7 24 THE GAEL ICELANDN I S .

III.

THE IN . BY W. A. CRAICIE, M.A., F.S.A. SCOT.

It is the fashion of the day to trace Celtic influence in every quarter where faintes e therth s ei t probabilit e claith f myo being allowedo T . establis e possiblhth e presenc f Celtio ee th c n e i racebloo th r o ,n i d individual apparentls i , y regarde settlins da e questiongth , thougs ha t i h yet to be shown why the Celtic element should persist and prevail over othed strongean r r characteristics e familiaar e W r . wite Celtith h c clai Englisn mo ho doubt n literature , is , t i onl d yan ; because Icelandic littlo s s ei studied thin i s country tha heae w t r less about Celtic demands . onit Professo r Bugg s endeavoureeha provo dt e d thaol t e mucth f ho Northern mythology is based on Christian and classical legends, a know- ledge of which the are supposed to have acquired from the Irish . Others have hinted that even the saga-literature of Iceland is directly due to a Celtic element in the population, in proof of which they point to the existence of similar literary forms in Irish. It is by way of testing the latter theory that I have brought together the follow- factsg in , which will shoslendew who foundatioa r idee nth a rests upon, unless we are true believers in the all-prevailing force of the Celtic element, howeveo start e tb withy r slighma . t i t e timth et A when Iceland first became e knowNorsementh o t n , many of them were in close connection with the Gaels of and . From about 800 A.D. many Norse had frequented Irise Scottisd th han h coasts eved an ,n settled amon Gaelie gth c popula- tion. To some extent they became mingled with the natives, but for mose th t part their positio hostils s naturalninsecurewa d wa ean t I , . therefore, when news of the finding of Iceland spread to the Western lands, that man f thesyo e Norse settlers preferre o leavdt e their Gaelic surroundings, and seek a safer and more congenial home among their fellow-countryme e newlth n i ny discovered islandwonderfue Th . l mass of information preserved in the Landndma-bnk, or record of the early settlers of Iceland, enables us to judge how far these men had come 8 24 PROCEEDING E SOCIETY, 189710 TH .Y F O SMA ,

under Celtic influences o what d t an exten, t their Norse bloos wa d mingled with Gaelic. The sagas of famous (Islendinga sogur) also suppl numbeya interestinf o r g details d froan m, these sourcee w s form a pretty correct idea- of the real nature of the Celtic element in Iceland. Befor Norsemay an e countrye t th foo nse n i t , Irish Culdee found sha d their way to Iceland by way of the Faeroes, seeking for that solitude in which they considered they could best serve their God. This we learn not only from the Irish monk , but from express statements in Landndma-bok, Ari'n i d s an Islendinga-bok, authoritn a e greatestth f yo weight. The passages in these two works are as follows:— "At that time" (when Ing61fr went to settle in Iceland) "there were Christians here, whom the Northmen call , but they afterwards went away, because they would not stay here beside heathens, and .they left behind them Irish books and bells and croziers: from "this it might be understood that they were Irish" (Islendinga-bok, . i.)c . t "Bu before Icelan s settledwa d from Norway, there were folk there whom Northmee th n call Papar. They were Christians thoughis d i t an , t that they must have been from wes e seath t , because there were found behind them Irish books, bells, and croziers, and other things besides, which might prove that they were Westmen. These were found eas Papen i t y and Papyli, and it is mentioned in English books that at that time there was voyaging between the countries " (Lctndndma-boJc, Prol.). cleas i t I r from these passage dealingsy thaan f i t s 'took place between the and the Northmen, they were of the very slightest kind. Besides and Papyli named above, we shall find mention of the Papar in connection with Kirkju-bse, in the South of Iceland, but there indicatioo n s i n that they continue livo dt e sometimes thereha s a , s been e reasupposedth l r presencFo . f Celteo s amon Norse gth e settlere w s must turn to the elaborate lists in Landndma, and it willbe simplest to follow the arrangement of that work. This will lead us right round the coas Icelandf o t , beginnin southe th goin d t ga an , g -wise. First e ,notice b e discoverer howeverth y f dma o t thae i f , o on st Iceland, Fldki VilgerSarson amond ha , s creghi wHebrideaa n (su^reyskr maftr) named Faxi. " When they sailed west round Keykjaness, and THE GAELS IN ICELAND. 249

