Page 13 - Gen Mag Online November 2020

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Next came Ketil ‘find’ (aka Ketil the flatnose). By this time the Isle of Man had become part of the
kingdom of the Western Isles. Ketil is said to be the son of Bjorn ‘roughfoot’, and who supposedly
accompanied the Norwegian king Harald ‘finehair’ on his Scottish campaign. Historians however
dispute that the king was Harald. Instead they believe it was another Viking called Olaf the White.

Olaf had established himself as king of the Norse in Dublin, and is said to have married the daughter
of Ketil - Aud - who was given the unusual nickname of ‘the deep minded’. Vikings seemed to relish
in this kind of thing.

Ketil is believed to have died by the year 870, with his family leaving the Western Isles to travel to
Iceland. Aud’s son Thorsten however established himself as king of Caithness in the north of
Scotland.

Other notable Norsemen ruled the Isle of Man for several centuries, but one particular ruler is
remembered in Manx history. This is king Orry or king Godred Crovan. (Godred Whitehands).
Little is known about the background of Godred except that he was raised in the Isle of Man but not
necessarily born here. His nickname results from his habit of wearing white gauntlets into battle. The
word Crovan is Gaelic.

Godred is said to have beaten the Manx people at the battle of Skyhill or Scachill. Skyhill is about a
mile west of modern day Ramsey. The battle is said to be the third and final one in which Godred
Crovan successfully stole the Manx crown from the then ruler Fingal Godredson in 1079.

Fingal became king of Man after the death of Godred Sitricson in 1070. The Chronicles of Mann
record the battle in the following terms :

“A third time he gathered a massive force and came by night
to the harbour which is called Ramsey, and [with] three hundred
men he hid in a wood which was on the sloping brow of the
mountain called Sky Hill. At dawn the Manxmen formed up in
battle order and after a massive charge joined battle with
Godred. When the battle was raging vehemently, the three
hundred rose from their place of hiding at their rear and began
to weaken the resistance of the Manxmen and compelled them
to flee. Now when they saw themselves defeated without any
place for them to escape to, for the tide had filled the riverbed
at Ramsey and the enemy were pressing constantly from the
other side, those that were left begged Godred with pitiful cries
to spare them their lives. Moved with compassion and taking Skyhill the site of the last battle
pity on their plight, since he had been reared among them for between Godred Crovan and
some time, he called off his army and forbade them to pursue Fingal Godredson for the Crown
them further.”
of Man.

Whether Fingal died in battle is not known. He simply disappears from the records afterwards.
Godred Crovan ruled Man till his own death in 1095. He is remembered on the island for his strong
governence of the island - Tynwald had been established in 930 AD - and a dynasty that lasted 200
years. (See family tree overleaf.)

Godred was succeeded by Lagman, but his kingship didn’t last long as in 1099, Magnus III of Norway
conquered the island. Yet again the Manx people had to endure being ruled by even more Vikings.
Lagman did however manage to restore his rule in the intervening years, but the length of his reign
is not known for sure. His year of death is either 1097 or 1111, with the latter the more likely.

As mentioned earlier, Tynwald was established in 930. St. John’s being the centre of the island is
where the early assemblies were held. Although Manx Gaelic was the main language of the people,
Norse was the language of government. This inevitably caused bad feeling.