In any case, Máel Coluim's reign was evidently unremarkable, although the tenth-century Saltair na Rann preserves several lines of verse in his praise.

[12][note 2] In 945, the "A" version of the eleventh- to thirteenth-century Annales Cambriæ,[16] and the thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Brut y Tywysogyon reveal that the Kingdom of Strathclyde was wasted by the English.

[17] The ninth- to twelfth-century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle offers more information, and relates that Edmund I, King of the English harried across the land of the Cumbrians, and let the region to Máel Coluim mac Domnaill.

[22] The ritual blinding of kings was not an unknown act in contemporary Britain and Ireland,[23] and it is possible that Edmund may have meant to deprive Dyfnwal of a royal heir.

[32] The ninth- to twelfth-century Chronicle of the Kings of Alba reports that the killer was a certain Rhydderch ap Dyfnwal, a man who slew Cuilén for the sake of his own daughter.

[55] By the twelfth century, the eight kings began to be named and were alleged to have rowed Edgar down the River Dee, as evidenced by sources such as the twelfth-century texts Chronicon ex chronicis,[56] Gesta regum Anglorum,[57] and De primo Saxonum adventu,[58] as well as the thirteenth-century Chronica majora,[59] and both the Wendover[60] and Paris versions of Flores historiarum.

[66][note 4] Although the latter accounts allege that the kings submitted to Edgar, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle merely states that they came to an agreement of cooperation with him, and thus became his efen-wyrhtan ("co-workers", "even-workers", "fellow-workers").

According to the same source, when Edmund let Cumbria to Máel Coluim mac Domnaill, he had done so on the condition that the latter would be his mid-wyrhta ("co-worker", "even-worker", "fellow-worker", "together-wright").

[69] Less reliable non-contemporary sources such as De primo Saxonum adventu,[70] both the Wendover[71] and Paris versions of Flores historiarum,[72] and Chronica majora allege that Edgar granted Lothian to Cináed in 975.

[73] If this supposed grant formed a part of the episode at Chester, it along with the concord of 945 could indicate that the assembly of 975 was not a submission as such, but more of a conference concerning mutual cooperation along the English borderlands.

[74] Although the precise chronology of Cumbrian expansion is uncertain, by 927 the southern frontier of the Kingdom of Strathclyde appears to have reached the River Eamont, close to Penrith.

[80] Considering the fact that the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle numbers the kings at six, if Cináed was indeed present, it is unlikely that his rival, Cuilén's brother Amlaíb mac Illuilb, was also in attendance.

[81] Maccus and Gofraid are recorded to have devastated Anglesey at the beginning of the decade,[87] which could indicate that Edgar's assembly was undertaken as a means to counter the menace posed by these energetic insular Scandinavians.

[91] Edgar may have wished to not only rein in men such as Maccus and Gofraid, but prevent them—and the Scots and Cumbrians—from affiliating themselves with Amlaíb Cúarán, and recognising the latter's authority in the Irish Sea region.

[108] Evidence that Máel Coluim had indeed assumed the kingship before the assembly may exist in the record of a certain Malcolm dux who witnessed an English royal charter in 970 at Woolmer.

[110][note 9] If Máel Coluim was indeed king in 973, Dyfnwal's role at the assembly may have been that of an 'elder statesman' of sorts—possibly serving as an adviser or mentor—especially considering his decades of experience in international affairs.

Whilst it is possible that the sons of Dyfnwal maimed by the English in 945 were still alive in the 970s,[47] the horrific injuries endured by these men would have meant that they were deemed unfit to rule.

[116] Certainly, no source records Scottish-Cumbrian political relations at about the inception of Máel Coluim's reign,[117] although the fact that Dyfnwal left for Rome could be evidence that the latter did not regard the realm or dynasty to be threatened during his absence.

[118] Máel Coluim—alongside contemporary Irish, English, and Frankish kings—is commemorated by several lines of panegyric verse preserved by the tenth-century Saltair na Rann.