IRELAND

1. Ireland
   Erlandi, Irlaunde, Irlonde, Orlandeia, Yrland, Yrlande, Yrlond
   
   A large island lying to the west of Great Britain, from which it is separated by the Irish Sea. It consists of the provinces of Ulster, Leinster, Munster and Connacht and is, today, divided between the Republic of Ireland, or Eire, which occupies the south, central and north-west of the island, and Northern Ireland, which occupies the north-east corner and forms a part of the United Kingdom.
   
   Traditionally a part of Arthur's kingdom. His conquest of the island and defeat of its king, Gilmaurius, is described by Geoffrey of Monmouth. Other sources name the king as Anguish (the father of Iseult), Elidus, Marhalt and Gurmun, while Durmart Le Gallois features a Queen of Ireland as Fenise (Fenice), and says that the gonfalonier (royal standard-bearer) of Ireland was Procides, castellan (governor) of Limerick.
   
   Arthur overcame the Scots (Scotti), who were Irish invaders in Britain. In early Medieval Latin Scotus signifies an Irishman and, in the fifth century, many Scots from Ireland were settling in the country which today bears their name. They had also settled elsewhere in Britain. As to the actual rulers of Ireland in the Arthurian period, at that time the Irish kings of Tara had no effective, and perhaps even no theoretical, supremacy. They were Niall of the Nine Hostages (generally regarded as historical, Nath I (perhaps legendary), Laoghaire, Ailill Molt and Muircheartach I, with whom the eigtheenth-century antiquary Keating, in some respects the Irish equivalent of Geoffrey, says Arthur had a treaty. The names Marhalt/Marhaus in the Tristan saga may preserve some memory of him. One of the kings of the southern Irish kingdom of Munster at this period was called Oengus - probably a different form of the name Anguish, borne by the King of Ireland in Malory.
   
   The country features most prominently in ancient myths that later became embroidered into the Arthurian sagas, such as the battles between Bendigeid Vran and Matholwch, and Culhwch and Olwen. It seems possible that, thanks to the Otherworld themes of the Irish stories incorporated into Arthurian legend, the inclusion of Ireland in Arthur's domain was intended to signify his rule over not just the land of the living but also the land of the dead. Ireland has a special importance in the saga of Tristram, and Malory speaks of it, along with Brittany and the Out Isles, as one of the major divisions of Britain. King Anguish of Ireland, La Beale Isoud, and Sir Marhaus are among the Irish characters of the romances. King Anguish long extracted tribute from King Mark of Cornwall.
   
   
   
2. Ireland, Son of the King of
   
   A bold and valiant knight, he rode a spirited horse swifter than a stag and fought on the Pomelegloi side in the tournament of Noauz. As the first day of the tournament ended, he considered himself to have won the honors; the point was not, however, universally conceded. On the second day, he was unhorsed with some damage by Lancelot, whose weapon pinned his shield and arm to his side.