text: ragnall ua ímair ragnall ua ímair ( old norse : , died 921 ) was a viking leader who ruled northumbria and the isle of man in the early 10th century . he was a grandson of ímar and a member of the uí ímair . ragnall was most probably among those vikings expelled from dublin in 902 , whereafter he may have ruled territory in southern scotland or the isle of man . in 917 , he and his kinsman sitric cáech sailed separate fleets to ireland where they won several battles against local kings . sitric successfully recaptured dublin and established himself as king , while ragnall returned to england . he fought against constantín mac , king of scotland , in the battle of corbridge in 918 , and although the battle was not decisive it did allow ragnall to establish himself as king at york . ragnall 's rule was immediately challenged by a group of christian vikings opposed to his paganism . this group tried to organise an alliance with æthelflæd , lady of the mercians but this attempt was cut short by her death in 918 . his reign saw three issues of coinage , although this was perhaps done on the orders of , archbishop of york . in 920 ragnall and his neighbouring northern kings came to an agreement with edward the elder , king of the anglo - saxons , though it is a matter of dispute whether ragnall recognised edward as his overlord . ragnall died the following year , whereupon the annals of ulster describe him as " king of the fair foreigners and the dark foreigners " . he was succeeded as king by sitric cáech . background the ruling vikings of dublin were expelled from the city in 902 by a joint force led by máel mac flannacán , overking of brega and cerball mac muirecáin , overking of leinster . those vikings that survived the capture of the city split into different groups ; some went to france , some to england , and some to wales . archaeological evidence suggests dublin remained occupied in the years immediately following this expulsion , perhaps indicating only the ruling elite were forced to leave . however , viking raids on irish settlements continued , and in 914 , a large viking fleet travelled to waterford . the arrival of this fleet marked the re - establishment of viking rule over parts of ireland , and was followed by more vikings settling in limerick the following year . the main historical sources for this period are the norse sagas and the irish annals . some of the annals , such as the annals of ulster , are believed to be contemporary accounts , whereas the sagas were written down at dates much later than the events they describe and are considered far less reliable . a few of the annals such as the fragmentary annals of ireland and the annals of the four masters were also complied at later dates , in part from more contemporary material and in part from fragments of sagas . according to downham : " apart from these additions [ of saga fragments ] , irish chronicles are considered by scholars to be largely accurate records , albeit partisan in their presentation of events " . biography ragnall is presumed to have left dublin with the rest of the ruling vikings in 902 . it appears he settled in southern scotland or the isle of man , and is described by some scholars as a king of mann . he may or may not have ruled territory in western and northern scotland including the hebrides and northern isles , but contemporary sources are silent on this matter . the earliest mention of him in the irish annals is in 914 when he is described as defeating bárid mac oitir in a naval battle off the isle of man . bárid may have been a son of mac , the man who killed a son of auisle in 883 , or a son of jarl , who later accompanied ragnall and fought alongside him in england . ragnall is mentioned in the annals again in 917 when he and sitric , another grandson of ímar , are described as leading their fleets to ireland . sitric sailed his fleet to cenn fuait in leinster , and ragnall sailed his fleet to waterford . niall glúndub , overking of the northern uí néill saw these vikings as a threat , and he marched an army south to repel them . the vikings fought against the men of the uí néill at mag in county tipperary and claimed victory , though only through timely reinforcement by ragnall and his army . this was followed by another at the battle of ( also known as the battle of cenn fuait ) , against augaire mac ailella , overking of leinster , who died in the battle . augaire 's death marked the end of effective opposition to the vikings ' return to ireland , and sitric led his men on a triumphant return to dublin , where he established himself as king . the annals of ulster record ragnall , with his kinsman gofraid and two earls , ottir and , leaving ireland in 918 to fight against constantín son of áed , the king of scotland . according to the northern english historical tract historia de sancto ( completed in the 11th century but probably with access to earlier material ) constantín was assisting ealdred son of eadwulf , ruler of all or some part of northumbria . the battle , known as the battle of corbridge , was indecisive , but this appears to have been enough to allow ragnall to establish himself as king at york . ragnall moved quickly and soon imposed his authority on the vikings there . his position as king of northumbria was immediately challenged by a group of christian vikings ( york was mostly christian by this time ) who opposed ragnall 's paganism . this faction approached æthelflæd , lady of the mercians , an anglo - saxon and a christian , with an offer of submission , but negotiations were ended by her premature death in june 918 . ragnall had three separate issues of coins produced while he ruled york , showing that the machinery of government in northumbria continued to function , though it is possible that the day - to - day working of mints and collection of taxes rested with the archbishop of york , , rather than with ragnall . the southern anglo - saxon king , edward the elder , made some manner of agreement with ragnall and the other northern kings in about 920 , the exact nature of which is unclear . the anglo - saxon chronicle states that they " chose him [ edward ] as father and lord " , perhaps indicating that ragnall acknowledged edward 's overlordship , although many scholars have contested this as unlikely . ragnall died in 921 , and is described as " king of the fair foreigners and the dark foreigners " by the annals of ulster . it may be that he was already dying in 920 when the irish annals note the departure of sitric from dublin , replaced there by gofraid . sitric succeeded ragnall as king of the northumbrians at york . origins the historian alex woolf has identified ragnall with rognvald eysteinsson , earl of møre , a figure closely associated with harald fairhair , the first king of norway . woolf provides two pieces of evidence in support of this theory . firstly , both ragnall and rognvald are the grandsons of ' ivars ' – this would equate ragnall 's grandfather ímar with ívarr , a son of the legendary king halfdan the old . secondly , rognvald 's son ivar was killed while in scotland , as was ragnall 's kinsman ímar ua ímair . other attempts have also been made in the modern era to link the kings of lochlann with historical figures in norway – smyth has suggested that amlaíb conung can be identified with olaf - alf , king of vestfold , ( who was the son of gudrød the hunter and half - brother of halfdan the black ) , though speculation of this nature has not received much support . ó corrain states that there is " no good historical or linguistic evidence to link lothlend / laithlind with norway , and none to link the dynasty of dublin to the shadowy history of the ynglings of vestfold " . family in the annals ragnall is identified by the use of " ua ímair " , meaning " grandson of ímar " , but never with a patronymic . as such , it is not possible to identify which of the three known sons of ímar ( bárid , sichfrith or sitriuc ) – if any – was the father of ragnall . one possible reason for the lack of a patronym might be that ragnall was the child of a son of ímar who never ruled dublin , or who spent most of his time outside ireland , thus making ragnall 's legitimacy to rule dublin dependent the identity of his grandfather , not his father . another possibility is that ragnall was a grandson of ímar through a daughter , again with his right to rule dependent on his grandfather . sitric 's kinsmen ímar , sitric , amlaíb and gofraid are the other known grandsons of ímar identified by the use of " ua ímair " . all except for amlaíb ruled as either king of dublin or king of northumbria at one time or another . an individual identified as mac ragnaill ( son of ragnall ) by the annals may have been ragnall 's son , though no name is given . in 942 mac ragnaill led a raid on downpatrick , but within a week he was killed by , of ulster . the annals of the four masters call mac ragnaill a jarl , but the annals of ulster call him a king . the annals of the four masters also suggests he and his fellow plunderers came from an island . family tree