Talorg son of Uuid ( sga, Talorc mac Foith; died 653) was a king of the

Picts The Picts were a group of peoples who lived in what is now northern and eastern Scotland (north of the Firth of Forth) during Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Where they lived and what their culture was like can be inferred from ea ...

from 641 to 653. The Pictish king lists give him a reign of eleven or twelve years following his brother Bridei son of Uuid. A third brother, Gartnait son of Uuid, was king before Bridei, and some versions of the king lists have Talorg succeeding Gartnait directly. The three sons of Uuid were probably based in the southern Pictish territories south of the

Mounth The Mounth ( ) is the broad upland in northeast Scotland between the Highland Boundary and the River Dee, at the eastern end of the Grampians. Name and etymology The name ''Mounth'' is ultimately of Pictish origin. The name is derived from ' ...

, and between them they ruled continuously from 631 to 653. Uuid, Talorg's father, may be the same person as the Gwid son of Peithan recorded in the Welsh poem ''

Y Gododdin ''Y Gododdin'' () is a medieval Welsh poem consisting of a series of elegies to the men of the Brittonic kingdom of Gododdin and its allies who, according to the conventional interpretation, died fighting the Angles of Deira and Bernicia at a p ...

'' as a leader allied with the northern

Britons British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs mo ...

fighting against the

Angles The Angles ( ang, Ængle, ; la, Angli) were one of the main Germanic peoples who settled in Great Britain in the post-Roman period. They founded several kingdoms of the Heptarchy in Anglo-Saxon England. Their name is the root of the name ' ...

Northumbria la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria , common_name = Northumbria , status = State , status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...

in the early 7th century. Gwid could have been either a Pictish ally of the Gododdin or a related northern British chief. His name may originally have read "Gwid son of Neithan", suggesting that he was the son of Neithon son of Guipno, king of the British kingdom of

Alt Clut Dumbarton Castle ( gd, Dùn Breatainn, ; ) has the longest recorded history of any stronghold in Scotland. It sits on a volcanic plug of basalt known as Dumbarton Rock which is high and overlooks the Scottish town of Dumbarton. History Dumba ...

, who may in turn be the same person as the Nechtan grandson of Uerb recorded as king of the Picts from 595 to around 616. This theory, which is highly credible chronologically, would make Talorg and his brothers grandsons of Neithan and first cousins of both the later Pictish king

Bridei son of Beli Bridei son of Beli ; died 692) was king of Fortriu and of the Picts from 671 until 692. His reign marks the start of the period known to historians as the Verturian hegemony, a turning point in the history of Scotland, when the uniting of Pictis ...

and the later king of Alt Clut Eugein. Talorg's death is reported by the ''

Annals of Ulster The ''Annals of Ulster'' ( ga, Annála Uladh) are annals of medieval Ireland. The entries span the years from 431 AD to 1540 AD. The entries up to 1489 AD were compiled in the late 15th century by the scribe Ruaidhrí Ó Luinín, ...

'' and the ''

Annals of Tigernach The ''Annals of Tigernach'' ( abbr. AT, ga, Annála Tiarnaigh) are chronicles probably originating in Clonmacnoise, Ireland. The language is a mixture of Latin and Old and Middle Irish. Many of the pre-historic entries come from the 12th-cent ...

'' for 653. He was succeeded by

Talorgan son of Eanfrith Talorgan son of Eanfrith ( sga, Talorcan mac Enfret; died 657) was a King of the Picts from 653 to 657. As with his successors Gartnait son of Donuel and Drest son of Donuel, he reigned as a puppet king under the Northumbrian king Oswiu. Talor ...

, whose name is a

diminutive A diminutive is a root word that has been modified to convey a slighter degree of its root meaning, either to convey the smallness of the object or quality named, or to convey a sense of intimacy or endearment. A (abbreviated ) is a word-formati ...

meaning "Little Talorg", suggesting that Talorg and Talorgan were closely related, with Talorgan's mother possibly being Talorg's sister.

Notes

References

* Anderson, Alan Orr, ''Early Sources of Scottish History A.D 500–1286'', volume 1. Reprinted with corrections. Paul Watkins, Stamford, 1990. * * * *

External links

CELT: Corpus of Electronic Texts
at

University College Cork University College Cork – National University of Ireland, Cork (UCC) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh) is a constituent university of the National University of Ireland, and located in Cork. The university was founded in 1845 as one of ...

includes the ''Annals of Ulster'', ''Tigernach'', ''the Four Masters'' and ''Innisfallen'', the ''Chronicon Scotorum'', the ''Lebor Bretnach'' (which includes the ''Duan Albanach''), Genealogies, and various Saints' Lives. Most are translated into English, or translations are in progress.
Pictish Chronicle
653 deaths Pictish monarchs 7th-century Scottish monarchs Year of birth unknown {{Scotland-hist-stub