Dyfnwal ab Owain, King of Strathclyde

Dyfnwal ab Owain
King of Strathclyde
Dyfnwal's name as it appears on folio 15r of Oxford Bodleian Library MS Rawlinson B 488 (the Annals of Tigernach): "Domnall mac Eoain".
Died	975
Issue	Rhydderch?, Máel Coluim, and Owain?
Father	Owain ap Dyfnwal

Dyfnwal ab Owain (died 975) was a 10th-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 9th or 10th 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. How much authority the Scots enjoyed over the Cumbrian realm is uncertain.

In 971, the reigning Cuilén mac Illuilb, King of Alba was slain by Rhydderch ap Dyfnwal. At some point after this act, Cuilén's ultimate successor, Cináed mac Maíl Choluim, King of Alba, is recorded to have penetrated deep into Cumbrian territory, possibly as a retaliatory act. The following year, the reigning Edgar, King of the English held a remarkable assembly at Chester which numerous northern kings seem to have attended. Both Dyfnwal and his son, Máel Coluim, appear to have attended this assembly. The latter is styled King of the Cumbrians in the context of this meeting, which might indicate that Dyfnwal had previously abdicated the throne.