Gripla - 01.01.2000, Side 195

GIFFARÐSÞÁTTR
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liances with the Welsh and with the Irish king Muirchertach Ua Briain. In the
autumn of 1102 Henry advanced into Wales where Robert capitulated in Sep-
tember (Brut y Tywysogyon:41-47; The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle E:237-38;
Florence of Worcester 11:49—50).31
It is very plausible, and indeed some historians have suggested as
much,32 that Magnús played a designated part in the Anglo-Norman conspira-
cy, and that the Giffard who appeared at Magnús’s court in 1101 was, in fact,
an envoy from the rebellious Anglo-Norman earls, whose mission it was to
entice Magnús to support their cause by invading England from the west,
while Duke Robert of Normandy attacked from the east. Magnús was certain-
ly a wellknown figure to Robert of Belléme and his brothers, having slain
their brother, Earl Hugh of Shrewsbury, in the battle of Menai Strait in
1098.33 It is also conspicuous that the Irish king Muirchertach Ua Briain, who
was allied with Robert and his brothers, and whose daughter, as part of that
alliance, was betrothed to Amulf of Montgomery, was also the father of Bjað-
mynja, the Irish princess who was betrothed to Magnús’s son Sigurðr Jórsala-
fari in 1102.34
If Magnús indeed set out on his second expedition at the instigation of
Giffarðr and at the invitation of the Norman earls, in particular Robert of Bel-
léme and his brothers, that may also serve to explain a circumstance that has
continued to puzzle historians (Freeman 1882:134, 624; Power 1986:128).
According to Ordericus Vitalis Magnús left a treasure in the staggering
amount of 20.000 pounds in the keeping of a wealthy citizen of Lincoln, a
treasure that King Henry, upon Magnús’s death in 1103, appropriated and
used to fill his own depleted coffers (IV: 194—95). We may ask, then, if that
amount could have represented the payment from the Anglo-Norman earls to
Magnús, a payment that was deposited in Lincoln, a city with strong mercan-
31 For an extensive, but highly subjective and sometimes inaccurate, account of these events,
see Freeman 1882 11:415-57.
32 Freeman 1882 11:451 was the first to suggest this connection. See also Toll 1927:179-80, and,
more recently, Power 1986:125-6.
33 That battle is described in detail in all the Old Norse-Icelandic sources (Theodoricus 62-3;
Morkimkinna 1932:318-20; ÍF XXVIII:222-23; ÍF XXIX:46, 307-08), as well as by Order-
icus Vitalis (IV:29-32). See also Brut y Tywysogyon 1955:37-38.
34 See Morkinskinna 1932:323, 337; ÍF XXVIll:224-25; ÍF XXIX:47, 309; Ordericus Vitalis
IV:29. Morkinskinna and Fagrskinna both contain a mistake that must derive from ÆMsk,
namely, that Sigurðr’s wife was the daughter of Malcolm of Scotland, and Ordericus mistak-
enly reports that Magnús himself had married the daughter of the Irish king. For a detailed
discussion, see Power 1986:122, 124—25. See also Bugge 1914:33-34, 44, and Curtis 1921
(the latter contains factual mistakes and should be read with caution).