Following raids by the Vikings in the 9th century, the Hebrides became part of the Kingdom of the Isles, a Norwegian crown dependency also known as Suðreyjar (the Southern Isles).
Written records are few, but the Viking occupation of Canna is evident from place names such as the element sgor, gearaid (enclosure), tota (homestead) and Sanday ("sand island") (though the name "Canna" itself may pre-date the Norse period).

A number of large oblong arrangements of kerb-stones throughout the island are thought to possibly indicate Viking ship burials, based on the evidence of similar structures on the Isle of Arran (which was also part of Suðreyjar).
The largest is located at Rubha Langan-innis on the north coast, and known in Gaelic as Uaigh Righ Lochlainn (meaning "The grave of the King of Norway"); this is a narrow rectangular structure approximately 11 yards (10 m) long by 2.2 yards (2.0 m) wide on a grassy promontory below the cliffs.

Later accounts imply that the monastery at Keill had been a centre of the Culdees while under Norwegian dominion.
In the late 12th century, practical authority in Suðreyjar became split between a number of closely related magnates.
In 1203, Ranald, the magnate ruling the portion that contained Iona, invited the Benedictines to establish a new Abbey at Iona; that same year, a papal bull was issued, listing the Island of Canna among the new Abbey's possessions.
It is likely that the previous Abbey of Iona had had some authority over Canna, perhaps even stretching before the Viking era, but the fact that Norse rulers had not always been Christian may have disrupted Iona's authority, and Iona itself may have been deserted by the time Ranald requested a new Abbey.
Following raids by the Vikings in the 9th century, the Hebrides became part of the Kingdom of the Isles, a Norwegian crown dependency also known as Suðreyjar (the Southern Isles). Written records are few, but the Viking occupation of Canna is evident from place names such as the element sgor, gearaid (enclosure), tota (homestead) and Sanday ("sand island") (though the name "Canna" itself may pre-date the Norse period).
A number of large oblong arrangements of kerb-stones throughout the island are thought to possibly indicate Viking ship burials, based on the evidence of similar structures on the Isle of Arran (which was also part of Suðreyjar). The largest is located at Rubha Langan-innis on the north coast, and known in Gaelic as Uaigh Righ Lochlainn (meaning "The grave of the King of Norway"); this is a narrow rectangular structure approximately 11 yards (10 m) long by 2.2 yards (2.0 m) wide on a grassy promontory below the cliffs.
Later accounts imply that the monastery at Keill had been a centre of the Culdees while under Norwegian dominion. In the late 12th century, practical authority in Suðreyjar became split between a number of closely related magnates. In 1203, Ranald, the magnate ruling the portion that contained Iona, invited the Benedictines to establish a new Abbey at Iona; that same year, a papal bull was issued, listing the Island of Canna among the new Abbey's possessions. It is likely that the previous Abbey of Iona had had some authority over Canna, perhaps even stretching before the Viking era, but the fact that Norse rulers had not always been Christian may have disrupted Iona's authority, and Iona itself may have been deserted by the time Ranald requested a new Abbey.
Canna, Scotland