the firth opened up before them, so that they saw Sneefellsness, Faxi said, 'This must be a large country that we have found; there are great rivers here.' Tha sincs i t e called Faxa-6ss." alsis o It possible that Nattfari ,secon thralthe GarSardto lwas who , ma visio nt t Iceland havy ma e, bee nCelta . t thero prooit n bu , f s o ei f Gar<5arr, indeedf Swediso s wa , h origin, ans thrall dhi y rathe ma s r have belonged to some Baltic race. Nattfari settled in the North of Iceland. How Gaelic thralls were apt to behave is illustrated by the fate of e earlth Hjdrleif f y o settlers e s nam on originall,s Hi .ewa y Leifr,e th 1 son of Hr65mar: he belonged to Fjalir in Norway, and went a-viking in the west. "He plundered in Ireland, and found a great earth-house there. He went into it, and it was dark, until light shone from a s holdingsworwa n d .thama a Leift r killed that man tood e an ,kth sword (= hjijr) and much treasure from him: after that he was called Hjor-leifr. Hjb'rleifr plundered widely in Ireland, and got much treasure there. There he took ten thralls, whose names were these : Duffakr and GeirroSr, Skjaldbjorn, Hallddrr and Drafdritr; the others t named.ar eimportanno s i t I " o notict t e heree thath f to onle on y thralls has a Gaelic name—DuWithach. This is a common feature in connection with Celtic thralls d suggestan , s thae Norsemeth t n seldom too e troublth k o leart e reae nth l name f theiso r slaves gavd an , e them Norse ones instead. followine th n I g year (874) s Hjorleiffoster-brothehi d an r r Ingolfr sailed to Iceland. The latter landed at Ingolfs-hbfSi, the south-east corner of the ; the former was driven west along the coast, and ran shor waterf o t . " The Irise nth h thralls too plae kkneadinf th n o g together meal and butter, and said that it allayed thirst. They named t i mirfydk,s prepare t whewa bu t i n d there came much rain, which they caugh n theii t r canvas. Whe min]>ake nth bega groo nt w musty, they threw it overboard, and it drove ashore at the place now called Minfaks-eyrr. wore Th evidentls di " y derived from Irish min, mear o l flour, thoug e nature terminatiohth th f eo s doubtfulni . The company landed at Hjorleifs-hofSi, in the extreme South of Ice- n thi1I s articl I ehav e retaine inflexive th d r onle ye wheth e namn i th n s i e nominative, dropping it in the other cases, as in Icelandic. 0 25 PROCEEDING E SOCIETY, 189710 TH .Y F O S MA ,

land, and remained there for the' winter. In the Hjb'rleifr wished to sow: he had only one ox, so he made the thralls drag the plough. Dufpakr then persuade s , fellowariy hi dsa ox d o kile t sth l that a hear had done it, so that they might attack Hjorleif while he searched for the bear. The plot succeeded; the thralls killed Hjorleif ans comradeshi d d n thealli an , n e te womecarrie, th d f an of nd propert islande th o yt s whicsouth-weste th hn i thew ysa . Viftld Karli an e lthrall th , f Ingdlfo s , discovered whad takeha t n place. Ingolfr guessed where the rebels had gone to, came upon them in the , and killed some, while others sprang over the cliffs; Dufpakr gave his name to Dufpaks-skor, and the islands were called -eyjar, " because they were Westmen." It is quite likely that Ingolf's thralls may also have been Celts. Whe e tooh n k possessio e south-westh f o n t corne f Icelando r , Karli said, " We did ill to go past good districts, and settle on this out-ness." So Karli ran away, along with a bond-maid, and was afterwards found by Ingulf at Olfus-vatn. Vifill received his freedom, and lived long at Vifils-stea f som o r Vifils-tofts do n e reputema a s a ,. "King Haral e Fairhaireth d d brought under e th himsel l al f , so far west that no king of Norway has ever ruled further in that direction except King Magnus Barelegs. But when he went east again, vikings and Scots and Irish came down upon the islands, and ravaged and plundered far and wide. When King Harald heard of this, he sent west Ketil flatnef, the son of Bjorn buna, to win back the n hanow islands.d s tha t hi morn Kin i nr bu " , fo eg so Keti d di l Harald's interests. His son, Helgi bj61a, went to Iceland from the Hebrides, and took possession of Kjalarness on the West coast. It is very probable that this surnam ' bjdlane Iris ' bjolr th o f h o a' es i ' Beolldn. A Scottish king of that name, belonging to the , is mentioned in Ldn., ii. 11, and the use of Gaelic names as appendages o Norst e ones appear n othei s r cases, e.g., Olafr feilan (= Faelan), Haraldr gilli (= Gillecrisf), porgeirr meldun (= Maelduin), porkell )>jalf =( i loif-dhealbhach). Helgi's surname appear anothen si r instance, tha f Hrdalo t d bjolsettleo e Easth wh a t n di Firth s o (Ldn.,n t . 1)iv bu , Celtic connectio r him e madfo b t : n eou nca 1 25 THE GAEL ICELANDN I S .

Bjb'rn buna e fatheth , f Ketio r l flatnef d anotheha , r .son named Hrapp. His son, Orlygr, was fostered by St Patrick, bishop in the Hebrides. e som(Therb y e econfusioma n her e: perhap s Patrick -was Orlyg's .) He was desirous to go to Iceland, and asked the bishop to assist his undertaking. The bishop made him take with him wooe th r buildindfo gchurcha n iroa , n bell plenariuma , a gol, d coin, and consecrated earth to lay under the corner-posts. He also described appearance th m e districhi th f o t settlo o et ts n Icelandwheri e wa e eh , and badbuilm hi ea dchurc h there t d dedicatColumbS an ,o t t i ea (called Kolumb n somi a e MSS., Kollumkill n others)i a l Orlyg'Al . s companions (so far as given) bore Norse names, so that the Gaelic element is not likely to have been strong among them. The voyage was stormy, and they lost their reckoning. Then Orlygr called upon Bishop Patrick, and promised to give his name to the place where he shoul da shor land n I t . time they reache a firthd o whict , h Orlygr gave the name of Patreks-fjorS (in the North-West of Iceland). Next spring Orlygr sailed southwards : on the way the iron bell fell over- board, but was found lying among the sea-weed when they landed at Kjalarness e churc s Th buil t .wa Esju-bergha t . s "hi Orlyg d an r kinsmen believed in Kolumba, although they were not baptised," says one account t anothebu , r more correctly refer s sdescendants hi thi o t s . Orlygr himself was plainly a Christian, and is reckoned as such in Ldn., v. 15. Esju-ber s saigi havo dt e been named afte a womar n Esjalefo twh , Irelan lattee th n dri day Kinf so g Konof Conchobhair),b'g= ( r wend an t Icelando authorite t th t thir bu , yonls fo si e unhistori yth c Kjalnesinga saga. The name, however, might be the Irish &sa or Essa. The same saga tells us that Orlyg's church was still standing in later times, and the bell existed in the days of Bishop Ami porlaksson (1268-1298), although it was then useless with rust. Bishop Arni got the plenarium taken to the episcopal seat at Skalholt, and had its leaves properly secured, "and there are Irish letters on it" (chap. 18). Going north the coast, we find a settler named Svartkel, a mano wenwh , t from Englan o Icelandt d . Anothe s namewa r d Avangr, Iris y birth f b builo htho e a wh t shi ,t timbeou p r then 2 25 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH 10Y F , O S1897MA , .

