Magnus ‘Barelegs’ Tours the Isles, by Snorro Sturluson

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KING Magnus came with his forces to the Holy Island,* Iona, and gave peace and safety to all men there. It is told that the king opened the door of the little Columb’s Kirk there,* but did not go in, but instantly locked the door again, and said that no man should be so bold as to go into that church hereafter; which has been the case ever since.

From thence King Magnus sailed to Islay,* where he plundered and burnt; and when he had taken that country he proceeded south around Kintyre, marauding on both sides in Scotland and Ireland, and advanced with his foray to Man,* where he plundered. Lagman was the name of the son of Godred,* king of the Hebrides. Lagman was sent to defend the most northerly islands; but when King Magnus and his army came to the Hebrides, Lagman fled here and there about the isles, and at last King Magnus’s men took him and his ship’s crew as he was flying over to Ireland. The king put him in irons to secure him.

by Snorro Sturluson 1179-1241

From ‘The Heimskringla; or Chronicle of the Kings of Norway’ Vol. 3, by Snorro Sturluson (1179-1241), translated by Samuel Laing.

* The name of Holy Island belongs to several islands of the British Isles, most notably Iona on Scotland’s west coast, Anglesey on the northwest coast of Wales, and Lindisfarne, on the northeast coast of England.

* St Columba (?521-597), Abbot of Iona from 563 to 597. See posts tagged St Columba of Iona. It was from this monastery that St Aidan came to the Kingdom of Northumbria and took up the role of Bishop of Lindisfarne (634-651), converting the kingdom to Christianity and ultimately playing an indispensable role in the conversion of England and parts of the European Continent. The English had also played a key role in the conversion of Norway: see The Conversion of Norway.

* Islay (pronounced eye-la) and Jura are two islands of the Inner Hebrides, on the northwest side of the Kintyre peninsula.

* The Isle of Man, in the Irish Sea a few miles off the coast of Cumbria.

* Godred Crovan (?-1095), King of the Isles.

* Lagman (?-1110), son of Godred Crovan. Despite bitter infighting within the Crovan dynasty and against its rivals, the Kings of Norway retained control over the Isles until another King Magnus (‘the Law-mender’) signed the Treaty of Perth with Alexander III of Scotland on July 2nd, 1266, transferring the Isles and Man to the Scottish king. Magnus nonetheless retained rights over Orkney and Shetland, which were formally handed over to Scotland when James III of Scotland married Margaret of Denmark in 1472. The Isle of Man passed under the English crown in 1290, during the reign of Edward I.

Précis

Magnus continued his murderous plunder of the Hebrides, but made an exception of Iona: after peeping inside the chapel of long-dead abbot Columba, he hastily shut and sealed the door and gave the island no trouble at all. From Iona he found his way to the Isle of Man, whose disloyal lord, Logman, he ran down and put in chains.

Questions for Critics

1. What is the author aiming to achieve in writing this?

2. Note any words, devices or turns of phrase that strike you. How do they help the author communicate his ideas more effectively?

3. What impression does this passage make on you? How might you put that impression into words?

Based on The English Critic (1939) by NL Clay, drawing on The New Criticism: A Lecture Delivered at Columbia University, March 9, 1910, by J. E. Spingarn, Professor of Comparative Literature in Columbia University, USA.

Jigsaws

Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.

Magnus went to Iona. He looked inside St Columba’s church. He said no one must enter it again.

See if you can include one or more of these words in your answer.

IForbid. IIPeep. IIIVisit.

Précis

Questions for Critics

Jigsaws

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