Gormlaith ingen Murchada (960–1030), sometimes spelled Gormflaith, was an Irish queen. Life Gormlaith was born in Naas, County Kildare, Ireland. Her father was Murchad mac Finn, King of Leinster, and her brother was Máel Mórda mac Murchada. According to annalistic accounts, she was married to Olaf Cuaran, the Viking king of Dublin and York until his death in 981; and mother to his son, King Sigtrygg Silkbeard. After Sigtrygg's defeat at the Battle of Glenn Máma in 999, Gormlaith was married to Brian Boru, the King of Munster and High King of Ireland, and mother to his son and later King of Munster, Donnchad. It is also alleged that she married Máel Sechnaill mac Domnaill after Olaf's death, but this is somewhat contentious as the sources for this marriage are less reliable. The Irish annals record Gormlaith's death in 1030. Gormlaith is most infamous for allegedly inciting men to such a degree that she caused the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. Given that her goading episode exists only in literary sources not contemporary with her lifetime, and, indeed, written long after her death, it is highly unlikely that such an event ever occurred. Very little is known about the actual historical figure since the majority of depictions of Gormlaith were composed well after her life. Annalistic and genealogical accounts The first annalistic account regarding Gormlaith appears in the Annals of Inisfallen, a major extant record of Munster history. The entry of her death was composed some 62 years after her death, making it the most contemporary and temporally proximate. This account stated, Gormlaith's father was Murchad, son of Finn and this statement paired with Queen of Munster, leaves little doubt amongst scholars that this reference is to Gormlaith. The Annals of Tigernach are the next chronologically contemporaneous account with a reference to Gormlaith. These annals, compiled in the Irish midlands, stated, Gormlaith also appears in genealogical accounts written more than 100 years after her death. The first of these accounts is found in the Banshenchas, a catalogue of famous medieval Irish women. The entry in this account echoed the annalistic accounts and names Olaf Cuaran and Brian Boru as her husbands and Sigtrygg and Donnchad as her sons. Gormlaith also appears in the twelfth-century genealogies found in the Book of Leinster dating from 1150 to 1201. From this entry derives the famous "three leaps" of Gormlaith poem, which states she