growin islande brotherso th Tw n gi .d Ketill,an pormo'S d , ol th e e th r sons of Bresi, also went from Ireland to Iceland, and settled on Akraness. " They were Irish. Kalma s alsowa n Irish, from whom Kalraau's River is named, and lived first in Kataness." It is evident that men with the names of pormdS and Ketil must have been as much JTorse shal e w s lateIrisha ese ld r an , that Kalmaa s wa n Hebridean. It is not impossible that either Kalman or some other settle y havma er carrie e namth d e Kataness (i.e., Caithness) from Scotland e derivatioth : n from Tcati, a smal ' l ship,' give n Harbori n saga, c. 28, is evidently an invented one. . Jorundrf Ketio n e Christianl so th Bresason, a s wa , . e hel"H d well s tildyinhi l g dayd becamd an , ol a hermies hi n i t age." Ketill also had a daughter called ESna ( = Ir. Efhne). She was married in Ireland to a man named Konal: their son was Asolfr alskik weno wh ,t from Irelan o Icelandt d e d Easlandeth an , tn i d Firths. He was a Christian, and would have no dealings with heathens, not even to take food from them. Along with eleven others, Asdlfr went west along the South coast, until they came to the homestead of porgeir at Holt under Eyja-fell, where they pitched their tent. Three compane oth f yd die tooan d l kil ther e; thei r bones were found long afterward churche takend th an s o t . porgeirr would not receive the strangers into his house, but by his advice Asolfr built himself a hall (slidli) there. This was in the beginnin f e rivewintero gth rd whican , h e flowesid f th Asdlf' o ey db s dwelling became straightway full of fish, porgeirr declared that they were taking up his fishings, so Asdlfr went further west to another river, subsequently called Ira, "because they were Irish." The fish then disappeared from the former river, and swarmed in this one to such an extent that everyone was amazed. The men of the district then drov s efellow hi Asold san f awa y: the y settled beside another same th river ed thinan , g happened againe otheTh r. settlers declared that they were sorcerers, but porgeirr said that he thought they must be good men. In the spring, As61fr made his way to the West coast d settlean n Akranessdo , makin s homhi g t a H(51me n whas o , wa t church-ground (kyrkju-bolstaftr) at a later period. TH3 E 25 GAELS IN ICELAND.

When Asolfr grew old, he became a ; his cell was where the church afterwards stood, and there he died, and was buried at Holm. When HalldcSrr f Illugo e Eedn th iso , , lived there a byre-woma, s nwa in the habit of wiping her feet on the mound that covered As61fs grave. One time she dreamed that Asolfr came and rebuked her for wipin dirtr gs he house y hi e shal fee n w e reconciled, o ,t b t l " bu " said he, " if you tell Hallddr your dream." She did so, but he said that consequenco n f o s wa t ei what women dreamed d gav o an hee, n e o t d it. When Bishop HrdSolfr1 left Bse, where he had lived for nineteen years e lefh , t three monks behin f theso d e ehim dreameOn . d that Asolfsaidd an , rm "cam hi Sen o et d your man-servan o Hallddt t t a r e mounth froy m Holmdbu mhi d tha e an byre-path, tth lien o s ; give hi mmar a e servan f silve;th k o o s r e it.mon fo d rTh "t di kbough t the mound, and then dug in it, and found a man's bones there. He too kd wen an thes t, homup e e wit e followinhth themn O g. night Halld6rr dreamed that As61fr came to him and said that he would make both eyes spring out of his head unless he bought back at the same price as he sold them at. Hallddrr therefore bought back Asdlf's bones, and had a wooden shrine made for them, which was placed on the altar in the church. Halld6r Illugn r so sen s i abroahi t procuro dt e woo builo dt dchurcha . Oreturns nhi ,comd wheha ee nh betwee n Eeykjanes Snsefellsnessd an s , e captainth lanm hi ds t wherwoulle t e wishededh no e theH n. threw all the church-wood overboard, and bade it land where Asolf r would have . it Three nights late wooe th r d came ashor Kirk-sandn eo t Holma , l al , excep treeso tw t , which strande t Eaufar-nessa d n Myrari , . Hallddrr had a church built, 30 ells ( = 45 feet) in length, and roofed with wood, consecrated an Kolumkillo t t di i (Kolumba Godd )an . (Ldn.,\. , 16.15 ). c worts i t I h noticing, with regar o Asolft d , thas namhi t s Norsei e , while apparently both his parents have Gaelic names—ESna andKonall. r doeGaeliy No san c name appear amon s descendantsghi . On part of the land belonging to Ketil Bresason there settled one Bekan, whose nam Irise e th seemhe b MSSBecdn,e o sth t t . bu als o give the form Beigan. (Ldn., i. 17.) 1 Said to have been an Englishman. 4 25 PROCEEDING E SOCIETY, 1897TH 10 .Y F O S MA ,

