Malcolm was born around 897, the son of Donald II, who had reigned from 889 until 900. By the 940s, he was no longer a young man, and may have become impatient in awaiting the throne. Willingly or not—the 11th century
The Prophecy of Berchán, a verse history in the form of a supposed prophecy, states that it was not a voluntary decision that Constantine II abdicated in 943 and entered a monastery, leaving the kingdom to Máel Coluim. Seven years later, the
Chronicle of the Kings of Alba says: [Malcolm I] plundered the English as far as the
River Tees, and he seized a multitude of people and many herds of cattle: and the Scots called this the raid of Albidosorum, that is, Nainndisi. But others say that Constantine made this raid, asking of the king, Malcolm, that the kingship should be given to him for a week's time, so that he could visit the English. In fact, it was Malcolm who made the raid, but Constantine incited him, as I have said. Woolf suggests that the association of Constantine with the raid is a late addition, one derived from a now-lost saga or poem. Máel Coluim was the third in his immediate family to die violently, his father
Donald II and grandfather
Constantine I both having met similar fates 54 years earlier in 900 and 77 years earlier in 877, respectively. In 945,
Edmund I of England, having expelled
Amlaíb Cuarán (Olaf Sihtricsson) from
Northumbria, devastated
Cumbria and blinded two sons of
Domnall mac Eógain, king of
Strathclyde. It is said that he then "let" or "commended" Strathclyde to Máel Coluim in return for an alliance. What is to be understood by "let" or "commended" is unclear, but it may well mean that Máel Coluim had been the overlord of Strathclyde and that Edmund recognised this while taking lands in southern Cumbria for himself. The
Chronicle of the Kings of Alba says that Máel Coluim took an army into
Moray "and slew Cellach". Cellach is not named in the surviving genealogies of the
rulers of Moray, and his identity is unknown. Máel Coluim appears to have kept his agreement with the late English king, which may have been renewed with the new king, Edmund having been murdered in 946 and succeeded by his brother
Eadred. Eric Haraldsson took
York in 948, before being driven out by Eadred, and when
Amlaíb Cuarán again took
York in 949–950, Máel Coluim raided Northumbria as far south as the
Tees taking "a multitude of people and many herds of cattle" according to the Chronicle. The
Annals of Ulster for 952 report a battle between "the men of Alba and the Britons [of Strathclyde] and the English" against the foreigners,
i.e., the Northmen or the
Norse–Gaels. This battle is not reported by the
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and it is unclear whether it should be related to the expulsion of Amlaíb Cuarán from York or the return of Eric. The
Annals of Ulster report that Máel Coluim was killed in 954. Other sources place this most probably in the
Mearns, either at
Fetteresso following the Chronicle, or at
Dunnottar following
The Prophecy of Berchán. He was buried on
Iona. Some versions of the
Chronicle, and the
Chronicle of Melrose, are read as placing Máel Coluim's death at
Blervie, near
Forres. == Issue ==