Eadwulf Evil-child

Eadwulf Evil-child Latin: Eadulphus cognomento Yvelcildus
Born	10th-century
Title	Earl of Bamburgh

Eadulf, Eadwulf, or occasionally Adulf, surnamed Evil-child (Old English: Yvelcild or Ewelthild), (fl. AD 973) was Earl of Bamburgh in the late tenth century. Although Eadwulf is sometimes described as the Earl of Northumbria, he ruled only the northern portion of Northumbria from the River Tees to possibly as far north as the Firth of Forth.

The details of Eadwulf's early life are not known except that his surname evil-child may indicate that he was a wild youth with evil-child being equivalent to "bad boy" in modern English. Alternatively, as cild, when used as a cognomen, was an Old English title borne by some Anglo-Saxon nobles to denote a man of high rank, it may be the case that Eadwulf acquired the name simply because of his bad character or because he was considered unworthy to hold noble rank.

His first name, Eadwulf, may indicate that he was related to a previous ruler of Northumbria, Eadwulf II who died in 913. At least one 19th century work suggests that Eadwulf was probably the son of Osulf, the man whom Eadwulf later succeeded as ruler of Bamburgh.

De primo Saxonum adventu, an eleventh- or twelfth-century compilation from earlier sources, notes that after the death of Osulf (no later than 963), Northumbria was divided into two parts. The English king Edgar granted Eadulf Evil-child the lands between the Myreford (arguably the Firth of Forth) and the River Tees, while Oslac received the lands between the Humber Estuary and the Tees. According to John of Wallingford, King Edgar made this division during a council at York, in order to prevent the whole area becoming the inheritance of one man. At the ceremony Eadwulf was "girt with the sword" of his new earldom but he was not crowned.

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