Ad Moiniam insulam
The combat with the Hugos, is mentioned also in the sagas, as well as by most of the English annalists who narrated the events of these times. The Saga, however, as usual, describes only the fight, without mentioning the motives, which caused it. These we learn chiefly from Caradoc of Lhancarvan and Ordericus Vitalis. There raged at this time a fierce war between the Welsh and the Norman earls of the Marches, the principal of whom was Hugh, Earl of Chester, called grossus, because of his extreme fatness. In the beginning of A.D. 1098, Hugh, together with his namesake, Hugh of Montgomery, Earl of Salop, aided by a traitor among the Welsh themselves, attacked North-Wales with a large army, and penetrated without any obstacle as far as into Anglesey; the Welsh king Griffith, and his relation Cadogon, being unable to make any resistance, proceeded to Ireland to apply for assistance against the invaders.
It would appear, although it is not expressly stated anywhere, that Griffith on his way visited Man, and solicited King Magnus, whose arrival in these parts with a powerful fleet must have been generally known, to help him: or that Magnus, hearing of the doings at Anglesey, resolved to go there on his own accord, and endeavour to gain something for himself. According to Orderic he came with only six ships, and entered the Menai Straits, carrying a red shield on the mast, the usual sign of peace and commercial intercourse.
The Norman warriors, however, would not permit him to land, and assembled in great number under the command of both Hughs; there ensued in consequence vehement fighting, or rather exchange of missiles, the Normans being on shore, the Norwegians on board their ships. Hugh of Salop was killed by an arrow, and finally the Normans were put to flight.
The author of our Chronicle, in assigning six years to the reign of Magnus in the Isles, must needs have meant to begin it with the yeare of his second expedition, viz. 1098, which being the first, 1103 will be the last. So badly, however, the numbers of the years are added, that the accession of Olaf, son of Gødred Crowan, is said to have taken place in 1102, although it is expressly stated that Olaf was not made king till after the death of Magnus. That Magnus was killed in 1103, is certain enough, and corroborated by many authorities, especially that of Ordericus Vitalis. Even in the Saga the yeare is clearly enough indicated, as the king is said to have been killed on a Monday, being also the day of St. Bartholomew. This exactly agrees with the yeare 1103. [As already noticed, Robertson makes Lagman reoccupy the throne, of Man after the death of Magnus, and reign until 1108, when, from remorse at his own cruelty to his brother, he undertook the pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He allots four years to the regency of Mac Teige and Ingemund, and makes Olave, then probably of age, to begin his reign.
Among these concubines, as they are styled here, one, however, seems to have been his legitiniate second wife, viz. Ingibjörg, daughter of Hacon, Earl of Orkney, and sister to Harold, Earl of Orkney, as well as to Margaret, the wife of Madadh, Earl of Atholl.d The Orkney Saga states expressly that Ingibjorg was married to King Olaf; and, indeed, it is not to be supposed that a lady of such illustrious birth and connections should degrade herself as to become a concubine even of a king. Irigihjörg, however, being born after the death of King Magnus and the firm establishment of her father in the Orkneys, that is to say about 1105-10, cannot have been married till about 1125, while the marriage of King Olaf with Afreca of Galloway no doubt took place shortly after the accession of Olaf to the throne.
According to the Saga it was the king himself who shot Earl Hugh, or who at least got the credit of having done so; his ship, it is told, being nearest to the shore, he stood on the forecastle shooting arrows from a long bow at the enemy, and seeing Earl Hugh advancing, he persuaded a man from Halogaland (the northernmost part of Norway), who was standing close by, likewise shooting, that they should both at once aim at the earl; this done, one of the arrows struck the " nef-björg" (the piece of iron protecting the nose), and caused it to bend sidewards; the other entered the eye and came out behind, killing the earl immediately.
Giraldus Cambrensis, who narrates this event, obviously from local evidences, without knowing a word of the sagas, strongly corroborates the above narrative, and does not even hesitate in the least to name the commander of the foreign ships, whom he apparently does not know to have been the King of Norway, as the killer of the earl. When Hugh of Salop, he says, together with the Earl of Chester, had entered by force the church of St. Tefredauc in Anglesey, and left some dogs there, these were found mad in the morning; and a month afterwards he came himself to an untimely end, as there arrived some pirates with ships of war from Orkney, whom he gallantly went to meet into the very sea, bestriding a noble steed; the commander of the enemy's force, however, named Magnus, standing with his bow forward in his ship, let fly an arrow, which, although the earl was clad in iron armour from head to foot, entered his right eye, and went through the brains, so that he fell dying into the water; when the victor saw him falling, he is said to have exclaimed triumphantly in the Danish tongue leit loupe, i.e., "let leap," and from this time the English lost their dominion in Anglesey.
