Battle of Cruden Bay

The Battle of Cruden Bay is said to have occurred in the summer of 1012 in the North East of Scotland between Scottish forces, led by Malcolm II, and Norwegians and Danes led by, among others, the teenage son of king Sweyn Forkbeard who was later to become king Canute of England.[1]

Allegedly, the village of Cruden Bay's name is derived from the Gaelic Croch Dain [2] or Croivdan,[3] meaning 'Slaughter of Danes'.

The 1000th anniversary of the battle was marked in 2012,[4] but there are several reasons why such a battle is unlikely to have taken place.[original research?] Most important, the 'battle' is not mentioned by any medieval source. More than 500 years passed before its first appearance in book 11 of John Bellenden Croniklis of Scotland (1536),[5]. Bellenden claimed to have produced a translation of the Latin text of Hector Boece Chronica Gentis Scotorum (1527).[6] but added so much material to Boece's already not very reliable text that his Croniklis may almost be considered an independent new work.[citation needed]

Bellenden fabricated most events surrounding the 'final' confrontation between king Malcolm of Scotland and King Sweyn of Norway in chapters 17 and 18.[citation needed] Included in his additional material was a brief account of the battle of Cruden Bay. In fact, he got almost every detail wrong: for example, he confused Sweyn Forkbeard (de jure king of Norway) with Sweyn Haakonsson (de facto king of Norway) and believed that Canute was king Sweyn Haakonson's brother. And he claims that King Malcolm dedicated a chapel to St Olave in memory of the post-battle agreement with Canute. Olaf II of Norway died in 1030, 18 years after the battle of Cruden Bay, was venerated as a saint in Nidaros, Norway the following year. However, he was not officially recognised as a saint until 1164. Malcolm died 1034.

Militarily, seen from the Danes' perspective, the battle of Cruden Bay makes no sense. In the summer of 1012 Sweyn Forkbeard led a Danish army that successfully collected Danegeld of 48000 pounds silver from the English, and in the month of December the following year he was made king of England. Under these circumstances, it would not be sensible for Canute's father to allow his teenage son, Canute, to take an invasion force to Scotland in 1012.[citation needed]

  1. ^ John Bellenden The History and Chronicles of Scotland, vol. 2, Book 11, chapters 17-18 (Edinburgh, 1821)
  2. ^ A Brief History of Cruden Parish Church crudenchurch.org.uk, accessed 14 October 2008
  3. ^ John Bellenden The History and Chronicles of Scotland, vol. 2, (Edinburgh, 1821) p. 249.
  4. ^ "Cruden Viking battle remembered". BBC. 30 July 2012. Retrieved 25 December 2018.
  5. ^ Boece, Hector (1821). "The History and Chronicles of Scotland".
  6. ^ "Scotorum historiae a prima gentis origine : Cum aliarum & rerum & gentium illustratione non vulgari : Praemissa epistola nu[m]cupatoria, tabellisq[ue] amplissmis & non poenitenda isagoge quae ab huius terho explicabuntur diffusius". 1526.