from swordblows. When Wolf turned to meet him, however, he "thrust at him thrice so hard that Bróðir fell before him at each thrust", and Bróðir "fled away into the wood at once." The two sides were very evenly matched, and the battle raged all day, from high tide at sunrise to sunset. However, Bróðir's absence reduced the morale of his men, and the Manx Vikings began to flee back to their ships after they were broken by the personal bodyguard of Murchad, the son of Brian, ending in an eventual victory for Brian's allies. Meanwhile, Brian, now in his seventies, had been advised to await the outcome of the battle in a tent not far from the field, and it is said that a traitor in the Irish camp, possibly Tadhg O Ceallaigh, King of Uí Maine, had pointed out Brian's position to Bróðir at some point during the battle. Accounts differ over whether Bróðir was the killer of Brian Boru. According to one Irish account, Bróðir overcame Brian's guard, only to be killed by the High King who then killed himself. Njal's saga records that Bróðir killed Brian and cried out: "Now let man tell man that Brodir felled Brian." Two of Brian's followers, Wolf and Kerthialfad, returned to the king, and captured Bróðir and the remainder of his men. According to the saga, "Wolf the Quarrelsome cut open his belly, and led him round and round the trunk of a tree, and so wound all his entrails out of him," while Bróðir's men were "slain to a man". The modern Irish medievalist historian Donnchadh Ó Corráin, however, merely states that Bróðir was killed on the day of the battle and that Brian was killed in his tent "by Norsemen fleeing from the scene". According to Njal's Saga, Óspak was on the wing opposite King Sigtrygg Silkbeard. Óspak went through the entire battle on this wing, and was sorely wounded and lost both his sons before Sigtrygg fled. However, that Óspak engaged Sigtrygg contradicts the historical opinion that Sigtrygg did not actually take part in the battle but was instead holding the garrison in reserve in Dublin. Historicity and legacy The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography notes that the Irish surname Ó Bruadair — frequently anglicised as "Broder" or "Broderick" — may be an amalgamation of the Irish element "Ó" ("grandson of") and the Norse name Brodir. However,