic sources 61 iii. Legal, Charter and Will Evidence 65 iv. Archaeological and Anthropological Evidence 66 II. The Heroic Image of the Warrior’s Social Class 69 i. Aristocratic status, landholders and heirs 69 ii. Wealth, splendour and luxury 81 III. Conclusions – Warrior Identity and the ‘Three Orders’ 83 Chapter Four - The Warrior as the Defender of Society 89 I. Just War 89 II. Defender of the Church 92 i. Image in heroic literature 92 ii. Image in hagiographical writing 98 iii. The historical ‘reality’ 102 III. Defender of the People and Innocentes 111 i. The heroic image 111 ii. The historical ‘reality’ 129 iii. Failure to defend and ravager 132 IV. Conclusion 139 Chapter Five – Loyalty, Vengeance and Betrayal 143 I. Death before Dishonour – Fighting to the death 145 i. The heroic image of men fighting to the death 145 ii. Death before dishonour – The ‘reality’ 161 iii. Death before dishonour – conclusions 170 II. Vengeance 173 i. Feud and ‘Customary Vengeance’ 173 ii. Vengeance – the image 177 iii. Vengeance – The ‘reality’ 182 iv. Revenge and feud – conclusions 186 III. Betrayal and Murder of a Lord by his Warriors 189 i. Betrayal and murder of a lord by his warriors – the image 189 ii. Betrayal and murder of a lord by his warriors – The ‘reality’ 192 iii. Betrayal and murder of a lord by his war-band – conclusions 198 IV. Final Conclusions 199 Chapter 6 – Hall Life: Feasting and Drinking and the War-Band 203 I. Feasting and Drinking – The Ecclesiastical Concept 206 i. The Godly Feast 211 ii. The Human Feast 213 iii. The Demon Feast 214 II. The Division of Feasts in Heroic Sources 215 i. The Godly Feast in heroic literature 215 ii. The Human Feast in heroic literature 216 iii. The Demon Feast in heroic literature 217 III. Connections between Drink and Death in Heroic Literature 219 IV. Talu Medd, Vows and the Lady with a Mead Cup 224 i. Talu Medd – ‘Earning his Mead’ 224 ii. Boasts and vows made over drink 232 iii. Lady with a mead cup 236 IV. The Failed Human Feast 244 i. Fights over questions of hierarchy 244 ii. The black feast 246 iii. The lady with the poculum mortis 247 iv. Alcohol fuelled violence 249 V. Conclusion 252 Chapter Seven – Conclusion 255 Appendix 260 Bibliography 265 I. Primary Sources 265 II. Secondary Sources 273 Acknowledgements I would like to express great thanks to my supervisor, Dr. James Fraser, for his constant advice and untiring support during the conception, development and completion of this thesis. Additionally, I would also like to thank my secondary supervisor, Dr. Tom Brown, for the insights he provided regarding the thesis and his suggestion of several useful avenues of research. My thanks also extend to the academic and administrative staff at the School of History, Classics and Archaeology at the University of Edinburgh. Finally, I offer the utmost gratitude to all of my family and friends, without whom this project would never have commenced, let alone reached its conclusion. In particular, I would like to thank my parents Scott and Nancy Wallace for their inspiration and financial support, my wife Ellie for her patience and support over the last stretch of the PhD, my friend and flatmate of the last four years Garrett Ratcliff for his patience and help, and my friends Euan MacKenzie, Daniel Murray, Tom Turpie, Mark Celsor, Randall Marshall, Mike Rohs, Derek Weimer and Mike Welsh for their moral support. My apologies to anyone who I have forgotten or omitted! i ii Abbreviations AFM – The Annals of the Four Masters; references to specific entries are taken from The Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters, Vol. 1, ed. and trans. by John O’Donovan (Dublin, 1848-51) and The Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland by the Four Masters, Vol. 2, ed. and trans. by John O’Donovan (Dublin, 1848-51) AH – Astudiaethau ar yr Hengerdd: Studies in Old Welsh Poetry, ed. by Rachel Bromwich and R. Brinley Jones (Cardiff, 1978) AI – Annals of Innisfallen; references to specific entries are taken from The Annals of Inisfallen, ed. and trans. by Seán Mac Airt (Dublin, 1951) ASC – The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle; references to specific entries are taken from English Historical Documents, Volume I, c. 500 – 1042, ed. and trans. by Dorothy Whitelock (London, 1968) AT – Annals of Tigernach; references to specific entries are taken from The Annals of Tigernach, ed. and trans. by Gearóid Mac Niocaill, at http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100002A.html AU – Annals of Ulster; references to specific entries are taken from The Annals of Ulster AD 431-1201, ed. and trans. by Seán Mac Airt and Gearóid Mac Niocaill, at http://www.ucc.ie/celt/published/T100001A/index.html Beowulf – Beowulf; references to specific passages are taken from Beowulf, revised edition, ed. and trans. by Michael Swanton (Manchester, 1997) BWP – Ifor Williams, The Beginnings of Welsh Poetry: Studies by Sir Ifor Williams, 2nd edition, ed.
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