Icel was an early king of Mercia

Mercia

Mercia was one of the kingdoms of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. It was centred on the valley of the River Trent and its tributaries in the region now known as the English Midlands...

, according to an eighth-century life of St Guthlac

Saint Guthlac

Saint Guthlac of Crowland was a Christian saint from Lincolnshire in England. He is particularly venerated in the Fens of eastern England.-Life:...

. Early genealogies record him as the great-grandfather of Creoda of Mercia

Creoda of Mercia

Creoda was the first monarch of Mercia, reigning from 584 to 593.Creoda is recorded as having been the son of Cynewald, the grandson of Cnebba, and the great-grandson of Icel; consequently, members of the Mercian royal line were known as Iclingas...

 and the son of Eomer

Eomer

Eomer , also spelt Eomær, was the great-great-grandfather of Creoda, the first King of Mercia. He is considered the ancestor to the Kings of Mercia. Eomer himself was the son of Angeltheow...

, last King of the Angles in Angeln

Angeln

Modern Angeln, also known as Anglia , is a small peninsula in Southern Schleswig in the northern Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, protruding into the Bay of Kiel...

. Icel led his people across the North Sea

North Sea

In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...

 to Britain

Great Britain

Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...

, and gave his name to the Iclings (or Icelingas), the ruling dynasty of Mercia. He was probably active in the period 510-535, which corresponds to a date given in the Flores Historiarum

Flores Historiarum

The Flores Historiarum is a Latin chronicle dealing with English history from the creation to 1326 . It was compiled by various persons and quickly acquired contemporary popularity, for it was continued by many hands in many manuscript traditions...

of Roger of Wendover

Roger of Wendover

Roger of Wendover , probably a native of Wendover in Buckinghamshire, was an English chronicler of the 13th century.At an uncertain date he became a monk at St Albans Abbey; afterwards he was appointed prior of the cell of Belvoir, but he forfeited this dignity in the early years of Henry III,...

 and Matthew Paris

Matthew Paris

Matthew Paris was a Benedictine monk, English chronicler, artist in illuminated manuscripts and cartographer, based at St Albans Abbey in Hertfordshire...

, namely 527, under which is reported, "...pagans came from Germany and occupied East Anglia... some of whom invaded Mercia and fought many battles with the British..." This date, however, should perhaps be amended to 515. Icel's son was Cnebba

Cnebba

Cnebba was the grandfather of Creoda of Mercia and the son of Icel. Cnebba's son was Cynewald.-See also:*Kings of Mercia family tree...

.