The Battle of Clontarf in Irish history and legend

‘Clontarf was too important to be left to the historians, so passed into the legend-maker’s hand’ (Gwyn Jones, A history of the Vikings [London, 1973]). ‘The men of Ireland will suffer a grief that will never grow old in the minds of men’ (Valkyries’ prophecy, Njál’s saga, §157, tr. Magnus Magnusson and Hermann Pálsson [Harmondsworth, … Read more