Dyfnwal, King of Strathclyde explained
Dyfnwal (died 908×915) was King of Strathclyde. Although his parentage is unknown, he was probably a member of the Cumbrian dynasty that is recorded to have ruled the Kingdom of Strathclyde immediately before him. Dyfnwal is attested by only one source, a mediaeval chronicle that places his death between the years 908 and 915.
Ancestry
Dyfnwal's parentage is uncertain. No historical source accords him a patronym.[1] He could have been a son of Rhun ab Arthgal,[2] the last identifiable King of Strathclyde before Dyfnwal.[3] Rhun was a member of the long-reigning Cumbrian dynasty of Strathclyde. He is the last monarch to be named by a pedigree preserved within a collection of tenth-century Welsh genealogical material known as the Harleian genealogies.[4]
A certain son of Rhun was Eochaid, a man who seems to have possessed a stake in the Scottish kingship before falling from power in the last decades of the ninth century.[5] It is unknown if Eochaid actually ruled the Kingdom of Strathclyde, although it is possible.[6] If Dyfnwal was not a son of Rhun, another possibility is that he descended from Eochaid:[7] either as a son[8] or grandson. Alternately, Dyfnwal could have represented a more distant branch of the same dynasty.[9] If Dyfnwal was indeed a son of Eochaid, a sister of his could have been Eochaid's apparent daughter, Land, the wife of Niall Glúndub mac Áeda attested by the twelfth-century Banshenchas.[10]
Expansion
Rhun's father, Arthgal ap Dyfnwal, ruled the Kingdom of Al Clud. In the 870s, the kingdom's principal citadel—the eponymous fortress of Al Clud ("Rock of the Clyde")—fell to the Irish-based Scandinavian kings Amlaíb and Ímar.[11] Thereafter, the kingdom's capital seems to have relocated up the River Clyde to the vicinity of Govan[12] and Partick.[13] The relocation is partly exemplified by a shift in royal terminology. Until the fall of Al Clud, for example, the rulers of the realm were styled after the fortress; whereas following the loss of this site, the Kingdom of Al Clud came to be known as the Kingdom of Strathclyde in consequence of its reorientation towards Ystrad Clud (Strathclyde), the valley of the River Clyde.[14]
At some point after the loss of Al Clud, the Kingdom of Strathclyde appears to have undergone a period of expansion.[15] Although the precise chronology is uncertain, by 927 the southern frontier appears to have reached the River Eamont, close to Penrith.[16] The catalyst for this southern extension may have been the dramatic decline of the Kingdom of Northumbria at the hands of conquering Scandinavians,[17] and the expansion may have been facilitated by cooperation between the Cumbrians and insular Scandinavians in the late ninth- and early tenth century.[18] Amiable relations between these powers may be evidenced by the remarkable collection of contemporary Scandinavian-influenced sculpture at Govan.[19]
Attestation
After Eochaid's career, the next notice of the Cumbrian realm is the record of Dyfnwal's death preserved by the ninth- to twelfth-century Chronicle of the Kings of Alba.[20] This is Dyfnwal's only attestation, and his appearance in this source could confirm that he was indeed related to the earlier rulers of Strathclyde.[21] In any case, one particular passage of the chronicle notes the deaths of five kings during the reign of Dyfnwal's Scottish counterpart, Custantín mac Áeda, King of Alba. Dyfnwal is the second of these five; the king before him is Cormac mac Cuilennáin; the ones after him are Domnall mac Áeda, Flann Sinna mac Maíl Sechnaill, and Niall Glúndub.[22] Although Dyfnwal's death is not specifically dated by the chronicle, the context of the passage suggests that it took place in 908×915.[23] Therefore, if the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba is to be believed, Dyfnwal died no later than 915.[24]
Successor
Dyfnwal appears to have been the father of Owain ap Dyfnwal,[25] a man who succeeded him as King of Strathclyde.[26] Dyfnwal's descendants are recorded to have ruled the Kingdom of Strathclyde into eleventh century.[27]
The personal name Welsh: Dyfnwal was commonly employed by the Cumbrian royal dynasty. This name lays behind the place name of Dundonald/Dundonald Castle, derived from the British *Din Dyfnwal. Although no Cumbrian monarch can be specifically linked to this location, any one of those named Dyfnwal could be the eponym.[28] Another place that could have been named after any of these like-named kings is Cardonald .[29]
References
Primary sources
Secondary sources
- Book: Bartrum, PC . Peter Bartrum . 2009 . 1993 . A Welsh Classical Dictionary: People in History and Legend up to About A.D. 1000 . . B3 .
