page_title: Rhun ab Arthgal
section_title: King of Strathclyde
hierarchical_section_title: Rhun ab Arthgal / King of Strathclyde
caption_attribution_description: English: The name of Hálfdan as it appears on folio 131v of British Library Cotton MS Tiberius B I (the "C" version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle): "Healfdene".
context_page_description: Rhun ab Arthgal was a ninth-century King of Strathclyde. He is the only known son of Arthgal ap Dyfnwal, King of Alt Clut. In 870, during the latter's reign, the fortress of Alt Clut was captured by Vikings, after which Arthgal and his family may have been amongst the mass of prisoners taken back to Ireland. Two years later Arthgal is recorded to have been slain at the behest of Causantín mac Cináeda, King of the Picts. The circumstances surrounding this regicide are unknown. The fact that Rhun seems to have been Causantín's brother-in-law could account for Causantín's interference in the kingship of Alt Clut.
  The Viking destruction of the capital fortress of the Kingdom of Alt Clut appears to have brought about a reorientation of the kingdom towards the valley of the River Clyde. In consequence, the realm came to be known as the Kingdom of Strathclyde. Either Rhun or his father could have been the first kings of Strathclyde. In the years following the fall of Alt Clut, Rhun's realm may have endured periods of Pictish and Viking overlordship. Despite his kinship with the Pictish king, there is reason to suspect that the two clashed at some point.
context_section_description: Rhun's reign probably commenced not long after his father's death, in 872. The Chronicle of the Kings of Alba identifies Rhun as rex Britannorum ("king of the Britons"). Hostility between Rhun and his brother-in-law may be evidenced by the Prophecy of Berchán. According to this source, Causantín won four victories over his enemies. Whilst the first three victories are stated to have been won against Vikings, the fourth is described as that of Cath Lures—a location possibly identical to Glasgow—where he overcame the "king of the Britons of the green mantles". Although it is possible that the unnamed king in question was Arthgal—which could in turn cast light upon this man's demise—another possibility is that the prophecy refers to Rhun himself. If Rhun is indeed the prophecy's mantled monarch, his conflict with Causantín may have occurred in the aftermath of his father's demise, and may have been undertaken in an attempt to ensure his kingdom's independence from Pictish overlordship.
  If a garbled passage preserved by the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba is to be believed, Amlaíb was killed by Causantín in 872/874/875, whilst in the midst of extracting tribute from the Picts. Upon Ímar's death in 873, the Annals of Ulster styles him "king of the Northmen of all Ireland and Britain", a title that may partly exemplify Viking overlordship of regions inhabited by the Picts, Strathclyde Britons, and the Welsh. In 875, seemingly during Rhun's reign, the Chronicle of the Kings of Alba reports that the Picts suffered a devastating loss to insular Scandinavians at Dollar after which the invaders are said to have occupied the vicinity for one year. This Viking conquest—seemingly corroborated by the Annals of Ulster—may be related to the campaigns of Hálfdan against the Picts and Strathclyde Britons in 875/876, as recorded by the ninth- to twelfth-century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. This northern campaigning by Hálfdan could have been conducted in the context of the insular Scandinavians not only avenging Amlaíb's killing but of regaining Ímar's authority in the region. At any rate, these clashes with the Britons seem to show that the Kingdom of Strathclyde was not permanently subjected.
caption: The name of Hálfdan as it appears on folio 131v of British Library Cotton Tiberius B I (the "C" version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle): "Healfdene".[74]
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