According to Ordericus, King Magnus, having ascertained that it was the earl himself whom he had killed, expressed his regret, and offered Earl Hugh of Chester peace and security, saying that he had come to conquer Ireland, not England, nor other foreign lands, and only to maintain his authority in islands already belonging to his dominions. Here, however, Ordericus must be mistaken, as it is certain that he appropriated to himself the dominion of Anglesey, and that this island was for many years reckoned among the Norwegian possessions in the west.
Even William of Malmesbury asserts that Mag nus "fiercely assaulted England in attacking Anglesey. Nor is it improbable that the Welsh of Anglesey, who reaped the sole fruit of the battle which cost Magnus dearly, gratified him with a show of homage, by which they did not mean to bind themselves very strictly, and which could not in any case have been so burthensome to them as the English yoke. It is told by Caradoc, that Magnus, on his last expedition to the West, in 1102-3, was kindly received in Anglesey, and got the permission of Griffith to cut as much timber there as he wanted. Perhaps this was construed by the Norwegians as a sign of submission on the part of Griffith and his Welshmen.
It was undoubtedly the intention of Magnus at this time to punish Muircertach, but he was prevented from doing so, either by his severe loss in the battle of Anglesey, or, as is probable, by the necessity in which he may have found himself to turn his forces against Scotland. As at this time, it would seem, Eadgar, the son of Malcolm, had cap-tured his rival Donald Bane, and as Donald was the ancient ally of Magnus, it was but natural that the latter should intervene on his behalf, and attempt to effect his delivery. It is even far from improbable that Eadgar, not acknowledging the right of Magnus to the Isles, had expressed his intention to reunite them with the Crown of Scotland; and that Magnus, hearing of this, deemed it necessary to threaten him with an attack.
The Saga tells that the King of the Scots sent a message to Magnus, asking him to abstain from hostilities against Scotland, and offering him the cession of all those Western Islands between which and the mainland the Norwegian king could go in a vessel with a paddle rudder, on which condition peace really was concluded. This evidently infers that Magnus had threatened Eadgar with war, and as the thing in itself is very probable, there is all reason to believe the whole transaction to be strictly true. Magnus may have ascertained that Donald Bane, now being blind and degraded, was past hope of ever recovering the power, and therefore found the best thing he could do, was to make peace with Eadgar on good conditions. It is even most likely that it was agreed to strengthen the treaty by a marriage between Magnus and Mathilda, the sister of Eadgar. For in the Saga there are still three verses preserved, composed by Magnus himself in honour of " Mathilda, the fair maid, who defends her country with the shield," and whom he is most anxious to behold, but fears that he shall not enjoy this happiness.
In the Saga this Mathilda is called the daughter of the emperor; but there was at this time no daughter of the emperor with the name of Mathilda, nor is it likely, even if such a person existed, that Magnus should have proposed to her. The Saga moreover is mistaken in calling the Scottish king Malcolm, instead of Eadgar, no doubt misled by the Scottish denomination " Etgar Mac Malcolm." It is certain the marriage was never effected, Mathilda having been given to King Henry of England in 1100; this, however, explains itself readily from the superi-ority of King Henry in those parts, and even the substance of the verses themselves indicate the misgivings of the royal author that the union so much coveted was not to be after all. Certain it is, that from this time the Norwegian kings dated their real possession of the Sudrey s, among which they also counted the peninsula of Cantire; because Magnus, imitating the old fabulous sea-king Beite, of whom a similar story is told, had his vessel drawn across the narrow isthmus of Tarbet, while he himself sat at the helm.
