Ragnvald Godredsson - Divided Loyalties: England and Norway

Divided Loyalties: England and Norway

In the years between the death of Magnús berfœttr, King of Norway (d. 1103) and the reign of Hákon Hákonarson, King of Norway (d. 1263), Norwegian presence in the Isles was negligible due to the ongoing civil war in Norway. However, in the mid 12th century during his visit to Norway, Rögnvaldr's father is regarded to have become a vassal of Ingi Haraldsson, King of Norway (d. 1161). What is certain is that the 12th century Norman chronicler Robert of Torigni (d. 1186) noted a meeting between Henry II, William, and the Bishop of the Isles, where it was stated that the Kings of the Isles paid the Kings of Norway ten marks of gold on their accession to the Norwegian throne. Robert also recorded that the King of the Isles was not obliged to render any other tribute until the next Norwegian king succeeded. Unfortunately for Rögnvaldr, while still bound to the King of England in 1210, he appears to have found himself the target of renewed Norwegian hegemony in the Isles.

The Icelandic Annals state that a military expedition from the Norway to the Isles was in preparation in 1209. The following year, the annals laconically report of "warfare" in the Isles, and that Iona was pillaged. These reports are corroborated by Böglunga sögur, an early 13th century saga which survives in two versions. Both versions note how men of the Birkibeinar and the Baglar—two competing sides of the Norwegian civil war—decided to recoup their financial losses with a certain twelve-ship raiding expedition into the Isles. The longer version of the saga states that Rögnvaldr ("King of Mann and the Isles") and Guðrøðr ("King on Mann") had not paid their taxes due to the Norwegian kings; in consequence, the Isles were ravaged until the two travelled to Norway and reconciled themselves with Ingi Bárðarson, King of Norway (d. 1217), whereupon the two took their lands from Ingi as a fief.

The mentioned kings of Böglunga sögur are regarded to represent Rögnvaldr and his son, Guðrøðr, although it has been suggested that the saga's Rögnvaldr may refer to Rögnvaldr's cousin, Ragnall, and that the Guðrøðr of the saga may simply refer to Rögnvaldr's patronym. The events depicted in the saga appear to show that, in the wake of destructive Norse activity in the Isles, which may have been some sort of officially sanctioned punishment from Norway, Rögnvaldr and his son (or possibly, Rögnvaldr and his cousin) travelled to Norway where they rendered homage to the Norwegian king, and made compensation for unpaid taxes. The fact that Ingi turned his attention to the Isles so soon after peace was brokered between the Birkibeinar and Baglar in 1208, may well indicate the importance that he placed on his relations with Rögnvaldr and his Norse-Gaelic contemporaries. Rögnvaldr's presence in Norway may explain his absence from Mann when it was ravaged by John's troops in the same year. Furthermore, Rögnvaldr's homage to Ingi may explain the English attack, as it may have given the English an incentive to ravage Rögnvaldr's lands because he had bound himself to John only a few years previous.