22 THE KING'S MIRROR 



merman, the mermaid, and the kraken.* But on the 

 whole these chapters give evidence of careful, discrimi- 

 nating observation and a desire to give accurate knowl- 

 edge. 



For all but the two chapters on Ireland the sources of 

 the author's geographical information are evidently the 

 tales of travelers and his own personal experiences; of 

 literary sources there is no trace. The account of the 

 marvels of Ireland, however, gives rise to certain prob- 

 lems. It may be that the Norwegian geographer based 

 these chapters on literary sources that are still extant, 

 or he may have had access to writings which have since 

 disappeared. It is also possible that some of the infor- 

 mation was contributed by travelers who sailed the 

 western seas and had sojourned on the " western isles ; " 

 for it must be remembered that Norway still had colo- 

 nies as far south as the Isle of Man, and that Norsemen 

 were still living in Ireland, though under English rule. 

 When Hakon IV made his expedition into these regions 

 in 1263, some of these Norwegian colonists in Ireland 

 sought his aid in the hope that English rule might be 

 overthrown.! 



It has long been known that many of the tales of 

 Irish wonders and miracles that are recounted in the 

 Speculum Regale are also told in the Topographia Hiber- 

 nica by Giraldus Cambrensis. The famous Welshman 

 wrote his work several decades before the King's Mirror 

 was composed; and it is not impossible that the author 

 of the latter had access to the " Irish Topography." 

 Moreover, the Speculum Regale and the Topographia 



* Cc. xii, xvi. f Hdkonar Saga, c. 322. 



