Open [36.0 MB]

22 THE SCANDINAVIANS, AND
BOOK i. While, on the other hand, Scandinavian authorities
.
are no j. on jy gjient respecting the brotherhood of Aulaf
with Ivar, Sitric, and Oisile, but supply conclusive
evidence that no such connexion existed : they dis-
tinctly state that Ivar, so frequently named in Irish
and English history, was the son of Regnar Lodbrog,
and thus only allied to Aulaf, the probability being
that Ivar came to Ireland to avenge the death of his
father (who perished in A.D. 845), and that he came,
not with Aulaf in A.D. 852, but that his was " the fleet
of the king of the foreigners" which reached our
shores in A.D. 847. 1 The difference of age which this
implies suggests no difficulty. We know that Biorn
Ironsides and another son of Regnar Lodbrog were
then invading France, and we know that military life
began so early and was continued so long, that three
generations frequently fought side by side. Nor
did Aulaf subsequently obtain any other Irish ter-
ritory from which he could have exacted tribute.
For although in 857 he invaded Meath with his com-
panion Ivar, and his ally Cearbhall, and plundered it
in 860, and again in 861, there is no trace that
Aulaf obtained any dominion over it. If it be sug-
gested that it is shown by the statements respecting
Ivar and Sitric that Aulaf retained the power which
Turgesius possessed, and that he " named a Northman
king for each province," it is sufficient to reply
that these statements, although very generally
adopted, are almost obviously incorrect.
" The three kings of the foreigners,
a
Langebek, voL 1, pp. 283-344.
Aulaiv, Ivar, and Auislc, entered Ibid. vol. i. p. 540; vol. ii. p. 14.
the land of Flann." Here there is Ordericus Vitalis apud Du Cheane,
no mention of Sitric.
p. 458.