The resurgence of Norwegian authority threat may well have been the reason why Rǫgnvaldr submitted to Pope Honorius III in 1219, and promised to pay a perpetual tribute for the protection of his realm.

Outright warfare broke out between the half-brothers in the 1220s, and Óláfr's gains forced Rǫgnvaldr to turn to the powerful Alan fitz Roland, Lord of Galloway.

The main source for Rǫgnvaldr and his reign is the thirteenth- to fourteenth-century Chronicle of Mann, a historical account of the rulers of the Hebrides and Mann—the Crovan dynasty in particular—which survives in a Latin manuscript dating to the mid fourteenth century.

[79] The chronicle's otherwise perceptible prejudice against Rǫgnvaldr's branch of the Crovan dynasty, and its apparent bias in favour of Mann over the northernmost reaches of the realm, may also account for its denigrating depiction of Óláfr's allotted lands.

[97] At some point in the last half of the twelfth century, Haraldr Maddaðarson put aside his first wife, and married Hvarflǫð, described by the thirteenth-century Orkneyinga saga as the daughter of an Earl of Moray named Máel Coluim.

[99] Whatever the case, a major continuing theme of Haraldr Maddaðarson's career was the constant assertion of Scottish and Norwegian royal authority into is domain, and his remarkable resistance to such interference.

[117] Rǫgnvaldr's participation in league with the Scottish Crown could have stemmed from his kinship with the Constable of Scotland, Roland fitz Uhtred, Lord of Galloway,[119] or perhaps resulted from a shared enmity towards the Meic Somairle.

[129] Another mediaeval Welsh text, the fourteenth-century O Oes Gwrtheyrn Gwrtheneu, refers to the year 1193 as haf y Gwyddyl ("the summer of the Gaels"), which could further evince the participation of Rǫgnvaldr and his troops.

[137] Although certain correspondence with the papacy reveals that the marriage between Llywelyn and Rǫgnvaldr's daughter had received papal approval in April 1203,[138] another letter shows that the ratification was reversed on a technicality in February 1205.

[145] According to several non-contemporary Welsh genealogical tracts, the mother of Llywelyn ap Gruffudd, Prince of Wales was an otherwise unknown daughter of Rǫgnvaldr named Rhanullt.

Historia Karoli Magni et Rotholandi and Le Pèlerinage de Charlemagne appear to have been known in Scandinavia by the twelfth century, and it is possible that Rǫgnvaldr became familiar with them whilst in Norway, leading him to commission a translation of his own.

He reached Down (modern day Downpatrick), drove off Ruaidrí Mac Duinn Sléibe, King of Ulaid, consolidated his conquest, and ruled his lands with a certain amount of independence for about a quarter of a century.

[182] The Chronicle of Mann specifies that Courcy's massive force was reinforced by Rǫgnvaldr with one hundred ships, and states that they laid siege to a certain castle of "Roth", before being beaten back with the arrival of Walter de Lacy.

When John arrived in Ireland in 1210, the Briouzes fled towards Scotland, and were apprehended in Galloway by Courcy's close associate and Rǫgnvaldr's kinsman Donnchad mac Gilla Brigte, Earl of Carrick.

[232] The submission of the Islesmen appears to have been undertaken in the context of the strengthening position of the Norwegian Crown following the settlement between the Birkibeinar and Baglar,[233] and the simultaneous weakening of the Crovan dynasty due to internal infighting.

By May 1212, John succeeded in gaining the support of several foreign lords, such as the counts of Bar, Boulogne, and Flanders, the dukes of Brabant and Limburg, the Holy Roman Emperor, and Rǫgnvaldr himself.

[258] A record dated 3 January 1214 appears to confirm the English Crown's intentions of protecting the Islesmen, as it prohibits certain "mariners of Ireland" from entering Rǫgnvaldr's territories at his loss.

[260] In fact, Thomas fitz Roland and Ruaidrí ransacked Derry again in 1213/1214,[261] and it is also possible that the raids were conducted in the interests of both the Scottish and English Crowns, and specifically aimed at limiting Irish support of the Meic Uilleim dissidents.

[265] On the other hand, the "excesses" could specifically relate to an instance reported by the Annals of Loch Cé, in which Irish herring-fishermen are stated to have committed violence on Mann, and were slain as a consequence of their actions.

[272] In September 1219, whilst in London at the Temple Church, Rǫgnvaldr surrendered Mann to the papacy, swore to perform homage for the island, and promised to pay twelve marks sterling in perpetuity as tribute.

For example, John had surrendered his kingdom to the papacy through Pandulf about six years beforehand,[275] whilst facing not only a major crisis from within his own realm, but an imminent invasion by Louis VIII, King of France from without.

[313][note 23] The unions themselves appear to have been orchestrated in an effort to patch up relations between the Meic Somairle and the Crovan dynasty, neighbouring kindreds who had bitterly contested the kingship of the Isles for about sixty years.

[321] The latter emerges from historical obscurity in 1215, and by the mid 1220s—about the time of Cristina and Óláfr's marriage—Alexander II, King of Scotland rewarded Ferchar with the Earldom of Ross for meritorious service to the Scottish Crown.

[322] The collapse of Óláfr's previous Meic Somairle marriage took place at about the time that Ruaidrí was seemingly ejected from Kintyre by the forces of Alexander II, King of Scotland in 1221–1222.

Following what he thought were his father's orders, Guðrøðr Dond gathered a force on Skye and proceeded to Lewis and Harris, where the chronicle records that he laid waste to most of the island.

[333] Roughly about this point in time, correspondence between Joan, Queen of Scotland and her brother, Henry III, reveals that the Norwegian Crown was rumoured to have been planning a naval expedition west-over-sea.

[351] In the early 1190s, the Chronicle of Mann reveals that Cristinus, Bishop of the Isles, an Argyllman who was probably a Meic Somairle candidate, was deposed and replaced by Michael, a Manxman who appears to have been backed by Rǫgnvaldr.

[401] As for Alan—a man who faced the probability that Galloway would be partitioned between his legitimate daughters on his eventual death—the marital alliance may have been conducted as a means to ensure a power base for Thomas, whose illegitimacy threatened to exclude him from inheriting his father's domain under the feudal laws of the English and Scottish realms.

[413] Although the English Crown technically recognised Óláfr's kingship in correspondence sent to him the year before, the aggressive tone directed at him suggests that the preferred dynast may well have Rǫgnvaldr at that point in time.

[418] Although the chronicle's description of the attack alludes to Gallovidian involvement, as it states that the expedition originated from Galloway, the fact that Rǫgnvaldr commanded only five ships suggests that this support may have been waning.