The notion of Malcolm Canmore as an English-raised King of Scots is prevalent in medieval Scottish history. However, contemporary sources such as the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and various Irish annals do not specify where Malcolm was raised; there is certainly no mention of Malcolm being raised at the court of Saint Edward the Confessor. The Life of St Margaret, Queen of Scots, written in the early twelfth century shortly after Malcolm's death by a priest who personally knew him does not mention anything about an English upbringing.

Two Scottish historians, A.A.M. Duncan and Alex Woolf, have suggested that Malcolm was probably raised in Orkney, which at this time was an earldom of Norway. Malcolm's first wife, Ingibjorg, was either the widow or the daughter of Earl Thorfinn the Mighty, who gave the historical Macbeth plenty of trouble! The idea that Malcolm was raised in England is of later origin.

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