What Is a Gallowglass? Blood of My Blood’s Warriors Explained

A gallowglass was an elite professional mercenary warrior from the medieval Gaelic world, particularly associated with Norse-Gaelic fighting families from the western Highlands and islands of Scotland who later became a major military force in Ireland. In Outlander: Blood of My Blood Episode 9, “Braemar,” that history becomes very personal when a group of Gallowglass warriors hunts Brian Fraser through the woods during the tynchal.

The name carries exactly the weight the episode wants it to carry. These were professional fighting men with a centuries-old reputation for violence, strength and loyalty to whoever employed them. The real history, though, is a little more complicated than the version Blood of My Blood puts on screen.

What Is a Gallowglass?

The Gallowglass were professional warriors who emerged from the Norse-Gaelic culture of western Scotland and the Hebrides. Their name comes from the Gaelic gallóglach, generally translated as “foreign warrior,” and English sources eventually rendered the word as both “galloglass” and “gallowglass.”

Beginning in the Middle Ages, these warriors crossed from Scotland into Ireland and entered the service of powerful Gaelic lords. Some arrived for individual military campaigns, while entire Gallowglass families eventually settled in Ireland and received land in exchange for continuing military service.

That made the Gallowglass something more substantial than a collection of random hired swords. Over time, they became an established professional warrior class whose military skill could strengthen a lord’s army, guard his household and help secure his political power.

Where Did the Gallowglass Come From?

The earliest Gallowglass were strongly associated with the western coast of Scotland, especially Argyll and the Western Isles. Those regions had centuries of interaction between Gaelic and Scandinavian communities, creating the Norse-Gaelic culture from which many of these warriors emerged.

The sea between western Scotland and Ireland functioned as a connection between Gaelic communities rather than an impassable political boundary. Soldiers, families, merchants and nobles moved through that world regularly, and Gallowglass warriors became one of the most famous products of that relationship.

By the thirteenth century, Scottish Gallowglass were serving Irish rulers. Over the following centuries, families including the MacSweeneys, MacDonnells and MacCabes became deeply rooted in Irish military life.

How Did the Gallowglass Fight?

The Gallowglass earned their reputation as heavily armed professional infantry. Historical descriptions emphasize mail armor, helmets and formidable weapons including long-handled battle axes and swords. Their equipment and training made them particularly valuable in close combat and allowed them to hold ground in ways lighter troops often could not.

A surviving description from around 1600 presents them as physically imposing soldiers whose role could become decisive once a battle reached close quarters. That reputation helps explain why Gaelic rulers valued them as both battlefield troops and personal protection.

They could also serve as household guards for powerful lords. A professional warrior whose livelihood depended upon his patron could offer something politically useful: military strength with fewer ties to the local family rivalries surrounding that patron.

Were the Gallowglass Assassins?

This is where the history and Blood of My Blood begin to separate a little.

Historically, the Gallowglass were professional soldiers and mercenaries. Heavy infantry, battlefield service and personal protection formed the heart of their reputation. “Assassin” would be too narrow a description of what they actually were.

Blood of My Blood uses the Gallowglass more like an elite group of killers who can be hired to eliminate a specific person. The idea still draws from their genuine mercenary reputation, and it gives the audience an immediate understanding of the threat: someone with money and authority can hire dangerous professional warriors to make a problem disappear.

What Are the Gallowglass Doing in Blood of My Blood Episode 9?

In “Braemar,” Brian Fraser has already become a political problem for several powerful people. His relationship with Ellen MacKenzie threatens the marriage arrangement between the MacKenzies and the Grants, while his father, Lord Lovat, has his own plans for Brian and the Fraser bloodline.

The annual gathering at Braemar brings the Highland clans together for the tynchal, giving the episode a massive public event filled with private agendas. Brian eventually finds himself alone in the woods, where arrows suddenly begin landing around him. The men hunting him are identified as Gallowglass.

Murtagh realizes what is happening and throws Brian out of danger, saving the very man he has spent much of the season resenting. His wonderfully Murtagh-like warning that he reserves the right to kill Brian himself gives the sequence its humor, though the larger story consequence is serious: somebody with considerable influence has paid professionals to murder Brian.

Who Hired the Gallowglass to Kill Brian?

Season 1 finale spoiler: Colum MacKenzie hired the Gallowglass to kill Brian Fraser.