It is said in the Saga that during this expedition King Magnus effected a marriage between his son Sigurd, then only nine years of age, with Biadmuin, daughter of Muircertach, being only five years old, and that he constituted him king of all Norwegian possessions in the West. That the marriage did not take place till in 1102, on the king's third expedition, is evident from the Irish and Welsh annals, as will be seen by-and-by; and it is most likely, nay, almost certain, that the Saga has likewise misplaced the other event, the proper moment for conferring on the prince the title of king being surely the day of his marriage, especially as Sigurd had then just completed his twelfth year, which was the very term for coming of age among the Norwegians in those times. Between Muircertach and Magnus there was apparently no contact at all during this expedition, whatever might have been the cause. That Magnus intended to make war upon him, must be regarded as certain; but no doubt, as we have already seen, partly the preparations of Muircertach himself, and partly the expeditions of Magnus against Wales and Scotland, averted the blow from Ireland in 1098. He passed, however, the winter either at Man, or in the Isles, probably intending to attack Ireland in the spring of 1099; but it is expressly stated in the Saga that many of his men, wearied by being absent from their home for such a length of time, left him without leave before the winter set in. We might guess, therefore, that when spring returned he did not feel himself strong enough to invade Ireland with the certainty of effecting anything worth the exertion. Moreover, as soon after his return to Norway we find him engaged in a war with Sweden, it may be that the news received from those parts induced him to shorten his stay in the West and to forego for the moment his plans against Ireland, postponing them till better times. This indeed appears to us the simplest way of explaining the matter. Certain it seems, that King Magnus, on his return to Norway in the summer 1099, left his son Sigurd at Orkney.
In the years of 1100 and 1101 Magnus was occupied with the Swedish war. In 1102, however, he went forth on his last expedition, which this time was undertaken directly against Ireland. What the Chronicle tells about his sending his shoes to King Muircertach and the unconditional submission of the latter, seems to be a mere fable;yet if something like it took place, it must have been in the winter immediately preceding the expedition. From the Irish and Welsh annals, as well as from Orderic, we learn how matters stood with Muircertach. His war with Donald O'Lochlan raged more fiercely than ever; and although, on the whole, Muircertach had the upper hand, yet Donald was an obstinate and dangerous foe, against whom he felt the necessity of strengthening himself through alliance with other powerful rulers. Shortly before, King Henry I. (Beauclerc) had ascended the English throne, excluding, as is well known, his senior brother Robert, Duke of Normandy, with whom he had to sustain a hard feud. Among the Barons who embraced the party of Robert were the two brothers of the above mentioned Earl Hugh Montgomery, who was killed by King Magnus, Robert of Belesme, who after the fall of Hugh had purchased his earldom, having besides many other possessions in England, as well as in Normandy, and Arnulf, who had Dyved and Pembroke in Wales. Robert made an alliance with the three Welsh princes, Jorwerth, Cadogan, and Meredith, sons of Blethyn, and Arnulf sought the alliance of Muircertach, asking, through ambassadors, his daughter Lafracot in marriage, to which Muircertach immediately gave his consent, promising not only to support Arnulf against the English king, but also to make him his successor.
In this manner a rather strong league bad been formed against King Henry; and as the allied lords and princes, especially the two Montgomerys, as avengers of their brother, must at the same time have been the enemies of King Magnus, this prince was consequently brought somehow into a friendly relation with the English. monarch, notwithstanding that Henry, if the conjecture which we ventured to utter above be right, had married the destined bride of Magnus. Yet it must be remembered that Magnus himself, during his absence, had married the Swedish princess Margaret, and no doubt given up all enmity, if any such existed, against Henry; while through the peace concluded in 1098 with Eadgar of Scotland, the friend and protégé of the English king, a reconciliation between their party and King Magnus may already be said to have been partly effected.
We learn from the Welsh chronicles and the Irish annals that Magnus before visiting Ireland landed at Man, where he, as it were, established his headquarters, erecting forts as before, and making a personal visit to Anglesey, where prince Griffith received him cordially, and, as mentioned above, gave him permission to cut what timber he might require for his fortifications.
Meanwhile matters had gone wrong with the Hiberno-British league. Robert of Montgomery was declared an outlaw, and several of his castles taken; one of the Welsh princes had been induced to embrace the king's part; Arnulf of Montgomery had betaken himself to the court of Muircertach, craving assistance, but the latter, far from being able to afford any, on the contrary was expecting aid from Arnulf against Magnus. There is a letter preserved from Muircertach to the celebrated Anselrn, Archbishop of Canterbury (Anselmi epistolae, iv. 85), in which the Irish king thanks the prelate for the assistance given to his son-in-law Arnulf. The letter must have been written about this time.
