Ragnall Guthfrithson

Ragnall Guthfrithson (also Ragnall mac Gofrith, Old Norse Rögnvaldr Guðrøðarson, Anglicised as Reginald Godfreyson) (d. 944?) was a Viking king.

Life

He was son of Gofraid ua Ímair, King of Dublin, who invaded England in 918; his mother was an Englishwoman. He had several brothers, including Olaf, Albdan or Halfdene (d. 926) killed by Muirchertach mac Néill,[1] and Blacar (d. 948).[2] He is distinct from Ragnall ua Ímair, also known as Reginald Godfreyson in chronicles which suffer from inaccurate dates.[1]

In 943, probably in succession to his brother Olaf, Ragnall was ruling in Northumbria as joint king with Olaf Sitricson,[1] known in Ireland as Amlaíb Cuarán, with whom he accepted Christianity, and allied himself with Edmund I of England. When, however, King Edmund had returned to Wessex next year, the two Danish kings made a raid into the midlands to win back their lost territory. King Edmund drove them from the country and annexed Northumbria. Æthelweard states that Wulfstan was involved in expelling the Viking kings from York.[1]

The date of Ragnall's death is not known exactly, but he has been identified as the king of York mentioned in the Annals of Clonmacnoise as killed about 944 by the English.[1] Several of the Irish annals mention a son who was killed in 942.[2]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 Costambeys, Marios. "Ragnall Guthfrithson". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/23314. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1  Lee, Sidney, ed. (1896). "Reginald Godfreyson". Dictionary of National Biography 47. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
Attribution

 This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Lee, Sidney, ed. (1896). "Reginald Godfreyson". Dictionary of National Biography 47. London: Smith, Elder & Co.