Reign 1230 Burial Iona | Died 1230
Bute/Kintyre Name Ospakr Ogmundsson | |
Ospakr Ogmundsson (Uspak), sea-king of the Isles and military commander, is a character from the mediaeval Hakonar saga Hakonarsonar, a kings' saga composed in the last half of the 13th century. The saga relates that in about the year 1230, a Norwegian-Hebridean fleet sailed down through the Hebrides, where it attacked certain islands, Kintyre and Bute. He died of wounds/illness shortly after having to retreat from Bute.
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King of the Isles
Because of Olafr Guðroðarson’s (Olaf the Black) inability to control the warring factions in the Hebrides, Hakon Hakonarson, King of Norway, promoted Ospakr, a descendant of Somairle (Somerled), as king in the Isles in 1230. (Ospakr may have been a son of Dubgall mac Somairle and a foster son of "Ogmund".) Hakon gave Ospakr command of a fleet of 80 ships to establish himself in all of the Scottish islands and appointed him "King of the Suðreyjar".
Expedition
As the fleet made its way southward through the Hebrides, several members fought a battle with Þorkell Þormoðsson at Vestrajorðr, Skye, although it is not clear if Ospakr participated in this battle. The fleet then reunited at Islay, and was strengthened by Ospakr's brothers and their followers, and swelled in size to more than 80 ships. The fleet then sailed south and around the Mull of Kintyre to Bute, where the force invaded the island and took Rothesay Castle, however the force suffered heavy casualties.
Although the Norwegian-Hebridean force was successful in its attack, word of Alan of Galloway's approach with over 200 ships forced the invading fleet to retreat and the fleet then sailed to Kintyre. Ospakr fell ill and died shortly afterwards, possibly from wounds inflicted in Bute. The Chronicle of Mann, however, specifically states that Ospakr was struck by a stone and killed, and later buried on Iona.
Aftermath
Upon Ospakr's death in 1230, the island-kingdom was divided between Olafr Guðroðarson and Guðroðr Rognvaldsson, with Guðroðr ruling the Hebridean portion and Olafr ruling Mann. Guðroðr was killed in 1231 on Lewis, and Olafr ruled the whole Kingdom of Mann and the Isles peacefully, until his death in 1237.