Under these circumstances Muircertach found it safest first to make peace, or truce for a yeare with Donald O'Lochlan, and then to enter into negotiations with Magnus. In what manner these negotiations were conducted is nowhere told; we learn only from the Irish annals that the peace was concluded for a yeare (no doubt to be renewed at the expiration of this term), and that Muircertach gave his daughter in marriage to Sigurd, the son of Magnus, who was now proclaimed king of the western possessions.
The Irish annals, especially those of the Four Masters; where it is expressly stated that Muircertach gave his daughter to "Sichraid," son of Magnus, with many precious gifts. Caradoc says expressly that Magnus built three castles in the Isle of Man, had his son married with the daughter of Muircertach, and named him King of Man. The name of the princess has been preserved in the Saga only, it was Biadmynja or Biadhmuin.
It has already been mentioned that the Saga wrongly speaks of this marriage as having taken place during the former expedition of Magnus, and that it likewise wrongly makes Magnus and Muircertach together conquer Dublin in 1102, this conquest having been effected during the first expedition of Magnus in 1093. Yet it would seem, and it must be taken almost for certain, that by the treaty of 1102 Muircertach ceded to Magnus the district of Dublin, which may have been regarded as an appendage of the kingdom of Alan; partly because it is not likely that Magnus should have accorded to Muircertach the peace, and moreover, as will be seen, his powerful assistance against Donald O'Lochlan for nothing, partly because Ordericus states expressly, that Magnus established colonies of Northmen even in Ireland, which could not have been done if he had not got a territory to dispose o£ And lastly, if there be any truth at bottom in the anecdote about the shoes, it is to be supposed that Muircertach acknowledged Magnus as his suzerain, and paid a kind of homage to him as such, not, however; intending to keep any of the given promises longer than necessity compelled him to do so. Ordericus states expressly that Muircertach acted treacherously towards Magnus, as well as towards Arnulf. It is easy to see from the following facts that the principal object of Muircertach was to crush his Irish rivals, and that to this end he deemed it necessary to secure the powerful assistance of Magnus, with the hope, perhaps, of having afterwards an opportunity to get rid of him. The treaty was strengthened by giving hostages from both sides. Among the Norwegian hostages was the Icelandic poet Gisl Illugason, from whose poem in honour of King Magnus several fragments are quoted in the Saga, to corroborate the facts there mentioned.
The Saga of the holy bishop John of Hólar in Iceland, Biskupa Sogur, i, 227. Here the following curious story is told :-With the hostages there was a Norwegian, who boasted of being well versed in the Irish language, and offered to salute King Muircertach in the name of the others, which being allowed, he said, "male díarik," which, however, means " damned be thou, O king! " Then another of the Norwegians put in his word, saying : " My Lord, this man is only the slave of the Norwegians; " to which the king replied "algeira ragall," which means "difficult to know is the dark riddle" (gáta), or "road" (gata). Those of our readers who are acquainted with the Irish language may perhaps be able to suggest the correct forms of the Irish words here reproduced, no doubt in a very bad shape. [His Grace, the most Rev. John Mac Hale, Archbishop of Tuam, an accomplished Irish scholar, says that the words, though mutilated, are perfectly intelligible, and without any effort of fancy or conjecture may be thus written Malact de Duit le riz : The curse of God on you, king.]
Arriving in Ireland, Magnus was friendly received by Muircertach, and no doubt got possession of Dublin with its district, where he effected the settlements spoken of by Orderic, which appear rather to have been castles and strongholds, like those erected in Man and the Isles. In the winter, the Saga tells, Magnus was the guest of Muircertach in his residence of Kinkora, (Ceann Caraidh, has been confounded by the author of the Saga with Connaught, Kankaraborg or Kankarar, having evidently been misread as Kunnaktaborg, Kunnaktir) and in the next spring, it is farther told, both kings went to Ulster, where they fought many battles, and conquered a part of Ulster. This is true, in so far, as really the hostilities between Muircertach and the northern Irish commenced anew in 1103, no doubt because the truce had expired, and that several battles were fought as we learn from the Irish annals. But as to the conquests in Ulster, it is far from any such thing having taken place; as, on the contrary, Muircertach and his allies were the losing party.
