Þórkell Þórmóðarson
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Þórkell Þórmóðarson is a character from the mediaeval Hákonar saga Hákonarsonar, a kings' saga composed in the last half of the 13th century. The saga relates that in about the year 1230, a Norwegian-
A view looking east across Loch Snizort; the loch may be site of Vestrajǫrðr, "the western firth".
A view looking north-west across Loch Bracadale, possibly Vestrajǫrðr.
Óspakr-Hákon
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Óspakr, also known as Hákon, was a King of the Isles. He seems to have been a son of Dubgall mac Somairle, King of the Isles, and therefore a member of the Meic Dubgaill branch of the Meic Somairle ki
A rook gaming piece of the so-called Lewis chessmen. The Scandinavian connections of leading members of the Isles may have been reflected in their military armament, and could have resembled that depicted upon such gaming pieces.
Detail from Maughold IV, a Manx runestone displaying a contemporary sailing vessel. The power of the kings of the Isles laid in their armed galley-fleets.
Ruinous Rothesay Castle. According to saga accounts, Óspakr's forces attacked the castle's soft stone walls, whilst the Scots poured boiling pitch down upon them. Later in the century, the castle appears to have undergone considerable reconstructional enhancement.
A king gaming piece of the so-called Lewis chessmen.