Celtic Scandinavian Connection

I wanted to post one of the Lectures that I gave to my students a couple of weeks ago. The students asked if there was a connections between the Celtic Tribes and the Scandinavian Tribes. Some of the lecture was on the combination of the music and then i went into a cultural connection. I know its long but I hope you get something out of it.

The hereditary associations between Scandinavian nations and numerous spaces of England, Scotland and Ireland and other Celtic Nations are very much recorded in paleohistory, writing, and history. Unmistakable proof of the social engraving of a group who comprehensively became known as Vikings is as yet in obvious proof today. In later occasions, the melodic connections between these areas have extended, and this show will investigate and celebrate numerous models.

This will be music that mirrors the stark excellence of Sweden, Norway and the North-Eastern Scottish Isles – Orkney and Shetland – which are socially however Scandinavian as they seem to be Scottish. We will likewise hear Norwegian Hardanger fiddle used in a totally new, contemporary, and state of the art way. Also, we will investigate the inconspicuous contrasts between these associated, salt-air-mixed and marine melodic practices and experience the enchanted that happens when they all meet up: a fitting sonic background for the rough Cape Ann shoreline.

Nordic society music incorporates various customs of Nordic nations, particularly Scandinavian. The Nordic nations are Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland. This being joined with Celtic Folklore music from the Celtic Nations of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man, Cornwall, and Brittany.

The numerous areas of the Nordic nations share specific customs, a large number of which have separated altogether. It is feasible to gather the Baltic states and northwest Russia as sharing social similitudes, appeared differently in relation to Norway, Sweden, Denmark and the Atlantic islands of Iceland and the Faroe Islands. Greenland's Inuit culture has its own melodic customs, affected by Scandinavian culture. Finland imparts numerous social likenesses to both the Baltic countries and the Scandinavian countries. The Saami of Sweden, Norway, Finland and Russia have their own interesting society, with binds to the adjoining societies

in the Celtic world, there are numerous Scandinavian impacts. Inside Scotland, Ireland and Isle of Man, the Vikings impacts were basically Norwegian. The Norwegians set up critical settlements and afterward Kingdoms here. In Wales, there were recorded Viking attacks and some proof of little settlements. In Cornwall, key partnerships were shaped with Danish Vikings to protect Cornish terrains from Anglo-Saxon attack. Brittany experienced huge Viking attacks and occupations. Nonetheless, now and again, essential partnerships were made, which can be seen with regards to Breton protection from Frankish expansionism and the confounded power battle that existed during that period.

The Viking intercessions started in the eighth century AD. The Islands of Scotland and the Isle of Man shaped the Northern and Southern Isles. The Northern Isles of Shetland and Orkney were referred to the Norse as Norðreyjar. The Southern Isles shaping the Kingdom of Mann and the Isles (in some cases known as The Kingdom of the Isles) comprising of the Hebrides, the islands in the Firth of Clyde and the Isle of Man were known as Suðreyjar.

The Southern Isles (Suðreyjar) experienced changes in power and control during the ninth to thirteenth hundreds of years AD. There were critical times of free standard and times when there were masters in Norway, Scotland, Ireland and Orkney. Maybe the most popular Norse heritage is the Isle of Man's Parliament, Tynwald. The name is gotten from the Norse 'Thingvalla' which signifies 'Gathering Place'. The Manx have held the arrangement of government presented by the Norse. The Manx Parliament of Tynwald is the most established consistent parliament on the planet and there were other such get together locales in Scandinavia.

At the hour of the Norse Kings the Isle of Man was the focal point of the critical Kingdom of Mann and the Isles. These Southern Isles (Suðreyjar) were controlled by a Tynwald which had 32 individuals, with 16 from the Isle of Man and 16 from the Isles of Skye, Mull and Lewis. In the twelfth century Argyll assumed responsibility for Mull and Islay and with the deficiency of their eight gathering individuals Tynwald was diminished in size from 32 to 24.

