Ingimundr (tenth century)

This maritime realm weakened from infighting in the later part of the century, and following a devastating defeat to a united force from the kingdoms of Brega and Leinster, the Vikings were finally driven from Dublin in 902 [6] specifically, according to the Annals of Ulster,[7] and Chronicon Scotorum, by the Irish.

[22] The Fragmentary Annals of Ireland, therefore, could well have replaced Anarawd's apparent connection in the ousting of Ingimundr from Anglesey, in favour his more famous nephew, Hywel Dda.

[33] It is almost certain, therefore, that Ingimundr settled his followers on the Wirral between the Dee and Mersey estuaries [34][note 2], and struck a deal with Æthelflæd in which he was bound to safeguard the surrounding region from unwelcome Viking activity.

[37] If the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland is to be believed, the Mercians' plans of making use of such settlement may have backfired as Ingimundr later turned against the English, and convinced other leading Vikings to aid him in what was an unsuccessful assault on Chester itself.

[42] Æðelflæd's aforesaid restoration and construction projects of Eddisbury and Runcorn—as well as those of Thelwall (in 919), Manchester (in 919), and Cledemutha (perhaps Rhuddlan; in 921)—need not have been initiated as a means to counter the threat of substantial Viking settlement, but could have been undertaken with the Welsh in mind.

[43] Whatever the case, the remark by the Fragmentary Annals of Ireland, that Ingimundr convened with the Viking leadership before hostilities were commenced, could conceivably reflect deliberations carried out at the local þing (assembly site) located in Thingwall[44] (a place name derived from the Old Norse þing-vǫllr, "assembly-field").

[45] At one point the tenth-century Armes Prydein makes reference to a great military alliance of peoples that included Gwyðyl Iwerðon, Mon, a Phrydyn ("Gaels of Ireland, Anglesey, and Pictland").

[46] If this remark represents Gaelic speakers, it could refer to Irish colonists on Anglesey who had arrived as a direct result of Ingimundr's abortive immigration from Ireland, or at least as a consequence of his settlement on the island.

[52] It is possible that Ingimundr is identical to a certain "Agmund hold" who is accounted as one of the slain combatants of the Battle of Tettenhall by the C and D versions of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle,[53] and to the similarly named man who was the eponym of Amounderness.