{{Short description|Scottish clan chief}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}} {{ infobox person | name = Tormod MacLeod | resting_place = Iona (according to tradition) | predecessor = Leod (father) | known_for = The 2nd Chief of Clan MacLeod | successor = Malcolm (son) | children = at least two sons }} '''Tormod MacLeod''', sometimes referred to as '''Norman MacLeod''', (Scottish Gaelic: '''Tormod MacLeòid''', and '''Tormod mac Leòd''') (''fl.'' late 13th century) was a west Highland lord, and son of Leod, the traditional founder and eponymous ancestor of Clan MacLeod. Little is known about Tormod; like his father Leod, he does not appear in any contemporary records. His name is remembered today in the Scottish Gaelic name ''Sìol Thormoid'' ("seed of Tormod"), used by a branch of his descendants, the MacLeods of Dunvegan, who are chiefs of Clan MacLeod.
==Biography== Tormod was a son of Leod, the traditional founder and eponymous ancestor of Clan MacLeod. Tormod, just Like his father, does not appear in any contemporary records. The earliest contemporary record to a MacLeod chief dates to the generation after Tormod, during the reign of David II (r. 1329–1371).<ref name="Matheson2">{{cite web |url=http://www.macleodgenealogy.org/Research/Matheson2.html |year=1979 |author=Matheson, William |title=The MacLeods of Lewis |accessdate=30 December 2009 |work=www.macleodgenealogy.org |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727052014/http://www.macleodgenealogy.org/Research/Matheson2.html |archivedate=2011-07-27 }}</ref>
The ''Bannatyne manuscript'' is a traditional history of Clan MacLeod, dating from the early 19th century.<ref name="Matheson1">{{cite web |url=http://www.macleodgenealogy.org/Research/Matheson1.html|author=Matheson, William |title=The Ancestry of the MacLeods |date=18 November 1977 |work=www.macleodgenealogy.org |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727052405/http://www.macleodgenealogy.org/Research/Matheson1.html |archivedate=27 July 2011 }}</ref> It is the main authority for the information on the early chiefs of Clan MacLeod.<ref name="I7">{{cite web |url=http://www.macleodgenealogy.org/ACMS/D0027/I7.html |title=Malcolm Gillecaluim Macleod (III Chief) |accessdate=14 January 2010 |work=www.macleodgenealogy.org |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727053728/http://www.macleodgenealogy.org/ACMS/D0027/I7.html |archivedate=27 July 2011 }}</ref> It makes several references to Tormod and makes him a grandson of Leod. The early 20th-century historian R.C. MacLeod thought it possible that Tormod had a father also named ''Tormod'', who died before Leod. MacLeod stated that this father married the daughter of an Irish chieftain named ''M'Crotan''.<ref name="MacLeodRC"/> The current view by modern historians is that Tormod was, however, not a grandson, but the son of Leod.<ref name="ref-I398">{{cite web |url=http://www.macleodgenealogy.org/ACMS/D0016/I398.html |title=Torquil Og Macleod (I of Lewis) |accessdate=30 December 2009 |work=www.macleodgenealogy.org |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727052409/http://macleodgenealogy.org/ACMS/D0016/I398.html |archivedate=2011-07-27 }}</ref><ref name="I2">{{cite web |url=http://www.macleodgenealogy.org/ACMS/D0022/I2.html |title=Tormod <nowiki>[</nowiki>Norman<nowiki>]</nowiki> Macleod (II chief) |accessdate=30 December 2009 |work=www.macleodgenealogy.org |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727052526/http://macleodgenealogy.org/ACMS/D0022/I2.html |archivedate=2011-07-27 }}</ref> The ''Bannatyne manuscript'' states that Tormod was considered to be one of the greatest soldiers of his era; that it was said he fought at the Battle of Bannockburn. It relates that Tormod held the office of sheriff of Skye, and of "the Long Island". It describes how Tormod lived to a great age and was traditionally said to have had a white beard, which was so long that he had to tuck it into his girdle. The manuscript rounds out Tormod's life by stating that he died at his castle on Pabbay and was buried alongside his grandfather at Iona.<ref name="MacLeodRC"/>
The manuscript states that Tormod had three sons by his wife—Malcolm, Leod, and Godfrey. The manuscript relates that Leod was said to have followed Bruce to Ireland, where Leod was killed without an heir; and that Godfrey was a monk and died abroad. Tormod was succeeded by his eldest son, Malcolm.<ref name="MacLeodRC">{{cite book |last=MacLeod |first=Roderick Charles |title=The MacLeods of Dunvegan |url=https://archive.org/details/macleodsofdunveg00macl |year=1927 |publisher=Privately printed for the Clan MacLeod Society |location=Edinburgh |page=[https://archive.org/details/macleodsofdunveg00macl/page/33 33]–34 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.macleodgenealogy.org/ACMS/D0027/I7.html |title=Malcolm Gillecaluim Macleod (III Chief) |accessdate=30 December 2009 |work=www.macleodgenealogy.org |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110727053728/http://www.macleodgenealogy.org/ACMS/D0027/I7.html |archivedate=2011-07-27 }}</ref> The late 20th-century historian William Matheson considered the ''Bannatyne manuscript'' to be of dubious authority, as it is the only source for the sons ''Leod'' and ''Godrey'' and it made no mention of the son ''Murdoch''. This Murdoch was an important son and a glaring omission since he is considered to have been the father of Torquil, founder of the MacLeods of Lewis who are known in Scottish Gaelic as ''Sìol Torcaill'' ("seed of Torcall").<ref name="Matheson2"/>
==See also== *Torquil MacLeod, a grandson of Tormod, though according to tradition he was a younger brother of Tormod
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Clan MacLeod}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macleod, Tormod}} Category:13th-century Scottish people Tormod Category:Burials in Iona