Editing Leod (section)

==Traditional ancestry==
[[File:Arms of "Le sire de bes" from the Armorial de Berry.jpg|right|thumb|150px|The [[coat of arms]] of the MacLeods of [[Isle of Harris|Harris]], recorded in a mid-15th century [[armorial]]. {{#tag:ref|This is the 'MacLeod of Harris and Dunvegan' coat of arms which appears in the mid 15th century [[roll of arms]] ''Armorial de Berry'' (the roll actually lists the arms as those of "Le sire de bes").<ref>{{cite journal |last=Clouston |first=J. Storer |author-link=Storer Clouston |date=1937–1938 |title=The Armorial de Berry. (Scottish Section) |journal=[[Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland]] |volume=72 |url=http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/PSAS_2002/pdf/vol_072/72_084_114.pdf |pages=84–114|doi=10.9750/PSAS.072.84.114 |s2cid=167008260 }}</ref> The [[blazon]] is: ''[[Azure (heraldry)|azure]], a castle triple-towered [[argent]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.heraldry-scotland.co.uk/Mitchell/berry.html |title=Armorial de Berry |access-date=23 December 2009 |work=heraldry-scotland.co.uk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090219221642/http://heraldry-scotland.co.uk/Mitchell/berry.html |archive-date=19 February 2009 }}</ref> The castle may represent the [[clan seat|seat]] of the chiefs—[[Dunvegan Castle]], located on [[Skye]].<ref name="ref-Sellar"/> The MacLeods did not add the Manx [[triskelion]] to their arms until hundreds of years after this roll was created.|group=note}}]]
[[File:Coat of Arms of Macleod of Macleod.svg|right|thumb|150px|The present [[Coat of arms|arms]] of [[Chiefs of Clan MacLeod|MacLeod of MacLeod]].]]

According to MacLeod tradition, Leod is the [[eponymous]] ancestor of the [[Scottish clan|clan]]. However, little to nothing is known about this man; he does not appear in any contemporary records.<ref name="ref-APMacLeod"/> The earliest historical record of a [[Chiefs of Clan MacLeod|MacLeod chief]] occurs almost a century after he is thought to have [[flourished]]—when the names of "Malcolme, son to Tormode M'Cloyde",<ref name=robertson48>{{cite book |last=Robertson |first=William |title=An index, drawn up about the year 1629, of many records of charters, granted by the different sovereigns of Scotland between the years 1309 and 1413, most of which records have been long missing. With an introduction, giving a state, founded on authentic documents still preserved, of the ancient records of Scotland, which were in that kingdom in the year 1292. To which is subjoined, indexes of the persons and places mentioned in those charters, alphabetically arranged |url=https://archive.org/details/indexdrawnupabou00grea |year=1798 |publisher=Printed by Murray & Cochrane |location=[[Edinburgh]] |page=[https://archive.org/details/indexdrawnupabou00grea/page/48 48]}}</ref> and that of "Torkyll M'Cloyd",<ref name=robertson48/> appear in a [[royal charter]] during the reign of [[David II of Scotland|David II]], [[King of Scots]] (r. 1329–1371). Until quite recently, Leod has generally been considered to have been the son of [[Olaf the Black]], [[King of Mann and the Isles]] (r. 1225–1237).<ref name=dewar/>

