Turgesius (also called Turgeis, Tuirgeis, Turges, and Thorgest) was a Viking

Viking

The term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...

 chief active in Ireland

Ireland

Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

 who is said to have conquered Dublin. It is not at all clear whether the names in the Irish annals

Irish annals

A number of Irish annals were compiled up to and shortly after the end of Gaelic Ireland in the 17th century.Annals were originally a means by which monks determined the yearly chronology of feast days...

 represent the Old Norse

Old Norse

Old Norse is a North Germanic language that was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and inhabitants of their overseas settlements during the Viking Age, until about 1300....

 Thurgestr or Thorgísl. John O'Donovan

John O'Donovan (scholar)

John O'Donovan , from Atateemore, in the parish of Kilcolumb, County Kilkenny, and educated at Hunt's Academy, Waterford, was an Irish language scholar from Ireland.-Life:...

 and Charles Haliday

Charles Haliday

Charles Haliday was an Irish historian and antiquary who made significant contributions to the study of the history of Dublin, being particularly interested in the Scandinavian antiquities of the city. He was born in Carrick-on-Suir in County Tipperary in 1789...

 independently identified him with Ragnar Loðbrók, but the identification is not generally accepted.

Life

The sole reliable record of Turgesius is a report of his death in the Annals of Ulster

Annals of Ulster

The Annals of Ulster are annals of medieval Ireland. The entries span the years between AD 431 to AD 1540. The entries up to AD 1489 were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luinín, under his patron Cathal Óg Mac Maghnusa on the island of Belle Isle on Lough Erne in the...

. In 845 he was captured by Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid of Clann Cholmáin

Clann Cholmáin

Clann Cholmáin is the name of the dynasty descended from Colmán Mór , son of Diarmait mac Cerbaill. Part of the Southern Uí Néill — they were the kings of Mide — they traced their descent to Niall Noígiallach and his son Conall Cremthainne.Related dynasties descended through Conall...

 and drowned in Lough Owel

Lough Owel

Lough Owel is a lough in the Midlands of Ireland, situated north of Mullingar, the county town of Westmeath. It is a deep lake, well known amongst anglers, and holds a few char along with brown trout. Water from Lough Owel feeds the Royal Canal, a canal crossing Ireland from Dublin to the River...

. Less certainly, the Annals of the Four Masters

Annals of the Four Masters

The Annals of the Kingdom of Ireland or the Annals of the Four Masters are a chronicle of medieval Irish history...

associate Turgesius with attacks on Connacht

Connacht

Connacht , formerly anglicised as Connaught, is one of the Provinces of Ireland situated in the west of Ireland. In Ancient Ireland, it was one of the fifths ruled by a "king of over-kings" . Following the Norman invasion of Ireland, the ancient kingdoms were shired into a number of counties for...

, Mide and the church at Clonmacnoise

Clonmacnoise

The monastery of Clonmacnoise is situated in County Offaly, Ireland on the River Shannon south of Athlone....

 in the year before his death. The principal island on Lough Lene

Lough Lene

Lough Lene is a lake situated in north County Westmeath, Ireland, between the villages of Castlepollard, Collinstown and Fore....

 is named after him. It is speculated that Yahya bn-Hakam el Bekri al Djayani, called al-Ghazal, was ambassador to this Norse ruler.

Myth

By the twelfth century, when The War of the Irish with the Foreigners

The War of the Irish with the Foreigners

Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib is a medieval Irish text that tells of the depredations of the Vikings in Ireland and the Irish king Brian Boru's great war against them, beginning with the Battle of Sulcoit in 967 and culminating in the Battle of Clontarf in 1014, in which Brian was slain but his forces...

(Cogad Gaedel re Gaillaib) was composed to magnify the achievements of Brian Bóruma

Brian Boru

Brian Bóruma mac Cennétig, , , was an Irish king who ended the domination of the High Kingship of Ireland by the Uí Néill. Building on the achievements of his father, Cennétig mac Lorcain, and especially his elder brother, Mathgamain, Brian first made himself King of Munster, then subjugated...

, Turgesius had become a major figure. Gerald of Wales, who may have had access to a version of this work, included similar accounts in his Topographia Hibernica

Topographia Hibernica

Topographia Hibernica , also known as Topographia Hiberniae, is an account of the landscape and people of Ireland written by Gerald of Wales around 1188, soon after the Norman invasion of Ireland...

. These accounts are not deemed trustworthy.

According to The War of the Irish with the Foreigners, Turgesius was married to Ottar or Ota (thought to be Old Norse Auðr or more likely Odda or another name beginning in Odd-), who took possession of the cathedral at Clonmacnoise

Clonmacnoise

The monastery of Clonmacnoise is situated in County Offaly, Ireland on the River Shannon south of Athlone....

 and gave audiences seated on the great altar. This appears to be a reference to her being a völva

Völva

A vǫlva or völva is a shamanic seeress in Norse paganism, and a recurring motif in Norse mythology....

or performing spæ. However, the Arabic account of al Djayani's mission to the vikings calls the king's wife Nūd.