Lochlann (earlier Laithlind) is a geographical region in Classical Gaelic literature and in the history of Early Medieval Ireland. In the modern Gaelic and Welsh (Llychlyn) languages it signifies Scandinavia, and more specifically Norway. In Irish Gaelic, the adjectival noun 'Lochlannach' (person belonging to Lochlann) has the additional sense of 'robber/raider/marauder'.
The male name Lachlan is a variant of Lochlann, and the family names McLoughlin, McLaughlin and MacLachlan come from this root.
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Historical uses
All uses of the word 'Lochlann' relate it to Nordic realms of Europe. The earliest recorded use of the word may be the arrival of Amlaíb "son of the king of Laithlind" in Ireland, noted by the Annals of Ulster in 853. While certainly of Scandinavian origin – Amlaíb is the Old Irish representation of the Old Norse name Oláfr – the question of Amlaíb's immediate origins is debated. While the traditional view has identified Laithlind with Norway, some have preferred to locate it in a Norse-dominated part of Scotland, perhaps the Hebrides or the Northern Isles.[1] Donnchadh Ó Corráin states that Laithlinn was the name of Viking Scotland, and that a substantial part of Scotland—the Northern and Western Isles and large areas of the coastal mainland from Caithness and Sutherland to Argyle—was conquered by the Vikings in the first quarter of the ninth century and a Viking kingdom was set up there earlier than the middle of the century.[2]
Whatever the meaning of Laithlind and Lochlann in Ireland in the ninth century, it may have referred to different places later. The Lebor Bretnach – a Gaelic adaption of the Historia Brittonum perhaps compiled at Abernethy—makes Hengist's daughter "the fairest of the women of all Lochlann".[3] In 1058 Magnus Haraldsson is called "the son of the king of Lochlann", and his nephew Magnus Barefoot is the "king of Lochlann" in the reports of the great western expedition four decades later.[4]
The adventures of Prince Breacan of Lochlann are part of the mythology of the naming of the Gulf of Corryvreckan (Scottish Gaelic: Coire Bhreacain), a whirlpool between the islands of Jura and Scarba on the west coast of Scotland. The story goes that the tidal race was named after this Norse Prince "said to be son to the King of Denmark" who was shipwrecked there with a fleet of fifty ships. Breacan is reputed to be buried in a cave at Bagh nam Muc (bay of the swine) at the north-western tip of Jura.[5][6][7][8]
The same story is associated with the Bealach a' Choin Ghlais (pass of the grey dog), a tidal race further north between Scarba and Lunga. The prince's dog managed to swim to land and went in search of his master. Failing to find him on Jura or Scarba he tried to leap across the strait to Lunga, but missed his footing on Eilean a' Bhealaich which sits in the middle of the channel between the two islands. He slipped into the raging current and drowned as well, giving his own name in turn to the strait where he fell.[9]
The Irish Lochlann has a cognate in the Welsh language Llychlyn, which appears as a name for Scandinavia in the prose tales Culhwch and Olwen and The Dream of Rhonabwy, and in some versions of Welsh Triad 35.[10] In these versions of Triad 35 Llychlyn is the destination of the otherwise unattested Yrp of the Hosts, who depleted Britain's armies by demanding that each of the island's chief fortresses provide him with twice the men he brought; though he began with only two men he left with many thousands.[11] The same versions also give Llychlyn as the destination of the army led by Elen of the Hosts and Maxen Wledig, the Welsh version of the historical Roman usurper Magnus Maximus. However, Rachel Bromwich suggests that Llychlyn in this case might be a corruption of Llydaw, or Armorica, Maxen's usual destination in other sources.[10] In The Dream of Rhonabwy, a company from Llychlyn led by March ap Meirchiawn (the King Mark of the Tristan and Iseult legend) appears among Arthur's vividly-depicted host.[12] Bromwich suggests this appearance derives ultimately from a recollection of Welsh Triad 14, which depicts March ap Meirchiawn as one of the "Three Seafarers/Fleet Owners of the Island of Britain" – the Scandinavians being famed for their nautical skills.[12]
Literary uses
Lochlann is the land of the Fomorians in the Irish Lebor Gabála Érenn. A Scandinavian Lochlann appears in later Irish tales, generally concerning the King of Lochlann—sometimes called Colgán—or his sons, such as in the tales of Lugh and the Fenian Cycle.[13]
Notes
- ^ Woolf, Alex, From Pictland to Alba 789–1070, pp. 107–108 & 286–289. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2007. ISBN 0-7486-1234-5
- ^ Ó Corráin, Donnchadh, Vikings in Ireland and Scotland in the Ninth Century, available at "CELT".
- ^ The phrase is an addition to the Lebor Bretnach and thus cannot be compared to the original Historia.
- ^ Annals of Tigernach, s.a. 1058, s.a 1102; Woolf, From Pictland to Alba 789–1070, pp. 266–267.
- ^ Nyland, Edo (2006) Odysseus and the Sea Peoples: A Bronze Age History of Scotland. Oxford. Trafford. p128.
- ^ Haswell-Smith, Hamish (2004) The Scottish Islands. Edinburgh. Canongate. p.51.
- ^ According to Haswell-Smith (2004) Adomnan's Life of St Columba suggests this calamity occurred between Rathlin Island and the Antrim coast. W.H. Murray corroborates the view that the original story may have referred to this latter location, quoting the 10th century Glossary of Cormac who describes the tale of "Brecan, son of Maine, son of Nial Naoighhiallach". Murray, W.H. (1966) The Hebrides. London. Heinemann. pp 71-2.
- ^ Martin, Martin (1703) "A Voyage to St. Kilda" in A Description of The Western Islands of Scotland, Appin Regiment/Appin Historical Society. Retrieved 3 March 2007.
- ^ Buckley, Mike "Jura & the Corryvreckan ~ tales and legends from an Easter Expedition in 2004" ukseakayakguidebook.co.uk Retrieved 26 February 2007.
- ^ a b Bromwich, p. 88.
- ^ Bromwich, pp. 82-83
- ^ a b Bromwich, p. 435.
- ^ MacKillop, James, Oxford Dictionary of Celtic Mythology, s.v. "Llychlyn" & "Lochlainn". Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998. ISBN 0-19-860967-1
References
- Bromwich, Rachel (2006). Trioedd Ynys Prydein: The Triads of the Island of Britain. University Of Wales Press. ISBN 0-7083-1386-8.
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