- Book: Bhreathnach, E . Edel Bhreathnach . 2005 . The Kingship and Landscape of Tara . . Dublin . B6 .
- Breeze . A . Andrew Breeze . 2006 . Britons in the Barony of Gilsland, Cumbria . Northern History . 43 . 2 . 327–332 . 10.1179/174587006X116194 . 162343198 . 0078-172X . 1745-8706 . B5 .
- Broun . D . Dauvit Broun . 1997 . Dunkeld and the Origin of Scottish Identity . . 48 . 2 . 112–124 . 10.3366/inr.1997.48.2.112 . 0020-157X . 1745-5219 . B2 .
- Constantine II (d. 952) . Broun . D . 2004a . 10.1093/ref:odnb/6115 . 13 June 2016 . subscription . B1 .
- Broun . D . 2004b . The Welsh Identity of the Kingdom of Strathclyde c.900–c.1200 . The Innes Review . 55 . 2 . 111–180 . 10.3366/inr.2004.55.2.111 . 0020-157X . 1745-5219 . B4 .
- Book: Charles-Edwards . T . Thomas Charles-Edwards . 2006 . The Chronicle of Ireland . Translated Texts for Historians . . Liverpool . 978-0-85323-959-8 . C5 .
- Charles-Edwards . TM . 2013a . Reflections on Early-Medieval Wales . . 19 . 0959-3632 . 7–23 . C9 .
- Book: Charles-Edwards, TM . 2013b . Wales and the Britons, 350–1064 . The History of Wales . Oxford University Press . Oxford . 978-0-19-821731-2 . C4 .
- Book: Clancy, TO . Thomas Owen Clancy . 2006a . Eochaid son of Rhun . Koch . JT . John T. Koch . Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia . 2 . . Santa Barbara, CA . 704–705 . 1-85109-445-8 . C2 .
- Book: Clancy, TO . 2006b . Ystrad Clud . Koch . JT . Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia . 5 . ABC-CLIO . Santa Barbara, CA . 1818–1821 . 1-85109-445-8 . C7 .
- Clancy . TO . 2011 . Gaelic in Medieval Scotland: Advent and Expansion: Sir John Rhys Memorial Lecture . . 167 . 10.5871/bacad/9780197264775.003.0011 . British Academy Scholarship Online . C10 .
- Book: Clarkson, T . 2010 . The Men of the North: The Britons and Southern Scotland . . Edinburgh . 978-1-907909-02-3 . EPUB . C3 .
- Book: Clarkson, T . 2012a . 2011 . The Makers of Scotland: Picts, Romans, Gaels and Vikings . . Edinburgh . 978-1-907909-01-6 . EPUB . C6 .
- Book: Clarkson, T . 2012b . 2008 . The Picts: A History . Birlinn Limited . Edinburgh . 978-1-907909-03-0 . EPUB . C8 .
- Book: Clarkson, T . 2014 . Strathclyde and the Anglo-Saxons in the Viking Age . John Donald . Edinburgh . 978-1-907909-25-2 . EPUB . C1 .
- Davidson . MR . 2002 . Submission and Imperium in the Early Medieval Insular World . 1842/23321 . free . PhD . . D12 .
- Book: Davies, JR . 2009 . Bishop Kentigern Among the Britons . Boardman . S . Steve Boardman (historian) . Davies . JR . Williamson . E . Saints' Cults in the Celtic World . Studies in Celtic History . 978-1-84383-432-8 . 0261-9865 . . Woodbridge . 66–90 . D5 .