This traditional ancestry may be traced to the late 17th century when a chief adopted the designation of "McOlaus" and another was the first MacLeod to incorporate the royal Manx arms into MacLeod heraldry. In a document dating to 1630, Iain Mòr MacLeod of Dunvegan (chief 1626–1649) appears as "John McOlaus of [[Dunvegan]]e"—''McOlaus'' representing ''MacOlaf''.<ref name="ref-APMacLeod"/> This chief's son, Iain Breac (chief 1664–1693), is the first MacLeod to have incorporated the Manx [[triskelion]] into his [[coat of arms]].<ref name="ref-APMacLeod"/> The triskelion was borne in the arms of the kings of [[Kingdom of Mann and the Isles|Mann and the Isles]] as far back as the 13th century.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gov.im/isleofman/facts.xml#coat |title=Flag |access-date=2 January 2010 |work=[[www.gov.im]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070510212828/http://www.gov.im/isleofman/facts.xml#coat |archive-date=10 May 2007 }}</ref>{{#tag:ref|The royal arms of the Kingdom of Mann are derived from the [[heraldic emblem|emblem]] of the 10th century Manx dynasty.<ref name="McAndrew">{{cite book |author=McAndrew, Bruce A. |title=Scotland's Historic Heraldry |year=2006 |edition=Illustrated |publisher=Boydell Press |isbn=978-1-84383-261-4 |page=65 }}</ref> These arms appear in several mediaeval armorials, such as the English ''Walford's Roll'',<ref name="McAndrew"/> and ''Camden Roll'',<ref name="Greenstreet">{{cite journal |last1=Greenstreet |first1=James |year=1882 |title=The Original Camden Roll of Arms |journal=Journal of the British Archaeological Association |publisher=[[British Archaeological Association]] |volume=38 |issue=3 |page=312 |doi=10.1080/00681288.1882.11887809 }}</ref> as well as the French ''Wijbergen Roll''.<ref name="McAndrew"/> Within the ''Camden Roll'' they appear illustrated as ''[[gules]], three mailed legs embowed, and conjoined at the thighs, [[argent]]''; the original [[Norman French]] blazon reads "l'escu de gules, a treis iambes armes".<ref name="Greenstreet"/>|group=note}} The earliest known arms borne by the MacLeods of Harris and Dunvegan (''pictured top-right'') are, however, quite different the royal Manx arms.<ref name="ref-Sellar"/> These earliest MacLeod arms date to the mid-15th century; recorded in a leading European [[armorial]] known as the ''Armorial de Berry''.<ref name="ref-Sellar"/> Accordingly, it has been suggested that these points show that 17th-century belief of a descent from Olaf was not one of long standing.<ref name="ref-APMacLeod">{{cite web|url=http://www.macleodgenealogy.org/Research/APMacLeod.html |title=The Ancestry of Leod |access-date=8 December 2009 |work=macleodgenealogy.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727051958/http://www.macleodgenealogy.org/Research/APMacLeod.html |archive-date=27 July 2011 }} This webpage cited: {{cite magazine |last=MacLeod |first=Andrew P. |year=2000 |title=The Ancestry of Leod |magazine=Clan MacLeod Magazine |issue=91 }}</ref><ref name="ref-Sellar"/>

There are various other points which cast serious doubt on Leod's traditional ancestry. In 1265, [[Magnus Olafsson|Magnus, King of Mann]], the last king of this Manx dynasty died. Later in 1275, Magnus's [[illegitimate]] son, Godfrey died while leading a revolt. At least two women later came forward with claims for the kingdom—yet Leod and his sons did not. According to [[W. D. H. Sellar|W.D.H. Sellar]], it is hard to believe that a descendant of the royal line would not have put forward a claim. Another point put forward is that the MacLeods did not adopt the royal names of the 13th century Manx dynasty—names such as ''Godfrey'' ([[Old Norse]]: ''Guðrøðr''; Gaelic: ''[[Gofraid]]''), ''[[Ranald (given name)|Ranald]]'' (Old Norse ''Rögnvaldr''; Gaelic: ''[[Raghnall]]''), ''Olaf'' (Old Norse ''Óláfr''; Gaelic ''Amlaíb''), and ''Harald'' (Old Norse ''Haraldr''; Gaelic ''Aralt'').<ref name="ref-Sellar"/> Sellar illustrated his point by noting the royal names adopted by the descendants of [[Somerled]] (d. 1164) and his wife [[Ragnhildis Olafsdottir|Ragnhild]], daughter of [[Olaf I Godredsson|Olaf the Red]] (grandfather of Olaf the Black).<ref name="ref-Sellar"/>

