London never loses its lure as the most
eventful of places to visit.
This year offers even more reasons for a trip to the
metropolis.
Culture, as always, is a big
draw.
The most enjoyable exhibitions and
stage shows are those which challenge preconceptions and provoke new ideas.
Apart from theatrical attractions like King Lear at the
Olivier directed by Sam Mendes, and art exhibitions such as the 120 Matisse
works at Tate Modern or The National Gallery’s “sumptuously sensual wonderful portraits [1]”
by Veronese (Magnificence in Renaissance Venice), the event that monopolises my imagination is a major exhibition at the
British Museum.
“Vikings:
life and legend” tells the story of Viking expansion from
Scandinavia from the eighth century onwards.
If only because of the permanent mark made by
these summer sailors on the people and place of Britain and Ireland, not to
mention the hyperbole surrounding the show itself (“one of the most tantalising cultural highlights of the new season [2]”),
I also have a particular reason of kinship to see it.
The popularity and influence of Scandinavia on our
culture should not surprise anyone.
For
most of the past decade, our hearts and minds have been witnessing an invasion
of modern Nordic literature and film.
Perhaps the aura of modern bleakness - Nordic Noir - has taken its inspiration from the Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman.
Perhaps the aura of modern bleakness - Nordic Noir - has taken its inspiration from the Swedish film director Ingmar Bergman.
Authors like Jo Nesbo, Stieg Larsson, Henning Mankell, Lars Keplar, and Jonas Jonasson; and television dramas like the crime fiction Wallander, The Killing (starring Sofie Gråbøl and her famous Faroese jumpers), and continuing with The Bridge and also the political drama of Borgen, have permeated seamlessly into our deep subconscious.
Vikings life and legend
Previewing the British Museum’s new exhibition, one expert [3] explains the etymology:-
The word “Viking” was
originally shorthand for setting oars to water, deriving from "vik",
which was the name for the mouth of a river or fjord. Later, in the Icelandic sagas, it became something
like "fara í viking", "go on a viking" which came to mean to set out on a voyage and to take part in anything that might follow –
trade, commerce, raiding, piracy or worse.”
Mirroring recent television documentaries which emphasise
the high artistry of these northern travellers, Adams describes their
engineering talent and artistic genius:-
“Viking
raiders got as far into England as Lichfield in the landlocked Midlands, and
they colonised far into Russian lands along the tributaries of the Volga. The dragon ship Roskilde 6 so dominates this
show that you begin to see its curves almost everywhere in the exhibits that
surround it....
“There
was a formidable culture of bling, great rope-like chains of silver and gold;
almost comically outsized buckles and brooches that became status symbols from
Stockholm to Shetland. In some instances
amulets and bracelets doubled as currency...
"Almost universally, jewellery and armour, as well as the many whalebone artefacts, are decorated with bold riverine and wave designs...”
"Almost universally, jewellery and armour, as well as the many whalebone artefacts, are decorated with bold riverine and wave designs...”
 |
| British Museum photo - 3 of the Lewis chessmen, Shetland |
 | ||||
| National Museums Scotland photo - Hunterston Brooch Made of gold, silver and amber, Ayrshire. |
In parallel with the British Museum’s ability to spotlight their creativity and to expose wrongful impressions of the Vikings, this essay considers another positive imprint of Viking culture on our islands - its enduring cultural impact on place-names and surnames.
Viking place-names - Ireland
At the beginning of the Christian era, the Irish Gaelic
term Cúige Uladh (literally
meaning the fifth of the Ulstermen) was the northern Province of Ireland. Cúig cúigí na hÉireann being all five of the Provinces, or Ireland as a total entity.
Ulster was divided from the “Fifths” (or
provinces/divisions) of Connacht and Meath by a line running from the Drownes River near
Bundoran in County Donegal to the estuary of the Boyne at Drogheda.
The historian Bardon[4] adds that Ulster’s rulers
were called the Ulaidh. This was a tribal name recorded as Voluntii
about 150AD by Ptolemy of Alexandria in Egypt in his geography of Ireland.
Irish Tribes[5] website corroborates
Bardon’s account, adding that the capital was Eamhain Mhacha,
Navan Fort.
