Findláech of Moray
King of Moray
Findláech mac Ruaidrí (died 1020), son of Ruaidrí mac Donald, was the minor "king", locally called "Mormaer", of Moray, in the north of modern-day Scotland, from some point before 1014 until his death in 1020. Findláech's son Macbethad mac Findláech (Mac Bethad), was made famous as the protagonist of William Shakespeare's play Macbeth.
14th century Scottish chronicler and poet Andrew of Wyntoun claims that Findlaech fathered Mac Bethad with Malcolm II of Scotland's second daughter Donalda, as one of several dynastic marriages Malcolm II used to consolidate his own kingship, but there is no other confirmation of this.
Life and death
Modern historians speculate that Findláech was ruling before 1014 because the Orkneyinga saga describes Jarl Siguðr of Orkney fighting a battle with Scots, led by a Jarl Finnlekr, (Norse for Findláech). Irish princess Eithne had made a banner with a raven on it for Siguðr, and the saga records that Siguðr "later" brought the banner to the Battle of Clontarf, in 1014, where he was killed, placing Findláech as ruler of Moray before 1014.
The Annals of Ulster describe Findláech's death as s.a. 1020 Finnloech m. Ruaidhri, ri Alban, a suis occisus est. "Ri Alban" translates as King of Alba, however, the smaller geographical areas within what is now Scotland each had their own local "kings". The 12th century Scottish King Lists only record Malcolm II of Scotland, (Máel Coluim mac Cináeda), as King of Alba at the time, having directly succeeded his father, Kenneth II of Scotland, (Cináed mac Duib).
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Findláech of Moray” is king of Moray. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Findláech, Moray and King, not as a finished interpretation.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 19, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q325259. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1020 and 1014.
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This entry incorporates text from “Findláech of Moray” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.