Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.1977, Page 3

Some traces of Gaelic in Faroese
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‘Grey-Cloak’. In the light of such a correspondence the basic
meaning of Kamban emerges unmistakably. It is the deriva-
tive noun not in the sense of ‘crooked fellow’, but of ‘crooked
thing’, and the ‘crooked thing’ in question is pretty obviously
some sort of club. To this extent, Grímr Kamban is a name
not so very different from Eiríkr Blóðøx ‘Blood-Axe’.
Can we define the instrument more exactly? What kind of
club could it have been which was so peculiarly Irish? The
answer is not hard to find. From time immemorial, the Irish
have enjoyed a game played with clubs, often mentioned in
ancient literature. K. H. Jacobson, The Oldest Irish Tradition:
A Window on the lron Age, 23, writes: ‘The youths also played
a team-game called báire, with clubs and balls, the object being
to score by hitting the ball into the opposing team’s goal, a
hole in the ground. It was thus more or less an early form of
hockey or similar games’. As a traditional Irish sport, báire
was revived on the establishment of the Gaelic Athletic Associ-
ation in 1884; it is known (in English) as ‘hurling’ or ‘hurley’.
A variety of the same game is found in Scotland, here called
(in English) ‘shinty’, (in Scots Gaelic) camanachd, cf. caman
above. The club with which the player strikes the ball may be
called ‘hurley’ in English, but its Gaelic name is always camán,
or associated form. We need enquire no further. Kamban is
the earliest attestation of the Gaelic technical term.
We would not wish to overtax this identification, but it
does seem to be firm evidence for an aspect of Norse-Gaelic
contact not noted hitherto. It appears to have relevance for
the chronology, too. A game like hurling is only for active
young men. Grímr Kamban must then have belonged to the
first generation to grow up in the Western Colonies. He ar-
rived, let us suppose, about 800, as a small boy. He became
a famous sportsman, inseparable from his ^cambán, and about
825, when still in his physical prime, he set out to become
the first settler in a new land.