The Northern Tapestry

Exploring the sagas and stories that link medieval Iceland, Scandinavia and the northern British Isles

Ortelius Map reproduced with permission from Vintage Maps

Blog

  • Kenneth MacAlpin Part II

    In The Last Pictish Kings: Part 2 – Kenneth, Brude, Drust… and Kenneth, I posed the question: was Kenneth MacAlpin a Gael or a Pict? I was grateful to receive a number of comments and suggestion in various social media groups where I shared the link to the blog, and it confirmed my suspicion that Read more

  • The Last Pictish Kings: Part 2 – Kenneth, Brude, Drust… and Kenneth

    In the last post we saw how, after the catastrophic defeat by the Norse in 839 which impacted both the Picts and the Dál Riadan Scots, Uurad ruled in Pictland for three years, and was based in Perthshire. His son, Bred, then ruled for one year. For those who followed, the truth becomes murkier, not Read more

  • The Last Pictish Kings: Part 1 – Uurad and Bred

    In Vikings v Picts, Scots, Irish and Anglo-Saxons, I wrote that a battle in 839 between the Picts & Scots on one side, and the Norse on the other, resulted in the deaths of the Pictish king Uuen (sometimes referred to as Wen or Eóganán) and his brother Bran, and also that of Áed mac Read more

  • Who were the Picts? – Views from abroad

    As there are no original Pictish literary sources surviving[1] – or at least, none which have yet been discovered – the portrayal of the Pictish people which has been passed down the centuries comes from others. This inevitably means that any such portrait will have an element of bias. Stories of the Picts were sometimes Read more

  • Vikings v Picts, Scots, Irish and Anglo-Saxons

    In the year 839 the Annals of Ulster tell us about an important battle in which the Vikings defeated the Picts: “Bellum re genntib for firu Fortrenn in quo ceciderunt Euganan m. Oengusa ⁊ Bran m. Oengussa ⁊ Ęd m. Boanta ⁊ alii pene innumerabiles ceciderunt.”[1] (The heathens won a battle against the men of Read more

  • Onuist II and the Flag of Scotland

    While this blog tries as best as it can, using historical references and other evidence to make sense of what was happening in the period that it covers, from time to time we will come across stories that are more legend or myth than fact. This post will be one of those as it relates Read more