In Reykjardal settled porgeirr meldiin, whose cognomen suggests the Irish Madduin; one MS. gives ' moldan,' and an Earl Moldan or Moddan of Dungals-bae, in Caithness, is mentioned in Njdls Saga, c. . (Ldn.,83 . 19.i ) e Westh n tI Firths, whic e reckonear h d from HvalfjbrS northward, various settler e name sar o wer wh o somdt e e exten f Gaelio t c origin, comed oha r under Gaelic influences e firs f theso Th t .s Kalmane i e th , Hebridean already mentioned, who lived in Kalmans-tiinga, between s drowne Hvft e wa formed Fljdtath an d af thesn o i an , e rivers. Kalman's brother was Kylan (Ir. Guiledti), whose son Kari had a dispute wit hfreedmaa n named Karli Konalsso n. abouKarox n ia t persuaded his thrall to kill Karli, and then put the thrall to death. Kari's son was named Kylan, who was killed by pj6S6lf, the son of Karli. Several freedmen of Skalla-Gri'm, father of the famous Egil, are men- tione s settlinda n varioui g s places t theibu , r l Norse,nameal e ar s— Grfes, Grimr, Sigmundr. n Hrauns-fjorI S settled AuSun d marrien ha Stotio dwh , Myrunna, daughte Irisn a f ho r King named BjaSmak e latteTh r. nam s evii e - dentl a slighy t error . foBldthmac;Ir r e forme th stany r ma fo rd Muirenn. Instead of BjaSmak, some copies give MaddatS, which is the Irish Maiud or Madudhdn. One autumn AuSunn saw an - horse come running down from HjarSar-vatn; it made its way to his s e stallionbettehi th stu f t o f horsesrdo go . d Thean , n AuSunt go n e greholth yf do horse oxeno a d drov,sledg tw yoke an o r ,t efo et i d e hors eass Th deao eywa t wity l. ha hit s wit homhi hl eal whil e th e sun was high, but as the day wore on, it stamped its feet into the hard e pastern-tuftsth s a r groun d fa afte an s ,a r d sunse e t i brokth t l al e s nevewa e lakerd th see an ,o t n harnessp againu n .ra , Another son of the Ketil flatnef, already mentioned, was Bjb'rn, who drives f Norwao wa t nou y Kinyb g Harald. Bjorn firste wenth o t t Hebrides, but would not settle there, nor adopt Christianity like Ketil's other children r thiFo scalles reaso. wa de nh Bjb'r e Easterlingth n a , term which implie shara s p distinction betwee e easternth d westernan n e Scandinaviapartth f so n world. Bjorn married Gjaflaug e daughteth , r of Kjallak sisted an ,f Bjb'r o r e Strong nth e namTh .e Kjallak t onca r e THE GAELS IN ICELAND. 255

suggest Irise th s h Ceallach, t Eyrbyggjabu saga informs wa s tha u se h t an Earl in Jamtaland in Norway. If the name is Gaelic, it must have been adopted by the Norsemen at a very early period; and there is a parallel to this in the case of Kormak, who was also resident in Norway in the time of Harald the Fnirhaired. Bjorn the Easterling remained two winters in the Hebrides, and then went to Iceland, where he settled beside Hrauns-fjorS. He was the only one of Ketil flatnef's children that was not baptised. His sons werOttarrd an e f Ottad o Kjallak. Ol n r Helgso e plunderee th r th i d in Scotland, and took captive Nifibjorg, daughter of King Bjo'lan (= Beolldn) and of Kaolin, the daughter of Gb'ngu-Hrolf. Helgi married her d theran , e were poets among their descendants. Bjorn the Strong also had a son, named Kjallak, who went to Iceland. t I seems pretty .eviden Bjorno ttw theid thae an s rth t families were much more Noise than Gaelic e recurrencn spitth i , f o e f - thio e ap s parently Celtic name. After Eirikr the Eed had discovered , a certain Herjolfr sailed thither d felan ,l amon e greath g t waves called Haf-gerftingar. On board his ship there was a Hebridean Christian, who made the ' Breaker-poem/ of which only the first two lines and the refrain are preserved. These sho metre wth tha n ei poee calles th t mwa d lirynhend, e rule th f whicso h (alliteratio d assonancean n e strictlar ) y observen i d e followinth g renderin refraie th f go n :— " Mildest judge, that monks upholdest, Mak paty em h amids breakere th t s: Highest might, in heaven that sittest, Hand me safe tliroxigli all my wand'rmg." Famous among the Christian settlers was a woman, AuSr or USr the Wealthy daughtea , f Ketio r l flatnef wifd f 6leian o ,e Whitee th fo wh , was Kin Dublinn gi .porsteins Theiwa n Eede so rn th . When Oleifr fell in battle in Ireland, AuSr and porsteinn went to the Hebrides, where porsteinn married puriS, daughte f Eyvino r e Eastmanth d . Their son was Olafr Feilan. porsteinn made league with Earl SigurS n " Caithneswo o d SutherlandPowerfultw e an th e s th d an , , Kosd an s Moray, and more than half of Scotland." porsteinn was king over all 6 25 PROCEEDING SOCIETYE , 189710 TH Y .F O S MA ,

