Professor Rob Collins

And I think what's key here is that while we call Northumbria an English kingdom, it's

and their dynasties are such that we think of them as English dynasties, the name of those kingdoms are British.

And probably were originally British kings or leaders.

You've also got the kingdom of Wrecked.

Which, again, we can't confidently place.

Some people want it to be Dumfries Galloway.

Some people want it to be Cumbria.

And it could be something that spans to either side of the Solway Firth, in fact.

We know Reged exists, so it's mentioned in enough documents.

We have enough names of its kind of princes and princesses.

Same with Bernicia, same with Dira.

And then we mentioned, you know, the Vodidini or Gadathan as well.

And those four kingdoms recur in our early medieval sources as being at least politically important and influential.

And so we can think of those as kind of

covering some major blocks within the frontier region.

So if you've got Yorkshire as the kind of southeast of the frontier, and that becomes Dera, Bernicea is the northeastern part of the frontier region.

And so Dera and Bernicea unite eventually in the east.

Before that happens, though, they actually have to take out Regid.

And that's the northwest portion of the frontier region.

So we already have these major power blocks clearly in the sixth century.