Gaelic Influence in the Northumbrian Kingdom: The Golden Age and the Viking Age by Fiona Edmonds (review)

Trends in medieval studies have been increasingly inclined toward cross-cultural and interdisciplinary approaches, and Fiona Edmonds's recent monograph marks a welcome addition as an interdisciplinary assessment of the extent and nature of the links between Northumbria and its Gaelic neighbors in the medieval period. Her work covers the Northumbrian "Golden Age" of the seventh and eighth centuries through the "Viking Age," from the eighth to the eleventh centuries, with an emphasis on the northern and western regions of Northumbria near to Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Gaelic-speaking regions of Scotland.

Edmonds's monograph offers at least two significant contributions to the field. Though much work has been done on the early English kingdoms' eastward interactions with the continent, less research has been undertaken on their westward exchanges. This is an imbalance that Edmonds helps redress. Her work is the first to cover such an extensive time period of Gaelic influence on Northumbria. Edmonds's second contribution is her interdisciplinary methodology. Her study draws upon a breadth of evidence that offers a fuller picture of regions that often have frustratingly scant or uneven textual evidence at an early period. Edmonds's monograph utilizes onomastic and textual evidence frequently while incorporating material culture as appropriate. Her strategy is a successful one, and she offers many stimulating insights.

Edmonds lays out her primary question explicitly in chapter 1: "What was the nature of Gaelic influence in the Northumbrian kingdom?" (17). This is a deceptively simple query but one of obvious import. As she herself admits, untangling the origins of influence and nodes of transmission in a region with multiple gentes living and trading both internally and abroad, and where evidence is sometimes exiguous, is no easy task. The risk of veering into conjecture remains high. Fortunately, Edmonds's conclusions are firmly grounded thanks to her scrupulous treatment of the evidence.

Edmonds's monograph is divided into eight chapters. Trying to summarize all of the nuanced arguments she proffers in the space allotted here would be impossible. Instead, this review will highlight points of especial interest to this reviewer for each chapter. Her first chapter commences considering the vexed question of identity, specifically the way in which the early medieval peoples of Northumbria conceptualized themselves, the lexical diversity it engendered, and the manner in which identities shifted in Gaeldom and Northumbria over the centuries. One especially interesting suggestion she presents, contra Basil Megaw, is evidence of bilingualism at every societal level on the Isle of Man, pointing to indications of Gaelic syntax in several runic inscriptions on the island. Chapter 1 concludes with a historiographical discussion examining the lacuna in scholarship treating the diversity and longevity of Gaelic influence in Northumbria.

Chapter 2 considers the way that Gaelic influence shaped Northumbrian politics, ending with Aldfrith, the last king of Northumbria's Golden Age. This chapter offers two arguments of particular interest to this reviewer. The first is Edmonds's explanation for Ecgfrith's attack in 684 on Ireland. She cogently argues that Ecgfrith's assault was a result of his desire to retain power over the Irish Sea trade routes, which necessitated control of the Isle of Man. This may have provoked him to attack Fínṡnechta Fledach, whose maritime ambitions Ecgfrith may have perceived as a threat. Her argument underscores a point woven throughout her work—the outsized role enjoyed by the Isle of Man in the relationship between Northumbria and its Gaelic neighbors. Edmonds's second intriguing suggestion places the locus of Fiachnae mac Báetáin's attack in 623 on Ráith Guaili at Bamburgh (Din Guaire).

Chapter 3 focuses on the eighth through the eleventh centuries. Much of this chapter treats the rapid increase of Scandinavian influence, especially in York and Dublin. Her use of numismatic evidence is particularly effective. One point of great interest to this reviewer was Edmonds's speculation that the rise of the...