this, unti Scote fel th e l n h battlei trapa sl d caughn i an , . m hi t Au8r. was the Caithnessn nshia i d p ha buil e sh ;t quietly e d saileth an , o t d Orkneys ,Iceland to thenc Feeroesso the eto . and , One of Au$'s freedmen was Erpr, son of Earl Meldiin (= Maeldiiin) n Scotlandi s mothe Hi s Myrgjo. wa r Muirghel), = ( l daughten a f o r Irish king, Gljdmal. Botbeed ha h n n mothetakeso s d captivena an r s by SigurS, porstein's confederate, and Myrgjol was bondmaid to SigurS's wife, whom she served with great fidelity. AuSr then bought higa t a h r price he promised an , r freedo e servehe giv o dt r sh ehe f mi d purK e wif f th ,porstein o e d don r s formeha faithfulla ,he ee sh r s a y mistress . Bot. h Myrgjo Erpd an l r wen Icelano t t d with Au6. AuSr settlee Broadflrtth n di h dales d live an t ,Hvamm a d . " She;-, had her place of prayer at Cross-knolls (Kross-Mlar) : there she had crosses set up, for she was baptised, and a true believer. Her kinsmen afterwards had great faith in these knolls, and a was raised there when sacrifices madecame b o et . They believed that they died. into the knolls, and pdrSr gellir was led into them before he rose to renown, saga.s ahi tols si n di " Unfortunatel sage yth f p6rf ao losts i t . AuSr gave lan o r severalfreedment d he f o . Erpr settled theret bu , only one of his children has a Gaelic name—Dufnall ( = Ir. DomhnalT). The other freedmen have Norse names—Vifill, Hundi, and Sokkolfr. Hundi is specially described as a Scot. Olafr feilan, the son of porstein, was brought up by Au<5, and married Aldi r Asdiso f Barrey,o s' ' whose father Konal s grandsowa l n of Olver, a great viking. The name Konall probably implies some Gaelic connection t littlbu , s knowe i family th d t f Barreno an no , s i y necessarily Barra in the Hebrides, any more than in the case of Orm Barreyar-skald. Geirmundr hell-skin kina f o n Norwaygi n so , , went a-vikine th n gi West afterwardd an , s betook himsel Icelando t f , wher settlee e eh th n di North-West. He had eighty freedmen, most of whom would, no doubt, f Westero e b n origin. Amon s thrallghi s ther e namear e d Kjarrar o n Kjaran (Ir. damn), Bjorn, and Atli; the latter had twelve or fourteen thralls unde afterwards r himwa d ,t an fre Geirmumdy se sb e . Hallstein settleo wh , porska-fjorSn di alsd ha o, plundere Scotlandn di , 7 25 THE GAEL ICELANDN I S .

and took thralls with him to Iceland; these he employed in making salt. Ketill gufa was another colonist who had been in Western viking, and brought with him " Irish thralls from Ireland " : their names were porm6Sr, Fl<5ki, K6ri ,o Skorris Svartrtw d .an , During their second winter in Iceland, the elder Skorri and Fldki ran away with two women and much treasure : they escaped for a time, but were finally found, and killed. Fldkadal and Skorradal were named after them. During the fourth winte s othehi r r thrall awan sra nighty yb , burne dyeomaa d nan famils hi l thein yi al r house, loade e horseth d e svaluable th wit l al h s they could findd madan , e e yeoman'offTh . n camso s e home that morning, procured help gavd an , e chas e o thrallthemt e Th .s flen i d various directions, som f theeo m takin e watere placeth Th o gt . s where they were killed were called K6ra-nes, Svarts-sker, Skorrey, and porin<58s-sker. An rauftfeldr was at enmity with Harald Fairhair, and left Norway. wene H t vikine West th plundered n gi an , Irelandn di therd an e , eh married Grelo<5, daughter of Earl Bjartmar. He settled in the North- West of Iceland, and gave land to one of his thralls, Dufan (Ir. Dublidn), whenc e place-namth e e Dufans-dal freedrnaA . f An'o s ncalle wa s d Hjallkarr, which is a Norse name. e Onorthernth n coas f Icelano t e Gaelith d c elemen s muci t h less marke famoudwest thathe The . non s Ingimundr, whose stor tolis y d Vatnsdseln i a comrada Saga d ha , e named Ssemun e Hebrideath d n (enn suftreyskt), who also settled in Iceland, but there is no indication that he was anything but Norse. Two thralls are mentioned who went explorin theiy gb r master' s namewa se d orderson Hrserek e th ; r o r KoSrekr, the other Raungu<5r, and none of these names is decisive for a Gaelic origin. Neithe s thai r f pdrio t r dut'unef freedmaa , f Yxnao n - f>6ri, the brother of Naddodd, who first found Iceland. A certain porSr, in Skagafirth, was married to FriSgero', daughter of another FriSgerS, whose father was Kjarvalr, an Irish king. porSr had nineteen children t therbu , e could hardl muce yb h Celtic bloo themn di . In MjoVa-dal there settled a Hebridean (Suftreyingr) named BarSr; another, named Kampa-Grimr, occupied Kaldakinn. VOL. XXXI. B 258 PROCEEDINGS OF THE SOCIETY, MAY 10, 1897.