It is one of Ireland’s most important historic monuments and, as its ancient capital, it was the seat of the Kings of Ulster.
Archaeological excavations have revealed that the construction of the 40 metre mound dates to 95 BC.
The Vikings called the land of the Ulaidh Uladzstir,
mixing their pronunciation with the Irish Gaelic word tír, which means country
or land.
When the Normans and English
invaded in the twelfth century, they adopted the Viking version.
As Bardon explains, Uladztir became
anglicised to Ulster.
Research carried
out at Queens University Belfast [6] corroborates the point,
concluding that the form of the place-name Ulster originates in Norse.
Viking surnames - Ireland and Scotland
The same influence is reflected in various surnames both
in Scotland and in Ireland.
These
include McLaughlin (MacLachlannach [7], son of a Dane), McDowell
(Mac Dubh Ghall, son of a dark stranger/foreigner [8]), Toner (from the Old
Norse personal name Tomar), McIvor (from the Old Norse personal name Ivarr) and
various others.
One of those others is this author’s surname.
There are more members of the clan McSorley in Scotland
than live in Ireland.
In Ireland,
McSorley is almost exclusive to Ulster and especially to Tyrone [9].
Bell adds that most originate from Clan
Donald MacSorleys who came as galloglasses[10] between the 13th
and late 16th centuries – one of the earliest galloglass families to
settle in Ulster [11].
The adjective galloglass means heavily-armed mercenary soldiers, originally Hebridian (Gaelic-Norse), from Irish gall (foreigner) and óglach (young warrior-servant).
Incidental questions arise about the accuracy in contemporary usage of the the term Ulster Scots.
The adjective galloglass means heavily-armed mercenary soldiers, originally Hebridian (Gaelic-Norse), from Irish gall (foreigner) and óglach (young warrior-servant).
Incidental questions arise about the accuracy in contemporary usage of the the term Ulster Scots.
Anglicised as Somerled and Gaelicised as MacSomhairle,
the name derives from the Old Norse, sumor
lida, summer sailor, a synonym for Viking [12].
An
interesting example of the name’s anglicised version exists in County
Antrim.
The title of Earl of Antrim has been created twice for members of the MacDonnell family. The clan, originally of Scottish origins, descends from Sorley Boy MacDonnell, who established the family in County Antrim. These summer sailors provided an infrequent example, as I am informed, of Roman Catholic landed gentry in Ireland or Britain.
The title of Earl of Antrim has been created twice for members of the MacDonnell family. The clan, originally of Scottish origins, descends from Sorley Boy MacDonnell, who established the family in County Antrim. These summer sailors provided an infrequent example, as I am informed, of Roman Catholic landed gentry in Ireland or Britain.
The ancestral
seat of the Earls of Antrim is Glenarm Castle [13],
also the venue for Northern Ireland’s only Scottish Highland Games every July.
The 13th
Earl of Antrim’s (1911-1977) full name was Randal St. John Somerled (pronounced by the family as Sorley)
McDonnell. Alexander Randal Mark McDonnell (born 1935) is the 14th Earl of Antrim.
The heir apparent is his son, Randal Alexander St John McDonnell, Viscount Dunluce (born 1967).
The heir apparent's heir
apparent is his son the Hon. Alexander David Somerled McDonnell (b. 2006) [14].
Viking place-names - Scotland
To make the trail even more intriguing, the McSorley
surname has direct connections to place-names in both in Scotland and also in
England.
The Scottish tourist board describes Portree as the main
town on the Isle of Skye, a bustling port and a thriving cultural centre.
Like all places in Scotland, place-names are
signed bilingually, in Scots Gaelic and also in English.
Portree’s central hub, its town square, carries the name in
English as Somerled Square. The Scots Gaelic (pronounced Gallic by the Scots) name is inscribed as ceàrnan shomhairle,
the square of Sorley.
Observing the juxtaposition of the anglicised and
gaelicised versions of the Old Norse sumer lida evokes a sense of the Latin
imperative quod erat demonstrandum.
 |
| Portree square August 2007 |
Viking place-names - England
The most recognizable places in England which bear
Scandinavian names end in –by.[15].
