Bárid mac Ímair (died 881) was the Norse-Gaelic King of Dublin who reigned in late 9th century Ireland. He was the son of the Viking leader Ímair[1] and the Irishwoman Ségdae, and had a son named Sichfrith with his wife Sadhbh. Through his aunt Rosta, he was a cousin to jarlskona Eivor Varinsdottir of the Raven Clan.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Born in Norway as the son of the Viking leader Ímair, Bárid was present when his aunt Rosta and her husband Varin came to stayed with his family during a plague outbreak. There, he bore witness to his cousin Eivor's birth; they formed a close bond in childhood and would often slip out to hunt together.[2] Later on, Bárid lost contact with Rosta and her family after following his father to Ireland. They settled down in Dublin, a new Viking settlement originally founded years ago by Thorgest, with Ímair as its king.[3]
Following Ímair's death and Dublin's destruction in 873 as a result of a siege by the Irish kingdoms, Bárid ascended the throne and worked to rebuild the city to its former glory.[3] He employed the Persian trader Azar as his advisor to set up a trade network across the world and attempted to build relations with the kingdoms of Ireland, including Flann Sinna, the king of Meath. Around this time, Bárid became friends with the Irish poet Ciara ingen Medba and also spent time trying to deter Viking raids conducted by Thorstein the Red, the son of the Dublin king Olaf the White, who once ruled alongside Ímair.[2]
Reunion with Eivor[]
In 879, Bárid sent Azar to England to establish a trade route with the settlement of Ravensthorpe in Ledecestrescire. Discovering that his long lost cousin Eivor was now jarlskona of the settlement, Bárid also sent an invitation to invite her to visit him in Dublin.[4] After Eivor arrived in Dublin,[5] he met her at the docks and welcomed her by touring around his town. However, the tour turned sour once they meet up with a disrespectful and drunk Sichfrith. There, Bárid left to go think about the future at Gortknaw at his father's grave.[2]
Bárid was soon found by Eivor as they caught up. Once leaving Gortknaw, they are ambushed by warriors sent by Thorstein but swiftly defeated them. Upon his realizing the complications of Flann seeing him as being incompetent, Eivor and Azar convinced him to let Eivor find Thorstein,[2] and she quickly made good on her word shortly after when she brought him a restrained Thorstein. Although angered by Thorstein's actions, he exiled Thorstein from Dublin in order to show Christian mercy in effort to gain Flann's favor.[6] Afterwards, he asked Eivor to help Azar to restore a former trade post and to attain a foreign gift for Flann.[7]
Saving Flann[]
Readying himself for Flann's coronation, Bárid had to find Flann's poetess Ciara ingen Medba as Eivor offered to find her. Once Ciara and Eivor arrived at Dublin's stables, he and his allies rode for Tara. Once they all arrived, a soldier told them of a missing priest. With Eivor, Bárid investigated the area and saw a struggle, which soon led them away from the coronation ceremony. Investigating the tracks, both cousins found themselves at Annagh Doo, where they discovered a group of bandits. Killing the bandits, they found out about a kill order against Flann. Back at Tara, Bárid and Eivor discussed their findings to Ciara as they all agreed to inform Flann after his ceremony. During the ceremony, they all watched Abbot Eogan mac Cartaigh crown Flann as the new High King of Ireland. After the ceremony, Bárid left for Durrow to meet with Flann and discuss building an alliance between Flann and Dublin.[8]
Aiding Flann[]
Upon meeting Flann and Eivor at Durrow, Bárid was informed that Dublin Vikings stole the Book of Kells during the coronation. Although Eivor offered to find the book in exchange for Flann considering an alliance with Bárid, the King of Dublin still worried over trying to gain Flann's favor and asked Eivor to help the kings of Meath in their royal demands.[9] At Knockfree, Bárid met Eivor and they discussed Flann's current distrust of him. Afterwards, they planned how to lay siege to Cashelore, with Eivor suggesting to break in and open the gates from the inside. After Eivor succeeded in her task, Bárid, Flann, and Flann's Southern Army joined her and took over the ringfort. They all later celebrated their victory through the night.[10] However, the next day, Bárid was framed for poisoning Flann's soldiers. In response, as Ciara and Eivor left to find a cure while Bárid was temporarily spared sentencing until Flann determined who was behind the poisoning.[11]
After Eivor and Ciara found the cure and the crime's true culprit, the Children of Danu cult,[11][12] Bárid was proven innocent. While he and his allies made camp at Clogher, they planned to conquer Aileach. However, once a letter of truce came from the Kings of Aileach, he saw Flann's caution with the letter's vagueness. He soon offered to go to Aileach to speak for Flann, who agreed and granted him permission to go. Before he left, Bárid asked Eivor to help the kings of Connacht with their own royal demands as well.[13]
