Dubgaill and Finngaill Dubgaill and Finngaill , or Dubgenti and Finngenti , are Middle Irish terms used to denote different rival groups of Vikings in Ireland and Britain . Literally , " Dub - / Finngaill " is translated as " dark and fair foreigners " or " black and white foreigners " , and similarly , " Dub - / Finngenti " as " dark / black " and " fair / white heathens " . Similar terms are found in Welsh chronicles , probably derived from Gaelic usage . The first known use of these terms in the chronicles is from 851 , when it is noted that " The Dubhghoill arrived in Ath Cliath [ Dublin ] , and made a great slaughter of the Finnghoill " . The terms appear , with various spellings , in entries in Irish annals from the 9th and 10th century , and are also used and interpreted in later historiography . There have been different interpretations of the terms . Traditionally , historians have speculated whether these distinctions refer to physical features such as skin or hair - colour , weaponry or outfits . Alfred P . Smyth suggested a new interpretation of " dub " and " finn " as " new " and " old " . There is a long tradition of understanding " Dubgaill " as Danish Vikings and " Finngaill " as Norwegian Vikings . This interpretation has recently been challenged by David N . Dumville and Clare Downham , who , building on Smyth ' s conclusions , propose that the terms may not be related to ethnicity or origin of the different groups of Vikings . In later times , centuries after the Norman invasion of Ireland , the Hiberno - Normans or so - called Old English ( Ireland ) were also referred to as Dubgaill and Finngaill . Etymology . The word " Gaill " ( plural of " Gall " ) etymologically originates from " Gauls " , who in pre - Viking Gaelic history were the archetypal " foreigners " . Dumville says that " what [ the Gauls ] had done in Gaelic prehistory to gain that status is unknown and was probably unpleasant . " During the Viking age , it came to denote Scandinavians or those of Scandinavian descent or speech . From the Norman invasion of Ireland in the late 12th century , this appellation was passed on to foreigners of French speech and then to the English at large . The word did not denote " foreigner " in the sense " anyone not Irish ( Gaelic ) " , but the Saxon s , Welsh and Picts are identified as such in the Irish annals , and there are also terms used which may identify the Scandinavians based on nationality , like " Dene " , " Northmanni " and " Lochlainn " . Another word frequently used by the chroniclers in the early phase of the Viking age was " Gen ( n ) ti " , meaning " foreigner of a different religion " . This was derived from the biblical usage of the Latin phrase " gentes " or " gentiles " , the latter form common in traditional English translations of the Bible . This terminology was abandoned , which has been taken as recognition of eventual conversion to Christianity . The literary meaning of Old Irish and Old Welsh " Dub " is normally given as " dark " or " black " , while Middle Irish " finn " ( Old Irish " find " , Modern Irish " fionn " ) is given as " light " or " white " . Smyth , referring to the Dictionary of the Irish Language by the Royal Irish Academy , adds that " Dub " can mean " gloomy " or " melancholy " in a moral sense , and has the intensive meaning of " great " or " mighty " . For " finn " there are the additional meanings of " handsome " , " just " and " true " . Interpretation history . The meaning of " Finn - " and " Dub - " . Historians have offered various explanations to account for the fact that terms associated with colour denote two separate factions of Vikings . The explanation which has been most widely accepted is that it either relates to hair - colour or armour . The view that it relates to colour was held , for instance , by the Danish antiquary Jens Jacob Asmussen Worsaae and James Henthorn Todd ; but it also occurs in more modern historical works like in Mac Airt & Mac Niocaill ' s 1983 edition of Annals of Ulster where " Fhinngallaibh " is translated " fair - haired foreigners " . According to Smyth , the most bizarre explanation of the terms was put forward by Jan de Vries . He suggested that the " Black foreigners " were Moorish slaves , carried off to Ireland in a Viking raid on North Africa . Jón Steffensen , while rejecting the fair - and dark - haired hypothesis , suggested that the terms originated from the colours on the shields of the Vikings , the " finngaill " carrying white shields and the " dubgaill " red . Alfred Smyth gives arguments against all colour - related distinctions . Referring to Steffensen , he dismisses the assumption that " any large Scandinavian host could be composed exclusively and over a long period of dark - haired individuals " as being unrealistic . As an argument against Steffensen theory of shield - colour , as well as other theories based on colour of armour , he asserts that regular uniform and equipment were unknown in early medieval Germanic armies , and that " Norwegian pirates could afford the luxury of carrying nothing but white shields is fanciful to the extreme " . As a final argument against distinction in colour between Viking factions , Smyth notes that even though these Vikings were active elsewhere , no Anglo - Saxon or Frankish chroniclers have mentioned any particular colour - distinction . Smyth concludes that in this context , " finn " and " dub " should not be related to colour or brightness , but must be translated as " old " and " new " . He finds precedent for this in part on Mageoghagan ' s translations of the Annals of Clonmacnoise from the early 17th century , where Sihtric ( Sigtrygg ) Cáech in his epitaph is called " prince of the new & old Danes " . Norwegians and Danes ? The identification of " Finngaill " as Norwegian and " Dubgaill " as Danish has had a long tradition , but it was first made long after the terms fell out of contemporary use . According to Smyth , the oldest Irish source that equates the " Dub " - with Danes is the 12th - century " Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib " , who speaks of " Danish Black Gentiles " ( " Duibgeinti Danarda " ) . Downham points out that the last contemporary use of the terms may be " Chronicon Scotorum " " sub anno " 941 . According to Smyth , medieval Irish writers and later Gaelic antiquaries such as Dubhaltach Mac Fhirbhisigh and Geoffrey Keating " were clear on overall Norwegian origin of the " Finn Gaill " and the Danish origin of the " Dub Gaill " " . Smyth also states that " it is clear from references to Scandinavian activity of the ninth and tenth century within Ireland that the ' White Foreigners ' had a predominantly Norwegian origin , and that their opposite number were Danes " , without giving any further references for this conclusion . Smyth argued that " Finn - " and " Dub - " did not imply an ethnic distinction but rather " old " and " new " , and also pointed out that " large viking armies were not exclusively either Danish or Norwegian " . He still did not question the identification as Norwegian / Danish . Downham has pointed out that by the time the first sources equating these terms with Norwegian / Danish were written down , changes in Scandinavia had made the Irish aware of a distinction between Norwegians and Danes , a distinction the Irish ( or for that matter the " Norwegian " or " Danes " ) would not have been aware of in the middle of the 9th century . Downham argues that a " new interpretation was interposed on the earlier terms ' Fair Foreigner ' and ' Dark Foreigner ' " . Downham , with reference to a suggestion made by Dumville , offers the alternative interpretation that " finngaill " and " dubgaill " identified Viking groups under different leadership . The " dubgaill " may identify Vikings under the leadership of the Uí Ímair , while the " finngaill " were those " old " Vikings present in Ireland before the middle of the 9th century . The rivalry between the Uí Ímair and other groups persisted long after the Uí Ímair had gained control over Dublin , and their hegemony over the Viking settlements in Ireland was established when Amlaíb mac Gofraid defeated the Vikings of Limerick . After the death of Ámlaib , the label " finngaill " fell out of contemporary use in Irish chronicles . Imperial style . The style " King of the Dubgaill and Finngaill " ( or vice versa ) was an imperial one held only by three or four dynasts of the Uí Ímair .