Contrasting Accounts of Olaf Cuarán and his Dublin Family in the Eleventh-Century Irish and Norse Sources
| Where: | American Society for Irish Medieval Studies (ASIMS) |
An examination of Olaf Cuarán and Sigtryggr Silkiskegg through the accounts found in Njálssaga, Gunnlaugs Saga Ormstungu, the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland, William of Malmesbury, the Annals of Tigernach, and Cogadh Gaedhel re Gallaib.
Sigtryggr, despite his name, seemed to begin his reign with only a tentative grasp on the throne of Dublin, and his kingship may only have been acceptable because of his Hiberno-Norse background. Alas, this made him little more than a bastard to poets and scribes on either side. The Norse saw him as the pawn of a dangerous Irishwoman willing to risk everything for vengeance, and a coward to boot, while the Irish saw him as the cowardly representative of foreigners in Ireland. Even Gunnlaugr sees Sigtryggr as so ignorant that he has to be told what a praise-poem is.
Sigtryggr himself is so rich that the presentation of two trading ships to Gunnlaugr is not seen as any unusual gift or loss. Sigtryggr has also never heard a poem in his praise before.
Sigtryggr, then, was a rich king, but not overpowerful, and unsuccessful in war. His proximity to both the Norse and the Irish made him an easy butt for poets and storytellers in later years. An important ally because of his mercenaries, he became the ally of none in posterity.
http://wpunj.academia.edu/Brian%C3%93Broin/Talks/61326/Contrasting_Accounts_of_Olaf_Cuaran_and_his_Dublin_Family_in_the_Eleventh-Century_Irish_and_Norse_Sources
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