page_title: Dyfnwal ab Owain
section_title: Amongst an assembly of kings
hierarchical_section_title: Dyfnwal ab Owain / Amongst an assembly of kings
caption_attribution_description: English: The name of Thored Gunnerson as it appears on folio 58v of British Library Cotton MS Domitian A VIII (the "F" version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle): "Thored filius Gunnerses".
context_page_description: Dyfnwal ab Owain was a tenth-century King of Strathclyde. He was a son of Owain ap Dyfnwal, King of Strathclyde, and seems to have been a member of the royal dynasty of Strathclyde. At some point in the ninth- or tenth century, the Kingdom of Strathclyde expanded substantially southwards. As a result of this extension far beyond the valley of the River Clyde, the realm became known as the Kingdom of Cumbria. By 927, the kingdom seems to have reached as far south as the River Eamont.
  Dyfnwal appears to have reigned between the 930s and the 970s. He is first attested in the 940s, when he is recorded associated with the ecclesiast Cathróe on the latter's journey to Continental Europe. At the midpoint of the decade, the Cumbrian kingdom was ravaged by the forces of Edmund, King of the English. Two of Dyfnwal's sons are said to have been blinded by the English, which could indicate that Dyfnwal had broken a pledge to his southern counterpart. One possibility is that he had harboured insular Scandinavian opponents of Edmund. The latter is recorded to have handed over control of the Cumbrian realm to Máel Coluim mac Domnaill, King of Alba.
context_section_description: There is evidence to suggest that Dyfnwal was amongst the assembled kings who are recorded to have met with Edgar at Chester in 973. According to the "D", "E", and "F" versions of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, after having been consecrated king that year, this English monarch assembled a massive naval force and met with six kings at Chester. By the tenth century, the number of kings who met with him was alleged to have been eight, as evidenced by the tenth-century Life of St Swithun. By the twelfth century, the eight kings began to be named and were alleged to have rowed Edgar down the River Dee, as evidenced by sources such as the twelfth-century texts Chronicon ex chronicis, Gesta regum Anglorum, and De primo Saxonum adventu, as well as the thirteenth-century Chronica majora, and both the Wendover and Paris versions of Flores historiarum. One of the names in all these sources—specifically identified as a Welsh king by Gesta regum Anglorum, Chronica majora, and both versions of Flores historiarum—appears to refer to Dyfnwal. Another named figure, styled King of the Cumbrians, seems to be identical to his son, Máel Coluim.
  Whilst the symbolic tale of the men rowing Edgar down the river may be an unhistorical embellishment, most of the names accorded to the eight kings can be associated with contemporary rulers, suggesting that some of these men may have taken part in a concord with him. Although the latter accounts allege that the kings submitted to Edgar, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle merely states that they came to an agreement of cooperation with him, and thus became his efen-wyrhtan ("co-workers", "even-workers", "fellow-workers"). One possibility is that the assembly somehow relates to Edmund's attested incursion into Cumbria in 945. According to the same source, when Edmund let Cumbria to Máel Coluim mac Domnaill, he had done so on the condition that the latter would be his mid-wyrhta ("co-worker", "even-worker", "fellow-worker", "together-wright"). Less reliable non-contemporary sources such as De primo Saxonum adventu, both the Wendover and Paris versions of Flores historiarum, and Chronica majora allege that Edgar granted Lothian to Cináed in 975. If this supposed grant formed a part of the episode at Chester, it along with the concord of 945 could indicate that the assembly of 975 was not a submission as such, but more of a conference concerning mutual cooperation along the English borderlands. The location of the assembly of 973 at Chester would have been a logical neutral site for all parties.
  One of the other named kings was Cináed. Considering the fact that the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle numbers the kings at six, if Cináed was indeed present, it is unlikely that his rival, Cuilén's brother Amlaíb mac Illuilb, was also in attendance. Although the chronology concerning the reigns of Cináed and Amlaíb mac Illuilb is uncertain—with Amlaíb mac Illuilb perhaps reigning from 971/976–977 and Cináed from 971/977–995—the part played by the King of Alba at the assembly could well have concerned the frontier of his realm. One of the other named kings seems to have been Maccus mac Arailt, whilst another could have been this man's brother, Gofraid. These two Islesmen may have been regarded a threats by the Scots and Cumbrians. Maccus and Gofraid are recorded to have devastated Anglesey at the beginning of the decade, which could indicate that Edgar's assembly was undertaken as a means to counter the menace posed by these energetic insular Scandinavians. In fact, there is evidence to suggest that, as a consequence of the assembly at Chester, the brothers may have turned their attention from the British mainland westwards towards Ireland.
  Another aspect of the assembly may have concerned the remarkable rising power of Amlaíb Cúarán in Ireland. Edgar may have wished to not only rein in men such as Maccus and Gofraid, but prevent them—and the Scots and Cumbrians—from affiliating themselves with Amlaíb Cúarán, and recognising the latter's authority in the Irish Sea region. Another factor concerning Edgar, and his Scottish and Cumbrian co
caption: The name of Thored Gunnerson as it appears on folio 58v of British Library Cotton Domitian A VIII (the "F" version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle): "Thored filius Gunnerses".[197]
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