Duncan, << DUHNG kuhn >> I (?-1040), also spelled Donnchad, succeeded his grandfather Malcolm II, also spelled Mael Coluim, as king of Scotland in 1034. He made several unsuccessful attempts to expand his kingdom. He also failed to rule all Scotland. Macbeth, also spelled Mac Bethad, of Moray, the ruler of a kingdom in northern Scotland, had a claim to the Scottish throne by right of his wife’s royal ancestry. He killed Duncan on Aug. 1, 1040, in a battle near Elgin. Macbeth, a play by the English writer William Shakespeare, portrays the events of Duncan’s life in a distorted manner (see Macbeth).
