Dubgaill and Finngaill facts for kids

Dubgaill and Finngaill, or Dubgenti and Finngenti, are Middle Irish terms used to denote different rival groups of Vikings in Ireland and Britain. Literally, Dub-/Finngaill is translated as "dark and fair foreigners" or "black and white foreigners", and similarly, Dub-/Finngenti as "dark/black" and "fair/white heathens". Similar terms are found in Welsh chronicles, probably derived from Gaelic usage. The first known use of these terms in the chronicles is from 851, when it is noted that "The Dubhghoill arrived in Ath Cliath [Dublin], and made a great slaughter of the Finnghoill". The terms appear, with various spellings, in entries in Irish annals from the 9th and 10th century, and are also used and interpreted in later historiography.

There have been different interpretations of the terms. Traditionally, historians have speculated whether these distinctions refer to physical features such as skin or hair-colour, weaponry or outfits. Alfred P. Smyth suggested a new interpretation of dub and finn as "new" and "old". There is a long tradition of understanding Dubgaill as Danish Vikings and Finngaill as Norwegian Vikings. This interpretation has recently been challenged by David N. Dumville and Clare Downham, who, building on Smyth's conclusions, propose that the terms may not be related to ethnicity or origin of the different groups of Vikings.

Etymology

The word Gaill (plural of Gall) etymologically originates from "Gauls", who in pre-Viking Gaelic history were the archetypal "foreigners". Dumville says that "what [the Gauls] had done in Gaelic prehistory to gain that status is unknown and was probably unpleasant." During the Viking age, it came to denote Scandinavians or those of Scandinavian descent or speech. From the Norman invasion of Ireland in the late 12th century, this appellation was passed on to foreigners of French speech and then to the English at large. The word did not denote "foreigner" in the sense "anyone not Irish (Gaelic)", but the Saxons, Welsh and Picts are identified as such in the Irish annals, and there are also terms used which may identify the Scandinavians based on nationality, like Dene, Northmanni and Lochlainn.

Another word frequently used by the chroniclers in the early phase of the Viking age was Gen(n)ti, meaning "foreigner of a different religion". This was derived from the biblical usage of the Latin phrase gentes or gentiles, the latter form common in traditional English translations of the Bible. This terminology was abandoned, which has been taken as recognition of eventual conversion to Christianity.

The literary meaning of Old Irish and Old Welsh Dub is normally given as "dark" or "black", while Middle Irish finn (Old Irish find, Modern Irish fionn) is given as "light" or "white". Smyth, referring to the Dictionary of the Irish Language by the Royal Irish Academy, adds that Dub can mean "gloomy" or "melancholy" in a moral sense, and has the intensive meaning of "great" or "mighty". For finn there are the additional meanings of "handsome", "just" and "true".

It is widely believed that the modern Irish surname of “Doyle”, can trace its roots all the way to back to the word “Dubgaill”

Imperial style

The style King of the Dubgaill and Finngaill (or vice versa) was an imperial one held only by three or four dynasts of the Uí Ímair.

• Ragnall ua Ímair, the first
• Sitric Cáech, the most celebrated
• (Gofraid ua Ímair), styled simply Rí Gall (King of the Foreigners) in the surviving sources
• Amlaíb mac Gofraid, his son and the last, styled also King of Ireland in Anglo-Saxon sources

See also

• Irish nobility