Haraldr Guðrøðarson

Who is Haraldr Guðrøðarson?

Haraldr Guðrøðarson was a mid-13th century King of the Isles. He was the son of Guðrøðr Rögnvaldsson, King of the Isles, who was the son of Rögnvaldr Guðrøðarson, King of the Isles. Haraldr and his predecessors were members of the Crovan dynasty. The 13th century Kings of the Isles ruled an island-kingdom which encompassed the Isle of Mann and portions of the Hebrides.

In the early 13th century, Haraldr's paternal grandfather, Rögnvaldr, fought over the kingship with his younger half-brother, Óláfr Guðrøðarson. The kin-strife between the two continued on down through their descendants, and in time included Haraldr himself. Rögnvaldr was slain in 1229, whereupon Óláfr took up the kingship. In 1231, Óláfr co-ruled a split kingdom with Rögnvaldr's son, Guðrøðr. On Guðrøðr's death in the same year, Óláfr ruled the entire kingdom until his own death in 1237, whereupon he was succeeded by his son, Haraldr, who was in turn succeeded by another son of Óláfr, Rögnvaldr.

In 1249, Rögnvaldr Óláfsson was slain by a knight who appears to have been an accomplice of Haraldr Guðrøðarson.