Abstract
Although the Manx sea kings naturally constitute the focus of the Chronicles of the Kings of Man and the Isles, drilling more deeply into the text reveals that not all members of the dynasty receive neutral treatment. From 1187 onwards the text can be read as an account of the struggle between two rival branches of the kindred, represented by the brothers Rognvald and Olaf Godredsson. The production of the text in the reign of Magnus Olafsson (d. 1265), which witnessed the ultimate triumph of the line of Olaf, suggests that the Chronicles played a role in legitimizing his kingship. One of the principal messages embedded within the text, particularly within its account of the feud between the two brothers, is that of female responsibility for the feuding that frequently plagued the kingdom.
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Notes
- 1.
As amply demonstrated by many of the contributions to S. Duffy and H. Mytum (eds.), A New History of the Isle of Man, Volume III. The Medieval Period 1000–1406 (Liverpool, 2015).
- 2.
CRMI, f. 47v.
- 3.
The point is also made by B. Williams, “Chronicles of the Kings of Man and the Isles,” in S. Duffy and H. Mytum (eds.), A New History of the Isle of Man, Volume III. The Medieval Period 1000–1406 (Liverpool, 2015), 305–326. Gransden notes the role for chronicles as potential vessels of propaganda: A. Gransden, “The Chronicles of Medieval England and Scotland,” in Legends, Traditions and History in Medieval England (London and Rio Grande, 1992), 219–220.
- 4.
R.A. McDonald, Manx Kingship in Its Irish Sea Setting 1187–1229: King Rögnvaldr and the Crovan Dynasty (Dublin, 2007), 100.
- 5.
P. Stafford, “The Portrayal of Royal Women in England, Mid-tenth to Mid-twelfth Centuries,” in J.C. Parsons (ed.), Medieval Queenship (New York, 1996), 145–146.
- 6.
Giraldus Cambrensis (Gerald of Wales). Expugnatio Hibernica. The Conquest of Ireland, ed. and trans. A.B. Scott and F.X. Martin (Dublin, 1978), 24–25.
Bibliography
Duffy, S., and H. Mytum, eds. 2015. A New History of the Isle of Man, Volume III. The Medieval Period 1000–1406. Liverpool.
Giraldus Cambrensis (Gerald of Wales). 1978. Expugnatio Hibernica. The Conquest of Ireland. Edited and translated by A.B. Scott and F.X. Martin. Dublin.
Gransden, A. 1992. The Chronicles of Medieval England and Scotland. In Legends, Traditions and History in Medieval England, 199–238. London and Rio Grande.
McDonald, R.A. 2007. Manx Kingship in its Irish Sea Setting 1187–1229: King Rögnvaldr and the Crovan Dynasty. Dublin.
Stafford, P. 1996. The Portrayal of Royal Women in England, Mid-tenth to Mid-twelfth Centuries. In Medieval Queenship, ed. J.C. Parsons, 143–167. New York.
Williams, B. 2015. Chronicles of the Kings of Man and the Isles. In A New History of the Isle of Man, Volume III. The Medieval Period 1000–1406, ed. S. Duffy and H. Mytum, 305–326. Liverpool.
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McDonald, R.A. (2019). Conclusion: Kings, Usurpers, Concubines, and Chroniclers. In: Kings, Usurpers, and Concubines in the 'Chronicles of the Kings of Man and the Isles'. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22026-6_7
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