Goídel Glas
Legendary ancestor of the Gaels and creator of their language.
Goídel Glas is a legendary figure in medieval Irish and Scottish tradition, regarded as the creator of the Goidelic languages and the eponymous ancestor of the Gaels. The earliest known version of his story appears in the 11th-century Lebor Gabála Érenn, with a Scottish variant recorded by John of Fordun in the 14th century.
Quick Facts
- Mother
- Scota (daughter of a Pharaoh of Egypt)
- Spouse
- Scota (daughter of Pharaoh Chencres in one account)
- Etymology of nickname
- Glas ('the green') from a green ring left by a snakebite
Facts from the source article.
Scotichronicon
According to the 15th-century chronicle Scotichronicon by Walter Bower, Goídel Glas was a Greek prince whose father, the king, refused to give him any authority. In response, Goídel raised an army and created chaos and destruction until his father stopped him and sent him into exile. After leaving, Goídel and his followers sailed to Egypt, where they helped a Pharaoh named Chencres fight off an Ethiopian invasion. He also assisted the Pharaoh in controlling the Israelites. As a reward, Chencres gave Goídel his daughter, Princess Scota, in marriage. A similar story was told by a Gaelic poet at the 1249 inauguration of King Alexander III of Scotland, who described the king as a descendant of Gaidheal Glas, son of Neolius, King of Athens, and his wife Scota, daughter of a Pharaoh.
Lebor Gabála Érenn
Goídel Glas appears in the Lebor Gabála Érenn as the son of Nel and Scota, the latter being a daughter of an Egyptian Pharaoh. He is said to have invented the Goidelic language by combining the seventy-two languages that emerged after the Tower of Babel fell into confusion. His people, the Goidels or Gaels, go through hardships that mirror the Old Testament story of the Israelites. They thrive in Egypt during Moses’ time and depart during the Exodus, then wander for 440 years until they reach the Iberian Peninsula. There, a descendant named Breogán establishes Brigantia, likely the city of Corunna in Galicia, and builds a tower—probably based on the Roman Tower of Hercules—from which his son Íth first sees Ireland. One story says that Moses healed Goídel Glas from a snakebite by praying and laying his staff on the wound. A verse inserted earlier describes him as having green arms and clothing. Michael O’Clery’s version adds that the bite left a green mark, giving him the nickname “Glas” meaning “the green.” Geoffrey Keating repeats this but also suggests the name might come from a word for “lock.” Scholars today view this tale as a medieval Irish Christian invention meant to connect the Irish to biblical history, with the names Goídel Glas, Scota, and Fenius actually derived from the Gaels themselves.
Historia Brittonum
The oldest known telling of this tale comes from the ninth-century Historia Brittonum. It features a Scythian nobleman, unnamed, who lost his kingdom and settled in Egypt with a large household during the time of the Red Sea crossing. He chose not to chase the escaping Israelites. The Egyptians, worried about his influence after losing many soldiers, forced him to leave. He journeyed with his people across North Africa, then sailed to Iberia. There they stayed for roughly two thousand years, growing into a mighty nation. Eventually, they moved to Ireland and later to Dál Riata.
John of Fordun
John of Fordun recorded a Scottish version of the tale of Goídel Glas and Scota, apparently not based on the main Irish Lebor Gabála account. Fordun refers to multiple sources and attempts to synthesise them into a single history. In his version, Gaythelos is the son of 'a certain king of the countries of Greece, Neolus, or Heolaus, by name', who was exiled to Egypt and took service with the Pharaoh, marrying Pharaoh's daughter Scota. Various accounts explain how Gaythelos came to be expelled from Egypt—by a revolt following the death of Pharaoh and his army in the Red Sea, pursuing Moses, in terror from the Plagues of Egypt, or after an invasion by Ethiopians. The upshot is that Gaythelos and Scota are exiled together with Greek and Egyptian nobles and settle in Hispania after wandering for many years, in the northwest corner at a place called Brigancia (the city of A Coruña, known to the Romans as Brigantium). Gaythelos was considered the founder of the Portuguese city of Porto by some old authors, who claimed he landed in a harbour he named 'Portus Gaythelos', later called Portus Cale by the Romans, the town giving its name to Portugal.
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