where he was
discovered and taken prisoner by Murrough.

[220] _Land.--Wars of the Gaedhil_, p. 151.

[221] _Brodir_.--It has been suggested that this was not his real name.
He was Ospak's _brother_, and Brodir may have been mistaken for a proper
name. There was a Danish Viking named Gutring, who was an apostate
deacon, and who may have been the Brodir of Irish history.

[222] _Baptism.--Burnt Njal_, ii. 332.

[223] _Combat.--Wars of the Gaedhil_, p. 157.

[224] _Magh-n-Ealta_.--The Plain of the Flocks, lying between Howth and
Tallaght, so called from Eder, a chieftain who perished before the
Christian era.

[225] _Clontarf_.--There is curious evidence that the account of the
battle of Clontarf must have been written by an eye-witness, or by one
who had obtained his information from an eye-witness. The author states
that "the foreigners came out to fight the battle in the morning at the
full tide," and that the tide came in again in the evening at the same
place. The Danes suffered severely from this, "for the tide had carried
away their ships from them." Consequently, hundreds perished in the
waves.--_Wars of the Gaedhil,_ p. 191. Dr. Todd mentions that he asked
the Rev. S. Haughton, of Trinity College, Dublin, to calculate for him
"what was the hour of high water at the shore of Clontarf, in Dublin
Bay, on the 23rd of April, 1014." The result was a full confirmation of
the account given by the author of the _Wars of the Gaedhil_--the Rev.
S. Haughton having calculated that the morning tide was full in at 5.30
a.m., the evening tide being full at 5.55 p.m.

[226] _Siguard_.--Various accounts are given of the disposition of
forces on each side, so that it is impossible to speak with accuracy on
the subject. We know how difficult it is to obtain correct particulars
on such occasions, even with the assistance of "own correspondents" and
electric telegraphs.

[227] _Psalms_.--To recite the Psalter in this way was a special
devotional practice of the middle ages.

[228] _Brian_.--_Burnt Njal_, ii. 337. If this account be reliable,
Brian did not live to receive the last sacraments, as other authorities
state.

CHAPTER XIV.

Distinguished Irish Scholars and Religious--Domestic Feuds--O'Brien's
Illness caused by Fright--Pestilence and Severe Winters--Contentions
between the Northerns and Southerns--Murtough's Circuit of Ireland--The
Danes attempt an Invasion--An Irish King sent to the Isle of
Man--Destruc