Scandinavian-Britain

225 SCANDINAVIAN BRITAINcontinued connexion of the Isle of Man with Limerick.The name Magnus originates in Charlemagne ;wefind also a Carlus, son of Olaf the White, killed inbattle 867, and his sword was one of the treasures ofDublin carried off by King Maelseachlann in 995 :a Carlus mac Con was slain by Northmen in 960 his;name curiously recalls the mysterious Karl Hundasonof the next century, certainly not intended (asSkenethought) for a term of reproach (see Rhys' CelticBritain, p. 267).A Magnus Bjarnarson of Limerickdied in 968, and the name must have come into usein hero-worship of the great enemy of the Vikings.With Magnus Haraldsson we find the first fairlyascertained dynasty of Man and the Isles : he diedabout 977, and was succeeded by his brother Godred(Godfrid), who fought a battle in Man (987) with Danesfrom Dublin, who had been plundering in Dalriada,and at Christmas had slain the abbot of lona andfifteen of his monks. This is about the time, thoughthe circumstances are not those, of the story told inNjal's saga of Kari Solmundarson and Njal's sonsGrim and Helgi, who landed in Man and forcedGodred to pay the tribute claimed by the king ofNorway. At a later date they attacked him again,and slew Dungall his son, and then betook them toColonsay, where they stayed with jarl Gilli, who accompaniedthem to Orkney and married a daughterof jarl Sigurd. Godred's kingdom evidently did notextend over the whole of the Islands; he died in989, succeeded by his sons Ragnvald and Kenneth,and his grandson Svein (Suibhne), son of Kenneth.