In the 17th century, [[George Mackenzie, 1st Earl of Cromartie]] wrote a history of the [[Clan Mackenzie|Mackenzies]], which included a genealogy of the [[Clan MacLeod of Lewis|MacLeods of Lewis]] (from whom he was also descended). Cromartie's genealogy listed Leod as a son of [[Aralt mac Gofraid|Harald]], son of [[Godred Donn]]. Later genealogies, however, made Leod a son of Olaf the Black—genealogies found in Sir [[Robert Douglas of Glenbervie]]'s ''Baronage of Scotland'', of 1798; and the ''[[Bannatyne manuscript (Clan MacLeod)|Bannatyne manuscript]]'', which dates to about 1830.<ref name="Matheson1">{{cite web|url=http://www.macleodgenealogy.org/Research/Matheson1.html |title=The Ancestry of the MacLeods |access-date=16 January 2010 |work=macleodgenealogy.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727052405/http://www.macleodgenealogy.org/Research/Matheson1.html |archive-date=27 July 2011 }} This webpage cited: {{cite journal |last=Matheson |first=William |title=The MacLeods of Lewis |journal=Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness |year=1978–80 |volume=51 |location=[[Inverness]] |pages=68–80}}</ref> In the ''Baronage of Scotland'', Glenbervie stated that he had obtained information from the MacLeods of [[Dunvegan]] which was allegedly based upon information found within the mediaeval ''[[Chronicles of Mann]]'' and [[William Camden]]'s 17th century ''Britannia''—however, neither of these two works make any mention of Leod at all. In 1977, historian William Matheson rejected the traditional descent from Olaf the Black on the basis that it is unsupported by any facts whatsoever, and that it is also contradicted by earlier, more authentic, [[Scottish Gaelic|Gaelic-language]] genealogies.<ref name="Matheson1"/>

===Traditional genealogies reconsidered===
[[File:Leod, relevant pedigrees.svg|thumb|left|The four relevant [[pedigree chart|pedigree]]s concerning the ancestry of Leod<ref name="ref-Sellar"/> (click to enlarge).]]

In recent years, several historians have noted that within the Gaelic-language genealogies and praise-poetry concerning the MacLeods, Leod's great-grandfather's name appears to equate to the Old Norse ''Ölvir'', ''Olvér''; rather than the Old Norse ''Óláfr''.<ref name="ref-APMacLeod"/><ref name="ONMensNames">{{cite web|url=http://www.vikinganswerlady.com/ONMensNames.shtml |title=Old Norse Men's Names |access-date=21 December 2009 |work=vikinganswerlady.com }} This webpage cited: {{cite book |title=The Old Norse Name |series=Studia Marklandica I |last=Haraldsson |first=Geirr Bassi |year=1977 |publisher=[[Markland Medieval Militia]] |location=[[Olney, Maryland]] |page=13 }}; and also {{cite web|url=http://www.sofi.se/servlet/GetDoc?meta_id=1472 |title=Nordiskt runnamnslexikon (Dictionary of Names from Old Norse Runic Inscriptions) |author=Peterson, Lena |publisher=Språk-och folkminnes-institutet (Institute for Dialectology, Onomastics and Folklore Research) |access-date=30 September 2005 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110225031159/http://www.sofi.se/servlet/GetDoc?meta_id=1472 |archive-date=25 February 2011 }}; see also {{cite web|url=http://www.sofi.se/images/runor/pdf/lexikon.pdf |title=lexikon |author=Peterson, Lena |access-date=18 February 2010 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110518034405/http://www.sofi.se/images/runor/pdf/lexikon.pdf |archive-date=18 May 2011 }}</ref> There are considered to be four significant Gaelic-language genealogies which concern Leod's ancestry. These [[pedigree chart|pedigrees]] roughly agree with one another in the three generations after Leod. The greatest similarity between these genealogies are the names of Leod's great-grandfather, variously spelt ''Oilmoir'', ''Olbair Snaige'', ''Olbuir Snaithe'', and ''Olbair Snoice''.<ref name="ref-APMacLeod"/> Taking into account variances in spelling, these names are now considered to represent the literary Gaelic ''Olbhar'', and the [[vernacular]] Gaelic ''Olghair''; both which are in turn forms of ''Ölvir''.<ref name="Matheson1"/>

Matheson proposed that when Camden published his ''Britannia'' which included an account of the kings of Mann, [[genealogist]]s saw the [[Latin]] ''Olavus'' (a [[Latin]] form of the Old Norse ''Óláfr'') and concluded that it represented the Gaelic name ''Olbhar'', ''Olghair''. However, the Scottish Gaelic form of ''Olaf'', ''Olavus'', ''Olaus'', ''Óláfr'', is in fact ''[[Amhlaoibh]]'', and the more modern ''[[Amhlaidh]]''. Matheson further proposed that Leod's father's name also equates to ''Ölvir''.<ref name="Matheson1"/> So in Matheson's opinion, genealogists mistakenly attached Leod's father and great-grandfather to the Manx king Olaf the Black and his own grandfather, Olaf the Red.<ref name="ref-APMacLeod"/> While Matheson's identification of the name of Leod's grandfather is now accepted, Sellar later disagreed with him on the name of Leod's father; proposing instead that it was more likely the Gaelic name ''Gillemuire''—a name which appears on one of the four Gaelic-language genealogies.<ref name="ref-APMacLeod"/><ref name="ref-Sellar">{{cite web|url=http://www.macleodgenealogy.org/Research/Sellar.html |title=The Ancestry of the MacLeods Reconsidered |access-date=8 December 2009 |work=macleodgenealogy.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080513072921/http://www.macleodgenealogy.org/Research/Sellar.html |archive-date=13 May 2008 }} This webpage cited: {{cite journal |last=Sellar |first=William David Hamilton |author-link=David Sellar |year=1997–1998 |title=The Ancestry of the MacLeods Reconsidered |journal=Transactions of the Gaelic Society of Inverness |volume=60 |pages=233–258 }}</ref>

