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The Norse legacy is most obvious in the toponymy of the island, whose name may itself derive from the Old Norse rõm-øy, meaning ‘wide island', or the Gaelic ì-dhruim, meaning ‘isle of the ridge'. The name ‘cuillin’ also comes from the Norse kiolen, meaning ‘high rocks'. Several of the principal peaks have Norse names, with ‘-val’ deriving from fjall, meaning ‘hill': Askival (812m) and Ainshval (781m) ('spear-shaped hill’ and ‘rocky ridge hill’ respectively), Hallival (722m), Trollaval ('mountain of the trolls', 700m), Barkeval ('precipice hill', 591m), Ruinsival ('stone-heap hill', 528m): Gaelic names are Sgùrr nan Goibhrean ('goat hill', 759m) and Sgùrr nan Gillean ('peak of the young men', 764m). The place-names Dibidil and Papadil are Norse.

The Middle Ages to the Macleans

During the 13th century the island was in the possession of the powerful Macruari clan for a brief period until 1346, when Rum was chartered to Clanranald – known as the Lords of the Isles – who ruled much of the Hebrides from Finlaggan on Islay for 150 years. The Lordship came to an end after John MacDonald II’s duplicitous treaty with Edward IV of England against the Scottish Crown, which led to the forfeiture of all MacDonald land.