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- Gormflaith ingen Murchada
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gormflaith ingen Murchada (960-1030), was an Irish queen. She was born in Naas, County Kildare, Ireland, as the daughter of Murchad mac Finn, King of Leinster, sister
of his successor, Mael Mórdha mac Murchada. According to the annalistic accounts, she was married to Olaf
Cuaran, the Viking king of Dublin and York until his death in 981;[1] and mother to his son, King Sigtrygg
Silkbeard.[2] Additionally, and perhaps most famously, after her son, Sigtrygg's defeat at the Battle of Glen
Mama in 999, Gormlaith was married to Brian Boru, the King of Munster and High King of Ireland, and
mother to his son and later King of Munster, Donnchad. It is also alleged that she married, Máel Sechnaill mac
Domnaill after Olaf's death, but this is somewhat contentious as the sources for this marriage are less reliable.
The Irish annals record Gormlaith's death in 1030. Gormlaith is most infamous for allegedly inciting men to
such a degree that she caused the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. Given that her goading episode exists only in
literary sources not contemporary with her lifetime, and, indeed, written long after her death, it is highly
unlikely that such an event ever occurred.[3] Since the majority of depictions of Gormlaith were composed well
after her life, very little is known about the actual historical figure.
Annalistic and Genealogical Accounts
The first annalistic account regarding Gormlaith appears in the Annals of Inisfallen. This is a major extant
record of Munster history, and as such maintains a preference for Munster kingship and ancestry. The entry of
her death was composed some 62 years after her death, making it the most contemporary and temporally
proximate.[4] This account stated,
The Daughter of Murchad son of Finn, queen of Munster, dies.[5]
— Annals of Inisfallen, p. 197
Gormlaith's father was Murchad, son of Finn and this statement paired with Queen of Munster, leaves little
doubt amongst scholars that this reference is to Gormlaith. The Annals of Tigernach are the next
chronologically contemporaneous account with a reference to Gormlaith. These annals, compiled in the Irish
midlands, stated,
Gormlaith, daughter of Murchad, son of Finn, mother of Sitric, son of Amlaíb Cuarán, king of the
Foreigners, and of Donnachad, son of Brian, king of Munster, died.
— Annals of Tigernach, p. 371
Gormlaith also appears in genealogical accounts written more than 100 years after her death. The first of these
accounts is found in the Banshenchas, which is essentially a catalogue of famous medieval Irish women.[6] The
entry in this account echoed the annalistic accounts and names Olaf Cuaran and Brian Boru as her husbands
and Sigtrygg and Donnchad as her sons. Gormlaith also appears in the twelfth century genealogies found in the
Book of Leinster dating from 1150-1201. From this entry derives the famous "three leaps" of Gormlaith poem,
which states she made a "leap in Dublin, a leap in Tara and a leap in Cashel".[7] Some scholars have used these
"three leaps" as evidence of her three marriages to Olaf Cuaran, Brian Boru and Máel Sechnaill, contradicting
the annalistic accounts which refer to only two marriages. In particular, the validity of this third marriage to
Máel Sechnaill and her alleged divorce from Brian Boru, have been of serious contention amongst scholars.
The "three leaps" poem contained in 12th century genealogies is the only medieval Irish account to potentially
suggest a third marriage. However, some scholars have argued that the reference here to "three leaps" is
referring instead to children and not, in fact, to marriages.[8]
Mediaeval Literary Accounts
Gormlaith has been depicted in many contexts since her death, and she is arguably best known for her portrayal
in the Cogadh Gaedhil re Gallaibh[9] This literary work of propaganda was composed between 1103 and 1111
by a descendent of Brian Boru, Muirchertach Ua Briain. This text detailed the ascent to power of his illustrious
ancestor in an effort to highlight the prestige of his dynasty.[10] Gormlaith makes her appearance in a singular
scene in which she has garnered much notoriety in subsequent sources, is her inciting scene. To provide
context: prior to this her brother, Mael Mordha, has ceded vassalage to Brian Boru.
"Now when they arrived at Cenn Cordah, the king took off his tunic, and it was carried to his sister
to put a silver button on it, viz. to Gormlaith, daughter of Murchad, Brian's wife; and she was the
mother of Donnchad, son of Brian. The queen took the tunic and cast it into the fire; and she began
to reproach and incite her brother because she thought it ill that he should yield service and
vassalage and suffer oppression from any one or yield that which his father or grandfather never
yielded and she said that his Brian's son would require the same thing from his son."
— Todd, Cogadh Gaedhel Re Gallaibh, p. 143.
In this depiction, Gormlaith, unsuccessfully, attempted to goad her brother into going to war against her
husband Brian Boru.
Njál's Saga, a thirteenth century Icelandic literary work,[11] referred to her as Kormloð, and portrayed her as a
jealous divorcee bent on revenge on her ex-husband Brian Boru.
“She was a very beautiful woman, but her best qualities were those over which she had no control,
and it was commonly said that her character was evil insofar as she had control over it.”
— Cook, Njal's Saga p. 296
In this narrative, she goads her son Sigtrygg, unlike the Cogadh, where she attempted to incite her brother,
Mael Mordha. She prompted Sigtrygg into gathering support from Vikings outside Ireland, most notably Earl
Sigurd of Orkney and Brodir of the Isle of Man, by promising her hand in marriage. This is the first work to
introduce the idea that Gormlaith was divorced from Brian Boru.
