#Hunt for helm of raedwald portable#

It is no exaggeration to say that Bridei laid the foundations for the modern country of Scotland. Uncertainty also surrounds how tall a hill must be before it deserves to be called a mons in Latin.

It should be noted, however, that Bede was no eyewitness. This site has mountains and an adjoining вЂcrane lakeвЂ™ in the form of Loch Insh. It could, therefore, depict any number of battles.ДЄlex Woolf has proposed an alternative site of Dunachton, seven kilometres north-east of Kingussie. A revised dating of the Aberlemno Churchyard Stone, however, suggests it was raised in the mid-ninth century. The area does boast a Pictish cross-slab with scenes of a desperate battle carved in relief. It has been observed that the gently rolling hills around Dunnichen are somewhat at odds with BedeвЂ™s description of inaccessorum montium, вЂinaccessible mountainsвЂ™. Similarly the defeated Angelfolc, вЂAngle folkвЂ™, also appear to have remembered the clash as having taken place at a body of water which they seem to have called Nechtanesmere, the вЂmereвЂ™ or lake of Nechtan.Д«ede, the Northumbrian monk and historian, was later to write of the battle: вЂњThe enemy feigned flight and lured the king into some narrow passes in the midst of inaccessible mountains there he was killed with the greater part of the forces he had taken with him.вЂќ Bridei and his men may have referred to the site not as DГєn Nechtain, which is a Gaelic place-name meaning вЂfortress of NechtanвЂ™, but as Linn Garan, a Brittonic place-name preserved in a ninth-century source and thought to mean вЂcrane lakeвЂ™. Tradition holds that they met near the modern village of Dunnichen in Angus. Historian Alex Woolf has convincingly argued that BrideiвЂ™s kingdom, Fortriu, was centred on the shores of the Moray Firth вЂ“ several daysвЂ™ ride from Northumbria. When Ecgfrith made war on Bridei, a man he was related to through his motherвЂ™s line, it was against the advice of his counsellors. The Aberlemno Churchyard Stone, near Forfar, believed by some to depict the battle.

#Hunt for helm of raedwald portable#

Cattle on the hoof was the main source of portable wealth but precious metalwork and packed grain carts may also have been expected. The вЂyoke of servitudeвЂ™ the Picts seem to have been under would probably have involved the forced payment of tribute, perhaps through Beornhaeth, to Northumbria. His kingdom isnвЂ™t named but James E Fraser believes he may have been defending lands he held in Fife. Stephen also lauds the actions of Beornhaeth, the вЂbrave subregulusвЂ or вЂsubject kingвЂ™. вЂњHe (Ecgfrith) slew an enormous number of the people, filling two rivers with corpses, so that, marvellous to relate, the slayers, passing over the rivers dry foot, pursued and slew the crowd of fugitives the tribes were reduced to slavery and remained subject under the yoke of captivity.вЂќ

The subsequent Battle of Two Rivers, perhaps taking place in the much-bloodied frontier of the Forth valley, takes its name from a further description in StephenвЂ™s account. They gathered together innumerable nations from every nook and corner of the north, like a swarm of ants in the summer, sweeping from their hills.вЂќ Stephen of Ripon, an English chronicler of the time, tells us: вЂњThe bestial Pictish peoples had a fierce contempt for subjection to the Saxon and threatened to throw off from themselves the yoke of servitude. Some 14 years earlier, Ecgfrith had led a similar foray north of the Tweed, against BrideiвЂ™s predecessor Drust. It was to be the crucible of an early Scotland. The Pictish army of Bridei son of Beli, king of Fortriu, faced that of his cousin Ecgfrith son of Oswiu, king of the Northumbrian Angles. вЂњArguably the most important turning point in Scottish history.вЂќ