In the decade following the ravaging of Iona, the Kingdom of the Isles was plagued by vicious conflict between two competing dynasts of the Crovan dynasty.

The following spring, with the Kingdom of the Isles partitioned between Óláfr and his rival nephew, Guðrøðr Rǫgnvaldsson, the Norwegians set sail for home, where Hákon thanked the returning warriors.

About thirty years later, a certain Ruðri is recorded to have claimed Bute as his birthright and to have assisted Hákon in another Norwegian campaign in the Isles.

Specifically, Óspakr appears to have been a son of Dubgall mac Somairle, King of the Isles,[19] ancestor of the Meic Dubgaill.

[41] The submission of the Islesmen seems to have been undertaken at about the time of a reawakening of Norwegian royal authority following the settlement between the opposing Birkibeinar and Baglar factions.

Although the leadership of the Meic Somairle had controversially refounded Iona at the turn of the century, and had further secured its independence from the Diocese of the Isles by placing it under the protection of the papacy, the Norwegian sack of the island may not have been a sanctioned act.

[51] In the decades following the ravaging of Iona, the Kingdom of the Isles was plagued by vicious conflict between two competing dynasts of the Crovan dynasty: namely Rǫgnvaldr and his younger half-brother, Óláfr Guðrøðarson.

In fact, it is apparent that Alan and members of the Meic Somairle—Dubgall and Donnchad, both sons of Dubgall mac Somairle—upheld pressure upon the recently inaugurated Óláfr.

[56] According to Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar, reports of open warfare in the Isles reached the royal court of Hákon Hákonarson, King of Norway in the summer of 1229.

[57] Specifically, the saga singles out Alan as one of the principal perpetrators of unrest in the Isles, describing him as "the greatest warrior", possessing a large force of men and ships with which he plundered throughout the Hebrides.

All three of these Meic Somairle kinsmen are styled kings by Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar, which describes the men as "unfaithful" to the Norwegian Crown.

The saga also identifies Óspakr as yet another son of Dubgall mac Somairle, albeit one who had long served outside the Isles as a Birkibeinar.

[59] Although Óláfr arrived at the Norwegian court early in 1230, having been forced from the Isles by Alan and his allies, it is evident that Hákon had already decided upon a course of action.

[62] According to the latter source, Hákon not only granted him the kingship, but also gave him command of the Norwegian fleet tasked with restoring peace in the Isles.

[63] Within days of Óláfr's arrival in Norway, the saga reveals that Óspakr's fleet set sail for the Isles, and swelled in number after reaching Orkney.

[71] One possibility is that Donnchad's escape was enabled as an attempt to retain the Meic Dubgaill's dual allegiance to the Norwegian and Scottish Crowns.

[70] News of the gathering Norwegian fleet soon reached Alexander II, who appears to have made straight for the western coast, diverting his attention to the now rapidly developing crisis.

[78] It was probably May or June when Óspakr's fleet rounded the Mull of Kintyre, entered the Firth of Clyde, and made landfall on Bute, where his forces successfully stormed and captured a fortress that is almost certainly identical to Rothesay Castle.

[81][note 6] By this stage in the campaign, the fleet is stated to have reached a size of eighty ships,[87] a tally which may indicate that Óspakr's fighting force numbered over three thousand men.

[106] Upon the homeward return of the Norwegians, Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar declares that Hákon's "honours had been won" as a result of the expedition, and that he heartily thanked the men for their service.

[109] If correct, the fleet's primary design would appear to have been the procurement of Óspakr's domain, whilst a secondary objective—adopted very late in the campaign—seems to have been the restoration of Óláfr on Mann.

[113] In 1263, over thirty years after Óspakr's fateful campaign, Scottish aggression into the Isles precipitated yet another Norwegian expedition, this time led by Hákon himself.