Not to know what happened before we were born is to remain perpetually a child. For what is the worth of a human life unless it is woven into the life of our ancestors by the records of history — Cicero

Note: The Reynolds DNA-Genealogy Project has not reviewed information that follows, and, therefore, assumes no responsibility for its accuracy.

Surname Origin

The Reynolds family name is among those that predate recorded European history. Etymologically, the name probably derives from the languages spoken in northern Europe in those areas that are now Denmark and northern Germany.

From the Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4:

Reynolds

English: patronymic from Reynold.

Reynold

English: from a Germanic personal name composed of the elements ragin ‘counsel’ + wald ‘rule’, which was first introduced to England by Scandinavian settlers in the Old Norse form Rognvaldr (see Ronald), and greatly reinforced after the Conquest by the Norman forms Reinald, Reynaud. The surname is occasionally also borne by Jews, in which case it presumably represents an Americanized form of one or more like-sounding Jewish surnames.

Regional dialects and naming customs have created a plethora of Reynolds identities, accounting for the various spellings (Reynold, FitzReynold, Reginald, Randal, Raghnall, Ragnar, McRaghnall, Ragnald, Grannell, etc.), but they all spring from a common source.

When Ivarr died in 873, he was called "king of the Northmen of all Ireland and Britain." We do not know who took over the kingship of Dublin, though we can presume it was perhaps Ivarr's son Greferth the Dane. Whoever it was apparently was weak in building consensus. Dissent between the different Viking clans gave the Irish a chance to regain Dublin, in 902. The Vikings made a habit of raiding the entire area, ravaging Ireland, Scotland, and the whole of the British Isle wherever they could. Eventually, like they had done with Ireland, they eventually got a good foothold on northwest England.

One of the leaders of these Vikings was called Reynold, a 'grandson of Ivarr'. He was known as the King of the Danes by the Irish. In 913, it is recorded in Irish sources that King Reynold arrived with a great many ships and seized the lands of Eldred of Bamburgh. Eldred was an English nobleman who fled north to ask Constantine the King of the Scots for help. King Reynold defeated their combined forces at Corbridge, on the river Tyne. All the English nobles except Eldred and his brother Uhtred were killed, and the Scots were scattered. Reynold divided the territory between two of his men.

King Reynold went off to follow in the family tradition: he fought a naval battle off the Isle of Man in 914, and was involved in fighting between the Irish and Scandinavians near Waterford in 917.

In 918, Reynold was back in the north with an army. The Scots were ready for them on this occasion, and once again they met for battle on the banks of the Tyne. The Scandinavians drew up in four divisions and a reserve. The reserve was led by Reynold, while one of the divisions was led by his brother Guthfrith. After a long and bloody battle of attrition, Reynold's reserve eventually forced a stalemate. Reynold returned the lands to the sons of the Scots' slain leader. In 918, the citizens of York made pleas to the surrounding English for help, but found none. Reynold marched south and took the city with relative ease.

Reynold's seizure of York was a determined attempt to create a kingdom. Within months, he was minting coins and engaging in diplomatic talks with the kings of North Wales, Scotland, Cumbria, and Strathclyde. For some reason, by the 920s, Northumbria was being ruled by Reynold's brother Sihtric. Was there a deposition? Did Reynold tire of sitting on the throne and want to go a-Viking again? Nobody knows, but I suspect he went back to Dublin and grew fat and happy. England was being ruled at that time by King Athelstan, grandson of Alfred the Great, who took the throne in 925 at the age of thirty. Athelstan was determined to reclaim what was taken of the English kingdom. His ambitions worried the northern kings, but, when he met Sihtric at York, Athelstan gave away his sister in marriage to the king of York, in return for the Scandinavian becoming Christian. It seemed as though the Viking influence was secure in its throne.

That security lasted until 927, when Sihtric died and Guthfrith took his place. Athelstan invaded Northumbria and expelled Guthfrith and Anlaf, Sihtric's son. He entered York, demolished the Scandinavian fortifications, and distributed the loot he found there to his army. For the first time ever, a southern king ruled directly in York. Maintaining that rule was to keep north and south at war for the next quarter of a century. Athelstan drove north, to Bamburgh, where Eldred ( probably the son of the one killed in 918 ) was "convinced" that he should give allegiance to Athelstan. Athelstan then continued north to Scotland, where he burned and pillaged while King Constantine could only look on.

By 937, Athelstan's rule covered all of modern England, and he ruled with an iron fist. The northern kings, now relegated to vassals, decided to pay him back for the years they had spent as his subjects. A grand alliance was formed by all the disaffected leaders. Olaf Guthfrithsson, son of Guthfrith and king of Dublin, was one of the leaders of this group. This mighty alliance marched south, to meet Athelstan. The armies met at dawn, and the battle raged "until the stars came out." In the end, Athelstan was victorious. Among the dead Northmen were two sons of Sihtric. Athelstan finally died in 939, and left the throne to his half-brother Edmund, a young man of eighteen. Olaf Guthfrithsson, who was back on his throne in Dublin, thought to take advantage of the young king and reclaim York and Northumbria.

Edmund wasn't the tactician or leader that Athelstan was, and in no time at all, Olaf's forces were on their way. The Scandinavian settlers of York ignored their promises of allegiance to Athelstan and took Olaf as their king again. Olaf was not content with just Northumbria, however: he had a score to settle, and a willing population on his side. He swept down to the Danish towns of the southern Northumbria in 940, only stopping when the people of Northampton resisted his assault. Olaf turned west, to Tamworth, and took the town with much slaughter. Then he withdrew to Leicester with his plunder. Edmund and his fyrd, caught out by the speed of the campaign, surrounded Olaf at Leicester. Undeterred, Olaf and his army forced their way out at night, inflicting a serious blow upon the English. Edmund was too badly mauled to pursue the matter, and had to hand over Southern Northumbria to Olaf.

Olaf turned north, attacking his former ally, Eldred of Bamburgh and reaching the Firth of Forth. Edmund regrouped, and while Olaf was in the north, retook southern Northumbria in 942. The following year, to save what was left of his realm, Olaf he went so far as to submit himself to Edmund, made peace, and was baptized.

Reynold (b. 920? - d. ca 970?)

The Northumbrians were not amused that Olaf so readily submitted to the will of Edmund. Olaf was obviously weak and infirm, and was not the sort of king they wanted. They approached Guthfrithsson's brother, Reynold. The Northumbrians deposed Olaf in 943 and made Reynold king. Olaf Guthfrithsson died before the year was through.

Meanwhile, Anlaf Sihtricsson staked his claim to the throne, and the two cousins (Reynold and Anlaf) went to war over it. King Edmund was not amused. Both men had visited him to seek his acceptance of their claim in 944. He figured now would be as good a time as any to retake the Northumbria, since the country was divided, and so that is exactly what he did. He marched into Northumbria and sent them both packing.

This information was borrowed from Rob Reynolds website @ http://www.geocities.com/windstorm.geo/gen.html