- Book: Downham, C . 2007 . Viking Kings of Britain and Ireland: The Dynasty of Ívarr to A.D. 1014 . . Edinburgh . 978-1-903765-89-0 . D1 .
- Book: Driscoll, S . 2006 . Govan . Koch . JT . Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia . 3 . ABC-CLIO . Santa Barbara, CA . 839–841 . 1-85109-445-8 . D10 .
- Driscoll . ST . 1998 . Church Archaeology in Glasgow and the Kingdom of Strathclyde . The Innes Review . 49 . 2 . 95–114 . 10.3366/inr.1998.49.2.95 . 0020-157X . 1745-5219 . D7 .
- Book: Driscoll, ST . Dumbarton . 2001a . Lynch . M . Michael Lynch (historian) . The Oxford Companion to Scottish History . . Oxford University Press . Oxford . 180 . 0-19-211696-7 . D9 .
- Book: Driscoll, ST . Govan . 2001b . Lynch . M . The Oxford Companion to Scottish History . Oxford Companions . Oxford University Press . Oxford . 274–275 . 0-19-211696-7 . D8 .
- Book: Driscoll, ST . 2003 . Govan: An Early Medieval Royal Centre on the Clyde . http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/3122/ . Breeze . DJ . David Breeze . Clancy . TO . Welander . R . The Stone of Destiny: Artefact and Icon . Society of Antiquaries of Scotland Monograph Series . . 0903903229 . 77–83 . D11 .
- Book: Driscoll, ST . 2015 . In Search of the Northern Britons in the Early Historic Era (AD 400–1100) . http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/97112/ . Essays on the Local History and Archaeology of West Central Scotland . Resource Assessment of Local History and Archaeology in West Central Scotland . Glasgow Museums . Glasgow . 1–15 . D6 .
- Book: Dumville, D . David Dumville . 2000 . The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba . Taylor . S . Kings, Clerics and Chronicles in Scotland, 500–1297: Essays in Honour of Marjorie Ogilvie Anderson on the Occasion of Her Ninetieth Birthday . Four Courts Press . Dublin . 1-85182-516-9 . 73–86 . D2 .
- Book: Dumville, DN . 1999 . 1993 . Coroticus . Dumville . DN . Saint Patrick, A.D. 493–1993 . The Boydell Press . Woodbridge . 978-0-85115-733-7 . 107–115 . D4 .
- Book: Dumville, DN . 2018 . Origins of the Kingdom of the English . Naismith . R . Woodman . DA . Writing, Kingship and Power in Anglo-Saxon England . . Cambridge . 978-1-107-16097-2 . 10.1017/9781316676066.005 . 71–121 . D13 .
- Edmonds . F . 2014 . The Emergence and Transformation of Medieval Cumbria . Scottish Historical Review . 93 . 2 . 195–216 . 0036-9241 . 1750-0222 . 10.3366/shr.2014.0216 . E1 .
- Edmonds . F . 2015 . The Expansion of the Kingdom of Strathclyde . . 23 . 1 . 43–66 . 10.1111/emed.12087 . 162103346 . 1468-0254 . E3 .
- Evans . NJ . 2015 . Cultural Contacts and Ethnic Origins in Viking Age Wales and Northern Britain: The Case of Albanus, Britain's First Inhabitant and Scottish Ancestor . . 41 . 2 . 131–154 . 10.1080/03044181.2015.1030438 . 154125108 . 0304-4181 . 1873-1279 . E4 .
- Ewart . G . Pringle . D . Caldwell . D . Campbell . E . Ewan Campbell . Driscoll . S . Forsyth . K . Katherine Forsyth . Gallagher . D . Holden . T . Hunter . F . Sanderson . D . Thoms . J . 2004 . Dundonald Castle Excavations, 1986–93 . Scottish Archaeological Journal . 26 . 1–2 . i–x, 1–166 . 1471-5767 . 1766-2028 . 27917525 . E2 .
