[5] Guðrøðr's father came to power in 1252, following a period of confusion and contention in the Kingdom of Mann and the Isles, when Magnús' right to rule was acknowledged by Hákon Hákonarson, King of Norway, his nominal overlord.
Recognising this dramatic shift in royal authority, Magnús Óláfsson submitted to Alexander III within the year,[8] and in so doing, symbolised the complete collapse of Norwegian sovereignty in the Isles.
Four such bailiffs or justiciars are known to have been appointed to govern the island: Godredus Mac Mares"; Alan, illegitimate son of Thomas fitz Roland, Earl of Atholl; "Mauricius Okarefair" / "Mauricio Acarsan"; and Reginald, the king's chaplain.
[20] The identities of these men suggest that the Scottish force was composed of a small component of heavily armed knights, a contingent of infantry troops levied from the common army of Galloway, and a fleet of galleys gathered from the Hebrides.
[24] The account preserved by the continuation of Historia rerum Anglicarum suggests that lightly armed and poorly trained rebels were soundly crushed by well-armed Scottish warriors,[25] with the Annals of Lanerost declaring that "the wretched Manxmen turned their backs, and perished miserably".
[36] Evidence of trouble faced by the Scots on Mann occurs in 1288, when the Sheriff of Dumfries rendered an account for the expense of guarding the lands of a person slain on the island in the service of the Scottish Crown.
[38] Guðrøðr was not the last claimant to the island, as two women are known to have put forth claims of their own in the late thirteenth and early fourteenth centuries: a certain Aufrica de Connoght, and Maria, daughter of Rǫgnvaldr Óláfsson, King of Mann and the Isles.