Episode 9 deliberately leaves the identity of their employer unresolved. The finale, “Something Borrowed,” finally answers the question after Brian and Murtagh face another Gallowglass attack. They capture one of the surviving men, and Brian forces him to reveal that Colum paid for the assassination.

That answer makes the Gallowglass much more important than a random action threat. Colum had promised Ellen that Brian would remain safe. Ellen accepted her own sacrifice largely because she believed that bargain would protect the man she loved.

Once Brian discovers the truth and Ellen learns what Colum has done, the deal holding her in place collapses. Colum’s decision to hire the Gallowglass becomes one of the actions that ultimately helps push Brian and Ellen toward choosing each other.

Why Colum Hiring the Gallowglass Matters

There is also a smart piece of setup inside “Braemar.” During Colum’s confrontation with Dougal over the Jacobite gold, Colum invokes the Gallowglass as a threat against his own brother. The episode establishes the name as something Colum understands, can access and is willing to use as an instrument of authority.

That makes the eventual reveal feel planted rather than dropped into the finale for convenience. Colum sees violence as another tool available to the chief of Clan MacKenzie, alongside marriage arrangements, money and political leverage. Brian becomes dangerous enough to the future Colum is trying to preserve that Colum quietly reaches for the most permanent tool available to him.

The result also sharpens Colum’s tragedy. His entire justification for controlling Ellen rests on protecting the clan, yet the methods he chooses eventually destroy the trust that allowed him to control her in the first place.

Were Gallowglass Warriors Still Around in 1715?

This is the biggest historical wrinkle in Blood of My Blood.

The classic Gallowglass military system belonged primarily to the medieval and early modern Gaelic world. They became especially important in Ireland from roughly the thirteenth century onward, and their traditional role declined dramatically around the beginning of the seventeenth century as firearms changed warfare and the Gaelic political system that supported them began collapsing.

That puts 1715 considerably later than the Gallowglass era most historians describe. Scottish Highland mercenaries certainly continued fighting long after the traditional Gallowglass system declined, but using “the Gallowglass” as an established band of professional killers operating at Braemar in 1715 feels more like historical storytelling shorthand than a precise recreation of the institution at that date.

The show is drawing on something real: the long reputation of western Scottish and Gaelic mercenary warriors. It compresses that history into a name that immediately communicates danger, professionalism and the ability of a wealthy clan leader to purchase violence.

Why the Gallowglass Work So Well in Brian Fraser’s Story

The history gives the Gallowglass texture, while the story gives them purpose. Brian spends much of Season 1 trapped inside systems created by other people: Lovat’s obsession with prophecy, the MacKenzies’ political calculations and the expectations surrounding Ellen’s marriage. The Gallowglass turn those invisible systems into a physical threat.

Somebody has decided Brian’s existence is inconvenient enough to erase. Suddenly the political maneuvering surrounding Brian and Ellen has arrows attached to it.

Murtagh saving Brian becomes especially effective because of that pressure. His resentment remains real, his love for Ellen remains real, and his loyalty to Brian proves stronger than his anger when Brian’s life is actually on the line. The Gallowglass force Murtagh to reveal which value sits highest when the choice becomes immediate.

Then Colum’s identity as the employer turns the assassination attempt into consequence. Ellen sacrifices her relationship with Brian because she believes she can protect him. Colum violates that bargain anyway. By the finale, his attempt to control the future becomes one of the reasons Ellen finally takes control of her own.

Gallowglass, Galloglass or Gallóglaigh?

You may see several spellings while searching for these warriors. Gallowglass and galloglass are both common English forms, while gallóglaigh is the historical Gaelic plural associated with the term. They are referring to the same warrior tradition.

For Blood of My Blood viewers, the simplest definition is this: the Gallowglass were famous Gaelic mercenary warriors whose reputation makes them an ideal historical inspiration for the professionals sent after Brian Fraser. The real history stretches far beyond Brian’s chase through the woods, and it reaches back centuries before the Jacobite Rising that is beginning around him.

More Blood of My Blood Coverage

Episode 9 places Brian’s assassination attempt inside a much larger gathering of political and personal stories. You can follow the entire season in our Blood of My Blood Season 1 Episode Guide, explore the real history behind the rebellion in our 1715 Jacobite Rising explainer, and learn more about another legendary figure at Braemar in our Rob Roy history explainer.