Máel Umai mac Báetáin
Encyclopedia
Máel Umai mac Báetáin was an Irish
prince, the son of Báetán mac Muirchertaig
of the northern Uí Néill
, who appears to have been a significant figure in early Irish tales. His father and his brother Colmán Rímid
are both uncertainly reckoned High Kings of Ireland.
have two reports of Máel Umai. The first, in the Annals of Tigernach
states that he fought alongside Áedán mac Gabráin
of Dál Riata
at the Battle of Degsastan
where Áedán was defeated by the Northumbria
n ruler Æthelfrith
. According to the annals, Máel Umai killed Æthelfrith's brother, who is incorrectly called Eanfrith. Bede
confirms the death of Æthelfrith's brother at Degsastan, giving his name as Theodbald, and adding that he was killed along with all of his retinue. Bede dates the battle to 603 and the Annals of Tigernach to 598. The second report of Máel Umai is the notice of his death, probably in 608.
, concerning whom several unhistorical tales survive. He suggests that the subject of the tale may have been the battle of Degsastan. All three were involved in events in northern Britain
in the years around 600 AD. Tales of Máel Umai were also known in medieval Wales
, for he appears among a list of otherwise legendary Irish heroes taken from the tales of the Ulster Cycle
which is included in Culhwch and Olwen
.
Surviving genealogies refer to Máel Umai as "the fierce" and as a "war leader", leading Mac Cana to propose that he was remembered as a heroic warrior, similar to the legendary figures of the Ulster Cycle
.
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
prince, the son of Báetán mac Muirchertaig
Báetán mac Muirchertaig
Báetán mac Muirchertaig , also Baetán Bríge, was an Irish king who is included in some lists as a High King of Ireland. He was the son of Muirchertach mac Muiredaig , also considered a high king. He was a member of the Cenél nEógain branch of the northern Uí Néill...
of the northern Uí Néill
Uí Néill
The Uí Néill are Irish and Scottish dynasties who claim descent from Niall Noigiallach , an historical King of Tara who died about 405....
, who appears to have been a significant figure in early Irish tales. His father and his brother Colmán Rímid
Colmán Rímid
Colmán Rímid was an Irish king who is included in some lists as a High King of Ireland. Colmán was the son of Báetán mac Muirchertaig , also considered to be a high king, and belonged to the Cenél nEógain branch of the northern Uí Néill...
are both uncertainly reckoned High Kings of Ireland.
Two reports
The Irish annalsIrish annals
A number of Irish annals were compiled up to and shortly after the end of Gaelic Ireland in the 17th century.Annals were originally a means by which monks determined the yearly chronology of feast days...
have two reports of Máel Umai. The first, in the Annals of Tigernach
Annals of Tigernach
The Annals of Tigernach is a chronicle probably originating in Clonmacnoise, Ireland. The language is a mixture of Latin and Old and Middle Irish....
states that he fought alongside Áedán mac Gabráin
Áedán mac Gabráin
Áedán mac Gabráin was a king of Dál Riata from circa 574 until his death, perhaps on 17 April 609. The kingdom of Dál Riata was situated in modern Argyll and Bute, Scotland, and parts of County Antrim, Ireland...
of Dál Riata
Dál Riata
Dál Riata was a Gaelic overkingdom on the western coast of Scotland with some territory on the northeast coast of Ireland...
at the Battle of Degsastan
Battle of Degsastan
The Battle of Degsastan was fought c. 603 between king Æthelfrith of Bernicia and the Gaels under Áedán mac Gabráin, king of Dál Riada. Æthelfrith carried the day, winning a decisive victory, although his brother Theodbald was killed. We know almost nothing else about the battle, not even where...
where Áedán was defeated by the Northumbria
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
n ruler Æthelfrith
Æthelfrith of Northumbria
Æthelfrith was King of Bernicia from c. 593 until c. 616; he was also, beginning c. 604, the first Bernician king to also rule Deira, to the south of Bernicia. Since Deira and Bernicia were the two basic components of what would later be defined as Northumbria, Æthelfrith can be considered, in...
. According to the annals, Máel Umai killed Æthelfrith's brother, who is incorrectly called Eanfrith. Bede
Bede
Bede , also referred to as Saint Bede or the Venerable Bede , was a monk at the Northumbrian monastery of Saint Peter at Monkwearmouth, today part of Sunderland, England, and of its companion monastery, Saint Paul's, in modern Jarrow , both in the Kingdom of Northumbria...
confirms the death of Æthelfrith's brother at Degsastan, giving his name as Theodbald, and adding that he was killed along with all of his retinue. Bede dates the battle to 603 and the Annals of Tigernach to 598. The second report of Máel Umai is the notice of his death, probably in 608.
Irish tales
A list of early Irish tales includes the now-lost Echtra Máel Uma meic Báetáin (Adventures of Máel Umai mac Báetáin). Proinsias Mac Cana notes that the compiler of this list included this tale alongside another, also seemingly lost, concerning Áedán mac Gabráin, and a third dealing with the equally historical Mongán mac FiachnaiMongán mac Fiachnai
Mongán mac Fiachnai was an Irish prince of the Cruthin, a son of Fiachnae mac Báetáin. Little is certainly known of Mongán's life as only his death is recorded in the Irish annals...
, concerning whom several unhistorical tales survive. He suggests that the subject of the tale may have been the battle of Degsastan. All three were involved in events in northern Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
in the years around 600 AD. Tales of Máel Umai were also known in medieval Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
, for he appears among a list of otherwise legendary Irish heroes taken from the tales of the Ulster Cycle
Ulster Cycle
The Ulster Cycle , formerly known as the Red Branch Cycle, one of the four great cycles of Irish mythology, is a body of medieval Irish heroic legends and sagas of the traditional heroes of the Ulaid in what is now eastern Ulster and northern Leinster, particularly counties Armagh, Down and...
which is included in Culhwch and Olwen
Culhwch and Olwen
Culhwch and Olwen is a Welsh tale about a hero connected with Arthur and his warriors that survives in only two manuscripts: a complete version in the Red Book of Hergest, ca. 1400, and a fragmented version in the White Book of Rhydderch, ca. 1325. It is the longest of the surviving Welsh prose...
.
Surviving genealogies refer to Máel Umai as "the fierce" and as a "war leader", leading Mac Cana to propose that he was remembered as a heroic warrior, similar to the legendary figures of the Ulster Cycle
Ulster Cycle
The Ulster Cycle , formerly known as the Red Branch Cycle, one of the four great cycles of Irish mythology, is a body of medieval Irish heroic legends and sagas of the traditional heroes of the Ulaid in what is now eastern Ulster and northern Leinster, particularly counties Armagh, Down and...
.