Hoskins also mentions Wigstown in
Leicestershire as being called “Vikings Tun” after a local Danish leader.
He goes on to note that Norwegian settlement
of the north-western English counties in the tenth century is apparent from the
numerous thwaites of Cumberland and Westmorland.
More specifically, the concise Oxford English Dictionary
of English place-names explains:-
“The
Scandinavian element in English place-names is very considerable. It is an outcome of the extensive
Scandinavian settlements made in England from the latter half of the ninth
century onwards.”
“The
Scandinavian place-names in England are really the chief source for our
knowledge of the Scandinavian settlements.
They tell us what parts of England were most thickly populated by
Scandinavians. They tell us that the
Scandinavian population in the east of England was on the whole Danish, that in
the north-west chiefly Norwegian.”
Against this background, the dictionary gives precise
examples which reflect the anglicised version of the surname McSorley in some
English place-names.
Four settlements in
three different counties derive from summer sailor and the name Sumerlida.
They are Somerby (Leicestershire),
Somerleytown (Suffolk), Somersby (Lincolnshire), and Somerton (Suffolk).
The dictionary says that the Somerby entry refers to the
“Old
Norse personal name Sumarlioi, also found as Sumerlida in the Domesday
Book. The name means summer warrior.”
The dictionary’s Somerleytown entry also refers to its
Domesday Book listing which is Sumerledetuna, Sumarlioi’s tun.
The Somersby entry, it says, is identical
with Somerby.
The Somerton entry refers
to it as Somerledetun in 1046, Somerledetuna in the Domesday Book 1086, adding
that it is identical with Somerleytown.
Reading this information reinforces the compulsion to visit the
Viking exhibition in London.
The story, however, does not end there.
Viking surnames –Nordic
As if to complete a circle. I have also discovered a melodious
connection to a modern-day Nordic version of the surname.
The sleeve notes on the 2008 album “med sud i eyrum vid spilum endalaust” recorded by the Icelandic
music group Sigur Ros, provide the name of one of the string players as Sulrun Sumarlidadottir.
This talented daughter of a summer sailor also
plays on the 2012 album Valturi.
Music
to my ears.
Nordic
blanc
Preconceptions
of Scandinavia are being challenged.
It
seems that the summer warriors famed only for being pillagers and rapists
exhibited great talent in engineering, navigation, and the visual arts.
Jonas Jonasson’s hilarious fictional writing
likewise contrasts with what many see unfairly as an unremitting theme of bleakness
portrayed as Nordic noir in Scandinavian film and literature.
Anyway,
if you have the time and opportunity to visit London, Veronese's 50 masterpieces are on show at the National Gallery until 15 June and the Vikings exhibition in the British Museum runs until 22 June 2014.
©Michael
McSorley 2014
©míceál macsomhairle 2014
©míceál macsomhairle 2014
[1]
The Times Saturday Review Rachel Campbell-Johnston 22 Mar 2014
[2]
Observer The New Review Rachel Cooke 29 Dec 2013
[3]
Observer The New Review Tim Adams 9 March 2014
[4]
Jonathon Bardon “Place names in the North of Ireland” p 2 NICLR.
[5] http://www.irishtribes.com/articles/2012-06-descendants-of-celtic-tribes-of-ireland.html
[6]
Patrick McKay “A Dictionary of Ulster Place-Names 1999 p 144 ISI QUB.
[7]
Padraic O’Farrell “Irish Surnames p 68. 2001
[8]
Robert Bell “The Book of Ulster Surnames.” P 155. 1988.
[9]
Robert Bell “The Book of Ulster Surnames.” P 182. 1988.
[10]
Collins English Dictionary millennium edition p 627.
[11]
Edward McLysaght “Guide to Irish Surnames” p 189. Dublin 1964
[12]
“The name Somhairle and its clan” H Palsson, from “So Many People, Longages
& Tonges,” Edinburgh 1981.
[13] http://www.glenarmcastle.com/detailed-history.aspx
[14] Wikipedia
[15] W
G Hoskins “The Making of the English Landscape” 1970
