may explain why Mac Bethad was called a king when he met Knútr. Although the apparent date of Mac Bethad's accession to the mormaership (1032) appears to contradict the date of the kings' meeting (1031), this discrepancy can be accounted for in two ways. One possibility is that Gilla Comgáin was actually slain in 1031 but only recorded in 1032. Another possibility is that Knútr merely returned from Rome in 1031, but actually met with the kings in 1032, after Gilla Comgáin's demise and Mac Bethad's accession. There is further evidence that could cast doubt on the date of the meeting. Although the aforesaid versions of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle date Knútr's pilgrimage to 1031, he is otherwise known to have visited Rome in 1027. Whilst it is possible he undertook two pilgrimages during his career, it is more likely that the chronicle has misdated his journey. In fact, it possible that the chronicle failed to account for the time in which Knútr spent on the continent and Scandinavia after having visited Rome. Further confusion about Knútr in Scottish affairs comes from a continental source. At some point before about 1030, the eleventh-century Historiarum libri quinque, by Rodulfus Glaber, records that Knútr fought a long campaign against Máel Coluim, and that hostilities were finally brought to a close by the intervention of Knútr's wife, Emma, and her brother, Richard II, Duke of Normandy. If Rodulfus' account is to be believed, this conflict must have taken place before Richard's death in 1026, and could refer to events surrounding Máel Coluim's violent annexation of Lothian early in Knútr's reign. Despite uncertainties surrounding the reliability of Rodulfus' version of events, unless the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle has misdated Knútr's meeting in Scotland, Rodulfus' account could be evidence that Knútr involved himself with Scottish affairs before and after 1026. The record of Echmarcach in company with Máel Coluim and Mac Bethad could indicate that he was in some sense a 'Scottish' ruler, and that his powerbase was located in the Isles. Such an orientation could add weight to the possibility that Echmarcach was descended from Ragnall mac Gofraid. As for Máel Coluim, his influence in the Isles may be evidenced by the twelfth-century Prophecy of Berchán, which could indicate that he resided or exerted power in the Hebrides, specifically on the Inner Hebridean islands of Arran and Islay. Further evidence of Máel Coluim's influence in the Isles