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 Hibernica_ 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 Hibernica_ have certain common features which correspond so closely that literary kinship seems quite probable. The resemblances, however, are not so much in the details as in the plan and the viewpoint. In the second book of his “Topography,” Giraldus recounts “first those things that nature has planted in the land itself;” and next “those things that have been miraculously performed through the merits of the saints.”[51] The author of the _King’s Mirror_ has adopted a similar grouping. After having discussed some of the wonders of the island he continues: “There still remain certain things that may be thought marvelous; these, however, are not native to the land but have originated in the miraculous powers of holy men.”[52] This correspondence in the general plan is too remarkable to be wholly accidental; at least it should lead us to look for other resemblances elsewhere.
Giraldus, Opera, V, 62-64; _King’s Mirror_, c. x.
_Topographia Hibernica_, iii, c. 28; _King’s Mirror_, c. x.
In his general description of Ireland the author of the Norwegian work calls attention to the excellence of the land and its temperate climate: “for all through the winter the cattle find their feed in the open.”[53] Giraldus informs us that grass grows in winter as well as in summer, and he adds: “therefore they are accustomed neither to cut hay for fodder nor to provide stables for the cattle.”[54] Both writers emphasize the fact that grapes do not grow on the island. In both writings attention is called to the sacred character of the Irish soil, which makes it impossible for reptiles and venomous animals to live on the land, though Giraldus has his doubts as to the supernatural phase of the matter. Both writers add that if sand or dust is brought from Ireland to another country and scattered about a reptile, it will perish.[55] Both characterize the Irish people as savage and murderous, but they also call attention to their kind treatment of holy men, of whom the island has always had many.[56] In fact, every statement in the _King’s Mirror_ as to the nature of the land and the character of the inhabitants can be duplicated in Giraldus’ description of Ireland, except, perhaps, the single observation that the Irish people, because of the mildness of the climate, often wear no clothes.