The Irish annals say, that Muircertach, having encamped with his army, consisting of the men from Munster, Leinster, Ossory, Meath, and Connaught, on the plains of Cobha (in the north part of Downshire), he divided his forces, going with one part to Dalaraide (the district on the coast southeast of Lough Neagh), leaving the rest at Cobha, where during his absence it was attacked and completely routed by Donald O'Lochlan on the 5th of August. Among the number of the killed there were also, according to the Irish annals, " foreigners from Dublin," three of whom are expressly named, viz. " Thorstain mac Eric," " Poll mac Amaind," and " Beollan armuinn," the two former, at least, being entirely Scandinavian (Thorstain Ericson and Paul Amundson); maybe these " foreigners" were Norwegians from the army of Magnus, although it is to be supposed that the Norwegian king with his main force was on board his fleet, ravaging the coasts, while Muircertach made war on land, and that the diversion of the latter to Dalaraide was effected in order to meet and operate in conjunction with Magnus. In any case it is evident that the defeat at Cobha put an end to the operations, as it is expressly stated in the Saga that the expedition to Ulster having been ended, Muircertach returned to Kinkora, and Magnus prepared to go home; these preparations, however, must have taken place immediately after the battle at Cobha, as the fall of Magnus occurred only nineteen days afterwards, on St. Bartholomew's Day.
This catastrophe is said by Ordericus to have been caused by the treachery of the Irish, who induced him to leave the ships, and hazard himself with a small force into the interior of the country, making him believe that they intended to offer their submission, but afterwards suddenly attacking him with immensely superior numbers. This seems very probable in itself, but it ought to be remembered, that the Saga, founded upon traditions from the men who were present at the battle themselves, does not give the least hint of anything like treachery on the part of Muircertach. Magnus, it is said, wanting meat for the support of his army, despatched men to Muircertach, requesting him to furnish the necessary number of cattle; which request having been complied with, but the march of the cattle taking longer time than expected, Magnus, growing impatient, went imprudently too far up in the country to see if they did not appear, and was attacked by the Irish. If, at this time, Muircertach had' already returned to Kinkora, it seems not likely that Magnus should have sent his men so far; probably, however, Muircertach had not yet left the neighbourhood of Dalaraide, and in this case could not comply otherwise with the request than by compelling the inhabitants, or helping the Norwegian emissaries in compelling them, to yield up the prescribed number of cattle, a measure by which the men of Ulster would no doubt feel greatly exasperated, and become eager for revenge, without any instigation from Muircertach, or concerting of treacherous measures with him. Indeed, the annals of Ulster, where the particulars must have been well known, say only that Magnus was attacked and killed by the Men of Ulster on a plundering expedition. The particulars of the battle are most circumstantially and forcibly told in the Saga, which, however, does not mention, what is told only in the Chronicle of Man, that the body of the king was buried at St. Patrick's Church in Down. Maybe his remains may still be found there. It is evident that he was buried by the Irish, not by his own men, who were obliged to leave the body on the battlefield, and that this must have been in the neighbourhood of Down; his fleet probably still lying at the same spot where it was when the battle was fought at Cobha.
Robertson supposes that the defeat of Murketagh O'Brien by the northern Hy Nial, early in the month, may have prevented or delayed the despatch of the cattle, and that Magnus disembarked to ascertain the fate of the scouts, and to Victual his fleet at the expense of the men of Uladh; that he became entangled amongst the neighbouring morasses; that his retreat was intercepted by the Ulstermen; and that, through the cowardice or treachery of one of his principal officers, who fled instead of covering his retreat, he fell with many of his followers. He would easily be known by his shining Helmet and breastplate, and by the golden lion on the red shield-the device of the Norwegian kings. When expostulated with by his courtiers for rashly exposing himself in battle, Magnus replied " It is better for a people to have a brave than an old king.
At the death of Magnus, his men abandoned all newly acquired possessions in the West, and hastened homewards, taking with them prince Sigurd, who left his bride, the daughter of Muircertach, saying, according to the Saga, that all lords in the West, Scotch as well as Irish, were odious to him. This certainly might be construed as indicating that Sigurd himself suspected the Irish of treachery against his father, yet such an interpretation of the words is by no means necessary. After all, however, Muircertach turned out to be really a traitor; immediately after the fall of Magnus he courted very submissively the friendship of the English king, took his daughter back from Arnulf, and gave her to another man; nay, he even planned schemes against his life, which also, perhaps, Arnulf might have lost, if he had not been warned in time, and made his escape to Normandy.