- Book: Fellows-Jensen, G . 1991 . Scandinavians in Dumfriesshire and Galloway: The Place-Name Evidence . http://ssns.org.uk/resources/Documents/Books/Galloway_1991/06_Fellows-Jensen_Galloway_1991_pp_77-96.pdf . Oram . RD . Richard Oram . Stell . GP . Galloway: Land and Lordship . The Scottish Society for Northern Studies . Edinburgh . 0-9505994-6-8 . 77–95 . F3 . 2017-06-19 . 2017-03-13 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170313130612/http://ssns.org.uk/resources/Documents/Books/Galloway_1991/06_Fellows-Jensen_Galloway_1991_pp_77-96.pdf . dead .
- Book: Foley, A . 2017 . Strathclyde . Echard . S . Rouse . R . The Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature in Britain . 1 . 10.1002/9781118396957.wbemlb665 . . 9781118396957 . F4 .
- Book: Forsyth, K . 2005 . Origins: Scotland to 1100 . 9–37 . Wormald . J . Jenny Wormald . Scotland: A History . https://archive.org/details/scotland00jenn/page/9 . registration . Oxford University Press . Oxford . 0-19-820615-1 . 7397531M . F2 .
- Book: Forte . A . Oram . RD . Pedersen . F . 2005 . Viking Empires . Cambridge University Press . Cambridge . 978-0-521-82992-2 . F1 .
- Hicks . DA . 2003 . Language, History and Onomastics in Medieval Cumbria: An Analysis of the Generative Usage of the Cumbric Habitative Generics Cair and Tref . 1842/7401 . free . PhD . University of Edinburgh . H5 .
- Book: Hudson, BT . 1994 . Kings of Celtic Scotland . Contributions to the Study of World History . subscription . . Westport, CT . 0-313-29087-3 . 0885-9159 . H3 . 2021-07-19 . 2019-06-23 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190623011235/https://www.questia.com/library/2030888/kings-of-celtic-scotland . dead .
- Book: Hudson, BT . 2002 . The Scottish Gaze . McDonald . R . History, Literature, and Music in Scotland, 700–1560 . . Toronto . 29–59 . 0-8020-3601-5 . H1 . https://archive.org/details/historyliteratur0000unse/page/29 .
- Niall mac Áeda [Niall Glúndub] (c.869–919) ]. Hudson . BT . 2004 . 10.1093/ref:odnb/20077 . 15 August 2016 . subscription . H4 .
- James . AG . 2009 . Review of P Cavill; G Broderick, Language Contact in the Place-Names of Britain and Ireland . . 3 . 135–158 . 2054-9385 . J2 .
- James . AG . 2011 . Dating Brittonic Place-Names in Southern Scotland and Cumbria . The Journal of Scottish Name Studies . 5 . 57–114 . 2054-9385 . J1 .
- James . AG . 2013 . P-Celtic in Southern Scotland and Cumbria: A Review of the Place-Name Evidence for Possible Pictish Phonology . The Journal of Scottish Name Studies . 7 . 29–78 . 2054-9385 . J3 .
- Lewis . SM . 2016 . Vikings on the Ribble: Their Origin and Longphuirt . Northern History . 53 . 1 . 10.1080/0078172X.2016.1127570 . 8–25 . 163354318 . 0078-172X . 1745-8706 . L2 .
- Macquarrie . A . 1986 . The Career of Saint Kentigern of Glasgow: Vitae, Lectiones and Glimpses of Fact . The Innes Review . 37 . 1 . 3–24 . 10.3366/inr.1986.37.1.3 . 0020-157X . 1745-5219 . M2 .
- Book: Macquarrie, A . 1998 . 1993 . The Kings of Strathclyde, c. 400–1018 . Grant . A . Stringer . KJ . Medieval Scotland: Crown, Lordship and Community . . Edinburgh . 1–19 . 0-7486-1110-X . M3 .
- McGuigan . N . 2015 . Neither Scotland nor England: Middle Britain, c.850–1150 . PhD . 10023/7829 . free . . M1 .
