Amlaíb Cuarán [Old Norse: Óláfr kvaran or kváran] (died 981), also known as Olaf Sihtricsson (Old Norse: Óláfr Sigtryggsson), was a 10th century Norse-Gaelic king. His byname, cúarán, is usually translated as "sandal". His name is also known by a variety of anglicized forms, including Olaf Cuaran. He was the last of the Uí Ímair to play a major part in the politics of Britain and Ireland.
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Background
The Ímar from whom the Uí Ímair were descended is generally presumed to be that Ímar, "king of the Northmen of all Britain and Ireland", whose death is reported by the Annals of Ulster in 873. Whether this Ímar is to be identified with the leader of the Great Heathen Army, or with Ivarr the Boneless, is less certain.[1]
Origins
Amlaíb Cuarán was a great-grandson of Ímar. There is no reliable evidence setting out the descent éfrom Ímar to his grandsons, but it may be that the grandsons of Ímar recorded between 896 and 934—Amlaíb Cuarán's father Sitriuc (d. 927), Ragnall (d. 921), Gofraid (d. 934), Ímar (d. 904) and Amlaíb (d. 896)—were brothers rather than cousins.[2] Amlaíb's father appears in the record from 917 onwards. In that year Sitriuc seized Dublin, a Norse-Gael settlement which had probably been under the control of an Irish king since the expulsion of the previous Viking rulers in 902.[3] Amlaíb's father ruled Northumbria until his death in 927.
Dublin
Upon Sitriuc's death, Athelstan annexed Deira and Amlaíb fled to Scotland. Until 937, he spent time in Scotland and Ireland and, according to some accounts, participated in the Battle of Brunanburh as part of the defeated alliance.
York
Athelstan died in 939 and Amlaíb mac Gofraid, king of Dublin at the time, invaded Northumbria and compelled Edmund, Athelstan's successor, to surrender Deira. When Olaf Guthfrithson died in 942, Olaf Cuaran succeeded him, finally recovering the throne of his father in addition to the throne of Dublin. Two years later, however, Edmund expelled him from Northumbria and Olaf was left with only Dublin. Amlaíb managed to regain his lands in Northumbria in 949, only to be expelled again in 952, this time by Erik Bloodaxe.
Tara
In 980, Amlaíb suffered a massive defeat at the Battle of Tara, which destroyed the power of the Norse in Ireland. He went to Iona and probably died there in 981.
Marriages and children
He was succeeded by his son Glúniairn (Járnkné, literally "Iron Knee"), son of his wife Dúnlaith, daughter of Muirchertach mac Néill. Among his wives was Gormflaith, daughter of Murchad mac Finn, King of Leinster, and future wife of Brian Boru. Gormflaith's son Sitric Silkbeard was king of Dublin after Glúniairn's death. Amlaíb's other children included Gytha, who married Olaf Tryggvason, Máel Muire, who married Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill, and Harald, possibly the grandfather of Godred Crovan.[4]
Cúarán
Amlaíb's byname, cúarán, is usually translated as "sandal" or "shoe". It derives from the Old Irish word cúar meaning bent or crooked. It is first applied to him in the report of the battle of Slane in 947 in the Annals of Ulster. The usual translation may be misleading. The epithet probably refers to a distinctive style of footwear. Benjamin Hudson points to the description of a cúarán in a twelfth century satire, where it is made of leather folded seven times and has a pointed toe. In Aislinge Meic Con Glinne and Scél Baili Binnbérlaig, the cúarán is waterproof. In the first story Mac Con Glinne cleans his by dipping them in his bath; in the second, a cúarán serves as a vessel to drink from. That the cúarán was a piece of footwear specific to Dublin is suggested by statements in other stories that have cobblers in the town owing a cúarán in taxes.[5]
Notes
- ^ Ó Cróinín, Early Medieval Ireland, pp. 250–254, discusses Ímar's career and the various arguments. See also Woolf, Pictland to Alba, chapter 2; Downham, Viking Kings, chapters 1–3, especially pp. 17–23 & 64 –67. Ó Corráin, "Vikings in Scotland and Ireland", passim, sets out the case against the identification.
- ^ Thus Downham, Viking Kings, p. 29, figure 6. Cyril Hart's contributions to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography make Ragnall, Sitriuc and Gofraid brothers; likewise Hudson, Viking Pirates, p. 31, figure 1, makes these three brothers.
- ^ Downham, Viking Kings, pp. 27–35.
- ^ Downham, Viking Kings, p. 29, figure 6; Hudson, Viking Pirates, p. 49, figure 2 & p. 83, figure 3. Text references reqd.
- ^ Hudson, Viking Pirates, pp. 36–37.
References
- Downham, Clare (2007), Viking Kings of Britain and Ireland: The Dynasty of Ívarr to A.D. 1014, Edinburgh: Dunedin, ISBN 1-903765-89-0
- Hall, Richard (2001), "A kingdom too far: York in the early tenth century", in Higham, N. J. & Hill, D. H., Edward the Elder 899–924, London: Routledge, pp. 188–199, ISBN 0-415-21497-1
- Hudson, Benjamin T. (2004), "Óláf Sihtricson (c.926–981)", Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, <http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/20671>. Retrieved on 2007-10-25
- Hudson, Benjamin (2005), Viking Pirates and Christian Princes: Dynasty, Religion and Empire in the North Atlantic, Oxford: Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-516237-4
- Ó Corráin, Donnchadh (1998), "The Vikings in Scotland and Ireland in the Ninth Century", Peritia 12: 296-339, <http://www.ucc.ie/celt/Vikings%20in%20Scotland%20and%20Ireland.pdf>. Retrieved on 1 December 2007
- Ó Cróinín, Dáibhí (1995), Early Medieval Ireland 400–1200, Longman History of Ireland, London: Longman, ISBN 0-582-01565-0
- Woolf, Alex (2007), From Pictland to Alba, 789–1070, The New Edinburgh History of Scotland, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 0-7486-1234-5
| Preceded by Amlaíb mac Gofraid |
King of Dublin | Succeeded by Glúniairn |
| Preceded by Olav I |
King of Jórvík 941–943 |
Succeeded by Ragnald II |
| Preceded by Ragnald II |
King of Jórvík 944 |
Succeeded by English rule |
| Preceded by Eric Bloodaxe |
King of Jórvík 949–952 |
Succeeded by Eric Bloodaxe |
