Terms for Celtic soldiers.

Kerns were Irish or Scottish light-armed foot soldiers. A kern would carry a shield of wood and either a sword or bow and arrow.

The gallowglass were mercenary armored warriors who served primarily as bodyguards to Celtic chieftains. They were hand-picked for their strength and massive size, and they would usually carry a battle axe or a halberd (an axe on long pole).

Gallowglass comes from the Gaelic galloglach (gall = foreigner + oglach = soldier).

Back to Macbeth (1.2)

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How to cite this article:

Mabillard, Amanda. Macbeth Glossary. Shakespeare Online. 20 Aug. 2000. (date when you accessed the information) < http://www.shakespeare-online.com/plays
/macbeth/macbethglossary/macbeth1_1/macbethglos_kernes.html >.