The plundering of megalithic tombs by vikings,
“Amlaibh, Imhar and Auisle (Audgisl) three chieftains of the gaill; and Lorcan, son of Cathal, King of Meath, plundered the land of Flann (North Brega).
The cave of Achadh-Aldai (Newgrange); the cave of Cnoghba (Knowth); the cave of the grave of Bodan over Dubadh (Dowth); and the cave of the wife of Gobhan at Drochat-atha (Drogheda) were broken and plundered by these same gaill.”
Taken from the Annals of Ulster
The viking raids on the great megalithic tombs of the Boyne valley in 863; by Olaf (Amlaibh) Ivar (Imhar) and Audgisl, probably carried out because after all the monastic raids that had been undertaken over the previous years, ‘treasure’ was by now getting hard to find.
Is it true you may ask yourself, well it was recorded, and though there is some dispute about Newgrange (according to Gordon), it is a fascinating fact. The book I found this information from goes on to speculate, that one of the ‘gaills’ Ivar might have been the son of Ragnar Lothbrok, who spent three days in Maes Knowe because of a storm raging violently outside, and left the following scrawled on the wall...
This mound was raised before Ragnar Lothbrok’s...
His sons were brave, smooth-hide men though they were...
It was long ago that a great treasure was hidden here...
Happy is he that might find the great treasure...
Be that as it may, I expect there was’nt much treasure in the great tombs of the Boyne valley either.
Information gleaned from ‘The Fury of the Northmen’ by John Marsden.
There are earlier engravings in Maes Howe but also some other runic stuff i.e.
Ingebjork the fair widow - many a woman has walked stooping in here a very showy person "Erlingr"
Thorni fucked. Helgi carved .n.b. sometimes shown as “bedded “
Ingigerth is the most beautiful of all women .nb This may be ironic as it’s next to a carving of a slavering dog
Colourful lot were'nt they, it must have taken ages scrawling graffiti on rock ;). They were also incredibly barbaric in their killing and slave-taking. Of course they 'wintered' over on the Scottish islands, so maybe they got bored..... a bit like local lads down at the bus shelter..
I think Maes Howe was a refuge from a snowstorm for them at one point .
Maybe just as well they didn't have marker pens or spray paint .