A noteworthy affirmation of the Viking verifiable commitment toward the Northern and Southern Isles occurred numerous hundreds of years after the fact. On Sunday May 27th 1979, as a feature of the services praising the Millennium of Tynwald, a blended Manx and Norwegian group set forth from Trondheim in Norway on a journey to Purt ny h-Inshey (Peel) in the Isle of Man. The excursion was embraced in a 66% copy Viking boat called Odin's Raven. The vessel depended on the Gokstad Ship worked in 850 AD.

The boat was explored along the Norwegian coast south from Trondheim calling at Kjorsvik, Aalesund and Stadvik. The following phase of the course was across the North Sea to Scotland calling at Lerwick in Shetland and Kirkwall in Orkney. Then, at that point, it followed the western isles of Scotland to Stornaway in Lewis, Portree in Skye, Tobermory in Mull, Oban, Port Ellen in Islay, Portpatrick on the west shoreline of Dumfries and Galloway before at long last arriving at its objective in Purt ny h-Inshey (Peel), Isle of Man.

The last lord of Mann was Magnús Óláfsson, plunged from a long queue of Norse-Gaelic Kings who controlled the Isle of Man and portions of the Hebrides. Both King Alexander II of Scotland in the 1240's and afterward his child King Alexander III attempted to buy, then, at that point, when this bombed endeavored military power to acquire the Isles. Lord Hákon Hákonarson of Norway (1204 to 1263) looked to shield the terrains against the extending force of Scotland. Anyway after his demise in 1263 Scottish attacks expanded. As per the Chronicle of Mann, King Magnús Óláfsson then passed on in 1265 at Rushen Castle in the Isle of Man and was covered at neighboring Rushen Abbey. After a year, after the Treaty of Perth, Mann and the Hebrides were surrendered to the Kingdom of Scotland.

The Treaty of Perth on second July 1266 was concurred to end struggle among Norway and Scotland. Under the settlement Scotland was given sway of the Hebrides and Isle of endless supply of installment to Norway. Simultaneously Scotland perceived Norwegian sway over Shetland and Orkney.

The Northern Isles (Norðreyjar) were dependent upon Viking attacks from the eighth Century and turned into a Viking fortification. The Norwegian King Harald Hårfagre assumed responsibility for the Islands in 875 AD and they turned into an earldom. They were governed as a region of Norway and under the Jarl (Earl) during the Earldom of Orkney (rule likewise stretched out into parts of Caithness and Sutherland). Lord Christian I vowed the Islands as security for the endowment of his little girl Margaret of Norway who became Queen Margaret of Scotland (1469 to 1486) upon her union with James III of Scotland. The endowment not being paid the islands turned out to be important for the Kingdom of Scotland in 1471. Norwegian law was not canceled in Shetland until 1611 and the Norse based language of Norn proceeded in like manner use for more than two centuries after that.

The Norse impacts on the life and people groups of the islands of Orkney and Shetland stay clear today. In the names of individuals, place names, customs and paleontology. Models incorporate the celebration of Up Helly Aa which is held in Shetland in January consistently coming full circle in the consuming of a Viking kitchen. In 1991 around the ocean at Scar on the Orkney island of Sanday a Viking transport internment was unearthed. Inside it were human remaining parts and grave merchandise. The boat has been dated to somewhere in the range of 875 and 950 AD.

The settlement of Orkney and Shetland didn't begin with Viking movement. All through the islands there is proof of occupants from at minimum the Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age through to the Pictish time frame. Individuals of the Pictish time frame were the relatives of the prior native populace of pre-history, just like the Gaels. Little is known about individuals of the Pictish time frame, other than that they occupied northern Scotland. Likely they were gatherings of individuals with various practices who might have been constrained into more prominent solidarity because of outside dangers.

There is no obvious proof of what befallen the Picts of the Northern Isles subsequent to Viking settlement. There have been ideas that they abandoned the islands, or were annihilated by the fresh debuts. In any case, there is some proof that they intermarried and were acclimatized into Norðreyjar. Pictish apparatuses have been found in the unearthings of Viking settlements. This is the example in the Southern Isles (Suðreyjar), where there is obvious proof of osmosis; to be sure the Vikings were coordinated by the Gaelic people groups and at last communicated in their language. In any case, it should be recalled that in the Northern Isles of Orkney and Shetland the passing from Norwegian control to Scotland didn't occur until the fifteenth century. The communicated in language was Norn, a type of Norse.