A famous man of Gautland, in Sweden, named Bjorn, had a son named Eyvindr engageo wh , vikinn Wese di th n tgi likfathers ehi . In Irelan marriee dh d Ratorta, daughte f Kino r g Kjarval settled an , d down there: he was known as Eyvindr the Eastman. He and Raforta had "a namen so d Helgi, whom the Hehridee y th gav n i somo et e brin o st eon g up. Two years later they went to see the boy, and could scarcely recognise him, he was so lean, through being starved. They took him away with them, and called him Helgi the Lean. He was . brought up in Ireland, and married a daughter of Ketil flatnef. Helgi wen Icelano t t d wit s wifd childrenhhi an e d settlean , n i d rathes EyjafjorSwa re mixereligious H hi . n di s beliefs believee h : n di Christ named an ,s homesteadhi d (Kristnes)aftem Hi e caller h t dbu , upon for seafaring and hardy deeds, and all that he thought of most importance. . . The Eastern district is even poorer in Celtic traditions than the Northern unusuan A . l proceedin thas f porsteigwa o t n leggweno wh ,t from the Hebrides to the East Firths, lived there three years, and then returne Hebridee th o dt s (iv. 8) . Ketil Foolise grandsoa lth s hwa Ketif no l flatnef wend an Icelan,o t d fro Hebridese mth settlee H . t Kirkju-basda , wher Papae eth lived rha d before, and where no heathen man might dwell. After Ketil's death, a certain Hildir tried to shift his homestead to Kirkju-bse, although he was heathena t whe bu ,came nh e homefiel efence th neath f o eo t r die e dh d suddenly (iv. 11). Two brothers, Vilbaldr and Askell hnokkan, are mentioned in Ldn., iv. 11, as the sons of Dofnak, but in v. 8, Askell is called the son of Dufpak f Diifnjao n so , l (Ir. Domhnall), f Kino n g so Kjarva Irelandn i l ; Vilbaldr went from Ireland to Iceland in a ship which he called KiiSi, whenc e river-namth e e KuSa-fljo't. s Vjlbald'namewa n d so sBjola n (Ir. BeolldvL), daughtes hi d an r Bjb'llok (Ir. Beloce). Soute th f Icelan n ho I settler w fe e recordea d ar s s havina d g come fro e Gaelimth c lands. Among thes Baugrs ewa , grandso f Kjallako n , whose father was the Irish. King Kjarvalr. Two brothers :are also mentioned, Hildir and Hallgeirr; they had a freedman named Duffak, who gave his name to Duff>aks-holt. He was a wizard, and could THE GAELS IN ICELAND. 259

chang alsshapes o s ehi o t coulbu , s neighboudhi r St6r61f n Hvoli r , with disputa d whoha ee m h abou t some evenine On .g near sunset second-sightea beaa froo w g r msa n a bulHvol dma d l an fro, m Duf- faks-holt. Theyn I fough . it beste f togetherth o tbeae d th ha r d an , mornine th l al p whereart e s u ngth hwa e thed met d botha y an , h wern bedn me ei injurede y .th la d an , RaSormr and Jolgeirr were two brothers who came from west the sea Icelando t settlee d Southth an , n i d. RaSorm's foster-brother, porkell Jrjalfi, also cam Icelano et settled dan d beside them. Althoug s coghhi - nome give s n' bjalfii s na MS.'quits e i it non i , e likely tha ' fjalfit s i ' correct, answerin Irise th ho g t nam e Tovrdhecdbhaeh. Irise Th h Kin g Muircheartach mac Toirdhealbhaigh, born in 1050 A.D., is called pjalfason in and Hulda (but Condialfason in Ac/rip). Askell hnokkan, the brother of Vilbald, has been referred to above: anothes settleSoute wa o th e h wh rn South-Wes e hdo th coast n I . e w t find mention of a freedman named Bb'Svar, from whom various troubles s rac arosehi s no i et t bu , given thralA . l named a bondHak d an -i maid named Bdt belonged to Ketilbjorn, who came from Naumudal in Norwa y: thei r nationalit t specifiedno s yi . Another freedma mens i n - tioned in the South-West, named SteinrauSr, the son of Melpatrek, a distinguished man in Ireland. From AgSir Norwayn i , , came porgrimr Grimo'lfsson, whose was Kormlb'S (Irish, Gorm/Maith), daughter of King Kjarval. With hi come mw e roun de poin agaith o tt n wher e started,—thw e e settle- ment of In in the South-West corner of Iceland. The author of Landndtna-bok was not uninterested in the question of Celtic influence on the early settlers, though more from a religious than a racial point of view. The work closes with a short paragraph on the Christian element amon e colonistsgth , whics followa s hi s :—" Learned men say that some of the first settlers who colonised Iceland were baptised, mostly those who came from west the sea; as such are named Helgi the Lean, Orlygr the Old, Helgi bjrfla, Jorundr the Christian, Au5r the Wealthy, Ketill the Foolish, and others besides, who came from west e sea somd th ,an f the eo m kept Christianity well till their dying day, but it did not go far in their families, for the sons of some of them 0 26 PEOCEEDING E SOCIETY, 189710 TH .Y F O S MA ,

