Osulf I of Bamburgh

Oswulf (fl. c. 946 to after 954) was ruler of Bamburgh and subsequently, according to later tradition, commander of all Northumbria under the lordship of King Eadred of England. He is sometimes called "earl" or "high reeve", though the precise title of the rulers of Bamburgh is unclear. By the twelfth century Oswulf was held responsible for the death of Northumbria's last Norse king, Eric of York, subsequently administering the Kingdom of York on behalf of Eadred. Identity Only elements of Oswulf's origin are accounted for. A genealogy in the text De Northumbria post Britannos, recording the ancestry of Waltheof Earl of Northampton (and, briefly, Northumbria), says that Oswulf was the son of Eadwulf I of Bamburgh, the ′King of the Northern English′ who died in 913. There has also been modern speculation that he was son of Ealdred I of Bamburgh, and thus grandson of Eadwulf I. Richard Fletcher and David Rollason thought he might be the Oswulf who had witnessed charters further south in the 930s, which if true would extend Oswulf's back to 934. He is the first man specifically designated "high-reeve" of Bamburgh. High-reeve is Old English , and Alfred Smyth thought the style was influenced by the Scottish word mormaer, which possibly has the same meaning ("High Steward"). Judging by the North People's Law, a high-reeve was not the same as an ealdorman, having only half an ealdorman's wergild.