795 AD saw the principal recorded strike on Ireland with the assault and loot of the congregation in Lambeg Island. Iona was likewise assaulted in that year and two further strikes inside 10 years drove the strict local area to pass on the island and move to Kells in Meath. Over this period there was an expansion in Viking strikes from Norway along the west bank of Scotland and afterward off the Irish coast. The Vikings were talented guides utilizing their mechanically progressed long ships to employ the turbulent oceans off northwest Europe. Simultaneously their smooth boats could go into limited waterways and make arriving on sea shores.

These assaults later formed into more genuine endeavors at colonization after 837 AD, with endeavors to set up long-lasting fortresses. Dublin, present day Eire's capital city, was established by the Vikings after they set up such a base at the mouth of the Liffey. It was from here that they mounted further attacks into Ireland. Right now Ireland was comprised of various realms. In the Ireland of the ninth century this made a coordinated safeguard of the island of Ireland hard to accomplish. The Norse express that created in Dublin turned into a huge variable in Irish inward life, with collusions being shaped with some Irish chiefs. Simultaneously Dublin turned into a huge worldwide exchanging focus.

The year 914 AD saw the Vikings cruising into Waterford and building up a base from where their venture could reach out into Munster. Later bases included what consequently became known as Limerick following the Viking intrusion into the Shannon estuary. The city of Cork in Munster, albeit beginning as a 6th century ascetic local area, created from the Viking settlement there after 914 AD. The town of Wexford likewise has its beginnings in the settlement of Veisafjǫrðr from where it infers its name and stayed a Viking town for around 300 hundred years from around 800 AD. Waterford's name comes from the Old Norse name for the settlement, Vedrarfjiordr, which was set up in the late 10th century. There are other such instances of spot names in Ireland that highlight Viking inclusion.

A huge occasion in finishing the Viking battles in Ireland is believed to be the Battle of Clontarf, which arrived at its peak on third April 1014. Around then Brian Boru had become High King of Ireland as he tried to make different rulers pay loyalty to him. Notwithstanding, Mael Morda, King of Leinster framed a settlement with the Viking King of Dublin to oppose Brian Boru. Albeit successful, Brian was killed at Clontarf. This was not however the finish of the Vikings in Ireland. Indeed, even before the development of Brian Boru the Vikings had settled, intermarried and their settlements had framed piece of Irish political life. This ran close by every one of the related fights now and again with some Irish rulers and afterward unions with others.

Regardless of many strikes (the first recorded was in 852 AD) there was no huge Viking colonization in Wales, despite the fact that settlements existed in the south of the nation and in Anglesey. Places like Swansea (got from the Norse name Sweyns Ey), Worms Head, Skokholm and Skomer are instances of these little settlements. The island of Anglesey in the northwest of Wales was likely to assaults and was plainly notable to the Vikings. The name Anglesey (Onglesey) is of Norse inference alongside other spot names on the Island. It is additionally realized that Vikings showed up there subsequent to being driven out of Dublin in 903 AD. Anglesey is additionally an only hours cruising distance from the Viking fortress of the Isle of Man.

In general the incredible Welsh lords, in spite of their inside debates, forestalled the foundation of Viking states or control. Rhodri ap Merfyn (Rhodri Mawr - 844 to 878) the leader of Gwynedd was one such head of resistance to early Viking attack and in 855 killed Gorm the Danish chief. The circumstance over the time of Viking extension was not generally one of antagonism among Welsh and Vikings. Now and again coalitions were shaped contrary to the Anglo Saxons.

Cornwall was likewise ready to shield itself against any significant Viking attack. Without a doubt during the eighth century AD Cornish-Viking partnerships were put forth in attempts against developments by the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Wessex. In around 870 AD at the Battle of Hehil the Anglo-Saxons were crushed and this assisted deferral with advancing venture into Cornish grounds. This was helped by resulting proceeded with Danish Viking attacks on the Saxons.