Undercover at Aileach[]
Days passed as Bárid eased his way into their respective private quarters. Pretending to be drunk, he soon saw Eivor enter disguised as a Dane from Donegal. Through coded messages, he informed Eivor of the private prisoners within the adjacent ringfort as he distracted Kings Domnall mac Áeda and Niall Glúndub. While Eivor freed the prisoners and killed all soldiers, he took control of the room and restrained the kings. Bárid interrogated the kings with Eivor and learned that Abbot Eogan not only commanded the imprisonment of Flann's allies and any person against him, but also planned to attack Flann at Clogher. With this information, Bárid sent a letter warning Flann before the assault occurred.[14]
Ambush and death[]
By 881, back at Clogher, Bárid saw that Flann had received his warning yet stayed due to continued bias against the Vikings and his belief the church stood with him. At this time, Eogan's forces suddenly arrived and attacked the vastly-outnumbered group, whose numbers swiftly dwindled in the onslaught. Although they pushed back Eogan's men, the casualty rate was especially high in Bárid's camp, with Bárid himself eventually being overwhelmed and fatally wounded. In the battle's aftermath, Eivor found him and performed his last rites with an axe to enter Valhalla. In his last words, he asked Eivor to guide Flann to back his son as Dublin's new king of Dublin, then succumbed to his injuries and was buried alongside his father at Gortknaw.[15]
Legacy and influence[]
After Bárid's death, Sichfrith became Dublin's king[16] and aided Flann in his attack against Abbot Eogan, who proved to be the Children of Danu's Ollamh Druid. After Sichfrith avenged his father with Eogan's death,[17] Flann's war ended and Dublin was considered an ally to the High King, which honored Bárid's last wish.[18] Meanwhile, Bárid's other goal of Dublin being a trade center also succeeded due to Eivor reclaiming all of Ireland's trade posts and reestablishing their connections to the city.[19]
Behind the scenes[]
Bárid mac Ímair is a historical figure who was first indirectly mentioned in the 2020 podcast Echoes of History before making an appearance in Assassin's Creed: Valhalla's 2021 downloadable expansion Wrath of the Druids, where he was voiced by the Icelandic actor Eysteinn Sigurðarson. However, both his and the wider Uí Ímair's origins are obscure, with some historians believing Bárid's father Ímair was Ivarr the Boneless. Additionally, historically, Bárid was Sichfrith's older brother, not his father. Complicating matters further, according to the anonymously-written 16th century Annals of Ulster, Bárid participated in the Battle of Strangford Lough in 877 CE and killed the Viking leader Albann, a figure commonly held to have been Halfdan Ragnarsson.[1] Despite Eivor having met Halfdan earlier in the main game, the expansion makes no mention or reference to Bárid's role in Halfdan's death.
Gallery[]
Appearances[]
- Echoes of History (first mentioned) (indirect mention only)
- Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Wrath of the Druids (first appearance)
- Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Sword of the White Horse (indirect mention only)
- The World of Assassin's Creed Valhalla: Journey to the North – Logs and Files of a Hidden One (mentioned only)
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1
Bárid mac Ímair on Wikipedia
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Wrath of the Druids – Blood Bond
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Wrath of the Druids – Database: Bárid mac Ímair
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Wrath of the Druids – Irish Trade
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Wrath of the Druids – Irish Adventure
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Wrath of the Druids – Snaring Thorstein
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Wrath of the Druids – Rathdown Build Up
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Wrath of the Druids – Flann over Ireland
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Wrath of the Druids – A Show of Character
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Wrath of the Druids – Foothold in Connacht
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Wrath of the Druids – Potion of Blood
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Wrath of the Druids – Into the Fog
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Wrath of the Druids – The Northern Reach
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Wrath of the Druids – Courting the Kings
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Wrath of the Druids – The Mask of Diplomacy
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Wrath of the Druids – The Wages of War
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Wrath of the Druids – A Scourging of Snakes
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Wrath of the Druids – The Cost of Betrayal
- ↑ Assassin's Creed: Valhalla – Wrath of the Druids – Dublin's Reach