Early Modern Narrative Texts
A separate strain of wholly negative conceptions of Gormlaith appeared in Geoffrey Keating's Foras Feasa Ar
Eirinn composed in 1634. In this text Keating makes explicit the link between Gormlaith’s goading and Máel
Mórda’s declaration of war. Gormlaith’s remarks in this Early Modern account weighed on Máel Mórda,
contributing to his quarrel with Murchad and eventually lead the “Leinster king to seek allies in the war against
the Dál Cais”.[12] As to why Keating decided to place the cause of hostilities with Gormlaith is up for some
debate. One scholar, Meidhbhín Ní Úrdail suggested that he was influenced by Meredith Hamner's Chronicle of
Ireland published in 1633, where the cause of Clontarf is attributed not to Gormlaith, but an anonymous
"merchant's wife".[13] Keating's work would in turn influence a slightly later text of the same period, Cath
Cluana Tarbh. Only one version of this work contains a reference to Gormlaith, but the depiction is derived
from Keating.[14]
See also
Mongfind
References
1. Ni Mhaonaigh, Maire (2002). "Tales of Three Gormlaith's in Medieval Irish Literature"E. riu. 52: 18.
2. Forte, Angelo; Oram, Richard; Pedersen, Frederik (2005)V. iking empires (1st ed.). Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge
University Press. ISBN 0521829925.
3. Wade, Christina (2012). Contextualizing Gormlaith: Portrayals and Pecreptions of a Medieval Irish Queen. Dublin:
Unpublished MPhil Dissertation.
4. Mac Airt, Sean (1951). The Annals of Inisfallen. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. p. xxi.
5. Mac Airt, Sean (1951). Annals of Inisfallen. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. p. 197.
6. Connon, Anne (2000). Alfred P. Smyth, ed. "The Banshenchas and the Ui Neill queens of aTra". Seanchas: Studies in
Early and Medieval Irish Archaeology, History, and Literature in honour of Francis J. Byrne: 98.
7. Sullivan (ed), Anne (1988). Book of Leinster Vol. 6. Dublin: Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies. pp. 1492–1493.
8. Ni Dhonnchadha, Maire (2002). Angela Bourke, ed. "Gormlaith and Her Sisters c. 750-1400F".i eld Day Anthology of
Irish Writing. 4: Irish Women's Writing and Traditions: 188.
9. James Henthorn Todd, ed. (1867). Cogadh Gaedhel Re Gallaibh. London: Longmans, Green, Reade,r and Dyer.
10. Ni Mhaonaigh, Maire (2007). Brian Boru: Ireland's Greatest King?. Stroud: Tempus. pp. 45–46.
11. Cook, Robert (2001). Njal's Saga. London: Penguin.
12. Keating, ed. David Comyn, Geofrey; et al. (1902). Forsa Feasa ar Eirinn le Seathrun Ceitinn. London: Irish Texts
Society. p. 268.
13. Ni Urdail, Meidhbhin (2011). "Introduction". Cath Cluana Tarbh: 'The Battle of Clontarf.' London: Irish Texts Society.
p. 14.
14. Ni Urdail. "Introduction" of Cath Cluana Tarbh. p. 1.
Further reading
Ancestral Roots of Certain American Colonists Who Came to America Before 1700 by Frederick Lewis
Weis; Lines 175-1, 239-2
External links
The Story of Gormlaith: Jealous Divorcee or Literary Victim?
A History of Vikings in Scotland
Events leading up to the Battle of Clontarf
Njal's Saga
Gormflaith's marriages and families online
Gormflaith was a Naas woman
Who was Gormlaith's mother? A detective story, by Muireann Ní Bhrolcháin. In: Lost and Found II –
Rediscovering Ireland’s past. (Ireland, 2009), pp. 83–94.
‘Tales of three Gormlaiths in early Irish literature by Máire Ní Mhaonaigh. In Ériu 52 (2002), pp. 1–24.
'Viking Age Queens and Identity by Shannon Lewis-Simpson. In The Viking Age: Ireland and the West,
Proceedings of the Fifteenth Viking Congress (Cork, 2005), John Sheehan & Donnchadh Ó Corráin
(eds), pp. 217–226.
Gormflaith, the Queen by L. M. McCraith. In: Romance of Irish Heroines (Dublin) pp. 42–50.
‘Gormflaith and the Northmen of Dublin by G. C. Stacpoole. In: Dublin Historical Record, Vol. XX, No.
1, December (1964) pp. 4–18.
‘Gormlaith ingen Murchada ben Briain by Catherine Swift. From: Brian Boru Lecture Series, Mary
Immaculate College.
Contextualizing Gormlaith: Portrayals and Perceptions of a Medieval Irish Queen by Christina Wade.
Unpublished M.Phil Dissertation, 2012.
Queen Gormlaith, Brian Boru and the Northmen of Dublin by Howard B Clarke, Dublin City Lunchtime
Lecture Series, 8 April 2014.
"Gormflaith - A Naas Woman?" by James Durney, Co. Kildare Online Electronic Journal, 16 February
2008.
"A Game of Thrones: Leinster v Munster at the Battle of Clontarf" by James Durney, Co. Kildare Online
Electronic Journal, 27 March 2014,
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gormflaith_ingen_Murchada&oldid=775132434"
Categories: Irish royal consorts 960 births 1030 deaths 10th-century Irish people
11th-century Irish people 11th-century women Irish princesses Women of medieval Ireland
Viking Age women People from County Kildare
This page was last edited on 12 April 2017, at 21:30.
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960 - 1030 (70 years)
[1, 2] 