[[File:Family tree of Olvir Rosta, and descendants of Moddan.png|thumb|The ancestry and some of the relatives of [[Olvir Rosta]], according to the ''[[Orkneyinga saga]]''.]]

Leod's name is represented in Scottish Gaelic as ''Leòd''. This name is a Gaelic form of the [[Old Norse]] ''Ljótr'',<ref name="Matheson1"/> meaning "ugly".<ref>{{cite book |last=Reaney |first=Percy Hilde |author2=Wilson, Richard Middlewood  |title=A Dictionary of English Surnames |edition=3rd |year=2006 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |location=London |page=2054 |isbn=0-203-99355-1}}</ref> Matheson stated that this Norse name was rare in both [[Scandinavia]] and [[Iceland]]. He noted that in Scotland it was peculiar to the MacLeods, though it is almost never used within the clan. Matheson speculated that Leod's great-grandfather would have likely flourished at about the same time as [[Olvir Rosta]] was supposedly [[exile]]d to the [[Outer Hebrides]]. Matheson went even further and proposed that Leod's great-grandfather was in fact Olvir Rosta—a character from the mediaeval ''[[Orkneyinga saga]]''.<ref name="ref-Sellar"/><ref name="Matheson1"/> Matheson noted that while the name ''Ljótr'' is rare, Olvir Rosta's maternal grandfather appears in the saga as ''Ljótr níðingr'' ('Ljótr Villain'). In Matheson's opinion, since the Gaelic-language genealogies are inconsistent in the generations further back than Leod's great-grandfather, this may show that the man was a newcomer in the area.<ref name="Matheson1"/> Sellar, however, rejected Matheson's proposal, commenting that such evidence was entirely [[Circumstantial evidence|circumstantial]]. Sellar stated that ''Olvir'' was not such a rare name; also, Olvir Rosta's genealogy and family within the saga (see above right) has no similarity with that recorded in the Gaelic-language genealogies relevant to Leod.<ref name="ref-Sellar"/>

In contrast to Matheson's opinion about the name ''Ljótr'', the 20th-century historian A. Morrison was of the opinion that the name may not be as rare as some people have thought. Morrison noted that the 19th century antiquary [[F. W. L. Thomas|F.W.L. Thomas]] considered another saga character to be an eponymous ancestor of the MacLeods—this character was [[Ljótólfr]], who would have lived on Lewis about a century before Leod's time.<ref name="Morrison"/><ref>{{cite book |editor=Vigfusson, Gudbrand |title=Icelandic sagas and other historical documents relating to the settlements and descents of the Northmen on the British isles |url=https://archive.org/details/icelandicsagasot01stur |year=1887 |location=London |pages=xxxvii–xxxviii |editor-link=Gudbrand Vigfusson }}</ref> Morrison considered it possible that Leod's name could have ultimately originated from that of Ljótólfr's; however, while he considered it possible that Ljótólfr could have been an ancestor of Leod, he did not think it could have been in the male-line.<ref name="Morrison">{{cite web|url=http://www.macleodgenealogy.org/Research/Morrison.html |title=The Origin of Leod |access-date=17 January 2010 |work=macleodgenealogy.org |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727053820/http://www.macleodgenealogy.org/Research/Morrison.html |archive-date=27 July 2011 }} This webpage cited: {{cite book |title=The Chiefs of Clan MacLeod |last=Morrison |first=Alick |year=1986 |publisher=Associated Clan MacLeod Societies |location=[[Edinburgh]] |pages=1–20 }}</ref>