Note 164 — Chapter VI · LINGUISTIC INFLUENCES.

The Norsemen sometimes adopted Irish fashions in their dress. The great Viking Magnus, who was killed in Ireland in A.D. 1103, was usually called “barelegs” (O.N. berfaettr) because he always wore the Irish kilts; and his son, Harold Gilli, who could speak Irish better than Norse, “much wore the Irish raiment, being short-clad and light-clad.” It was probably from his Irish cuaran, or shoes of skin that Olaf Sihtricsson, the famous King of Dublin received his nickname.