raised temples and sacrificed, and the land was entirely heathen for nearl a hundrey d years." This disappearance of Christianity is not more remarkable than the almost complete rejection of Gaelic names among the descendants of the first settlers. Even in the cases where the colonist himself bears a Gaelic name, it scarcely ever continues in • the subsequent generations. From both of these facts it is evident that the Norse element was by far the most powerful, and that any Celtic traces were rapidly absorbed by it. This is not surprising if we remember that pure Gaels could only have existed amon e thrallgth d bondmaidsan s e formeth , r being apparently more numerous tha e latterreae nth Th l colonist. s froe mth t leasa Wes mucs d a t ha t h Nors Celtis ea c bloo thein di r veins theid ,an r sympathies seem to have been entirely Norse. The latest edition of Landndma-bok (Reykjavik, 1891) give e chien indea sth f x o settlers, 314 in number. It is remarkable how few of these (only 5) have Gaelic names: they are Avangr (?), Bekan, Kalman, Kjallakr, and Kylan. To these may be added Askell hnokkan (?), Helgi bjola, Olafr feilan, porgeirr meldun, and porkell fjalfi (?) as having Gaelic surnames. This leaves anothe landndmsmenn6 2 r havo wh e some connection, often very slight, wit e Hebrideth h f r thesIrelano o s l eal dhav: e pure Norse names, even when bor n Scotlanni r Irelando d . thralle Th freedmed san n cause more uncertaintyt alwayno s i s t i s a , clear whethe f e takeGaelio b s ro t a nthec e birthyar . Only fouf o r them have Gaelic names—two Diityaks, Kjaran, and Diifan. There y plausibl arma 7 other e2 o connectee b ywh s d wit e Westhth , though their names are Norse, and a number are merely referred to without their name beinsw beinfe ge a th gkilledt givene head no f W an o ,r . general attitude towards them is one of conscious superiority, so that it can hardly be supposed they had much influence on the thought or life of their Northern masters. The Celtic genius may be a very abiding t whe bu e ,fin w nd tha n Icelani t t di lefo obviou n t s tracen o s religion, language r personao , l names have t sufficienw , eno t groundr fo s assumin presencs git othen ei r sphere f mentao s l activitys cleai t I r . that the old Norsemen were interested in legend, history, and before they could have been influenced in these matters by the Gaels, THE GAELS IN ICELAND. 261

and there is no reason why the Icelanders should not have written their sagas, even if their Scandinavian blood had suffered no admixture of Celtic. There still remai pointw fe na snoticee b whic y havins da hma g some bearing on the subject. Besides those already given, there are five Gaelic names in the sagas and Landndma, which presuppose some con- nection wite Westth h , thougl likelihooal n i h a dver y slight one. These are Dufguss, Gilli, Kaftall, Kormakr, and Njall. Diifguss (al. Dugfilss e Wealthth ) Dvifgussdaf yo s mentionei l Bjarnarn di saga,d an a person of-the same name appear Sturlunge th n si a time (13th century). The Gaelic origin of the name is not certain, however, as an Irish Dubhgus does riot see occurmo t Hebridea A . n named Gilli occurn i s the saga of 'Gull-t;6ri, and another, surnamed 'the Russian' or 'the Rich,' appear Laxdcela.n i s KaSalA s mentionei l Landndma,n di d an a KaSall Bjalfason in Njdla, but neither of these is directly connected with Ireland. Kormakr the poet, the hero of Kormdlcs saga, was the grandso anothef no r Kormak leadina ,n Norwa i e timn th f o egma n i y Harald Fairhair. Njall is the name of several persons in Landndma, e mosth t famou f thef o porgeiro s mn so bein , e otherwisth g e called Burnt-lSfjall r non a fo Gaelif the et o n mbu ca ;c descen e madb t e out. Distinctly Gaelic is also the name Melkolfr, borne by two thralls who appear in Njdla and Reylcdcela saga. Melkolfr is for Melkolmr (a form used in the Orlmeyinya saga) = Irish Mael-coluim. Besides these names, there are some incidents relating to Gaels which possess considerable interest. The most famous of these is the story of how Hoskuld f Laxardalo r Wese th f Iceland o tn i , , bought e Iristh h Princess Melkorka (Laxdcela saga, c. 12). By her he had a son, whom namee h d 6laf, after Olaf feilan s mother'hi , s brother. Melkorkd ha a pretended to be dumb, and her deception was only discovered when she was overheard talking to the boy. When Olafr grew up, his mother urged him to go abroad to visit his grandfather Myrkjartan, the Irish king. Olafr agreed to this, and Melkorka gavtokenm ehi s whic father hhe r would recognise. " I have also taught you to speak Irish," she said, " so that it will not matter to you where you happen to land in Ireland." Olafr finally made his way to Myrkjartan, and not only established his identity, but was certified 2 26 PROCEEDING E , SOCIETY189710 TH .Y F O SMA ,

o speat k excellen ts morIrish wa n ethi I e proficien.h s t thae th n Norsema trieo speao nwh dt k Iris latea o ht r Myrkjartan stora , y which is told in Biskupa Sogur, i. 227. " Gisl Illugason went to Ireland with King Magnus, and was the fore-man of the hostages whom King Magnus sent to Myrkjartan, the Irish King in Connaught. There was along with them a Norseman, who said he knew Irish well, and offered to salute the king, which Gisl permitted him to do. Then he said to the king, 'male diarik,' tongur whic ' Curseou , n heis i thou e db 0 King., ' One of the king's men answered: ' Sire,' he said, ' this must be the thrall of all the Norsemen.' The king answered,, • 'olgeira ragall'; that is, in our tongue, 'Unknown is a dark road.' " u -The Norseman's Irish is not at all clear, but the anecdote is interesting. It must have been a misapprehension of this story about Olaf that led Theophilus O'Flannigan to assert, on the authority of Thorkelin, that Irish was still the language of some families in Iceland. Even in ancient days verIcelanderw yfe s see o mhavt e known anythin. it f o g n VatmdvelaI saga, howevers wa , e B4rS o thera storon wh s f ,i e o y appealed to by his companions to drive off a storm which had been sent upon them by magic. He bade them join hands and form a ring. The wene nh t round them ' withershins ' three times spokd an , e Irish, bidding them answer 'ja.' The wavee nh kerchieda f toward hille sth , and the storm passed off. In this case there was probably no one present who could judge the correctness of the Irish. whon Toso e returnamema h d Olafo nha t d e Kjai-tanh : , aftes hi r mother's father, Myrkjartan. This shortenin e namth f ego reminds u s how Sighvatr the poet christened the son of King Olaf by the name of Magnus, after Karlamagnus, d -theveha er e greateshearh . n of d ma t The Icelanders apparently made a mistake in the ending of the name, whic hardln hca e otheyb r tha e Iristh n h Muircheartauh. The same for founs mi Heimskringla,n di wher e kineth g caidentifiede nb e th t bu , MS. known as Fagrskinna morercorrectly gives ' Myrkjartag.' The name of Kjarta s f alsOlaf'o wa noo sgive tw grandsonso t n d occuran , n i s another famil t FroSa y n Snaafellsnessi a . The work Speculum Regale, in describing the marvels of Ireland, has the following passage :— 3 E 26 GAELTH S IN'ICELAND . .

