Olaf the White — the First Viking King of Dublin

In 853, the Viking warlord Olaf the White, also known as Amlaíb Conung, proclaimed himself the first king of the Norsemen in Ireland.

The Norse sagas celebrated Olaf the White, as a shrewd warrior-king who exploited Dublin’s military power to dominate Ireland’s political and economic affairs.

Olaf the White and his kinsman, Ivar the Boneless, also secured Dublin’s position as the most influential Viking colony in the Irish Sea region.

In 853, the Irish chroniclers declared Amlaíb Conung, identified by historians as the Viking ruler Olaf the White, was a high-ranking Scandinavian nobleman from “Lochlann”.

“Amlaíb, son of the king of Lochlann, came to Ireland” at the head of a large fleet (Annals of Ulster).

Historians identified Lochlann as the kingdom of Norway or the Norse colonies in the Scottish Isles.

Olaf the White expelled the Danes from the Viking settlement at Dyflin, or Dublin. His kinsmen, Auisle and Ivar the Boneless joined him as the co-rulers of the town.

Amlaíb Conung ended the war between the Norwegian and Danish colonists and “took tribute from the Irish”.

Olaf the White and Ivar the Boneless focused on strengthing Dublin’s power over the Gaelic kingdoms in Ireland. Their alliances with Cerball mac Dúnlainge, King of Ossory, and Áed Findliath, King of Ailech were crucial in asserting their dominance in Irish politics.

They embraced the customs of the Gaelic kings and nobles to gain acceptance in Erin.

The chroniclers reported Olaf the White married the daughter of Áed Findliath in the 860s. Their marriage sealed the alliance with Áed and the Northern Ui Neill.

Olaf the White and Ivar the Boneless, murdered rival Gaelic kings to instil fear into their enemies.

Cathmal, son of Tomaltach, one of the neighbouring kings of the Ulaid, died at their hands within months of their arrival in Ireland.

The Chronicon Scotorum recounted that Olaf the White drowned Conchobar mac Donnchada in a pool at Clonard Abbey in 864.

Conchobar mac Donnchada was an overlord of the Southern Ui Neill in Meath.

By the late 850s, Olaf the White realised his ambition of becoming a powerbroker in Irish politics. He vied for control of Munster with Máel Sechnaill, the King of Tara and the most influential ruler in Ireland.

The Viking incursions into Máel Sechnaill’s kingdom in Meath demonstrated the success of Olaf the White and Ivar the Boneless in establishing Dublin’s dominance in Ireland.

In 863, the Annals of Ulster recounted, “Amlaíb and Ímar and Auisle” looted the tombs and burial mounds of the Boyne Valley in County Meath.

Historians believe the outrage of the Irish over the desecration of the ancient graves prompted Olaf the White, Ivar the Boneless and Auisle to leave Ireland in the 860s.

Áed Findliath turned against his allies, Olaf the White and Ivar the Boneless, after becoming the High King of Ireland in 862. He launched a series of attacks on the Norse settlements along the northern coast of Ireland in the 860s.

Olaf the White and Ivar the Boneless were away fighting the Picts and Anglo-Saxons in Britain, having been lured by the promise of riches and conquests in Scotland and England.

In 866, Olaf the White and Auisle devastated the Pictish kingdom of Fortriu during a prolonged military campaign spanning nearly three months. Their attack contrasted sharply with the usual swift, hit-and-run raids carried out by the Vikings in Scotland.

The Fragmentary Annals of Ireland narrated, “The Norwegians…plundered Foirtriu, and they took many hostages with them as pledges for tribute; for a long time afterwards, they continued to pay them tribute”.

The Picts paid tribute to Olaf the White as their overlord.

Olaf the White exacted vengeance on Áed Findliath by plundering the great monastery of Armagh in 868.

Armagh, the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland, was under the protection of Áed and the Cenél nEógain, or Northern Uí Néill.

In 868, Áed Findliath killed Carlus, the son of Olaf the White, during the fierce fighting at the Battle of Killinee in County Louth.

Olaf the White and Ivar the Boneless embarked on their last raid in 870. laying siege to the fortress at Dumbarton Rock for four months.

Dumbarton was the capital of the Brittonic kingdom of Alt Clut, or Strathclyde.

In 871, the Annals of Ulster recounted, “Amlaíb and Ímar” returned to Dublin “ with two hundred ships” with a “great prey of Angles and Britons and Picts”.

Olaf the White vanished from Irish chronicles after 871, although there were varying accounts of his death by 874.

The Icelandic saga, Landnamabok, claimed Olaf the White met his end during a battle in Ireland in the 870s.

In 874, the Pictish Chronicle recounted that Constantine I, king of Scotland, killed Olaf the White during a conflict in the Scottish Highlands.

The Fragmentary Annals of Ireland narrated in 871, “Amlaib went from Ireland to Norway to fight the Norwegians and help his father, Gofraid, for the Norwegians were warring against him, his father having sent for him”.

Scandinavian accounts acknowledged that Olaf Guthfrisson of Vestfold was in fact Olaf the White under a different name.

Olaf the White was the most successful of all the Viking sea-kings in Ireland. His formidable leadership and military campaigns transformed the Viking kingdom of Dublin into the most prosperous and influential Scandinavian colony in the Irish Sea region for centuries.

The book Olaf the White and Ivar the Boneless: The Viking Kings of Dublin, available on Amazon, explores the exploits and enduring legacy of the Vikings in Ireland.

References

Wikipedia — Amlaíb Conung: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amla%C3%ADb_Conung...

Wikipedia — Olaf the White: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olaf_the_White....

Wikipedia — Áed Findliath: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%81ed_Findliath

Wikipedia — Máel Sechnaill mac Máele Ruanaid: https://en.wikipedia.org/.../M%C3%A1el_Sechnaill_mac_M%C3...

Historical Dictionary of the Vikings By Katherine Holman: https://books.google.com/books?id=NL4FAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA207&dq=olaf+the+white+plundering+the+tombs+in+meath&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi3sra9wpmHAxVWEFkFHWfhCQwQ6AF6BAgMEAI#v=onepage&q=olaf%20the%20white%20plundering%20the%20tombs%20in%20meath&f=false

Ireland: The Struggle for Power: From the Dark Ages to the Jacobites By Jeffrey James: https://books.google.com/books?id=jnvLDgAAQBAJ&pg=PT27&dq=olaf+the+white+plundering+the+tombs+in+meath&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi3sra9wpmHAxVWEFkFHWfhCQwQ6AF6BAgOEAI#v=onepage&q=olaf%20the%20white%20plundering%20the%20tombs%20in%20meath&f=false

Celt Ucc — Annals of Ulster: https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T100001A/ Celt Ucc -

Chronicon Scotorum: https://celt.ucc.ie//published/T100016/index.html Celt Ucc -

Fragmentary Annals of Ireland: https://celt.ucc.ie//published/T100017/ Routledge

Revivals: Medieval Ireland (2005): An Encyclopedia edited by Sean Duffy: https://books.google.ie/books?id=WkQrDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA29...

Sagadb.org — The Saga of Erik the Red: https://www.sagadb.org/eiriks_saga_rauda.en#:~:text=Olaf%2C%20who%20was%20called%20Olaf,the%20Uplands%20(in%20Norway).