Finan the Agile was an Irish warrior who fought alongside Uhtred of Bebbanburg during the 9th and 10th centuries AD. Originally a prince of Ulaid, he was exiled after abandoning his wife (a princess of Ailech) and eloping with his commoner sister-in-law, and he was enslaved by the Danish slaver Sverri in 874. He and his fellow slave Uhtred escaped from captivity in 880, and Finan swore an oath to Uhtred, becoming one of his closest companions and lieutenants over the next few decades.
Biography[]
Finan was born in the Irish kingdom of Ulaid to a family of Christian nobles. He married a royal daughter of Ailech, but he fell in love with his brother Conall's wife, a simple dairy maid, and he and his sister-in-law eloped. They were pursued by the Ailech forces, and Finan was stripped of everything. Conall took Finan's wife and children as his own, and, in 874, an exiled Finan was enslaved by the Danish slave trader Sverri, who forced him to become an oarsman aboard a Danish merchant ship. During a journey to Iceland in 878, he befriended Uhtred of Bebbanburg, a fellow oarsman and warrior who shared his desire to be free. In 880, they escaped after Ragnar Ragnarsson and Steapa ambushed Sverri as he attempted to sell Uhtred in England, after which Finan personally killed Sverri, and Finan accompanied Uhtred as his new companion, believing that they were bonded. Finan fought alongside Uhtred at the Battle of Dunholm that year, and he later moved into Uhtred's estate at Coccham along with fellow companions Hild, Sihtric, and Clapa. He accompanied Uhtred on all of his campaigns, from Dunholm to the Battle of Farnham, the battles at Benfleet, the Battle of the Holme, the attack on Bebbanburg, the Battle of Tettenhall, and several other fights. During this time, he befriended Uhtred's children Young Uhtred and Stiorra. He also became Uhtred's best friend, consoling him after the death of Beocca during the failed attack on Bebbanburg and convincing Young Uhtred to reconcile with his father. During the succession crisis in Mercia in 911, Finan fell in love with the Mercian nursemaid Eadith, who was taking care of Uhtred's children and the royal children Aethelstan (King Edward the Elder of Wessex's illegitimate son) and Aelfwynn (Aethelflaed's daughter and heir). However, after Eadith was sent into exile by Lady Aethelflaed, Finan fell in love with a pagan woman, Ingrith, whom he married and fathered several children with.
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