Brittany's relationship with the Vikings should be found with regards to its protection from Frankish standard and the overall political power battles that were occurring between the 10th and eleventh hundreds of years. There were different gatherings of Scandinavians working at that point, frequently all things considered known as Vikings, however with various targets. Now and again there were severe Viking assaults on Brittany. At different occasions the Viking battles with the Franks offered a chance for Breton union of regions. Every so often partnerships were made with the Danish Vikings to contain Frankish expansionism. Following the loss of the Frankish realms at the Battle of Brissarthe in 865 AD the Franks needed to acknowledge Brittany's autonomy.

The circumstance was muddled by inside Viking divisions with the Bretons favoring one gathering of Vikings against one more to protect themselves and their domain. In any case, the inevitable reinforcing of the Franks capacity to guard themselves against assault and their unions with the Vikings brought about significant Viking invasion into Brittany. The keep going recorded strike on Brittany was in 1014, with the assault on Dol by a Viking armada.

In Ireland, rather than vanquishing, the Vikings wound up being absorbed by the Irish. The equivalent was valid in the Scottish Isles and Isle of Man. Spot names uncover their persuasions, as do family names. Irish Family names got from Old Norse incorporate, Mc Sorley, Lamont, Mc Keever, Mac Manus, Mac Caifrey, Reynolds, Kitterick, Kettle . In the Isle of Man, family names of Norse beginning incorporate Corkill, Crennell, Cottier, Cormode, and Kinvig among others. In Scotland there are additionally numerous such models which incorporate those of the Norse-Gaelic Clan Donald including the different parts of the Macdonald's, MacAlister and MacDonell.

The MacDonalds conventional help of Norway against the Scots was just broken after the Battle of Largs in 1263 with the loss of King Haarkon.and the resulting surrendering of the islands to the Scottish crown a few years after the fact. One more of the Norse-Gaelic families was the Clan MacLeod where the name is thought to get from the Old Norse name Ljótr. The family guarantee a drop to the Kings of Mann and the safeguard of the head of the Clan MacLeod joins the 'three legs of mann'.

The tradition of the Vikings can be seen all through the Gaelic world. A noteworthy enduring actual illustration of this is the Manx cut stone crosses on which Norse and Gaelic names are cut. Prior Celtic Crosses on the Island convey Celtic plans and the early Celtic content known as Ogham. Later Norse stone workers enhanced their crosses and joined stories from agnostic folklore. Among the numerous such models on the Isle of Man are the four cut Norse stones known as the 'Sigurd Stones'. They portray scenes from the chivalrous Norse legend of Sigurd Fafnir's Bane. On a side of one of the stones in the town of Andreas the saint Sigurd is shown broiling Fafnir the winged serpent's heart and sucking his fingers. The top of a bird and his pony can be found behind the scenes. The opposite side of the stone portrays a resulting part of the story. It shows the figure of Gunnar, who is Sigurd's cultivate sibling, being nibbled by snakes and afterward cast into a pit of snakes.

In Orkney place names are currently basically all Norse in beginning and number numerous thousand that are subordinates or defilements of unique Old Norse names. These old Norwegian words are seen as blended for certain expressions of Celtic beginning and incidental Scottish ones presented later. Geneticist Professor David Goldstein from University College London drove a multi month hereditary review which framed the premise of a five section BBC narrative that checked out the Viking legacy staying in the space of the Northern (Norðreyjar) and Southern Isles (Suðreyjar). High centralizations of Norwegian hereditary legacy were found.

An intriguing extra component with regards to the narrative of the Celts and Vikings is that of the Papar. They were early Gaelic priests whose presence is demonstrated by antiquarianism and furthermore recorded in authentic Icelandic sources, the most punctual of which is the Íslendingabók (The Book of Icelanders) composed somewhere in the range of 1122 and 1133. The later Landnámabók (Icelandic book of Settlements) focuses to how when the Norwegians began settling Iceland in 874 AD they tracked down these priests as of now there. There are instances of the Papar impact in the Northern Isles as seen by the island names of Papa Westray and Papa Stronsay in Orkney and the regions in Shetland with the name Paplay or Papplay. In islands of the Outer Hebrides there are those exposing the name in Gaelic of Pabaigh.