Editing Leod (section)

{{Short description|Founder of Clan MacLoed}}
{{Other uses|Leod (disambiguation)}}
{{EngvarB|date=October 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{infobox person
| name                      = Leod
| birth_date                = {{circa|lk=yes}} 1200
| death_date                = 1280
| resting_place             = [[Iona]] (according to tradition)
| known_for                 = The 1st [[Chief of Clan MacLeod]]
| successor                 = [[Tormod, son of Leod|Tormod]] (son)
| children                  = at least one son (several sons and daughters according to tradition)
| relations                 = [[Foster son]] of [[Páll Bálkason]] (according to tradition)
}}
'''Leod''' ([[Scottish Gaelic]]: '''Leòd'''; [[Old Norse]]: '''Ljótr''') ({{circa|lk=yes}} 1200 – 1280) was the [[eponymous]] ancestor and founder of [[Clan MacLeod]] and [[Clan MacLeod of Lewis]]. Almost nothing is known about him and he does not appear in any contemporary records.<ref name="ref-APMacLeod"/> Tradition dating to the late 18th century made him a son of [[Olaf the Black]] who was [[King of Man]] (r. 1225–1237).<ref name=dewar>{{cite book |last=Dewar |first=Peter Beauclerk |title=Burke's landed gentry of Great Britain: together with members of the titled and non-titled contemporary establishment |year=2001 |publisher=[[Burke's Peerage & Gentry]] |edition=19, illustrated |isbn=978-0-9711966-0-5| page=941}}</ref> [[Heraldic]] evidence, dating to the late 17th century, is considered to be the earliest evidence of descent from Olaf the Black. However, in recent years, this traditional lineage has been challenged and is no longer considered fact by one historian.<ref name="ref-I1">{{cite web |url=http://www.macleodgenealogy.org/ACMS/D0021/I1.html |title=Leod Olafson (I Chief) |access-date=8 December 2009 |work=macleodgenealogy.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513073040/http://www.macleodgenealogy.org/ACMS/D0021/I1.html |archive-date=13 May 2008 }} see "!CAVEAT".</ref>

According to Clan MacLeod tradition, Leod inherited some of his lands from a foster father, who was a sheriff of the [[Hebridean]] island of [[Skye]]; other lands he inherited from his father-in-law, who was also a lord on Skye. MacLeod tradition also states that Leod was the father of four sons and two daughters. Two of these sons founded the two main branches of MacLeods; branches which exist to this day—[[Tormod, son of Leod|Tormod]] (from whom the MacLeods of Harris and Dunvegan descend) and [[Torquil, son of Murdoch|Torquil]] (from whom the MacLeods of Lewis descend). The traditional belief that Torquil was a son has also been challenged; the current understanding is that he was a great-grandson of Leod.<ref name="ref-I398">{{cite web|url=http://www.macleodgenealogy.org/ACMS/D0016/I398.html |title=Torquil Og Macleod (I of Lewis) |access-date=8 December 2009 |work=macleodgenealogy.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727052409/http://macleodgenealogy.org/ACMS/D0016/I398.html |archive-date=27 July 2011 }}</ref> In recent years, the [[Genealogical DNA test#Y chromosome .28Y-DNA.29 testing|DNA]] evidence of men bearing surnames equating to ''MacLeod'' has revealed that a certain proportion share a common ancestor—an ancestor considered to have been the clan's founder.