[173]. Halogaland, the modern Nordland, is that part of Norway lying north of the sixty-fifth parallel.
[174]. Vaag and Andenes are points in the Lofoten Islands; their latitudes are 68° 12´ 35″ and 69° 18´ 50″ respectively.
[175]. Manuel I, Comnenus, 1143-1180. The “little book” is thought to have been one of the many forms of the legend of Prester John, a fabulous Christian ruler of India of whom much was heard in the middle ages. About 1165 a letter from the “Presbyter Johannes” addressed to the emperor Manuel Comnenus was circulated through Europe and later found its way into the North. In the extant copies of this letter many marvels are told, though the wonder mentioned in the Speculum Regale does not appear. See Zarncke, Der Priester Johannes, 83-98.
[176]. The “Birchdale” bog seems to be a myth; but that stories of such a marvel were current is evident from a statement by Giraldus Cambrensis, who has heard that there was such a bog in Norway. Opera, V, 86. Möre is an old Norwegian shire lying to the west of Trondhjem along the coast.
[177]. Cf. Giraldus Cambrensis, Opera, V, 26-28. Giraldus quotes Bede (Historia Ecclesiastica, i, c. 1). See also Isidore, Etymologiae, xiv, 6.
[178]. Cf. Giraldus, Opera, V, 62; see also Bede, Hist. Eccles., i, c. 1.
[179]. “Wonders of Ireland” (Irish Nennius, 219); this writer states that the experiment has been made.
[180]. Giraldus tells us that the Irish are faithless and treacherous (Opera, V, 165) but that the island has no martyrs (ibid., 174). Cf. Ériu, IV, 4 (Meyer, “Irish Memorabilia in the Speculum Regale”).
[181]. The editor of the Irish Nennius gives this name as Loch n-Echach (Lough Neagh). P. 195, note.
[182]. Error for aquifolium.