Turgesius (died 845) (also called Turgeis, Tuirgeis, Turges, and Thorgest) was a Viking chief active in Ireland during the 9th century. Turgesius Island, the principal island on Lough Lene, is named after him. It is not at all clear whether the names in the Irish annals represent the Old Norse Thurgestr or Thorgísl.[ The Vikings In Scotland And Ireland In The Ninth Century (Donnchadh Ó Corráin. 1998)][W.E.D. Allen, The Poet and the Spae-Wife: An Attempt to Reconstruct Al-Ghazal's Embassy to the Vikings Dublin: Figgis, Viking Society for Northern Research, 1960, OCLC 557547145, p. 46.] John O'Donovan and Charles Haliday independently identified him with Ragnar Loðbrók, but the identification is not generally accepted.[Charles Haliday, ed. John Patrick Prendergast, The Scandinavian Kingdom of Dublin, Dublin: Thom, 1882, repr. Shannon, Irish University Press, 1969, ; see Allen, pp. 58-60 and notes 203, 204, p. 93 (calling him Halliday). The theory was first published by John O'Donovan in 1860, prior to the posthumous publication of Haliday's papers.]
Life
The sole reliable record of Turgesius is a report of his death in the
Annals of Ulster. In 845 he was captured by Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid of Clann Cholmáin who was High King of Ireland. These reports state that Turgesius was drowned in
Lough Owel.
[ Annals of Ulster, AU 845.8; Barbara E. Crawford, Scandinavian Scotland, Leicester University Press, 1987, , p. 49, describes this as "the only historical fact that can be relied upon".] Less certainly, the
Annals of the Four Masters associate Turgesius with attacks on
Connacht,
Mide and the church at
Clonmacnoise in the year before his death.
[ Annals of the Four Masters, AFM 843.13.] It has been speculated that Muslim poet and diplomat Yahya ibn al-Hakam al-Bakri al-Jayyani (d. 864) may have paid a visit to the court of this Norse ruler. After the attack of the Vikings on the coast of
al-Andalus in the year 844, he was sent north on a diplomatic mission.
[Nizar F. Hermes (2014) The Moor’s First Sight: An Arab Poet in a Ninth-Century Viking Court (Palgrave Macmillan) ]
Conquests
No history is recorded for Turgesius in his native Scandinavia, and knowledge of him is based on the history of his conquests as recorded in
Ireland and
Great Britain. Giraldus Cambrensis (also known as Gerald of Wales) described Turgesius as one of the early Viking conquerors of
Ireland.
It is believed that Turgesius first came to Ireland in the year 820,
[ A Popular History of Ireland: from the Earliest Period to the Emancipation of the Catholics By Thomas D'Arcy McGee- book-2 Chapter 2 from Nalanda Digital Library at NIT Calicut ] but his arrival as a leader of his own force was in around 837. He led a fleet of 120 ships, half of which entered the
River Boyne, and the other half the
River Liffey. He took the settlement of
Dublin by force from the native rural and fishing community. He built a strong fort, according to Scandinavian methods, on the hill where now stands
Dublin Castle. From there, he launched further conquests into Ireland (
Leinster and
Munster), and across the
Irish Sea to
Wales.
[ Ireland and Scandinavia in the Early Viking Age (History Ireland. Volume 7, Issue 2, Summer 1999)]
Among the sites he captured was the rich monastery of Clonmacnoise on the eastern bank of the River Shannon and south of Lough Ree. He established several inland centres of operation. One of his cardinal forts was on Lough Ree, north of Athlone. Another fort was at a point called Lyndwachill on Lough Neagh, while others were on the high ground southwest of Lough Lene and on the major island of this lake, which still bears his name and was where he dominated the Leinster midland from. In 843, King Niall Caille met Turgesius in battle when defending his ancestral province of Ulster. Niall fought against both the Vikings of Lough Neagh and a further party who sailed into Lough Swilly. On the plain of Moynith, the forces of King Niall and Turgesius met and, according to the annals, "a countless number fell". The result of the battle was that King Niall had vanquished Turgesius.
Death
In the year 843 or 844 Turgesius was killed by Máel Sechnaill I (also called Malachy), King of Meath, and a subordinate of Turgesius. There are conflicting reports of how Turgesius met his death. He is reputed to have been put to death by drowning in
Lough Owel near
Mullingar. Local tradition says that Máel Sechnaill governed under Turgesius and is believed to have asked advice from Turgesius how best to rid the area of a recently invading flock of birds who were causing damage. Without a second thought, Turgesius recommended destroying their nests and this inspired Maél Sechnaill to do the same in order to rid his territory of the Vikings. Another story of his death states that he demanded Melaghlin's daughter's hand in marriage. While pretending to agree, Melaghlin sent Turgesius 12 beardless youths, disguised as his daughter and her attendants, who were in reality assassins.
[Byrn, Francis John (1973) Irish Kings and High Kings (London, Batsford) ]
The seventeenth century historian Geoffrey Keating wrote in Foras Feasa ar Éirinn
Myth
By the twelfth century, when
The War of the Irish with the Foreigners (
Cogad Gaedel re Gaillaib) was composed to magnify the achievements of
Brian Boru, Turgesius had become a major figure.
[Allen, p. 17.][For the origins of the Cogad, see Ó Corráin, "Ireland, Wales, Man and the Hebrides", pp. 105–106.] Gerald of Wales, who may have had access to a version of this work, included similar accounts in his
Topographia Hibernica although these accounts are now not always deemed trustworthy.
[Peter H. Sawyer, Kings and Vikings: Scandinavia and Europe AD 700-111, repr. London: Routledge, 2000, , p. 22, quotes Ó Corráin, who describes them as a 'farrago'; Crawford, p. 49; Francis John Byrne, Irish Kings and High Kings, London: Batsford, 1973, OCLC 251894543, p. 267. Dáibhí Ó Cróinín, Early Medieval Ireland, 400-1200, London: Longman, 1995, , p. 262, follows Liam De Paor in describing the Cogad as "about as good a source of information on the Vikings as 'Star Trek' is for the American space programme". Geoffrey Keating's accounts are derived from Gerald; Ó Cróinín, p. 247.]
According to The War of the Irish with the Foreigners, Turgesius was married to Ottar or Ota (commonly thought to be Old Norse Auðr, Odda or another name beginning in Odd-), who took possession of the cathedral at Clonmacnoise and gave audiences seated on the great altar.[Allen, p. 46.] This appears to be a reference to her being a völva or performing spæ.[Allen, p. 47.] However, the Arabic account of the mission of al-Ghazal to the Vikings calls the king's wife Nūd.[
]
See also
-
Early Scandinavian Dublin
-
History of Ireland (800–1169)
-
Norse activity in the British Isles
References and notes
External links
Related reading
-
Charles-Edwards, T. M. (2006) The Chronicle of Ireland, translated texts for historians (Liverpool: Liverpool University Press)