- Millar . RM . 2009 . Review of OJ Padel; DN Parsons, A Commodity of Good Names: Essays in Honour of Margaret Gelling, Donington . The Journal of Scottish Name Studies . 3 . 162–166 . 2054-9385 . M4 .
- Oram . RD . 2008 . Royal and Lordly Residence in Scotland c 1050 to c 1250: An Historiographical Review and Critical Revision . . 88 . 10.1017/S0003581500001372 . 0003-5815 . 1758-5309 . 165–189 . 1893/2122 . 18450115 . free . O4 .
- Book: Oram, RD . 2011 . 2001 . The Kings & Queens of Scotland . . Brimscombe Port . 978-0-7524-7099-3 . O1 .
- Ó Corráin . D . Donnchadh Ó Corráin . 1998a . The Vikings in Scotland and Ireland in the Ninth Century . Chronicon: An Electric History Journal . 2 . 1393-5259 . O2 .
- Ó Corráin . D . 1998b . The Vikings in Scotland and Ireland in the Ninth Century . . 12 . 296–339 . 2034-6506 . 0332-1592 . 10.1484/j.peri.3.334 . O3 .
- Parsons . DN . 2011 . On the Origin of 'Hiberno-Norse Inversion-Compounds' . The Journal of Scottish Name Studies . 5 . 115–152 . 2054-9385 . P2 .
- Book: Stenton, F . Frank Stenton . 1963 . Anglo-Saxon England . registration . 2nd . The Oxford History of England . . Oxford . 24592559M . S2 .
- Todd . JM . 2005 . British (Cumbric) Place-Names in the Barony of Gilsland, Cumbria . Transactions of the Cumberland & Westmorland Antiquarian & Archaeological Society . 5 . 89–102 . 10.5284/1032950 . free . T1 .
- Book: Williams . A . Ann Williams (historian) . Smyth . AP . Alfred P. Smyth . Kirby . DP . 1991 . A Biographical Dictionary of Dark Age Britain: England, Scotland and Wales, c.500–c.1050 . Seaby . London . 1-85264-047-2 . W2 .
- Woolf . A . Alex Woolf . 1998 . Pictish Matriliny Reconsidered . The Innes Review . 49 . 2 . 147–167 . 10.3366/inr.1998.49.2.147 . 0020-157X . 1745-5219 . W3 .
- Book: Woolf, A . Anglo-Scottish Relations: 1. 900–1100 . 2001 . Lynch . M . The Oxford Companion to Scottish History . Oxford Companions . Oxford University Press . Oxford . 8–10 . 0-19-211696-7 . W4 .
- Book: Woolf, A . 2007 . From Pictland to Alba, 789–1070 . The New Edinburgh History of Scotland . Edinburgh University Press . Edinburgh . 978-0-7486-1233-8 . W1 .
|-
Notes and References
- [#C3|Clarkson (2010)]
- [#C1|Clarkson (2014)]
- [#C1|Clarkson (2014)]
- [#C1|Clarkson (2014)]
- [#O1|Oram (2011)]
- [#C1|Clarkson (2014)]
- [#H2|Hudson (1998)]
- [#C3|Clarkson (2010)]
- [#C3|Clarkson (2010)]
- [#B3|Bartrum (2009)]
- [#D6|Driscoll, ST (2015)]
- [#F4|Foley (2017)]
- [#D6|Driscoll, ST (2015)]
- [#D6|Driscoll, ST (2015)]
- [#D13|Dumville, DN (2018)]
- [#D13|Dumville, DN (2018)]
- [#L2|Lewis (2016)]
- [#E4|Evans (2015)]
- [#C4|Charles-Edwards (2013b)]
- [#C3|Clarkson (2010)]
- [#H2|Hudson (1998)]
- [#C1|Clarkson (2014)]
- [#D1|Downham (2007)]
- [#C1|Clarkson (2014)]
- [#C1|Clarkson (2014)]
- [#C3|Clarkson (2010)]
- [#B4|Broun (2004b)]
- [#E2|Ewart; Pringle; Caldwell et al. (2004)]
- [#H5|Hicks (2003)]