Olav Ugjæva or Olav Gudbrandsson (

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and t ...

: ''Ólafr úgæfa'') (died 1169) was a pretender to the

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

throne during the

civil war era in Norway The civil war era in Norway ( no, borgerkrigstida or ''borgerkrigstiden'') began in 1130 and ended in 1240. During this time in history of Norway, Norwegian history, some two dozen rival kings and pretenders War of succession, waged wars to clai ...

. Olaf was named king in 1166, but was subsequently defeated by King

Magnus V of Norway Magnus Erlingsson ( non, Magnús Erlingsson, 1156 – 15 June 1184) was a king of Norway (being Magnus V) during the civil war era in Norway. He was the first known Scandinavian monarch to be crowned in Scandinavia. He helped to establish primoge ...

(''Magnus Erlingsson'') and forced to flee the country.

Background

Olav Gudbrandsson was the son of Gudbrand Skavhoggsson (''Guðbrandr Skafhǫggsson'') and Maria Øysteinsdotter (''María Eysteinsdóttir''), the daughter of King

Eystein I of Norway Eystein Magnusson (Old Norse: ''Eysteinn Magnússon'', Norwegian: ''Øystein Magnusson''; c. 1088 – 29 August 1123) was King of Norway (as Eystein I) from 1103 to 1123 together with his brothers Sigurd the Crusader and Olaf Magnusson, although s ...

and his wife Ingebjørg Guttormsdatter. Olav was fostered by Sigurd Agnhatt (''Sigurðr agnhǫttr'') in the

Oppland Oppland is a former county in Norway which existed from 1781 until its dissolution on 1 January 2020. The old Oppland county bordered the counties of Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The co ...

region of eastern Norway. In the late 1160s, Norway was ruled by earl

Erling Skakke Erling Skakke (1115 – 18 June 1179) was a Norwegian Jarl during the 12th century. He was the father of Magnus V, who reigned as King of Norway from 1161 to 1184. Biography Erling Ormsson was born at Etne in the county of Hordaland, Norway. He w ...

, during the minority of his son, King

(''Magnus Erlingsson''). Erling had succeeded in placing his son on the throne after lengthy fighting against several rivals to the throne since the mid 1150s.

Reign

In 1166, Sigurd Agnhatt and his foster son Olav raised a force in Oppland, and had Olav proclaimed king, while earl Erling was away in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. After Erling returned to Norway to fight this uprising, Olav and his men attacked Erling in an ambush at Rydjokul in

Sørum Sørum was a municipality in Akershus county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Romerike. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Sørumsand. Sørum was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 (see ...

(''Overfallet på Rydjøkul'') on 2 February 1167. Erling was wounded, and barely escaped. According to the Sagas, it was said that Olav was unlucky not to have defeated Erling in this fight, and from that he got his nickname, ''Olav the Unlucky''. In 1168 Olav and his men ventured south to the

Oslofjord The Oslofjord (, ; en, Oslo Fjord) is an inlet in the south-east of Norway, stretching from an imaginary line between the and lighthouses and down to in the south to Oslo in the north. It is part of the Skagerrak strait, connecting the Nor ...

area, but were there defeated in Battle at Stanger, near Våler in

Østfold Østfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in southeastern Norway. It borders Akershus and southwestern Sweden (Västra Götaland County and Värmland), while Buskerud and Vestfold are on the other side o ...

(''Slaget på Stanger i Våler''). Sigurd Agnhatt was killed in the battle, but Olav Ugjæva escaped and went to

. The next year, Olav fell ill and died there.

Primary sources

The story of Ugjæva is mentioned in the

Kings' sagas Kings' sagas ( is, konungasögur, nn, kongesoger, -sogor, nb, kongesagaer) are Old Norse sagas which principally tell of the lives of semi-legendary and legendary (mythological, fictional) Nordic kings, also known as saga kings. They were compo ...

Heimskringla ''Heimskringla'' () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorre Sturlason (1178/79–1241) 1230. The name ''Heimskringla'' was first used in the 17th century, derived ...

and

Fagrskinna ''Fagrskinna'' ( ; is, Fagurskinna ; trans. "Fair Leather" from the type of parchment) is one of the kings' sagas, written around 1220. It is an intermediate source for the ''Heimskringla'' of Snorri Sturluson, containing histories of Norwegian k ...

. These two sagas state he died in Denmark, but disagree on whether he died in

Århus Aarhus (, , ; officially spelled Århus from 1948 until 1 January 2011) is the second-largest city in Denmark and the seat of Aarhus Municipality. It is located on the eastern shore of Jutland in the Kattegat sea and approximately northwest ...

Ålborg Aalborg (, , ) is Denmark's fourth largest town (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an urban population of 143,598 (1 July 2022). As of 1 July 2022, the Municipality of Aal ...

.''Olav Ugjæva'' (Store norske leksikon)
/ref>

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ugjaeva, Olav Norwegian civil wars 1169 deaths Pretenders to the Norwegian throne People from Oppland Year of birth unknown Norwegian exiles House of Hardrada