[1] It was fought by Scottish forces against Viking invaders who were defeated.

The first account of the Battle of Embo was written by Sir Robert Gordon, 1st Baronet (1580–1656) in his A Genealogical History of the Earldom of Sutherland.

[2] Gordon states that the "Danes and Norwegians" (Vikings) invaded the northern part of the kingdom of Scotland and that William de Moravia, 1st Earl of Sutherland sent his "servant" Richard de Moravia (Richard Morray) to hold the rebels until the earl himself could arrive with a larger force to oppose them.

[3][4] The earl apparently secured the victory when he killed the Danish general with the severed leg of a horse.

[5] The Earl of Sutherland arranged for Richard de Moravia to be buried in Dornoch Cathedral and for a statue to be erected of him.