Ottir the Black (or Ottir Iarla)- the Viking Ruler of Waterford in the Tenth Century

Ottir the Black, or Ottir Iarla, was a renowned Norse-Gael jarl in Britain and Ireland in the early tenth century. He rose to prominence as a friend and ally of Ragnall ua Imair, the Viking overlord of Northumbria and the Isle of Man. His fleets were active in the Irish Sea region after the fall of Dublin in 902.

The arrival of Ottir the Black and his Danish warriors in Waterford Harbour in 914 heralded the beginning of the Second Viking Age in Ireland.

Scholars believe Ottir the Black was born in Ireland or the Scottish Isles sometime in the late ninth century. The Gaels called him Oitir Dub, or Ottar the Black, suggesting he was of Irish or Scottish extraction. He may have fled Dublin with Ragnall ua Imair and the other Viking nobles in 902.

There are several references to Ottir the Black being active in Britain and Ireland between 902 and 918.

The Irish chroniclers recounted Ottir the Black arrived with a hundred ships at Port Láirge, or Waterford Harbour, in 914. He plundered the present-day counties of County Kilkenny and western Laois in southeastern Ireland.

The Fragmentary Annals of Ireland reported, “A great fleet of Norwegians landed at Port Láirge, and they plundered northern Osraige and brought great spoils and many cows and livestock to their ships”.

Ottir the Black founded a longphort, or “ship-camp”, near the estuary of Waterford Harbour in 914. The fortified naval base known as Vadrarfjordr among the Norse transformed into a major Viking town. Vadrarfjordr, or Waterford, was also a centre of trade in southern Ireland during the Early Middle Ages.

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recounted the activities of Ottir the Black and a jarl called Hroald in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia in 918. Scholars believe the events described in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle took place in 915.

Ottir and Hroald sailed from Brittany to the Severn estuary and raided southern Wales. They kidnapped Cyfeiliog, the Archbishop of Hereford. Edward the Elder paid a ransom to Ottir the Black for the release of Cyfeiliog.

The Danish jarls, Ottir and Hroald, continued to plunder Hereford but met resistance from the Anglo-Saxons. Herald died during the fighting. Ottir the Black escaped with his Danish warriors to an “enclosure”. He agreed to leave England after the Anglo-Saxons laid siege to the enclosure.

The Medieval Chronicler, John of Worcester, claimed Ottir the Black sailed from England to Ireland.

The Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib, meaning War of the Irish and Foreigners, claimed Ottir the Black ruled over the Danes at Waterford. Ragnall brought reinforcements to the Norse guarding the longphort at Waterford in 916.

The Annals of the Four Masters described Ragnall ua Imair as the leader of the Danes, or Dubgaill, in 915.

The texts of the Cogad Gáedel re Gallaib affirmed Ottir the Black and Ragnall ua Imair attacked the Norwegian longphort at Cork in 916. Ottir the Black took control of the settlement and raided monasteries on the River Lee.

The Irish chronicles stated Ottir the Black ravaged the whole of Munster and put the Gaelic inhabitants under tribute. The Déisi of Munster paid Airgead Sroine, or “Norse Money”, to the Danes of Waterford. The Vikings cut off the noses of those who failed to pay the Airgead Sroine.

Jarl Ottar was a powerful ally and vassal of the Viking warlord, Ragnall ua Imair. There is no evidence to suggest Ottir the Black and Ragnall ua Imair were kinsmen.

Historians dismissed the theory that Ragnall ua Imair killed the son of Ottir the Black during a naval battle near the Isle of Man in 914.

Ragnall ua Imair returned to Waterford in 917 and plundered the province of Munster. He defeated Niall Glundub, the High King of Ireland, at the Battle of Meg Femen in County Tipperary.

The arrivals of the Vikings at Waterford was part of a two-pronged attack by Ragnall ua Imair and his brother, Sitric Cáech. The grandsons of Ivar the Boneless gathered their forces to retake their old stronghold of Dublin.

Sitric Cáech sailed to Cenn Fuait in Leinster in 917. He killed Augaire mac Ailella, King of Leinster, at the Battle of Confey before marching in triumph into Dublin.

Ragnall ua Imair abandoned his lands in Ireland after the restoration of Sitric Cáech as King of Dublin in 917. His ambition was to found a kingdom in Scotland with his ally, Ottir the Black.

The Annals of Ulster narrated in Ragnall ua Imair left Waterford in 918 with the jarls, Ottir the Black and Gragabai.

“Ragnall, king of the dark foreigners, and the two jarls, Oitir and Gragabai, forsook Ireland and proceeded afterwards against the men of Scotland”.

Ragnall ua Imair and Ottir the Black encountered Constantín mac Áeda, King of Scotland and his ally, Ealdred, the Anglo-Saxon king of Bamburgh, on the banks of the River Tyne in 918.

The Annals of Ulster described the events of the Battle of Corbridge in 918. The Vikings “formed themselves into four battalions: a battalion with Gothfrith grandson of Ímar, a battalion with the two jarls, and a battalion with the young lords”.

The Scots defeated three battalions and inflicted heavy casualties on the Norse. Ottir the Black and Jarl Gragabai died bravely on the battlefield.

Ragnall ua Imair commanded the fourth battalion which ambushed the Scottish warriors. He slaughtered the army of Constantine but did not win an outright victory.

Historians regard the Battle of Corbridge as an indecisive conflict. Ragnall ua Imair could not pursue his ambitions to found a Norse kingdom in Scotland without his powerful ally, Ottir the Black.

Constantine II, King of Scotland, drove Ragnall ua Imair and the Vikings of Waterford from his lands.

Ragnall ua Imair proceeded to the Danelaw in Northumbria. He won the support of the Viking nobles and declared himself King of York in 918.

Ottir the Black is remembered in history as the founder of Waterford in southern Ireland in 914. He ruled over the Vikings at the longphort as either an independent king or vassal of Ragnall ua Imair.

The death of Ottir the Black at the Battle of Corbridge changed the fortunes of his ally, Ragnall ua Imair, and the Vikings of Waterford in Scotland. Ragnall ua Imair never fulfilled his ambitions to found a Norse kingdom in Scotland without the support of Ottir the Black

Olaf the White and Ivar the Boneless — The Viking Kings of Dublin and The Vikings of Dublin and York in the Tenth Century on Amazon narrate the fascinating history of the Vikings in Ireland

References

Wikipedia — Ottir: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ottir

Wikipedia — Ragnall ua Ímair: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnall_ua_%C3%8Dmair

Celt UCC — Fragmentary Annals of Ireland: https://celt.ucc.ie/published/T100017.html

Celt UCC — Chronicon Scotorum: https://celt.ucc.ie//published/T100016/index.html

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

Stringfixer — Ottir: https://stringfixer.com/en/Ottir_Iarla

Dominion Publico — The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle translated by James Ingram: http://www.dominiopublico.gov.br/download/texto/gu000657.pdf

Peoplepill — Ottir: https://peoplepill.com/people/ottir-iarla

National Library of Scotland — Arrival of the Danes: https://digital.nls.uk/early-gaelic.../archive/76271829...

The War of the Gaedhil with the Gaill: Or, The Invasions of Ireland by the … edited by James Henthorn Todd: https://books.google.ie/books?id=7fnIuo1_SI0C&pg=PR84...