"There is also one thing that will seem wonderful about those men wh callee oar d gelt. cause Thith s esi becomthan me t e gelt, that where a host comes together, and is divided into two companies, and each of them shout their war-cry vehemently, it may befall cowardly and youth- ful r menbeforehavo t wa beewh ,no e n i n, that they lose their wits with the terror and fear that they feel there, and then run into the forests away from other men livd ean , there like wild beaststols i dt I . of these people that they live in the forests twenty years in this fashion; then feathers grow on their bodies as on birds, with which their bodies can be protected from frost and cold, but none of those large feathers with which they migh liky fl te birds. Their swiftneso s e b s saii s o dt great that other men cannot get near them, nor greyhounds any more than men, because these folk can go aloft in the trees nearly as quick as ape r squirrels.so " This frenzy is also mentioned in Irish writings, and Spenser speaks of "a ghastly gelt whose wit reavede sar " (Faery e Queen, , 21)Th 7 . . iv wor evidentls dwa y picke e Norsemenbp dyu th Spensery b s a , r thefo , y had the phrase ' verSa at gjalti,' which cannot have anything to do with goltr, boar,a ' ' thoug places i t hi d unde e Oxforr th thi n si d dictionary. instanceo e Tw phenomenoth f so n occu n Eyrbyggjai r saga, a bot f o h very curious nature. In the year 981 a ship came to Snsefellsness, half of which was owned by Hebrideans; one of these was named Nagli, a >3co birthy b t . Nagl s quarteri hi e wintetoo th p r ku sfo r with pdrarin the Black at MavahliS, and was present when the fighting took place .between the parties of pdrarin and porbjb'rn. At the sight of their brandished weapons he became frantic and ran up to the hills. As n rodme e s pdrarinhomewardshi d an n , theNaglw sa y i runninn o g toward a headlands . Ther e foun h eo thralls tw o werd wh e, driving sheep. He told these of the conflict, and said that he was certain that pdrarinn and his men were all slain. p<5rarinn and the others now began to gallop towards them, wishing to secure ISfagli and prevent him from springing into the sea, but both he and thralls imagined that they were bein towardn go pursue e n e enemye pointh ra th sth d f y do b t an , cape. ISTagli became exhausted and was caught by pdrarin, but the thralls rail right over the cliff and were killed. 4 26 PROCEEDING E SOCIETYTH 10 Y F , O S1897MA , .

The other incident is connected with the death of Arnkel pdrolfsson. He had set off by night, along with three thralls, to bring home the hay s farmss enemiehi Hi f o . froe s mon discovere d this, gathered their men, and came upon him in the early morning, after one of the thralls had gone home with the first load of hay. When Arnkell saw his foes approaching, he bade the two thralls run home and waken his men, trustin e abl b o defen t eo t g d himself until they should arrivee Th . thralls set off at once: one of them, named Ofeigr, was swifter than the otherhile th wasd l o scarean o ,t ,s p u s wits dhi n thaf ra ,o wen e h t ou t and threw himself into a waterfall, where he perished. The other ran home, found his fellow there taking in the hay, and calmly set to work to help him. When the two had finished their task, they went into the house, and were questioned as to where Arnkell was. Then the thrall seemed to waken up out of sleep, and said, " That is true: he will be fighting with Snorr t Orlygs-stead.a f spranp bedn o u i t me , ge ou Th " dressed themselves, and hurried off to the place, but only to find Arnkel lying dead there.

From these particulars one may form a clear idea of the actual extent o whict a Gaelih c populatio s combinewa n d wit n e i Nors th he on e Iceland. Ther evidenco n s ei shoo et wy greate tha an e Celt d th t rha s influence there than settler f otheso r nationalities have upo e Britisnth h generationcoloniesw fe A . s would suffic absoro t e b generae theth mn i l people masth f s o e : theilanguage n ow r , customs d traditionan , s would quite disappear, and the strain of foreign blood become almost unrecog- nisable dangerousis It . , therefore begito , tracnto e analogie legensin d or literature attributo t d an , e thes commoa o et n origi intangiblo s n s a e that of racial genius. It is tempting to find a Celtic strain in the poetry of Kormak, whose name at once suggests that he may have sprung from e Iristh h race t therbu ,s quiti e s muca e h 'Celtic' feelin n Egil'i g s lament for his sons; and Egill, at least, was not a Celt, nor have we any proof that Kormakr was. On these points, however, there may be room for discussion : the facts are as stated above, and must be carefully weighed befor begie w e o theorisn t e e resultpresencth th n f o o esf o e the Gaels in Iceland.