page_title: Siward, Earl of Northumbria
section_title: Expedition against the Scots
hierarchical_section_title: Siward, Earl of Northumbria / Expedition against the Scots
caption_attribution_description: English: Macbeth and Banquo meeting the three witches. Siward's Northumbrian army is approaching (right).
context_page_description: Siward or Sigurd was an important earl of 11th-century northern England. The Old Norse nickname Digri and its Latin translation Grossus are given to him by near-contemporary texts. Siward was probably of Scandinavian origin, perhaps a relative of Earl Ulf, and emerged as a powerful regional strongman in England during the reign of Cnut. Cnut was a Scandinavian ruler who conquered England in the 1010s, and Siward was one of the many Scandinavians who came to England in the aftermath of that conquest. Siward subsequently rose to become sub-ruler of most of northern England. From 1033 at the latest Siward was in control of southern Northumbria, that is, present-day Yorkshire, governing as earl on Cnut's behalf.
  He entrenched his position in northern England by marrying Ælfflæd, the daughter of Ealdred, Earl of Bamburgh. After killing Ealdred's successor Eadulf in 1041, Siward gained control of all Northumbria. He exerted his power in support of Cnut's successors, kings Harthacnut and Edward, assisting them with vital military aid and counsel.
context_section_description: Siward is perhaps most famous for his expedition in 1054 against Macbeth, King of Scotland, an expedition that cost Siward his eldest son, Osbjorn. The origin of Siward's conflict with the Scots is unclear. According to the Libellus de Exordio, in 1039 or 1040, the Scottish king Donnchad mac Crínáin attacked northern Northumbria and besieged Durham. Within a year, Mac Bethad had deposed and killed Donnchad. The failed siege occurred a year before Siward attacked and killed Earl Eadulf of Bamburgh, and though no connection between the two events is clear it is likely that they were linked.
  The Annals of Lindisfarne and Durham, written in the early 12th century, relate under the year 1046 that "Earl Siward with a great army came to Scotland, and expelled king Mac Bethad, and appointed another; but after his departure Mac Bethad recovered his kingdom". Historian William Kapelle thought that this was a genuine event of the 1040s, related to the Annals of Tigernach entry for 1045 that reported a "battle between the Scots" which led to the death of Crínán of Dunkeld, Donnchad's father; Kapelle thought that Siward had tried to place Crínán's son and Donnchad's brother Maldred on the Scottish throne. Another historian, Alex Woolf, argued that the Annals of Lindisfarne and Durham entry was probably referring to the invasion of Siward in 1054, but misplaced under 1046.
  During the invasion of 1054, a battle was fought somewhere in Scotland north of the Firth of Forth, a battle known variously as the "Battle of the Seven Sleepers" or the "Battle of Dunsinane". The tradition that the battle actually took place at Dunsinane has its origins in later medieval legend. The earliest mention of Dunsinane as the location of the battle is in the early 15th century by Andrew of Wyntoun.
  
  The earliest contemporary English account of the battle is found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, recension D: 
   
   John of Worcester, using a related version of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, adds that Normans named Osbern Pentecost and Hugh, who had joined Mac Bethad earlier after fleeing from England, were killed in the battle.
  The battle is mentioned in the Irish annals too, briefly in the Annals of Tigernach and more extensively in the Annals of Ulster:
   
  Dolfin is unidentified, but may have been a relation of Mac Bethad's enemy Crínán of Dunkeld, on the basis that some of Crínán's descendants may have borne this name.
  The purpose of Siward's invasion is unclear, but it may be related to the identity of the "Máel Coluim" (Malcolm) mentioned in the sources. The early 12th-century chronicle attributed to John of Worcester, probably using an earlier source, wrote that Siward defeated Mac Bethad and made "Máel Coluim, son of the king of the Cumbrians" a king (Malcolmum, regis Cumbrorum filium, ut rex jusserat, regem constituit). The identity of Máel Coluim and the reasons for Siward's help are controversial. The traditional historical interpretation was that "Máel Coluim" is Máel Coluim mac Donnchada, known sometimes today as Malcolm III or Malcolm Canmore, and that Siward was attempting to oust Mac Bethad in his favour.
  The traditional historical interpretation that "Máel Coluim" is Máel Coluim mac Donnchada derives from the Chronicle attributed to the 14th-century chronicler of Scotland, John of Fordun, as well as from earlier sources such as William of Malmesbury. The latter reported that Mac Bethad was killed in the battle by Siward, but it is known that Mac Bethad outlived Siward by two years. A. A. M. Duncan argued in 2002 that, using the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle entry as their source, later writers innocently misidentified Máel Coluim "son of the king of the Cumbrians" with the later Scottish king of the same name. Duncan's argument has been supported by several subsequent historians specialising in the era, such as Richard Oram, Dauvit Broun and Alex Woolf. It has also been suggested that Máel Coluim may have been a son of the Strathclyde British king Owain Foel, perhaps by a daughter of Máel Coluim II, King of Scotland.
  Duncan in fact believes that the Battle o
caption: Anachronistic early 19th-century depiction by John Martin of Mac Bethad (centre-right) watching Siward's Northumbrian army approaching (right)
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